Topic: Couple of legit questions I have....

[BULLHALSEY]

My point is, and why I started this thread, is that we didn't even make it remotely "difficult" for geno Smith and wvu WR's.  Maybe not "press" as many of you have dwelled on, but freaking pressure on the wr's.  It looked like sandlot football for those guys.  I just don't get it.  At all.

[Greg H]

I think Rippon/Doc understood that we do not have the tools to slow down WVU as to the run and pass game at the same time, much less stop them.  They decided to take away the pass, particularly deep, and did a reasonably good job of it, considering the opposition.  WVU killed us with the run, not the pass.  The failure in the run game (and most of the bigger pass plays) resulted from poor tackling.  But the run failure was also the result of a scheme that was designed to slow down the pass, and which did, in fact, slow down the pass pretty well.  It just happened to leave Holmes on an island to deal with 2 O linemen and a 235 pound back every time they ran it.  And the kid hung in there pretty well for being so young.

It's ugly, but it's just the nature of that offense and our small and inexperienced defense.  Our PERSONNEL were never going to hold them under 42 points, even on our best day, even if God himself was the D coordinator for a day.  Could we have adjusted better, maybe.  Could we have pressed, manned or jammed their receivers, maybe, but it would have gotten us killed downfield.  Could we have brought a few guys into the box, or played the larger linebackers to stop the run?  Yes, but again, it would have gotten us killed in the passing game, as it did with Houston last year. 

Again, I don't think, on our best day, we had any chance to hold them under 42.  Add in bad tackling, 2 defensive TD's (effectively) and you have 69.  The more I think on the defensive game plan, the more comfortable I am with it.  We simply do not have the tools (or at least the experience with those young tools) to hold back an offense that good and that balanced.  I don't blame anyone at Marshall for the defensive failure, except maybe for the arm tacklers. 

Now, if they fail like that against ANYONE else on our schedule, including Purdue and OU, I will certainly blame Rippon/Doc.  We most certainly do have the tools to keep all of those teams under 35 points, and most of them under 28, assuming good coaching/planning.

All that said, can we please quit the navel gazing over getting crushed by a top 10 team (and probably a top 1 offense)?  It's really getting pathetic.

[Penn2moss]

Good post Greg.

The plan was not a bad one.  The execution was poor because we could not tackle.

If we recover those 2 fumbles and don't give up the defensive TDs, it would not have been nearly as bad.

On to the next one.