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One of my theories regarding Littrell


meanrob

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Guess my point is that at our peak we had talent and infrastructure on offense. 

The last couple years we lacked infrastructure which may have affected our talent although I'm not sure Aune is the answer. 

Hopefully with infrastructure this year and possible new talent, we get back on track. 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, meanrob said:

Guess my point is that at our peak we had talent and infrastructure on offense. 

The last couple years we lacked infrastructure which may have affected our talent although I'm not sure Aune is the answer. 

Hopefully with infrastructure this year and possible new talent, we get back on track. 

 

 

 

I think the entirety of the lack of identity goes to not trusting your QB to make basic reads and basic throws. 
 

I posted this in another thread but I have rarely seen a QB with worse footwork than Aune. He is continually moving backwards and throwing off his back foot. When they design specific throws for him, he runs backwards and to the sideline before getting his eyes up. 
 

Some of the issue is offensive line - no doubt about it - but at some point as a QB in the kind of system Littrell wants to run, you have to stand in the pocket and zip a ball into tight windows. Aune showed very little ability to do that consistently. 
 

I don’t know if Gunnell is the answer. But if he has the moxie to stand in there and make the designed throws, I think it will go a long way. 

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Good stuff Rob. I agree.

Also, I'm not going to say we "overrate" Mason Fine. But I think we "underrate" his receiving corp and what they did for him. Look at the 4 receivers he had vs what we had last year. Didn't our top 3 go down with injury? At least our top 2. 

Guyton, Bussey, Lawrence, Darden

Mason Fine was great....but we didn't have 1 receiver with meaningful playing time last year that could crack that top 4.  I would say Roderic Burns, but he would be at best #4 on that list whereas last year he was our #1.

Fine had 3 NFL receivers to throw to. Think about that....3 of his receivers went to the NFL. In the history of our program, we've never had that.

And I'll add....as critical as I've been of Littrell, he still gets a huge amount of credit for changing this offense last season and playing off its strength, running the ball. His ability to adapt was the #1 reason we went on that run late. He gets major kudos for that.

But he's not going to make his living running the ball...he's going to have to get back to a passing game. I think that's what he wants to do.

Hopefully we get healthy WRs and better QB play.

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7 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

Good stuff Rob. I agree.

Also, I'm not going to say we "overrate" Mason Fine. But I think we "underrate" his receiving corp and what they did for him. Look at the 4 receivers he had vs what we had last year. Didn't our top 3 go down with injury? At least our top 2. 

Guyton, Bussey, Lawrence, Darden

Mason Fine was great....but we didn't have 1 receiver with meaningful playing time last year that could crack that top 4.  I would say Roderic Burns, but he would be at best #4 on that list whereas last year he was our #1.

Fine had 3 NFL receivers to throw to. Think about that....3 of his receivers went to the NFL. In the history of our program, we've never had that.

And I'll add....as critical as I've been of Littrell, he still gets a huge amount of credit for changing this offense last season and playing off its strength, running the ball. His ability to adapt was the #1 reason we went on that run late. He gets major kudos for that.

But he's not going to make his living running the ball...he's going to have to get back to a passing game. I think that's what he wants to do.

Hopefully we get healthy WRs and better QB play.

I would never say he was overrated either but I will say I think he didn’t reach his full potential as crazy as that sounds. If he would’ve thrown the ball away sometimes or just taken what the defense was giving I think he would’ve been off the charts good.  Maybe even Kellen Moore good.
 

More like a Peyton Manning approach, he would’ve taken less hits. Then again maybe he was coached into that. 
 

You could also say that style won us a few games (UTSA) and led to some big plays. Certainly led to some great moments. 

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1 hour ago, GrayEagle said:

Good read, Rob.  I also liked what UNT86 added about switching to the running game.  I believe that was responsible for the five-game winning streak.  

Plus, with the exception of UTSA, the teams we beat were the dredges of CUSA.

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On 6/30/2022 at 6:17 AM, Pellom said:


 

I don’t know if Gunnell is the answer. But if he has the moxie to stand in there and make the designed throws, I think it will go a long way. 

And this is what actually made Fine a great QB. He made throws others QBs don’t make (see UTSA throw to Rico) bc he was willing to hang in the pocket long enough for the play to develop. Others bail out sooner and the throw doesn’t happen. How many times did Fine complete a pass and end up flat on his back? 

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9 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

And this is what actually made Fine a great QB. He made throws others QBs don’t make (see UTSA throw to Rico) bc he was willing to hang in the pocket long enough for the play to develop. Others bail out sooner and the throw doesn’t happen. How many times did Fine complete a pass and end up flat on his back? 

Well if the receiving corp is healthy meaning specifically Jyaire and Tommy are back we should be loaded with them and Bryson, Latrell, Maclin, and Roderick.

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23 hours ago, 97and03 said:

And this is what actually made Fine a great QB. He made throws others QBs don’t make (see UTSA throw to Rico) bc he was willing to hang in the pocket long enough for the play to develop. Others bail out sooner and the throw doesn’t happen. How many times did Fine complete a pass and end up flat on his back? 

As if someone read my mind/post.

 

 

 

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On 6/29/2022 at 6:17 PM, Pellom said:

I think the entirety of the lack of identity goes to not trusting your QB to make basic reads and basic throws. 
 

I posted this in another thread but I have rarely seen a QB with worse footwork than Aune. He is continually moving backwards and throwing off his back foot. When they design specific throws for him, he runs backwards and to the sideline before getting his eyes up. 
 

Some of the issue is offensive line - no doubt about it - but at some point as a QB in the kind of system Littrell wants to run, you have to stand in the pocket and zip a ball into tight windows. Aune showed very little ability to do that consistently. 
 

I don’t know if Gunnell is the answer. But if he has the moxie to stand in there and make the designed throws, I think it will go a long way. 

I still believe the lack of a quality QB coach makes a tremendous difference. QB coaches do make a difference. Even at the professional level you can see stories where players discuss the impact of the QB coach on their performance. 

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On 7/5/2022 at 10:55 PM, southsideguy said:

I sometimes wonder if SL had gone KSU would he still be there?  

Depends on how much of that UNT staff went with him.  He’d have needed to retool his defensive staff though.  

A coaching staff is exactly that…a staff, not just one guy.  Even Saban is replacing coaches regularly at Bama.  It’s more about how well he can identify talented assistants, promote and retain or replace.  Seth has shown a willingness to change things up when things aren’t working and he’s worked through a lot of coaching staff turnover after being so successful those first 3 years.  Bringing in Bennett was a phenomenal hire, but he’s been less successful putting together an offensive staff that rivals that first one he had.  

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