How do you think Jimmy Clausen looked?

[BeatSC]

After watching the game again on TIVO yesterday (ouch) I thought with a few minor adjustments (pass protection, stepping up in the pocket & quick slants to Kamara) JC looks like he has come along way since his last start. His arm strength looked improved and he was pretty accurate. I have never seen a team drop so many passes in one game though. He could have easily been 30-40 with 300+ yards. Depsite the dismal record and overall play I am still looking forward to the next game to evaluate what we have to look forward to next year (trying to accentuate the positive). I think we can stop playing the QB roulette now. JC's passes make Evan's look like a high school QBs.

Thoughts???

 

[SoCalDomer]

Weis said in his presser that "we have our qb". Without the dozen or so drops, his 55% completion rate would be much higher and his yards as well. Plus without the drops, the drives continue, leading to more yards, more completion opportunities and more TD opportunities. I'm gald he had success and hope the team learns to block for him so he doesn't get killed.

 

[notredomer23]

lets put it this way. WE NEED MIKE FLOYD, KYLE RUDOLPH, JOHN GOODMAN, AND JOHN BALDWIN. his 22-40 should have been 30-40. Some of these dropped passes were with ROOM to run too.

 

[BeatSC]

Tate, Kamara, Wheaton, AA, Schnidt, Hoard etc

Tate, Kamara, Wheaton, AA, Schnidt, Hoard etc

I think these guys have shown that they can get the job done. I also think that Parris has been good but had a bad game. Also, in the past Grimes has made some huge catches. I think the team has gotten used to the slower sloppier thrown balls of Sharpley. I think Evan steps up better in the pocket but that's about it.

 

[rockne19]

goodman,floyd,kamara,tate(baldwin,walker,robinson hopefully at least 2 of them) BYE BYE GRIMES!

 

[BeatSC]

Agree, Grimes doesn't seem to have much upside. If he was lot faster then maybe. AF ran alot of reverses. I would still like to see a reverse and the use of the shotgun but I guess our center can't be trusted doing that anymore...sad.

 

[RahwayIrish]

Any idea if Sam Young is hurt? He was beaten on every blitz yesterday

 

[jonesman]

I think Jimmy looked much better than earlier in the year. I see two factors in this. First, his ball had more zip and a tighter spiral. Next, I believe the time on the sideline gave him the opportunity to better understand the system. He showed good pocket presence. Our receivers overall had a bad day at the office. Carlson, Grimes, Parris all had key drops. I really think that we have seen the ceiling on Parris. He made some nice catches early in the season and that made teams pay more attention to him. Since that point, he has struggled to get open and definitely struggles making the catch in traffic. Let's get some of the other receivers a few reps. Tate needs to be on the field alot more. Give hims some chances to run the ball on sweeps and do some motion offense with him.

 

[Wham]

His longer passes have too much air. Look too soft. Can't tell if that is an indication of his arm strength or he is trying to "place" the ball.

Otherwise, the best thing I saw from JC was when he got pissed after he got sacked. That was a good sign. The guy is a fighter. I think he is a "rise to the challlenge" kinda guy. Kinda guy you are gonna feel real good about when the team has to come back from 5 points down with 30 seconds and 90 yards to go for the National Championship.

I think we have a winner here.

I don't think Sharp is that bad either though. A worthy competitor.

 

[notredomer23]

His longer passes have too much air. Look too soft. Can't tell if that is an indication of his arm strength or he is trying to "place" the ball.

Otherwise, the best thing I saw from JC was when he got pissed after he got sacked. That was a good sign. The guy is a fighter. I think he is a "rise to the challlenge" kinda guy. Kinda guy you are gonna feel real good about when the team has to come back from 5 points down with 30 seconds and 90 yards to go for the National Championship.

I think we have a winner here.

I don't think Sharp is that bad either though. A worthy competitor.

I think Weis is going to do this off season what he did to quinn to clausen and work on him for hours. I hope to see Clausen bulk up just how quinn did too.

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

We need our OL to play big.

 

[Epitome]

In Grimes defense. He was the only receiver to consistently get open. He could be a game breaker if he starts to hold on to the ball.

 

[Clausen2Kamara]

#1 thing JC should improve on...

#1 thing JC should improve on...

I think its his feel in the pocket. I was at the game and he repeatedly did not feel the pressure...I think we took this facet for granted when we had BQ. I know part of this comes with experience but man, he needs to step up in the pocket and give the play a better chance of working. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that with his HS team, he had all day to throw. I think he got sacked once in 4 years...okay that might be exaggerating a lil bit but you get my point. I hope this is something they can work on in practice. Other than that, I saw the same zip and accuracy which made him the #1 prospect in the nation last year. Countless dropped balls by the usually reliable David Grimes and Robby Parris made him look a little bit worse than what he was. Oh yea, does anybody else feel our offense was greatly impacted by the absence of my boy Duval Kamara?? Thoughts?

 

[goldandblue]

Well, that would definetly be key in being a game breaker!

 

[GoIrish41]

Any idea if Sam Young is hurt? He was beaten on every blitz yesterday

What? He was always blocking his guy. It's the second guy who ran past him when he was blocking. The RBs need to pick up the blitz. They did that better (at least off the edge) in the second half. Young is not the problem.

 

[johnnd05]

You're absolutely right that that was his #1 problem. He's got happy feet ... hard to blame him with the lack of blocking, though.

 

[goldandblue]

His pocket presence and his progression reads.

 

[Wham]

In Grimes defense. He was the only receiver to consistently get open.

