Upon further review – this loss was poor execution not play calling.

[Crusty]

I watched the video again this morning and looked at how each of our drives ended. I was trying to determine if the lack of scoring was due to poor play calling or poor execution. There is also not much question that we killed ourselves with off target passes, drops, missed blocks, untimely penalties, a fumble and a pick 6.

Absolutely none of that was on McDonald. Look at the drive summary below and I think you will agree that McDonald called a very good game. This one is mostly on Hunt.

I am sorry to say that this was not one of Hunt’s better days. Hunt pretty much has all day to pass and receivers were open all over the field. Hunt was 14-28 and while some will say there were 4 drops there were also 3 completions on the last drive in garbage time when Maryland had 3rd stringers on the field. 50% completion rate against a very poor secondary with an interception and no TD’s is terrible. Hunt ran brilliantly but also had a fumble and almost had another.

Drives that included drops – 3
Drives that included off target passes to open receivers - 7
Drives that included fumbles – 1
Drives that included interceptions – 1
Drive that included critical penalties – 4 (One negated a TD including 2 others on the same drive when we on the 6 and ready to score – we missed FG and got Zero points, wiped out another a 1st Down, another when we had 4th and 1, another a 15 yarder on 1st down.)
Drives that included sacks - 1

 

[stuckinbig11]

The game was decided by two plays, one on defense (90 yd TD) and one on offense (pick for six). Can't win if you let things like that happen.

 

[bevosu]

I still question the play calling when McDonald kept going to pass plays from Hunt on 3rd and (relatively) short situations. The run game was working better than usual...after Hunt indicated that he was off target, usually high, on a couple of those 3rd down plays I was hoping McDonald would get the message. He stuck with that approach a little too long for my liking. I think that cost us a few first downs and killed some drives.

Outside of that, and one or two head-scratchers, I don't think he called a terrible game.

 

[Crusty]

The game was decided by two plays, one on defense (90 yd TD) and one on offense (pick for six). Can't win if you let things like that happen.

Obviously, that has nothing to do with play calling, so I guess you agree?

 

[stuckinbig11]

Obviously, that has nothing to do with play calling, so I guess you agree?

Execution killed us (e.g., passes mostly all too high), so it is hard to judge the play calling. If we had executed, maybe the play calling would have looked good. Like JB says in bball, the coach can't make the ball go in the basket.

 

[Crusty]

I still question the play calling when McDonald kept going to pass plays from Hunt on 3rd and (relatively) short situations. The run game was working better than usual...after Hunt indicated that he was off target, usually high, on a couple of those 3rd down plays I was hoping McDonald would get the message. He stuck with that approach a little too long for my liking. I think that cost us a few first downs and killed some drives.

Outside of that, and one or two head-scratchers, I don't think he called a terrible game.

Actually we only passed twice on 3rd and 3 and 3rd and 5. Couple of times at 3rd and 8. We ran six times at 3rd and 1, 2, 3, 6. 6 and 7. A D-1 QB should be able to complete those throws. Hunt was only rushed on 2 of them.

The more you examine it, the better McD looks and the worse Hunt looks. AND I am a big Hunt fan.

 

[CIL]

Actually we only passed twice on 3rd and 3 and 3rd and 5. Couple of times at 3rd and 8. We ran six times at 3rd and 1, 2, 3, 6. 6 and 7. A D-1 QB should be able to complete those throws. Hunt was only rushed on 2 of them.

The more you examine it, the better McD looks and the worse Hunt looks. AND I am a big Hunt fan.

I think it is a mixture of both. Hunt does his best off of simple route combos. We need to simify our passing game a bit IMO.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Actually we only passed twice on 3rd and 3 and 3rd and 5. Couple of times at 3rd and 8. We ran six times at 3rd and 1, 2, 3, 6. 6 and 7. A D-1 QB should be able to complete those throws. Hunt was only rushed on 2 of them.

The more you examine it, the better McD looks and the worse Hunt looks. AND I am a big Hunt fan.

One thing I've been thinking about... is it as simple as Hunt sometimes struggles to hit moving targets?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think it is a mixture of both. Hunt does his best off of simple route combos. We need to simify our passing game a bit IMO.

Do we do much exotic stuff? It seems like we're pretty much just slanting and curling with the occasional wheel route.

 

[Crusty]

I think it is a mixture of both. Hunt does his best off of simple route combos. We need to simify our passing game a bit IMO.

How can we do that? If receivers are getting open what more can we want? People hate bubble screens and now that we going down-field we want to simplify?
5 receivers caught passes for 19 yards or longer. Hunt has to make better throws to open receivers. He had a really bad game yesterdday.

