11 wins with qbs that are probably in bottom 25% as far as throwing

[saulpaul21]

Amazing we won 11 games with qbs that were so bad at passing. Offense the year before was way better at consistently moving the ball. Our stats only look good cuz of the big plays we had this year.

Last years qb with this year's team? I think we would be undefeated and in Boises spot. Anyone think different?

 

[Pistol Pete 1]

I already mentioned elsewhere that if Haj could pass we would be playing this weekend instead. Totally agree.

 

[Rosegreen1]

Hard to criticize Hajj, like Sluka, his numbers were not good in terms of percentages in completions.

BUT when we needed a play, they made it happen. The other thing is, Hajj was not rattled last night. He was calm cool and collected. That has an impact and Hajj is a good QB for a team built on complementary football (meaning you need a QB to NOT turn the ball over).


So while the stats aren’t pretty, he did his job. Next season will be a different story and CDM did say they are running a spread offense.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Amazing we won 11 games with qbs that were so bad at passing. Offense the year before was way better at consistently moving the ball. Our stats only look good cuz of the big plays we had this year.

Last years qb with this year's team? I think we would be undefeated and in Boises spot. Anyone think different?

I do.

We would have been far less effective in the run game.

Maiava puts the ball in danger a lot.

We finish with about the same record.

Hajj struggled down the stretch but saying he couldn't pass when he had a pretty high completion percentage and threw for around 2k yards in 9 games seems kinda harsh.

 

[RebelinWA]

Amazing we won 11 games with qbs that were so bad at passing. Offense the year before was way better at consistently moving the ball. Our stats only look good cuz of the big plays we had this year.

Last years qb with this year's team? I think we would be undefeated and in Boises spot. Anyone think different?

Hard to say. I think we would had have at least one more win. Lets look at QB stats for the three losses.

1 V Syracuse. Hajj played well against Syracuse, he was 21/25 passing for 227 with 57 yards on the ground. Other than the lone interception, I m not sure how much better we could have done there with a passing QB.

2. V Boise. Against Boise went 12/21 with 179 yards with 144 rushing. Here I think another QB might have won this game.

3. @ Boise. 13/28 for 110 yards and 98 on the ground. I think it would have been closer here, but the result would have been the same. Boise's defense was dialed in. Our pass protection was suspect here.

 

[j. spilotro]

Hard to criticize Hajj, like Sluka, his numbers were not good in terms of percentages in completions.

BUT when we needed a play, they made it happen. The other thing is, Hajj was not rattled last night. He was calm cool and collected. That has an impact and Hajj is a good QB for a team built on complementary football (meaning you need a QB to NOT turn the ball over).


So while the stats aren’t pretty, he did his job. Next season will be a different story and CDM did say they are running a spread offense.

I’d rather had played in the playoff and been smoked …. And that’s what would have happened. Don’t know why he regressed so badly but he ended the season with a Steve Sax or Armani Rogers syndrome.

But was also thinking …. Let’s say we beat Syracuse (OT loss) and beat Boise regular season (tight home loss) and then lost to Boise in the MWC championship …. We’d have likely ended up in the same spot as last night …. A better season overall, much better …. But we’d be feeling a hell of a lot worse.

 

[Pistol Pete 1]

I do.

We would have been far less effective in the run game.

Maiava puts the ball in danger a lot.

We finish with about the same record.

Hajj struggled down the stretch but saying he couldn't pass when he had a pretty high completion percentage and threw for around 2k yards in 9 games seems kinda harsh.

I’m a harsh guy.

 

[Rosegreen1]

Well let’s not forget that most had this team winning 7-8 games. They definitely overachieved.

It looked like Hajj regressed but people don’t realize that Ricky White was almost always blanketed with double coverage. Cain and everyone else had a tough time emerging as a #2 option with drops and bad routes, then there’s Hajj hanging on to the ball too long. There’s a lot that goes into it, but again the number one thing for Hajj was to not turn it over. Complementary football.

Under CDM’s offense, you’ll be required to make a decision in a couple seconds and know where the mismatch is. That’s the whole point of CDMs offense, spreading the Defense and identifying the mismatch. CDM also values accurate passers. So we will see a totally different approach and look next season.

