BillySee58

Why would it ever need to be an either/or relationship between those two variables?

Why would his QBR being higher than those QBs invalidate the statistic? Aune has a higher passer rating than all of them too. They are unbiased quantifications strictly based off of on-field results. It’s not swayed by the QB’s name recognition and prior season accomplishments. If it were, that would invalidate the numbers. It’s unbiased and consistent math, not objective analysis. Again, it’s a quantification of actual on-field results. Aune is 48th in passer rating in the country and was not even top 100 last year. The point here isn’t about other QBs. It’s about the undeniable improvement of results from last year from the same QB. And if you’re saying “can we really trust this statistic if it has him ahead of these other QBs?” The question we probably should be asking is “how are we getting Austin Aune to produce at a higher rate of effectiveness than those QBs?” To answer your question, I would not start Aune over any of those QBs, and I also understand that numbers are what they are, and Aune’s numbers being better speaks to the job Bloesch is doing as both a QB coach and OC.

Is it really though? Aune was 93rd in the country in QBR last year (ESPN’s QB rating metric). This year he’s up to 41st in the country. I know you’re mostly making a joke here but if we’re putting aside our emotions to in-game mistakes aside and analyzing body of work, isn’t that the type of improvement you would attribute to improved Quarterback coaching?

Yes but the tricky part here is that good college QB coaches are usually OCs. Not being able to offer the OC role when going out in the market for QB coaches limits your options. Not that it can’t be done, but guys like Blake Joseph (High School HCs) or lower level college coaches wanting to make the jump is probably the supply you’re looking at. Definite dice rolls.

Yes, we did. Whether it’s Ruder or Earle running some sort of read option, or bringing Kaylon Horton in motion, I just want to see us stretching the defense out and making them defend more than just Oscar Adaway up the middle

We tried going under center on short-yardage in 2020 early in conference play against Charlotte and USM. It didn’t work. Not to say that we are objectively correct in never going back to it since, my point is just that I don’t think it’s ego why we don’t do it. The ego was put aside, just didn’t work out. We were 3/3 on 4th down yesterday and I think a big part of why was because we were making the defense defend the whole field with Kaylon Horton, as opposed to just being able to stack the middle. Under center or shotgun, it’s hard to get anything up the middle when it is being stacked and more guys are shooting in than you have to block.

If you were truly being objective then you would be analyzing based on results-based metrics, not based on whether or not he’s running the formations you prefer. If you’re still getting caught up on that then you aren’t able to really have a nuanced, unbiased conversation about the actual results of the offense that is actually being run.

One thing I have learned from searching OCs names on twitter (OCs we may be interested in becoming our HC) is that every fanbase trashes their OC. Even the best ones. It is incredibly easy to criticize an OC for his playcalling in hindsight after it works. It’s not as easy to trash the results when they are there. We are 13th in the nations in yards/game and 28th in points/game. Bloesch came in after the 2019 season and took over a bad offensive line that everyone attributed the failure of Fine’s last season to, with only two returning linemen with any experience, and pretty much transformed that unit into a good one overnight. We were 5th in the nation in rushing last year, and are 6th this year. The play calling has been creative while finding the right mix of staying true to your foundational plays without being overly stubborn with them. He obviously isn’t perfect and has taken his lumps as a play caller too, but his name doesn’t get mentioned enough on here behind the success we’re having. Probably because he didn’t come in with the name recognition that Harrell did, but he has been every bit as impressive at coordinating an offense.

My post is more for the “geez, does our offense know run plays other than running to the A gap?” folks that I see in the game threads most Saturdays. And obviously any offense will still come down to execution and talent, but just from a scheme standpoint I feel like there is a disconnect between our fan base and our offensive scheme.

Correct. Bloesch played O-Line for him at Houston + coached under Montgomery at Tulsa, and Tate Wallis coached under Briles at Baylor. Those are the two who spearheaded the implementation of this offense here in 2020 after we moved on from Bodie Reeder.

Watch Tennessee on offense (number 1 in the nation in yards and points) and see the similarities in what they run compared to us. The same staples of our offense are the staples of theirs. The wide wide receiver splits with receivers lined up almost out of bounds, the HB dives up the middle, the play action, the vertical receiver routes, etc. I see Bloesch and the offense overall be criticized, particularly for the runs up the middle, usually without the context of the offense we are running (Veer and Shoot). Again, you’ll see the same with Tennessee. Side note: thought Bloesch called a great game Saturday mixing in some jet sweeps, wildcat, and zone-read with Stone Earle to give new wrinkles to our run game to combat stacked boxes. We are 23rd in yards/game this season and I think the job Bloesch has done is very underrated by our fan base.

Great point. Makes way more sense than “a little dinged up” = knowing he’s out for season immediately after the game ended.

The school isn’t the party paying them NIL money

He is supposed to be, but even Aune last year was effective running the ball when he had to in order to solidify his starting job. Aune ran for 50+ yards four times in a five game stretch when he first took over. Now we don’t seem to run him as much, and are treating him like a traditional QB (almost no designed runs and slide after you get the 1st on scrambles). My point is, if these guys have to run to carve out a role, they run much differently than when they’re the established starting QB. Even Stone Earle only had a career high of 49 rushing yards at ACU, but when that’s what role they asked him to fill, he ran with some juice (maybe a little too much). So if we give Ruder a shot as a zone-read package QB, I bet we see him run with much more authority than we saw from him last year as the starting QB.

We’re the only school whose S&C program allows its football players to get injured playing football

Accomplishment achieved: complete a half without throwing a pick six with Austin Aune at quarterback

Jeez. Gotta go a game without throwing a pick six.

Sean-Thomas Faulkner got pancaked something nasty by Robinson

Shorter is 1 TD catch away from being top 10 in school history.

Got the full Aune experience already. Basically threw a pick six and a completed deep ball for a TD in one drive.

Yes

Exactly

Yeah. You know, like the record when you take into account games that we lost but still felt good about how we lost.

4 more wins (FAU, La Tech, FIU, Rice) plus a couple more moral victories would put us at 6-6 overall record but 8-4 moral, arguably 9-3 moral record. Plus whatever the bowl game would bring. I could get behind an extension with that type of moral record.

Hey, if they earn the moral victory then you gotta give it to them.