If you think about it, the only 2 that come to mind is a bomb to Byrd against Bama and a bomb to Byrd against Auburn. Flynn didn't play against Middle Tennessee, so those are 2-3 chances down the tube right there.
Bottom line, we have to be able to stretch the field, otherwise it will be like throwing a pass from inside the 15 yard line that has to go for a touchdown. Not an easy task.
He'll be fine throwing the "long-ish" ball. If all he's doing is throwing the intermediate passes and a safety creeps up...like you say...Crowton's going to call a bomb and Hatch will be more comfortable throwing it with fewer defenders in coverage. Whether he connects on it or not, the opposing DC will get the point that LSU will throw the long ball and pull his safety back into coverage. Our receivers are too good and a great receiver can turn an average or even a bad throw into a TD run.
The problem is he is underthrowing the deep ball in practice, which means incompletion or interception every time.....which in turn means no respect for the long ball I don't know any other way to put it......it aint' good
Good discussion so far, glad that I found this board (it was mentioned on the lsusportspalace website , which I found from AndtheValleyShook - sort of a circuitous route!). One thought about this that I haven't seen mentioned yet about Hatch's ability (or lack thereof) to stretch the field vertically, is that Crowton also does a good job of stretching the field horizontally, and getting the playmakers in space near the line of scrimmage. Flare passes, quick screens, option pitches from the pistol, misdirection, etc., combined with effective use of the TE over the middle, make over-committing dangerous. While the defense might stop more of these plays quickly if they crowd the line, they better make the tackles, because there's not as much of a second line of defense to recover if the first guy misses his tackle.
Good points to ponder. Making guys miss seems to be something our players are adept at, and the opposing DC would also have to consider that when drawing up the gameplan. It would only take a long catch and run or two to back them back up.
Welcome to the board! You get an 'A' for your first post, simply for using the "circuitous" correctly in a sentence. A Tigerforums first! Clair actually addressed what you mention with his "run after catch" scenario. Although you expanded on that quite nicely.
Ahh, read back over and you're right, he did talk about it already. Here's one of my favorite plays from this year, that's exactly the sort of play I think he's talking about - KW's TD against Auburn on a flare pass/screen: KW Auburn TD BTW the same play went for a TD in the spring game except from J. Lee to Richard Murphy on a blitz. Crowton ran that play against Ohio State also, but Cam Heyward sniffed it out and tackled KW for no gain - otherwise he would have been off to the races. Crowton's offense certainly is a lot of fun to watch - but that's another topic entirely.
When Crowton left Oregon one of the complaints by their fans to give crednece to the theory they wouldn't miss him was that he ran a short passing attack. Basically he takes advantage of the skill set his players have and gets a ot out of them.
I'd rather throw short and safe passes and have them complete than throw riskier passes and have them intercepted.
