Hell I never knew who I was to begin with. Or is that he never knew? It's like being lost when you don't GAF where you at.
Agreed. I really don't think Etling was that sharp on his medium and longer passes. If he can improve there and really keep the safeties deep, watch out!
To be fair, Mizzou is light in the ass, which is a hold over from their Big 12 days (they still have that mentality), which makes it easier for us to push them around. But, I do believe our play calling had a good deal to do with things.
He isn't good at all with the deep ball. But, neither was Tim Tebow, so who really cares? If he can be effective short and medium, that will be enough against pretty much anyone. We just need to get the ball in the hands of our play makers in stride without them having to comeback for it, or dive for it, and we will have a powerful offense.
We were organized Saturday night... efficient, smooth, crisp.... I think the fresh legs factor played into it. So did the mix-it-up play calling. We're a power running team. That's who we are. Power running teams need the short-intermediate passing game to keep the chains moving. To keep the defense guessing. To spread the ball around. And to keep possession of the ball as we drive down the field... scoring points + chewing up clock + keeping your own defense off the field is a great recipe for winning. No. Coach O didn't change who we are. He and Coach Ensminger changed how we do it. Throwing to the Tight Ends, quick slants, check downs to the backs are all easy, efficient ways to move the chains and mix it up. And then what happens is a WR or TE breaks a tackle and a quick pass turns into a big gain. Which creates momentum. And mixing it up makes the opposing D Coordinator think about what he's doing and they can't load the box on us. They have to defend so much more of the field. I liked what I saw Saturday night. We don't have to turn into Texas Tech or Baylor to have a great team. We've got a pretty stout defense. Offense needs to move the chains and put some points on the board. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching our guys break the huddle quickly, get to the line quickly and execute play after play. The formula I saw Saturday night makes us a scary team. I realize it was Mizzou, but I think we can execute this offense against almost anyone.
Did I hear correctly, 9 different receivers caught passes? 9?? That blows my mind and is quite a change from run, run, throw deep to Dural. Granted we had gotten away from that a bit this year but for two seasons with Jennings and Harris that was our entire game plan.
Or maybe Missouri doesn't do well against teams with good defenses. I think the case can be made for both.
I agree with @P&G_wheelz007 that we do not need the long pass for success. Keep the chains moving and eat clock is recipe for wins. Etling just needs to put the ball in the hands of the playmakers and let them run. It is more exciting, to me anyway, to see a quick slant and watch a guy take it to the house.
