I was listening to "Penny for your Thoughts", and Loren was implying on the handoff plays where Juice and the running back come together and pause and then one takes off one way and one the other, that whoever got the ball was called in the huddle. I certainly have believed (and continue to believe) that that is a zone read performed by Juice based on how the defense reacts.

The obvious example of this play would be the long run by LeShoure. Can someone confirm this for me or tell me I'm way off base?

My understanding is that for most plays, it's a true option and a read on Juice's part. But like many option plays, it's not a "read" of the entire defense - it's a read of one specific player (frequently the DE) and how that one specific player reacts. The read is not the same player for every play, but each play has a designated player that the QB is supposed to read. I don't remember where I heard this though, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I heard this to and was a bit suprised that Tate thought it was called in who got the ball. It is a read for Juice. It's almost always a read on a unblocked DE or linebacker.

The read is not always in play. Depending on how the d covers up might determine the direction of the play before hand.

This really has been one of juices strengths. Not just to make the correct read but the mechanics of the handoff. One of the primary reasons leshore ran for 70 was because the entire d thought juice kept the ball.

And one he still doesn't get enough credit for. Alot of the long runs don't happen without Juice's impeccable timing on pitches/option reads.

Weird that they would say that. I'm sure a small portion are called, but for the most part it's a read on one player, usually the DE.

and this is one of my main criticisms of Zook & Co

why they have not run the offense our players are best suited to succeed at -- yet for 1 1/2 seasons, and likely still this weekend, they call the types of pass plays, and an amount of them compared to runs in a ratio better suited for Kittner than Juice

I know Juice cant run the ball 25 times a game, but there is nothing wrong with doing it alot in the 1 st qtr, on the first two series, and gradually working in some throws.

if I see us come out the first two series this weekend, pretending we're a passing first team, I'll know with 100% certainty Zook is an absolute idiot.

I think I know he's an idiot already, but I agree. Mindblowing that we somehow started to fall in love with the pass.

And fall in step to the idea of taming Juice into a pocket passer.

To be fair I think the number of pass attempts are a result of adjusting to what the d gives us. 3 of the first 7 plays were completed pass plays. One of those run plays was actually a pass designed for Benn. It appeared as though he did not run the correct route. The flair route to leshore was a very well thrown timing pass. Michigan was droping a safety in the box. The completed pass made them second guess and adjust their d. It seemed as though every time they began to commit to the run again we completed a crucial pass or turned it over on downs.

I don't think shultz deserves any awards but we were playing poorly before he arrived. He was succesfull as a play aller in previous seasons. I don't think he forgot how to call a game. The more likly culprit is zook. I remember before the season shultz making a comment regarding having a hard time meetng with zook because he was so busy. They had to meet at 6 in the morning to make time. And they only met for 15 minutes. That shocked me I guess. Here is the guys taking over your system and u are to busy to meet with him? I really believe it's been a learning curve for shultz. Here's hoping he has figured it out.

Zook seems to have a great deal of energy, but one can only wonder what he does with it in terms of getting positive results. I tend to think that Zook got in the way of Schultz being as effective as he could or it could be Schultz adapting to his players in terms of using schemes that would work. If it was the latter, it sure took a long time! A little more option all season with the well timed pass would have worked wonders.

I think that project started last year and kept going until the Michigan game. It is to be hoped it's been scrapped for the next five weeks.

I think its more that defenses have taken away the deep pass, and blitz juice up the middle.

Plus the defense has been bad enough that we are falling behind and forced to pass.


Other teams are taking away what we do well, and unfortunately our coaches have been unable to adjust the scheme to paly to Juices strengths. ie can someone tell me why we dont roll the pocket?

Flight, I am going to write Ron Zook and nominate you for FOOTBALL COORDINATOR OF COMMON SENSE. Every team needs one. You will also be HONORARY ADVISOR for calling time outs.