Receivers don't just line up and look for the open spot. They are told where to go according to the play called, unless the play call is "hey, get open dude." One overhead replay showed 2 receivers against 6 defenders. In this case it is not the receiver's fault for not getting open, nor is it the qb's fault for not finding the open receiver. Nor is it the line's or rb blocking back's fault for not holding the block for 7 seconds. It is the fault of either a play called at the wrong time, or a poorly designed play. (Totally an opinion here, based on zero facts or review of game film)

He could be a game breaker if he starts to hold on to the ball.

The guy had a bad game.

 

[GoIrish41]

The offense is different without Duval C2K, and Jimmy needs to learn to feel the rush before it gets to him. But, he sure did show some flashes against AF. He's going to live up to the hype if he's given time to throw.

 

[fortwayne_nd]

What? He was always blocking his guy. It's the second guy who ran past him when he was blocking. The RBs need to pick up the blitz. They did that better (at least off the edge) in the second half. Young is not the problem.

The announcers mentioned that TT is the best running back pass blocker but I noticed he was rarely in on obvious passing plays. I agree the RBs need to step it up with pass protection. Rolling the QB out of the pocket once in a while also helps.

 

[GoshenGipper]

The announcers mentioned that TT is the best running back pass blocker but I noticed he was rarely in on obvious passing plays. I agree the RBs need to step it up with pass protection. Rolling the QB out of the pocket once in a while also helps.

What? He was mostly responsible for JC getting killed on those blind side blitzes. I don't know how he couldn't see them comming. It's not like AFA disguised them really well. I was calling them sitting in the stands.

Receivers don't just line up and look for the open spot. They are told where to go according to the play called, unless the play call is "hey, get open dude." One overhead replay showed 2 receivers against 6 defenders. In this case it is not the receiver's fault for not getting open, nor is it the qb's fault for not finding the open receiver. Nor is it the line's or rb blocking back's fault for not holding the block for 7 seconds. It is the fault of either a play called at the wrong time, or a poorly designed play. (Totally an opinion here, based on zero facts or review of game film)

That's what happens when teams don't respect your running game.

 

[big daddy]

I think Jimmy did well yesterday. He is still young and next year he will be better. All he needs is time to do what he does best, this OL has struggled this year but I truly feel next year will be different. I have a feeling that at the end of the year some coaching heads are going to roll.

 

[Junkhead]

I think he looked MUCH better than earlier in the season. We have to remember this was against Air Force, but he didn't seem to get rattled, and seems to be one of the few on the team who has shows any emotion. If the receivers didn't suck so bad, it would've been better. What is up with Grimes dropping passes and laughing afterwards?

 

[Junkhead]

Any idea if Sam Young is hurt? He was beaten on every blitz yesterday

Welcome to IE, but have you ever watched football before? The RBs are were the ones not picking up the blitz for the most part, Young's responsibility is the RE and maybe RT.

 

[fortwayne_nd]

What? He was mostly responsible for JC getting killed on those blind side blitzes. I don't know how he couldn't see them comming. It's not like AFA disguised them really well. I was calling them sitting in the stands.

Maybe my memory is bad. I can clearly remember Thomas picking up a blitzer and the fullback in particular missing his assignment. Its unusual for Thomas to be in other than on goal line plays. I'm sure I'll see a replay of the game this week, I'll try to do a better job of tracking whose in at RB when the sacks occurred.

 

[GoshenGipper]

What? He was mostly responsible for JC getting killed on those blind side blitzes. I don't know how he couldn't see them comming. It's not like AFA disguised them really well. I was calling them sitting in the stands.

Maybe my memory is bad. I can clearly remember Thomas picking up a blitzer and the fullback in particular missing his assignment. Its unusual for Thomas to be in other than on goal line plays. I'm sure I'll see a replay of the game this week, I'll try to do a better job of tracking whose in at RB when the sacks occurred.

I'll take another look at it too since I only watched it in person so far, but I thought they both missed the corner blitzes at times.

 

[BeatSC]

Quick Slant

Quick Slant

Kamara ran the quick 7 yard slant pattern right over the middle in the second half of the Purdue game and they couldn't stop it. I haven't seen it since! I would like to see some more shotgun (if we can snap the ball). the bubble screen and the shovel pass. The latter 2 would be perfect for AA. The bubble screen was run alot by Ty to Rhema McKnight and worked pretty good. I think CW should hire and Offensive Coordinator so he can focus more on being the head coach. Maybe he can be more objective. Kind of like letting JC watch the games from the sideline so he can see it from a slower perspective.

 

[Clausen2Kamara]

Kamara ran the quick 7 yard slant pattern right over the middle in the second half of the Purdue game and they couldn't stop it. I haven't seen it since! I would like to see some more shotgun (if we can snap the ball). the bubble screen and the shovel pass. The latter 2 would be perfect for AA. The bubble screen was run alot by Ty to Rhema McKnight and worked pretty good. I think CW should hire and Offensive Coordinator so he can focus more on being the head coach. Maybe he can be more objective. Kind of like letting JC watch the games from the sideline so he can see it from a slower perspective.

Agreed 100% bro...

 

[Clausen2Kamara]

but then again JC had 2 games 2 watch, I think he will learn more from playing now, its hard 2 simualate a game-day rush in practice...JC will be okay but will our o-line let him actually utilize his skills? That is yet 2 be seen...

 

[wahoo]

We need our OL to play big.

I've been waiting on that all season. Heck, the line wasn't all that good the last two years...too many sacks. Until we get major improvement from the O-Line and the defense, we will continue to be disappointed.