Topic: My FB ECU .02

[chris88]

Nice game atmosphere. Liked new fireworks etc.

Perspective:
Tough loss but, as others have said, with our schedule, we could have gone undefeated and we'd still have had no shot at Access bowl due to schedule etc. We are playing for conf title and whatever bowl comes with it. Pruett also had his moments. The debacle at Akron (2003?) was very similar to ECU game as we blew several chances to put game away, then onside kick etc. The 1998 game vs Wofford? at home where Derricot had to block FG to preserve win. And who has forgotten MAC Champ game at Toledo where MU blew a 24-0 or so lead.

Game itself:
A casual fan would have thought this was a great game to watch. It was entertaining. As an MU fan you could see it coming before meltdown in many ways.

What went wrong:
When you run a hurry up entire game this is the danger if you don't score. Then defense gets gassed.  It was 90 degrees and super humid. Our defense was gassed in 4th. You have to manage clock. Just like I dont like Dantoni (college and pro)run and gun until end because if you get cold, it can bite you. As someone else said, take an extra 5-10 seconds getting plays off. ECU didn't stop MU's offense once.  Turnovers, poor decisions by Wells, and a couple bad overthrows to open WRs accounted for end of all drives except FG miss. The onside kick was 100% on coaches.  Wells needs to be coached better about forcing throws.  Both picks were into 2x coverage, both underthrown, and both on first down. First down picks should never happen unless tipped/off hands. They have to drill that into him. Look off or throw it away.  When trying to burn clock, take 1st down. That corner end zone shot was dumb as we had a player open for first down. This was the beginning of the end. Give ECU credit for executing offensively and very efficiently.

Bigger picture:

Offense is now 3rd in country in yds per game (total offense) and top twenty scoring I believe. We should have had 59 pts easily.  Help Wells make better decision at times and look off recievers better and offense will be fine.  Manage clock at times. Use more WRs to keep fresh. We also need to adjust routes better in redzone. Let Gucci kick FGs. Defense was pretty good until gassed EXCEPT not playing football in secondary. Even if majority of college teams teach this it is still wrong...same crap technique for 10+ yrs at MU. Good CBs are instinctive ballhawks. Doesnt give them a chance when you have them play man only and not ball. Ask Chris Jackson. Any decent QB will exploit this Jr high coaching technique. Appy State teaches ball hawking from what I've seen. Wells better not stare down Wr or throw into 2x coverage or he'll have 5 ints. Appy State game winnable. We'll see.

[Johnnyherd]

Pruett really bombed vs Toledo one year.  He lost complete control of the team and never could get us to fight even a little.

Oct 14 2000.  Toledo beat us 42-0 on ESPN.  Just sickening after all we did in 99

[herdfan129]

I agree. I love the aggressive mentality of the offense, and I don't want to start sitting on leads in the 3rd quarter...BUT....there's a happy medium here. When you are up 17 with 7 minutes to go, and it's obvious the defense is gassed, you chew clock. That's common sense.

I'm not worried. Our new coach is also learning and that's part of it at our level. I think he's a good one and he will learn from this moving forward.

As for Wells, same %^&* different day. He's been here 3 years now. It's time for him to start taking care of the football or finish his career in the WVIAC.

[MUonium]

Wells could be a stud if he gets the velocity, trajectory, release timing and other aspects down pat.   it's a tough, tough job like Lengyl said, QBs have to have the sharpest, multitasking minds.  but also like others have said, coaches have to let him play. 

i agree 100%, clock management is still a very important thing, whether playing fast or slow.  i've got faith and am having a great time watching

[herdfan129]

Wells could be a stud if he gets the velocity, trajectory, release timing and other aspects down pat.   it's a tough, tough job like Lengyl said, QBs have to have the sharpest, multitasking minds.  but also like others have said, coaches have to let him play. 

i agree 100%, clock management is still a very important thing, whether playing fast or slow.  i've got faith and am having a great time watching

He has all the tools in the world to be a Heisman Finalist and play on Sundays....but this is year 3 and the fact he continues to throw in to double and triple coverage so much is very concerning. He hasn't gotten any better in this regard.

[svherd]

One would think Cramsey and Trickett would work with Wells but who knows. Seems Cato has been the only QB since Leftwich that got better as he went along. Not sure if it's a self motivation issue with these kids or not. Wells had some excellent passes as well. Only the third MU QB ever to throw for over 300 yards 3 games in a row. Lefty and Cato being the other two

[whf]

At "trigger time", no coaching matters; it's either do or don't.  Wells has a few too many do's at this point.  He has a lot of confidence in himself and the receivers.

[HoPPy785]

One would think Cramsey and Trickett would work with Wells but who knows. Seems Cato has been the only QB since Leftwich that got better as he went along. Not sure if it's a self motivation issue with these kids or not. Wells had some excellent passes as well. Only the third MU QB ever to throw for over 300 yards 3 games in a row. Lefty and Cato being the other two

You can fix mechanics, strength, etc. but you can't fix someones brain operation under pressure. Wells has all the ability he needs, just lacking mentally in my opinion. Doc really hurt him by continuing to let him go down that stretch last year without benching him for a period of time. I'd imagine that part of last year is always on the back of his mind.

