Hey George McDonald. Read this article.

[LeMoyneCuse]

And give it lots of thought.

http://footballscoop.com/news/11821-mtsu-we-ve-run-three-plays-the-last-five-games

 

[upperdeck]

is that good? how many plays did we run against ncst and maryland? when teams cant stop the run you can just do it over and over.. if all you do is run bubble screens and it works teams dont stop..

 

[Dcuse]

And give it lots of thought.

http://footballscoop.com/news/11821-mtsu-we-ve-run-three-plays-the-last-five-games

Why?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Why?

Because keeping it simple works.

 

[SUfaninAZ]

They play shite teams. We don't.

 

[JoeSU]

MTSU's last 4 wins came against the bottom teams in each of the C-USA divisions. I'm not convinced the "3 play offense" would be as effective against our schedule (maybe Wagner).

 

[All4SU]

My hope for SU is that we get SO good, we only run ONE play.

 

[Libero2]

Because keeping it simple works.

Some teams (Georgia tech for instance) can do so against higher level competition, if your execution is exceptional telling the other team what you are doing before the snap won't make an ounce of defense, you will still beat them.

That said if the defense is out executing you, you need a new play

 

[RICuse44]

The three play thing is a little misleading. Last year there was a clip of ole miss which runs one play (zone read) with 4 options; QB keep, handoff to running back, bubble screen, and a downfield throw. Which play is run is dictated by the defense with the QB making the call. That's harder for a defense to prepare for because all 4 plays presnap look the same. And that really is the key- being able to run, straight pass, or play action pass all from the same formation. Same as an inside zone is always an inside zone whether it's run from offset I, single back, pistol, etc. the assignments don't change but the pre snap defensive reads do.

 

[orange79]

Why?

Because the SEC schools only run 3 plays.

Oh, wait...

 

[Scooch]

Because keeping it simple works.

Well, what REALLY works is doing complex things that seem simple to the players.

You hear from players on the Patriots all the time that the great skill of that coaching staff (besides cheating, right Kaiser?!?!) is to make things extremely simple for them. This doesn't mean that schemes, techniques, etc. ARE simple, it just means the staff has a way of instructing and communicating in a way that facilitates success.

I don't know how much complexity really affected SU's offense this year, but I suspect if it did the answer isn't necessarily to dumb everything down. Rather it's to find ways to make the complexity more accessible for the players.

 

[TheCusian]

Guy can't win around here.

After the loss to Penn State: we were confused and had too many plays

After the loss to NW: we started out with too many plays and seemed to do better by simplifying in the 2nd half. Why didn't he figure it out before hand. Grumble, grumble.

Half through the ACC slate: we run too much on 1st down and throw too many flanker screens. Too few of the same plays. Not enough variety.

After Pitt: it's a train wreck! Fire him!!

After BC: We won! Great play calling by McDonald!! (Could you believe what would have happened if Parris didn't make it into the end zone!? What's he thinking - throw it into the end zone!!!)

 

[baggerbob]

The last game 51 rushes 210 yards, 29-43 passing for 270 yards including Hunt catching his deflected pass for -16 yards. That's 94 plays for almost 500 yards, and held the ball for 33 minutes. A missed field goal, and couldn't punch it in with smith on 4th and 2, we still scored 34 points. Nothing wrong with the mixture of plays, just need to execute the way we did the last 3 quarters of the BC game.

 

[timkay99]

The three play thing is a little misleading. Last year there was a clip of ole miss which runs one play (zone read) with 4 options; QB keep, handoff to running back, bubble screen, and a downfield throw. Which play is run is dictated by the defense with the QB making the call. That's harder for a defense to prepare for because all 4 plays presnap look the same. And that really is the key- being able to run, straight pass, or play action pass all from the same formation. Same as an inside zone is always an inside zone whether it's run from offset I, single back, pistol, etc. the assignments don't change but the pre snap defensive reads do.

Agree 100%. And if you can do all this stuff with the same personnel (versatility to have a RB or TE's out wide like Jerome against BC) and stop the defense from making substitutions, you can do a lot of big things.

Add me to the group that says McDonald got way too much crap for this offense. With that said, his expectations will definitely be higher next year.

 

[SmilinBob]

I simply want GM to do whatever it takes to move the ball and score. If it's based off of 3 plays or 20 as long as the offense is executing I couldn't care less. I dig the guy and I think he'll do a fine job on the hill.