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Message: [QUOTE="Orangeman, post: 1521805, member: 972"] As disappointed as anyone with the losing streak, but I do like the direction things are heading with the coaching and play on the field. I wouldn't have said that pretty recently, but I've seen evidence that the staff is learning... Game mgmt definitely needs work, but it's come a long way in 18 months...like from 4/10 to 7/10. Probably about what you'd expect for a coach at the bottom of the D1 pay scale at $1.3m (I believe). Things like using challenges and TOs in the 1H and then the 2H are getting better. On offense they needed to get the ball to Ishmael, and they clearly are...I argued they needed to set up the run with the pass, and I think we can clearly see that. This is not a team, unfortunately, than can smash the opponent off the line. OK, that's what you got, how do plan? They're using the edges, and I think doing it pretty well. I DON'T like the slow-developing rushes that we have sometimes, nor do I love some of the option plays that take a while to play out, but again, they're adopting the offense to what works, and that's a sign of improvement I think in the coaching. On defense I think they did a nice job of adapting to the short passes...this game really turned on two plays: 1) the 2nd and 18 rush where a true freshman DT blew a TFL that led to a 21 yard gain, and 2) a fake punt that I believe was horribly illegal (5 OL downfield). Considering the youth on D they miss a lot of plays, not sure we can blame the coaches all that much. But in terms of the program, the younger players are better than the older players. Marrone clearly took the older players and made them better, but couldn't bring in the younger players...I say we give the current coaching lineup, with some tweaks maybe, time to continue bringing in quality younger players and learning/refining how they coach them up. [/QUOTE]

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