Mid Season thoughts

[SteveO]

1. Loss of the OC just before the 2016 season #1 issue. Love Coach Spack but had his chance this year to bring someone in for 2017. Let's hope this is addressed in the off-season. He will have chance to get an early start.
2. Koble - great character, a proven leader (see his HS accomplishments) and the most competitive guy on the team. His fellow players love him as do the coaches. Coach Spack said it best after the NAU game paraphrasing "maybe some of the players aren't what we thought they were". That would be Kolbe. Decent arm strength and accuracy but lacks foot speed and decision making skills when the pocket starts to collapse. He is afraid to get hurt when he runs with the ball and thus runs very timidly. The sad part is that he can run with it - see the Iowa game. Go ahead and blow me up guys but until the coaches realize that Kolbe is not the answer, expect for the Birds to continue to struggle offensively.

 

[birds_will_b_dancing]

The thing that strikes me at midseason is the unpredictability of Redbird Football.

Last year we win at Northwestern and then drop the next two to EIU and Indiana St.
This year we start 4-0 and then get drilled by two unranked teams. Go figure.

Both seasons we were frustrated after six games. Last year we were sitting at 2-4 this year at 4-2.
Last year's team rallied to win 4 of the last 5 with a victory over a very good South Dakota St. team.

It will be harder to rally this year with the solid lineup of ranked opponents but who can say for sure?

Some guesses are better than others but no one can say for sure which players will develop over time or which player will have a great game on a given day or when the Redbirds will win again.

I can't do it. Coach Spack can't do it. Yes even fourthandshort is unable to do it. :shock:

So color me disappointed but not disinterested. How will Illinois State do as an underdog?
Can we shock the 'yotes of South Dakota? I'm intrigued and I'll be there to find out. Hope you will be too.

Most every good team will lose a game they probably should have won during a season. NDSU is probably the best case in point in that regard. They have dropped a game that past couple of seasons but it was only ONE game. The second part is they did not get blown off the field doing it. The good teams, really good teams, may stumble but they are generally very consistent game in and game out. This Redbird team, a bit like last year, appears to be all over the place. I attended the SDSU game last year and even though I was hoping for a win in the only game I could see in person last year, SDSU was rolling and it did not look like the Redbirds could stay with them. What a great experience to be there for that game and a big win over the Jackrabbits. Can they Redbirds do it again this season. Sure they can but not if they continue as they have. I don't see the enthusiasm with the players either as many on this board have commented. Some is frustration I am sure but they also look to be unsure and unprepared. They definitely do not look confidant or have any swagger that the dominant teams display, at least not to me they don't.
I thought Clark did a great job getting the all Senior O-Line on track last season after a very shaky start. I have been thinking lately why did and experience, very good, all senior starting O-Line get off to such a terrible start in 2016. That O-Line should have been the anchor of that offense but they did not play very well until about 6 games into the season. Now looking back maybe it was a part-time O-Line coach and once he focused his entire attention on a failing unit that should have been the strength of the team they came around. This year with a very young O-Line they need a coach to give them full time attention. I just don't think you can have part time position coaches. I don't think it works.
Last year Coach Spack did not have many options. Beathard left suddenly at a time when a quality experienced O-Coordinator was not likely to be found. Coach Spack did what he could but it should have been adjusted for in the off season. Kolbe is not developing and the offense is stagnant. We have solid running backs that can not get out of their own backfield. Opposing defenses look like they have a copy of the ISU playbook and essentially they do. Offensive Coordinator is not a shared or part time job. It needs someone's full attention.
No organization that is effective splits responsibility and leadership at key positions like Offensive Coordinator. There has to be some one individual setting the offensive philosophy and the same person keeping everyone on track with that philosophy. Splitting leads to confusion and division. Who is calling the shots, who is responsible for what? It is just bad organizational structure.
Last but not least...don't be so certain that fourthandshort can not predict which players will develop over time or which player will have a great game on a given day or when the Redbirds will win again. With his vault stuffed full of a cornucopia stats, Massey ratings, I think he just may be able to!
Win or lose, I will be there watching next Saturday as long as the ESPN3 stream holds out (probably about 5 minutes or so).
My last thought...I went to one game last season (SDSU) since I was in Chicago for business and drove down for the game. I can not for the life of me figure out why Hancock is not full every week. A great level of football for next to nothing cost of tickets and a really improved physical environment at Hancock. I would be there every Saturday with season tickets if I still lived in Illinois. My schedule did not work out this year but I hope to be back for a game in 2018. Once a Redbird...always a Redbird! Go State!
(FYI, my wife did not go to ISU but thanks to ESPN3 she has been converted. Doing my part to build the fan base from Southeastern Virginia!)

