I think thats all predicated around what the run game is doing. When IU establishes the run, then there's no need to stretch the field. You want to keep the other defense on the field to wear them down and keep your D off the field to keep them from being fatigued.  Scoring quick isn't always the best option when considering the odds. 

@middawg could care less how we do it, as long as we come away with a win. I doubt we vary much from what we've run, although I think we'll adjust to what we feel will work, or is working. Long pass plays take longer to develop, and while I've read Bama hasn't had a great pass rush, the longer Mendoza has the ball, the more likely they are to get to him. 

Frankly, if there's anything I'd like to see more of, it's using Hemby and Nowakowski in the pass game, and I think that would fit well because those would be likely to be quicker passes. Nowakowski is my favorite player to watch after the catch, and I think has shown very solid hands. If we didn't have such a well balanced offense and receivers, he could easily have double the catches he's had. 

@kkott 

Agree 100%.  

I've been wanting to exploit teams much more with check downs and designed passes to Hemby and Nowakowski.  

I actually think Ohio St. is fairly elite in this area of their pass game and am curious if our scouting and playing  them rubbed off on the offensive coaching staff to the point here we can exploit Bama out of the backfield in space.  

Questions.  

1.  Weather aside, do you think the passing game stays aggressive throwing 25+ yards downfield against Bama if the wind isn't a factor?  

The forecasted wind is 5-10mph for 1/1, so it shouldn't be a huge factor. IU is better when they play aggressive. With Cooper back, it gives IU another deep threat and a guy people have to make a choice about double teaming. If Iu can protect Mendoza, IU will take a few deep shots.

2.  How great will be to see Sarratt, Cooper, Becker, and E.J. playing together to open up the passing game?  

It should be excellent to have a full complement of healthy receivers. They're tough covers and hard to prepare for.

3.   Haven't really seen any trick plays this season. It would be sweet to see a 5 wide set where we insert Ponds as WR5 against a LB or a nickel CB where he runs a fly route and Mendoza lets it fly to him.  

IU doesn't need gimmicks to win this game. While it'd be fun to see, those plays just aren't what IU is about.

It did seem like IU was much more likely to run trick plays last year for whatever reason.  Maybe to keep defenses from taking advantage of Rourke not being able to move very well.

When I see a trick play it means your regular offense needs help. So when I saw Ohio state do it I immediately knew IU was going to win that game. 

That long pass to Becker at the end of the Ohio State game was a thing of beauty. I want to dominate the game, time of possession, etc. I think we best do that by running and shorter passes. Wouldn’t mind tge defense scoring a TD or two…

Posted by: @middawg

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Mendoza and IU took what 4 or 5 deep shots against that OSU secondary in the dome which was absolutely great to see.  

[...]

I would bet the game plan against OSU was to take even more if the game circumstances warranted it and if Cooper Jr. didn't come up hobbled on that first one.  

I thought we did that to keep the OSU defense honest and to keep them from keying on the run too much.

Posted by: @yothn

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I think thats all predicated around what the run game is doing. When IU establishes the run, then there's no need to stretch the field. You want to keep the other defense on the field to wear them down and keep your D off the field to keep them from being fatigued.  Scoring quick isn't always the best option when considering the odds. 

I mean, we can score quickly, without it being anything like Kevin Wilson stupidly quick. The quick, # and outs, was what tired defenses.

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@openwheel - I am not referring to a face paced offence.  That's great as long as it's under control.  It's the need to have deep passes, even though you aren't having issues sustaining long drives.  Against OSU, we couldn't sustain as many long drives as we wanted because they were stacking the box, so it made sense to push the ball up the field.  But the question I was answering was, why we don't always do that.  We don't push the ball up field like that if we don't need to.  Stretching the field is meant to force the team to defend deep which opens up the runs and short routes.  But if we can move the ball and force the defenses to stay on the field while our defense stays fresh on the bench, we would take that all day.  The deep ball is great but it's a tool to keep the short game working. Not necessarily a requirement if everything else is working.

This game we might see an early deep shot. I just have this feeling that Cig won’t play around with them. If IU gets the ball first we might see an immediate bomb up the seam. Just a hunch. Might be wrong. 

@yothn 

Agreed.

But we also don't need to limit possessions or shorten the game if we think we are the favorite. That can go downhill at the wrong time. 

Just saying, if we SCORE quickly, that's awesome, and who cares how we did it.

But of course if we can consistently run it, great.

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Posted by: @yothn

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@openwheel - I am not referring to a face paced offence.  That's great as long as it's under control.  It's the need to have deep passes, even though you aren't having issues sustaining long drives.  Against OSU, we couldn't sustain as many long drives as we wanted because they were stacking the box, so it made sense to push the ball up the field.  But the question I was answering was, why we don't always do that.  We don't push the ball up field like that if we don't need to.  Stretching the field is meant to force the team to defend deep which opens up the runs and short routes.  But if we can move the ball and force the defenses to stay on the field while our defense stays fresh on the bench, we would take that all day.  The deep ball is great but it's a tool to keep the short game working. Not necessarily a requirement if everything else is working.

You’ve got it backwards. We don’t throw deep to open up the run and short passing games. We throw deep when our run game works consistently well and the defense has to adjust to stop it. If they can’t stop the run, it won’t matter, but they’ll bring a safety down if we’re able to establish a running game. That’s when we go over the top. If they sell out to stop the run, then we’l try to go down the field on them, but we’ll establish the run game first. And we’ll always take an aggressive big play. Cig and Shanahan love that approach.

@jackskip23 - No, its the opposite.  The prime example is Ohio State.  The deep passes to Becker were on 3rd downs.  The run game was stagnant, so we threw deep to get first downs and open up the field a bit.  That was the entire point of my post, Ordfan.