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Aune’s 1st Start - Statistical Perspective


BillySee58

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I agree.  After rewatching the game I feel better about everything except the run defense.  We gifted that game to them with all the mistakes we made.  Bad mistakes, but mistakes that are easily correctable. 

Aune's first fumble is just carelessness with the ball in the pocket and I'm sure it will be worked on in practice. The second fumble was on an zone read play where the running back is our 4th string rb, Smith.  Not saying it was the rb's fault, but that they probably haven't had too much time together in the backfield.  Darden's pass was underthrown, but possibly should have been caught. The White pass was overthrown and could have been caught but only by making an exceptional catch.  I put that on Aune.  Two others were on the wr just not catching it and then he threw a ball way over Simpson's head who he later connected with.  This gives me hope for Aune. 

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27 minutes ago, greenminer said:

How did Fine, Vizza, and Scott Hall grade in the eye test for their first start?

Fine and Hall both had something from the start. Vizza wasn’t so sure about even though it was obvious he could sling it. I wasn’t here for Maher’s first game but people that were liked him instantly. Even Riley had a presence about him. 

It’s not a failsafe prediction, he could gradually get better, some do. 

Having said that, you don’t get some OL help, stop falling behind quickly and better playcalling and it’s all moot. 

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11 minutes ago, meanrob said:

Fine and Hall both had something from the start. Vizza wasn’t so sure about even though it was obvious he could sling it. I wasn’t here for Maher’s first game but people that were liked him instantly. Even Riley had a presence about him. 

It’s not a failsafe prediction, he could gradually get better, some do. 

Having said that, you don’t get some OL help, stop falling behind quickly and better playcalling and it’s all moot. 

Aune doesn't appear to have the "it" factor that we tend to hold our hopes for, but I think he has demonstrated this weekend that he could service this offense if provided the opportunity.  We have so many weapons around the field, we don't need another Fine/Hall.  Just a guy who gets the ball to the right players at the right time.

When I say "provided the opportunity", I mean the same thing you said in your last point: he needs OL help, good playcalling, and better starts out of the gate.

...even better would be a damn good defense, but that appears out of the question under SL.

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18 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

 

Let’s not forget Fine’s first start he was just 11-22 for 108 yards against an FCS school. The next week against Florida he was 6-22 for 66 yards. He threw 6 touchdown passes for the whole season. Sure we can say he showed something, but let’s not make it seem like he was good from the get go.

I get there’s a huge difference from a 27-year old redshirt sophomore and a 19-year old true freshman, but Aune is well ahead of where Fine was when he took over the starting job. Of course we shouldn’t expect as big of a leap as Fine made, but he’s going to get better with more reps just as every multi-year starting QB should. Even if he doesn’t have the “it” factor.

I’m cool with that. Like I said, it’s not set in stone. However, the idea that any QB gets better with reps is not set in stone either. We’ve had a long list who didn’t. 

Also, I think I could make the case that Fine was better in his head than Aune. Although Fine had a bad habit of holding the ball too long. Also some of it isn’t Aune. I’m not sold SL is making his quarterbacks better. Then again with no QB coach or designated OC this whole season may be a wash and nothing concrete will be determined by it. 

In the end, I just want obvious improvement at the position. Having a four year starter should’ve given us the leeway to be ready for this year.

Edited by meanrob
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8 hours ago, meanrob said:

Even Riley had a presence about him. 

Ball State, I remember. I was all pumped for the season thinking we had turned a corner, then the following week we lost the most grueling double overtime monsoon of a game in my life and never got back on track. That loss took a toll both physically and mentally on many folks, including players, coaches, and fans alike.

Edited by Cr1028
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6 hours ago, greenminer said:

How did Fine, Vizza, and Scott Hall grade in the eye test for their first start?

Had to dig in the archives for this one ...

Scott Hall's first start was as a true freshman on September 16, 2000, at UNLV. 

Stat wise, it was a less-than-stellar performance. Hall was 9 of 17 for 78 yards with no TDs and no INTs. He rushed 8 times for 21 yards.

Richard Bridges and Spencer Stack also saw action at quarterback. North Texas lost 38-0. 

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Hall was a true freshman, and we were running a ground-and-pound offense (and in 2000, we still had a lot of option in it) when he came on board. We had a total of 209 pass attempts on the season, with Hall accounting for 154 of them (last year we had 454, 504 in 2018).

I remember him coming in for the opener vs Baylor, and one of his first passes was an overthrow, and that's why I remember it. He was like a breath of fresh air. We've had athletes like that over the years, who, for one reason or another, seemed to have IT.... a lot of times historically for us it's at RB, but guys like Hall, Booger, Trice, Kassell also had it.

I don't know that it's a fair comparison to make with Aune at this time, if only because of his directly following Mason here. 

And I think we're in a problem situation because our defense is so bad and undermanned that without a QB who has IT, I'm not sure we can win much of anything. I think if everything was solid, you could have someone bus-drive the offense to an above-average/winning season in our conference. We, unfortunately, aren't in that position. So, to me, Aune isn't a problem right now, I just don't know if he's a solution, either, and I'd prefer a world where he didn't absolutely HAVE to be.

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7 hours ago, meanrob said:

Fine and Hall both had something from the start. Vizza wasn’t so sure about even though it was obvious he could sling it. I wasn’t here for Maher’s first game but people that were liked him instantly. Even Riley had a presence about him. 

It’s not a failsafe prediction, he could gradually get better, some do. 

Having said that, you don’t get some OL help, stop falling behind quickly and better playcalling and it’s all moot. 

With Riley every time he touched the ball it seemed like something good could happen. I believe Mr. Dodge had the "it" factor until injuries took their toll. 

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6 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

Ball State, I remember. I was all pumped for the season thinking we had turned a corner, then the following week we lost the most grueling double overtime monsoon of a game in my life and never got back on track. That loss took a toll both physically and mentally on many folks, including players, coaches, and fans alike.

That Ohio game was the height of misery in retrospect. It wasn't the first UNT game I had ever attended, but it was my first as a student.

Edited by Christopher Walker
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