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UCLA - Sat Oct 30 8PM - ESPN
After watching the SC game I have to believe that Coach Lud had been holding back on a few things moving into conference play.
The fly sweep with Kuithe was a successful play we had run many times in the past – it seems like a great way to get out of a situation where pressure was coming. I was dying to see a play like that especially during the BYU game where they continued to bring pressure.
Some of the deep balls were super fun to see. I would imagine we targeted wide outs in the SC game more than the rest of the year combined. Deep pass to Howard, deep ball to Vele, deep throws to Covey, crossing route to Parks – where had these plays been all year. I would have imagined that we couldn’t open the top on a talent rich secondary but we did it over and over again.
I am beginning to wonder what we will see going forward – will this be what to expect or will be regress to the mean or a ball control grind out a few yards here and there situation again.
Can’t wait to see – wish OnlyU could offer some perspective on the playbook.
Ludwig has been calling 100% runs up the middle. All the cool plays you’ve seen were mistakenly called in the huddle.
Is this true, or did this only apply to the flea flicker?
don’t make him explain the joke, it demeans the art
Great, so it’s just me!
Why wouldn’t they open the playbook when we were in a losing situation against SDSU or TDS?! I mean you wouldn’t want to do it against FCS teams, but FBS teams should be fair game, especially if you’re losing. In general, I have never understood the concept of not opening the playbook. I grew up watching a different sport, and there was no such thing as holding back.
This is my thought as well. If we really did hold back against BYU and SDSU, then shame on the coach that made that decision. If there was a year that it was important to beat the zoobs, it was this year. This year has been a huge momentum shift for them.
I really don’t think this happened, but if it did, I don’t know what to say. There is no room for error in CFB. Every game is a must-win game. Unless you’re Bama.
I really believe it wasn’t so much the play calling as it was the teams execution .. those first few games were really rough; probably the youth of the team trying to find their identity .. The difference has been Rising IMO .. but the unfortunate death of Ty and Lowe will bring this team together at a depth few can understand. Tragedy will make this team great regardless . I think we saw just a taste of that against USC . I was very proud and happy to see them play for each other out there, especially after going through what they have .
The terrible offensive line play (which may have been influenced by Brewer) may have been a reason for not calling certain plays. You can’t throw the ball down field if you can’t block long enough for people to get down field.
I think your argument relies on the most likely faulty assumption that we care as much about beating the BYUs and SDSUs of the world as we do about beating our main rivals in the Pac12 south. I don’t know if Ludwig was holding back or not… but what other explanation is there? Plus you only have to go undefeated if you plan on making it to the playoff, which was NEVER going to happen with this team (not this year at the very least). Why worry about going undefeated in OOC games when we still have yet to win the conference championship (a goal that has absolutely nothing to do with OOC games).
If they did in fact hold back plays, and doing so did in fact give us an advantage against USC (where we hadn’t won in a century), then it was completely worth it, even though we lost twice (forget the fact that the play calling in those two games was never the problem. The problem was a lack leadership and continuity resulting from said lack of leadership).
Just win the Pac12 championship. That is our goal. That is what should be our goal. Nothing else (OOC games, national ranking, rivalry bragging rights) matters.
@chinngis, you make some good points but I only partially agree. Some scenarios are interconnected here. Let’s take the 2019 example. Had we won the P12, we’d be 12-1 and practically make the CFP. Had we dropped a non-conference game in this hypothetical scenario, we’d 11-2, P12 champs, but no CFP. No doubt a fantastic achievement, but still a travesty. Of course the goal is to win the P12 first, but the underlying assumption is that it would propel us into the CFP. And it’s not just about the CFP; there could be other things at stake, too — a top-25 ranking, bowl eligibility in a down year, etc. So unless the team is a complete dumpster fire, the goal should be to win every game. Which is why not opening the playbook (at least in a dire situation) doesn’t make sense. I don’t think the coaches held back.
You’re not wrong, but I don’t think the team is worried about the playoff. Their goal is a conference championship. Worrying about the playoff is like worrying about graduating at the top of your class when you’re application has been denied several times over due to a lack of prerequisites. Win the conference first. Prove you can beat a good team in a game that matters, then set your sights on the playoff.
I would agree with the statements that it hasn’t been so much as the play calling but rather the execution. Specifically our o line play as of late. When you are giving a quarterback time to scan the field, and opening lanes for running backs, good things happen. That’s been the difference IMO.
Your opinion on 8PM and later kickoffs at home
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