"Last year the all senior O-line struggled for the first 6 games". The "fix" didn't just occur with those seniors. It wasn't until they replaced a senior with a sophomore, Chad Kanugh, and shuffled senior Cam Lee to tackle at game 7 that re-established the line. More shuffling seems to be in the works this year too as a lot of redshirt freshman played in the Southern Illinois game.
Starting several redshirt freshman at this level though is just a recipe for disaster. The game is way too fast and the opposing DLs players are too explosive to have redshirt freshman in the lineup. One redshirt freshman maybe, but two or three shouldn't even be considered.
The O-line that started the season this year hasn't played together since game two when Drew and Dean got hurt, even though Dean and Drew played in the Southern Illinois game. Should be going back to what you thought was good in August before "panicking" and reshuffling the entire deck after one loss. No continuity just leads to miscommunication and poor play in my opinion.
By the way, the season is far from over. Every game now should be considered our playoff game. We have the talent, but need all three phases of the game to be clicking to get into the playoffs.

 

[MadBird]

1. Loss of the OC just before the 2016 season #1 issue. Love Coach Spack but had his chance this year to bring someone in for 2017. Let's hope this is addressed in the off-season. He will have chance to get an early start.
2. Koble - great character, a proven leader (see his HS accomplishments) and the most competitive guy on the team. His fellow players love him as do the coaches. Coach Spack said it best after the NAU game paraphrasing "maybe some of the players aren't what we thought they were". That would be Kolbe. Decent arm strength and accuracy but lacks foot speed and decision making skills when the pocket starts to collapse. He is afraid to get hurt when he runs with the ball and thus runs very timidly. The sad part is that he can run with it - see the Iowa game. Go ahead and blow me up guys but until the coaches realize that Kolbe is not the answer, expect for the Birds to continue to struggle offensively.

Totally agree with #1.

#2, we can all see what we see this year. More is needed. But it isn't like Kolbe is a "bust". He's already in the top 10 in career TD passes, and will be #7 with a couple more. Looks to me like he's already #6 in career pass completions. #7 in career passing yards. He's NOT in the top 20 in career interceptions. #2 in career pass completion percentage. Top 10 in passing yards per game. #3 in passing efficiency per game, and probably has moved up since the start of the year. #3 in average yards per pass (and again has probably moved up since the year started).

Now I know liars figure and figures lie. But lets give Kolbe his due. He's a damn good QB who's having a bad stretch. He's played better and he can play better and chances are good he will play better, maybe even this Saturday. He needs more from his WR's maybe.

So, I go back to #1. We need to get some plays going to get Kolbe comfortable, to maximize his talents, to capitalize on his strengths. And get that OL pushing and playing with some swagger. Bring back some of those studs from the "old days" to pump those boys up in the pre-game!!

 

[TreRoberson4Heisman]

I’m curious to knkw how much copy-cat the coaching staff does. I’d like Kolbe to do more Play Action some Trubisky-esque bootlegs. Get his body moving so he doesn’t have happy feet in the pocket.

 

[BEAT THE BISON]

Dropback QB's are too one dimensional, give Kobe some plays!!! And if He cant do this, bring Broadnax in for good!!! OL was just standing around on its blocks!!! You could see the team quit during the SIU game!!! If they come unprepared against SD, look for a empty stadium after halftime!!! We never see the Bison play like SH*T!!!

My pick SD 48 Deadbirds 0!!!!

Playoffs, Rankings, HA LOL!!!!

