The Martin Staff does a number of things right- recruiting, effort on the field, high character, few off field player issues and general good/ excellent game plan prep. What has been missing and is evident again this season is poor game day coaching adjustments and lack of attention to detail. For example ( 1) who on the staff is ( was )
assigned to check the number of players the opposing team has on the field - at least a GA who is to immediately contact the head coach or D coordinator if there is an issue- UC scored with 12 on the field and we never caught it until after the fact. ( 2) as mentioned by others on this site when you are on the opponents 1, 2 or perhaps 3 yard line you do not run plays consistently from a shotgun formation - we have a big athletic QB in AV - a QB sneak or quick RPO from under center , a power backfield run formation etc - our play calling at the UC 1 was horrible - CM and his
staff have had a problem for years not being able to score inside the 5 -( if someone has the time it would be instructive to see how many times this has happened since CM became the HC) - this problem needs to be fixed this week, ( 3 ) substitution penalties and delay of game penalties year after year -again at a crucial point in a game this past Sat we cannot properly sub and we go from fourth and 1 to fourth and 6- in the third game of the season this type of mistake is inexcusable, ( 4 ) why are we not throwing short passes to our backs and talented tight ends- CM has never been able to develop a short pass possession game even though we have great talent for it ( you can still go deep on occasion but you have to have the mind set and patience to first develop a rhythm for the short game )- we have a new QB - let him get in a rhythm -we still all remember the terrible play calling in past years on this point and esp at EMU last year on this point ), ( 5) failure to sub out starters esp QB’s when the game outcome is already decided- and when a replacement QB comes in failing to let him run a regular offense for real game experience - Brett and AV should have left the UK and UC games much sooner, and our 3d team QB be given game experience and ( 6)
most importantly no ability to make second half adjustments to match what the other team has done or will do. For example we were not getting significant pressure on UC’s QB and he had a great amount of time to pick apart our DB’s and our static zone defense - we needed to bring pressure more often and mix up coverages ( where was our safety all afternoon? ) and show different D looks. On offense the play calling in the second half showed no imagination- roll AV out and give hime RPO , short quick passes to our backs, etc - please no continuing no gain plays off tackle. The above points of poor game coaching goes back years during CM’s tenure and many other examples could be given .We will never be able to achieve the potential of relatively talented teams until CM and his staff do better in game situations and esp in the second half of games.
Agreed on all…perplexed we are not rolling the pocket with Aveon…throws decent on run.
I will say the one run play in redzone where we got stuffed eventually…K Davis merely had to head to pylon…he cut inside.
After that though two nothing plays…the one CM compliments Aveon looks like a broken play going nowhere…Aveon just great effort.
With proper game day coaching our OCC pathetic record would be drastically improved
Saddest part is that “improved” just means we’d have won a single game in 8+ years.
You have pretty well nailed every thought of what we were doing wrong vs UC and over the years. Those are things which are holding us back.
There are some similar errors which the staff has adjusted and improved on, that needs to continue.
There are also many things which our program does well, and we are in a better place than e have been since Hep left for Indiana. I hope we continue to move forward and correct some more of these issues. I do not want to fire these guys and start all over again.