[marshallmark]

You can fix mechanics, strength, etc. but you can't fix someones brain operation under pressure. Wells has all the ability he needs, just lacking mentally in my opinion. Doc really hurt him by continuing to let him go down that stretch last year without benching him for a period of time. I'd imagine that part of last year is always on the back of his mind.

HE'S A FREAKING SOPHOMORE (and technically still a freshman).  Give him a break and watch what happens in the next 3 years.

[herdfan129]

HE'S A FREAKING SOPHOMORE (and technically still a freshman).  Give him a break and watch what happens in the next 3 years.

He's been in this system for 3 years now. I love the kid and I'm rooting for him, but a spade is a spade. He's been here 3 years and making the same careless mistakes you expect out of a FR.

[parshall2marshall]

Is it too much to ask of a QB to know when it is 4th down ? I don't want to see that ever again in a MU QB in my few remaining years.

Hopefully we will come out angrier than a hornet's nest against Appy, determined to stay in focus. Don't let this loss beat us twice so to speak.

[svherd]

So what's the answer? Zamora, Cole Pennington, Harrison? Juco? Grad transfer? Zban? Anyone of these guys will face the same firing squad after the first bad game. Happens to every QB in the sports history.

[MicDrass1]

if we have a qb on our roster now or in the future beat Wells out we are going to be really good if the defense and ST can play.  Bring on Knowledge McDaniel at rb and McMillon at wr.  Move McCoy to cb.  Abraham to nb

[HoPPy785]

HE'S A FREAKING SOPHOMORE (and technically still a freshman).  Give him a break and watch what happens in the next 3 years.

I didnt say throw him the garbage. It's ok to critique a 2nd year starting QB. I've even said in other posts that I hope he can get it together. All I said is you can't coach mental fortitude. A person has to figure that out on their own.

[chris88]

You can fix mechanics, strength, etc. but you can't fix someones brain operation under pressure. Wells has all the ability he needs, just lacking mentally in my opinion. Doc really hurt him by continuing to let him go down that stretch last year without benching him for a period of time. I'd imagine that part of last year is always on the back of his mind.

I would give him a break about being 3rd season.  Many RS true freshman don't get any attention.  Last year with COVID, there were many restrictions that likely hampered his development.

As far as not being to teach what he is missing, not true in my experience.  A gunslinger mentality can be very good and he needs to retain that in some regard, but you can situationally rep that over and over until he gets it.  There is software out there that a QB can use that simulates everything.  You should never throw into 2x coverage on first down and any down on most occasions. When you do, you better miss long and never short.  Most/all of our QB's, at times, took shots when they easily could have moved sticks...including Cato etc. Part of that is route combo's. Wells threw to RB as outlet at times very well, but we had non RBs open many times (often sitting in middle very close to him) that would have moved sticks. He needs to work on field vision and situational awareness to find them.

Most passing offenses should be designed with first goal of occupying safeties. If route combos for each play occupy safties (the only guys capable of double teaming in most cases unless they drop 8 etc), you have 1-1 everywhere else. For example, if a WR runs a post corner route, the safety has to move to cover post, when WR breaks to corner safety is in no position to help anywhere else. Field awareness and vision is key. Remember situation when go into huddle and remind him EVERY time...have a hand jesture to remind if need be. It's ok if you need to pull his aggressiveness at times...it's  not like we are desperate to score points like late last year. At snap, make it look like you all always eyeing a safety, then move off when about to throw elsewhere. Make safety believe you are always throwing it over his head. He stares at primary guy too often. When he ended drives by overthrowing guys running stop routes along sidelines it was just bad foot/hip mechanics. Wells has very good feet, just needs to move his hips. With his arm he just needs to hold safety briefly and he could be very hard to defend. As a coach, first I want to see is what route combos are we using on the plays he is having trouble. Are there similarities that can be tweaked etc. If he reps those things 100s times a week on software/practice he'll get it imo.  Once he gets it, they need to light him up (bring pressure) to make sure he stays sound under duress.  None of the bad throws/decisions came from him being under duress. That should scare defensive coaches. Until he gets it/or he doesn't, you may need to tweak offense....or just slow tempo at times.

[goherd50]

                            Comp  Att   Int      Yds  TD   
Chad Pennington   19   48   4   266   3   

That is the stat line from the WVU game Chad's sophomore year. We were leading 31-28 at the start of the fourth quarter and he threw two interceptions on identical slant patterns, that were a huge reason why we lost. It was his third year in the system with most of one year as a starter.

Not saying Wells is the next great thing.  Just saying that Chad and Byron were so very good by the end that we forget they were not infallible at the start of their careers.

[THECHAMPISHERE]

HE'S A FREAKING SOPHOMORE (and technically still a freshman).  Give him a break and watch what happens in the next 3 years.

He's as much of a freshman or sophomore as Bruce Jenner is a woman. 3rd year playing D1 College ball and still making true freshman week 1 mistakes.

But I also agree I still think Wells can be great. If he plays 5 years...I guess he'll break every Herd QB record imaginable.

[herd2win]

Wells has the physical ability so it will come down to coaching if he becomes special.  Sam Darnold is not making the dumb plays he made during his time with the Jets because Matt Rhule has been stressing ball security.

Huff and staff need to do the same.  It is OK to take a sack Orr throw the ball out of bounds.