Cig is amazing about not trotting players out until they are ready to go and they are truly needed. You hear 'next man up' all the time but the development they do with the younger players is out of sight.
It's awesome.
Before the PSU game Charlie had seven total catches as he made the most of his opportunities. Then when we really needed him he stepped up in front of 100K people and changed the course of our season. Now we've got another WR ready to be a serious option the rest of the year.
There is some angst about most of the JMU guys graduating. Of course they'll be tough to replace, but JMU guys are just players that have been in this staff's system. There will guys who have been here one to three years who are ready to step up next season -- they just won't be labeled as JMU players.
The question I have is do you start Becker over EJ when Sarratt comes back? I’m torn on that because I love a lot of what EJ has done and maybe one game does not supplant that, but if Becker hasn’t surpassed him he is right on his heels. It’s a nice problem to have. I think at a minimum Becker will get more snaps.
I also was surprised to see Kobe Martin not only got a snap outside of garbage time, but he was put in on a critical 4th down. Nice to see the coaches do that for him. I’m sure that went a long way with him knowing they are gaining trust in him.
Becker played in 13 games last year on special teams. This staff loves him and what he can do. I don't think he replaces EJ, but the rotation should expand. The issue is when IU subs it allows the defense to sub and get the right personnel in.
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Becker played in 13 games last year on special teams. This staff loves him and what he can do. I don't think he replaces EJ, but the rotation should expand. The issue is when IU subs it allows the defense to sub and get the right personnel in.
Yeah, and for the lack of stats, Charlie gets a ton of snaps between special teams & offense. I think the special teams play have helped him a ton because he's an eager blocker at WR. This week was just really the first time he's been a prime passing target.
If anyone goes back to the Oregon tape, they'll also see him with separation on the DB on a shot play that Mendoza just underthrew and he couldn't come back through the DB easily enough to make the catch. A better throw there and he's half a hero twice this season.
@thehoosierhuddle Agreed, just like Cig likes to have a 3 man rotation among his backs, I think Becker has earned his way into the rotation and will be worked in to spell guys if they are tired or come out. He's shown he can be trusted in pressure situations and I don't think the staff will be hesitant to use him knowing that.
They'll learn to cover or front Becker with a little taller guy or something. He'll have to keep working on his moves, lol.
He looked open to me on a little stop/curl in, on that Cooper TD catch but he would've had to be the first option, but Fernando was looking for Coop. Good idea...
I expected to see Becker making some deep grabs this year, or back shoulder fades. But we don't go deep much or throw those fades much anymore. Bit frustrating.
You gotta have time to throw those deep balls. Didn’t have that on Saturday.They'll learn to cover or front Becker with a little taller guy or something. He'll have to keep working on his moves, lol.
He looked open to me on a little stop/curl in, on that Cooper TD catch but he would've had to be the first option, but Fernando was looking for Coop. Good idea...
I expected to see Becker making some deep grabs this year, or back shoulder fades. But we don't go deep much or throw those fades much anymore. Bit frustrating.
@openwheel Im good with not throwing a lot of fades, probably the lowest percentage throw in college football
Yeah, you don’t need to throw that many fades. A few a game is all you need. The only thing I can think of that I just don’t recall us doing were any screen passes. With how aggressively they were playing we really could have used some screens in addition to the long ball we threw to Becker. I don’t think I have seen that screen play to Nowakowski since the ILL game. I could be wrong, but a play like that may have worked well to counter their over aggression. Instead, we tried to run into their blitzes and throw quick shots that were falling short. By no means am I trying to trash our offensive game plan, but there’s things I think we could have done better. Hindsight is always easier.
I'm not talking about the end zone ones. I don't like those. Last year the back shoulder fade on the sideline was our bread and butter. Like money in the bank. Had Urban Meyer raving about how well coached we were on offense using that throw.@openwheel Im good with not throwing a lot of fades, probably the lowest percentage throw in college football
This year we not only don't throw those, we don't seem to get anybody open deep. Maybe them having to try to force us along the sideline to stop the fade opens other routes?
Oh well, I guess I feel OK about our offense. 🤣 And, last year it did get tiring as if we used that back shoulder too much like mentioned. Ohio State sure defended it well. But a few a game?
Seems like trouble against a crowded box or heavy blitzing is almost a trend though. Maybe Sarratt is the only guy great at getting open on a quick slant.
Or, not so much a screen, as designed quick hitters to the RB. That should make the blitz slow up when it hits right in the space they came from when we fake picking them up.
I'm just hoping we have the entire O line back from injury and Sarrat is healthy by the time CFP rolls around.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
@olympian97 I agree on Nowakowski. We need to get him the ball a lot more, he is a freight train
@openwheel The only redeeming part of our remaining schedule is Wisconsin might be the most banged up team in the country, our team being banged up is less likely to hurt us there. And then the bye week + purdue is another game where we could rest guys if they are still not quite ready to come back before the CCG