The Bison game is going to be very Ugly!!!

 

[Source]

I’m curious to knkw how much copy-cat the coaching staff does. I’d like Kolbe to do more Play Action some Trubisky-esque bootlegs. Get his body moving so he doesn’t have happy feet in the pocket.

Kolbe does not do PA well. He holds the ball out dramatically (unlike when he actually hands it off) and then never puts it in the gut of the running back. If he were to touch the RB's stomach with the ball and pull it out, the PA allusion would work a lot better. When Kolbe snaps the ball, within a second everyone knows if its a run or pass. The lone exception this season has been at NAU when he actually kept the ball on the Read-Option and gained 8-10 yards.

 

[Hamdonger]

I’m curious to knkw how much copy-cat the coaching staff does. I’d like Kolbe to do more Play Action some Trubisky-esque bootlegs. Get his body moving so he doesn’t have happy feet in the pocket.

Kolbe does not do PA well. He holds the ball out dramatically (unlike when he actually hands it off) and then never puts it in the gut of the running back. If he were to touch the RB's stomach with the ball and pull it out, the PA allusion would work a lot better. When Kolbe snaps the ball, within a second everyone knows if its a run or pass. The lone exception this season has been at NAU when he actually kept the ball on the Read-Option and gained 8-10 yards.

I don't understand that. Getting better at PA is simply repetition (practice), and to me, a fundamental of the position.

 

[Adunk33]

A few concerns:

1.) If your OL is having a lot of trouble, does having a PT OL coach make sense if he is also focusing on the overall offensive strategy? I don't believe it does. I don't want Dicken calling the plays though. Perhaps the offseason is when we need to name a FT OC.

2.) Are we really suffering because we didn't bring in a transfer OL who could start for us, probably two? I believe we are. I think we had one or two guys in the pipeline who ended up not materializing. Spack has been able to bring in several stud OL that we have been able to plug in, and we just weren't able to this year.

3.) Our standard DB move seems to be to not play the ball. Deti has been here seven years. I'd like to hear from him and Spack as to why our DBs continue to do this. Are they being taught to? Could you give me the reason why?

regarding your item 3 .. pass defense techniques. Only time you should play the man only is when you are beat by 2 steps or more. If you are within a step, you ought to teach them how/when to look for ball. Against NAU, their TE had medium post route .. Holm had him perfectly covered but ball sailed right by his head into TEs chest .. commentators marveled at how perfectly thrown the ball was .. and I'm thinking if Kolbe threw that exact same ball against NAU, it would have been picked. Reminded me of Richmond playoff game when everyone said how their QB shredded our DBs and our DBs couldn't cover .. I'm thinking, our DBs are covering .. they just aren't looking for ball.

At some point, our pass coverage needs to play the ball too in certain situations. Needs to be taught and allowed in right situations !!!!

ISU has been unable to prevent several deep passes down the sideline. Redbird defenders have frequently been unable to find the football while it is in the air.

According to Spack, his defensive backs must first be in the proper position and then “look and lean” or look back for the ball while leaning into the receiver.

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If the defender is trailing the receiver, he must try to get his hands in between the receivers’ hands ("the basket") and disrupt the catch.

“Sometimes receivers are real smart, too,” said Spack. “They wait til the very end and throw up their hands really fast.”

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/isu-aggressively-seeks-end-to-skid/article_208a57c7-721d-5882-9d3d-204164ed8b1d.html

 

[Total Red]

"Last year the all senior O-line struggled for the first 6 games". The "fix" didn't just occur with those seniors. It wasn't until they replaced a senior with a sophomore, Chad Kanugh, and shuffled senior Cam Lee to tackle at game 7 that re-established the line.

Let's be clear about the "fix". It did come after six games. In those first six games we faced the three best defensive lines of the season with the best defensive ends - YSU (check the NFL draft) NDSU and Northwestern.
Our senior RT Gelber had to go up against some extremely good competition and he helped on the winning drive against NW.

I'm not saying that moving Lee to tackle and bringing Kanugh in wasn't an effective move but we would have seen improvement on the O-Line regardless because the competition wasn't as difficult.