 

[Crusty]

One thing I've been thinking about... is it as simple as Hunt sometimes struggles to hit moving targets?

I wish I knew. He is starting to drive me nuts. He makes brilliant passes and then starts overthrowing and throwing behind. He clearly was not on the same page as Estime. They looked like crossing routes and Hunt seemed to think Bris was going to sit down in the seam. Hunt clearly has regressed in terms of consistency. BTW he threw a great pass ot West for 50+.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I wish I knew. He is starting to drive me nuts. He makes brilliant passes and then starts overthrowing and throwing behind. He clearly was not on the same page as Estime. They looked like crossing routes and Hunt seemed to think Bris was going to sit down in the seam. Hunt clearly has regressed in terms of consistency. BTW he threw a great pass ot West for 50+.

Yeah, I thought he threw some lasers vs CMU and had a couple of good ones yesterday. He just has others that go wild.

 

[JSOrange97]

It may have been mentioned before, but we also discussed it in the Fine Lot post game; I am concerned that Hunt's success running could be causing him to either not properly go through his progressions and/or cause him to decide to run too early. I agree with Crusty and think he was quite off the mark with his passing yesterday. He was consistently high and behind the receiver on throws. Even on a few completions the receivers had to stretch to make the catch. Hunt just looked out of sync in the passing game overall (though I admit the West pass was a beauty.)

 

[Crusty]

It may have been mentioned before, but we also discussed it in the Fine Lot post game; I am concerned that Hunt's success running could be causing him to either not properly go through his progressions and/or cause him to decide to run too early. I agree with Crusty and think he was quite off the mark with his passing yesterday. He was consistently high and behind the receiver on throws. Even on a few completions the receivers had to stretch to make the catch. Hunt just looked out of sync in the passing game overall (though I admit the West pass was a beauty.)

THAT is an excellent point (alcohol induced or not!). He clearly has lost control of his passing fundamental.

 

[Statesman1]

THAT is an excellent point (alcohol induced or not!). He clearly has lost control of his passing fundamental.

Has he ever really had it? Hunt IMO has never been a consistent passer in his 15 games. He is what he is, which is a fine runner (for a qb) and a very mediocre to below average passer. Barring dramatic improvements he is what he is.

 

[Crusty]

Has he ever really had it? Hunt IMO has never been a consistent passer in his 15 games. He is what he is, which is a fine runner (for a qb) and a very mediocre to below average passer. Barring dramatic improvements he is what he is.

I am reluctantly starting to share that conclusion.

 

[upperdeck]

if you look back you see hunt does ok when the first read throw is open, he struggles on crossing passes but usually they are the 2-3rd read things and he is throwing off balance late. did we make a single tough catch all day to offset the several drops and the drops were huge plays. as good as he runs he doesnt have elite speed so we are fine running for first downs and plays under 20 yds. but several of the runs yesterday would have been huge gains with better speed. like the CMU game he would have gone to the house with the hole he had. if any of the runs where we got tripped up had broken the play calling would have looked even better. the holes are coming its too bad the home run hitters were not the ones who had them to run thru. the throw to west was his best all day and he didnt score and the team didnt either. fix that issue and the scores will come. can ish go deep at all? is west faster than ish/cornelious/kobena we have to take a shot during the game with someone who can score on that completion.

 

[Crusty]

if you look back you see hunt does ok when the first read throw is open, he struggles on crossing passes but usually they are the 2-3rd read things and he is throwing off balance late. did we make a single tough catch all day to offset the several drops and the drops were huge plays. as good as he runs he doesnt have elite speed so we are fine running for first downs and plays under 20 yds. but several of the runs yesterday would have been huge gains with better speed. like the CMU game he would have gone to the house with the hole he had. if any of the runs where we got tripped up had broken the play calling would have looked even better. the holes are coming its too bad the home run hitters were not the ones who had them to run thru. the throw to west was his best all day and he didnt score and the team didnt either. fix that issue and the scores will come. can ish go deep at all? is west faster than ish/cornelious/kobena we have to take a shot during the game with someone who can score on that completion.

Brisley made a great catch on the 20 yard reception - he had to jump and the ball was a bit behind him as well. That was pretty much it.

 

[baggerbob]

The game was decided by two plays, one on defense (90 yd TD) and one on offense (pick for six). Can't win if you let things like that happen.

The blocked punt which led to a score to make it 24-13 was the biggest play. We had gotten back to 17-13, and that turned momentum back to Maryland. But those other 2 plays sealed the deal.

 

[tipphill]

I watched the video again this morning and looked at how each of our drives ended. I was trying to determine if the lack of scoring was due to poor play calling or poor execution. There is also not much question that we killed ourselves with off target passes, drops, missed blocks, untimely penalties, a fumble and a pick 6.

Absolutely none of that was on McDonald. Look at the drive summary below and I think you will agree that McDonald called a very good game. This one is mostly on Hunt.

I am sorry to say that this was not one of Hunt’s better days. Hunt pretty much has all day to pass and receivers were open all over the field. Hunt was 14-28 and while some will say there were 4 drops there were also 3 completions on the last drive in garbage time when Maryland had 3rd stringers on the field. 50% completion rate against a very poor secondary with an interception and no TD’s is terrible. Hunt ran brilliantly but also had a fumble and almost had another.

Drives that included drops – 3
Drives that included off target passes to open receivers - 7
Drives that included fumbles – 1
Drives that included interceptions – 1
Drive that included critical penalties – 4 (One negated a TD including 2 others on the same drive when we on the 6 and ready to score – we missed FG and got Zero points, wiped out another a 1st Down, another when we had 4th and 1, another a 15 yarder on 1st down.)
Drives that included sacks - 1

View attachment 24777View attachment 24777

two sure td passes dropped on first drive----after that for the most part hunt threw poorly all day. play calling was pretty good except trying the fg at the end of that half and punting on 4th 6? in the 3rd qtr .this team for the most part cannot execute and we are a very poor team. only rythem on of was the run----sorry we are mac level and stink at this point. the only team i think we can beat at this time is wf, seriously.

 

[Crusty]

two sure td passes dropped on first drive----after that for the most part hunt threw poorly all day. play calling was pretty good except trying the fg at the end of that half and punting on 4th 6? in the 3rd qtr .this team for the most part cannot execute and we are a very poor team. only rythem on of was the run----sorry we are mac level and stink at this point. the only team i think we can beat at this time is wf, seriously.

I hope I didn't over make my point. This team reminds me of 2011. We can move the ball but we make too many mental and physical errors and wind up being beaten by teams with less talent. As Hunt goes, so goes the Orange/Blue/White.

We will get better but we have a long way to go before we can win 8-9 games with our schedule. We have a lot of talent and depth on the roster and the future is very bright. We may just have to wait until 2015 to see it.

 

[orangepassion]

I think Hunt has a tough time with accuracy on a 5'9 receiver, which is unfortunate b/c I believe Estime is by far our best playmaker. If we can hit him on the run, he could some good things happen. In a lot of ways, Hunt's running is symbolic of our game yesterday. Lots of good chunks of yardage, but not able to break away for long TDs (and I really like Hunt and think he's the guy keeping us from being much worse)

 

[Pat Kelly]

How can we do that? If receivers are getting open what more can we want? People hate bubble screens and now that we going down-field we want to simplify?
5 receivers caught passes for 19 yards or longer. Hunt has to make better throws to open receivers. He had a really bad game yesterdday.
View attachment 24778

^THIS. Bubble screens are as simple as you can get, and there were TONS of WRs getting open downfield yesterday that Hunt flat out didn't see. A lot of times Hunt ran on those plays, but their secondary clearly was bad and it wasn't exploited.

 

[Pat Kelly]

I wish I knew. He is starting to drive me nuts. He makes brilliant passes and then starts overthrowing and throwing behind. He clearly was not on the same page as Estime. They looked like crossing routes and Hunt seemed to think Bris was going to sit down in the seam. Hunt clearly has regressed in terms of consistency. BTW he threw a great pass ot West for 50+.

Wouldn't say he's regressed. Compare him now to his play during the ACC portion of the season last year... he was awful last year. He crushed bad teams early last season but didn't play good again until the last two games of 2013.

 

[Crusty]

^THIS. Bubble screens are as simple as you can get, and there were TONS of WRs getting open downfield yesterday that Hunt flat out didn't see. A lot of times Hunt ran on those plays, but their secondary clearly was bad and it wasn't exploited.

Did you see the same game I saw? We only threw about 3 bubble screens. Hunt saw open receivers and he tried to hit them. As you can see 5 different receivers had at least one reception 19 yards or longer. Only 5 passes were for less than 9 yards. Four were over 20 yards. Only one of the drops was a screen, the rest were longer patterns.

We had 219 yards passing. Hunt went 5-19 during one stretch so McD ran 79% of the time in the 2nd half

Bubble screens are not the problem and neither were the patterns. Hunt simply missed them and 4 catchable balls were dropped.