 

[j. spilotro]

Well let’s not forget that most had this team winning 7-8 games. They definitely overachieved.

It looked like Hajj regressed but people don’t realize that Ricky White was almost always blanketed with double coverage. Cain and everyone else had a tough time emerging as a #2 option with drops and bad routes, then there’s Hajj hanging on to the ball too long. There’s a lot that goes into it, but again the number one thing for Hajj was to not turn it over. Complementary football.

Under CDM’s offense, you’ll be required to make a decision in a couple seconds and know where the mismatch is. That’s the whole point of CDMs offense, spreading the Defense and identifying the mismatch. CDM also values accurate passers. So we will see a totally different approach and look next season.

The thing is, many times especially late in the season, he had some easy throws weren’t even close. Yes, he had some drops along the way. But he was way off on some simple wide open passes …. Like a putter with the yips. You could see he didn’t have confidence in his passing. Quicker to run, was slow with reads as it was anyway.

I think we’d have had the same type of year with Maiava, bottom line type of year I mean, but it would have looked different in getting there.

The team had plenty of flaws but made up for it in other ways. To me, that’s coaching, that’s putting your players in the right position to win.

 

[rickyb55]

Amazing we won 11 games with qbs that were so bad at passing. Offense the year before was way better at consistently moving the ball. Our stats only look good cuz of the big plays we had this year.

Last years qb with this year's team? I think we would be undefeated and in Boises spot. Anyone think different?

The qb’s this year had 25 TD’s and 6 INT’s,
Last years qb’s had 17 TD’s and 12 INT’s
So the qb play wasn’t as bad as you think, yeah less passing yards but the team made it up in rushing yards. Combined total offense this year vs last year there is about 100yd difference.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

I’d rather had played in the playoff and been smoked …. And that’s what would have happened. Don’t know why he regressed so badly but he ended the season with a Steve Sax or Armani Rogers syndrome.

But was also thinking …. Let’s say we beat Syracuse (OT loss) and beat Boise regular season (tight home loss) and then lost to Boise in the MWC championship …. We’d have likely ended up in the same spot as last night …. A better season overall, much better …. But we’d be feeling a hell of a lot worse.

If UNLV's only loss was to Boise State in the title game, it would have created a nightmare for committee.

UNLV would likely have been ranked top 10 especially with Syracuse beating Miami.

Man, I don't know if they still make it in or not...

 

[j. spilotro]

If UNLV's only loss was to Boise State in the title game, it would have created a nightmare for committee.

UNLV would likely have been ranked top 10 especially with Syracuse beating Miami.

Man, I don't know if they still make it in or not...

I don’t think we would have given the scenario I presented.

 

[saulpaul21]

Do we have stats on first downs this year vs last year? That is where I think it would show that this year's offense did not move the ball consistently. Did they move it in big chunk plays this year? Yes.

 

[Rosegreen1]

The qb’s this year had 25 TD’s and 6 INT’s,
Last years qb’s had 17 TD’s and 12 INT’s
So the qb play wasn’t as bad as you think, yeah less passing yards but the team made it up in rushing yards. Combined total offense this year vs last year there is about 100yd difference.

Complementary football. Also a lot of credit goes to the center, Hasz in directing the line in pass pro.

 

[RebelinWA]

Do we have stats on first downs this year vs last year? That is where I think it would show that this year's offense did not move the ball consistently. Did they move it in big chunk plays this year? Yes.

287 Last year

296 This year

That's from the team website, but I don't believe they added last night's stats in yet. We had 12 yesterday.

 

[Boston Rebel 2]

The qb’s this year had 25 TD’s and 6 INT’s,
Last years qb’s had 17 TD’s and 12 INT’s
So the qb play wasn’t as bad as you think, yeah less passing yards but the team made it up in rushing yards. Combined total offense this year vs last year there is about 100yd difference.

Our running game was a lot better this year which opens up the passing game. Hajj missed a lot of wide open guys Maiava wouldn't have. It would have been different more TD's and more picks but overall he is better than Hajj.

 

[InZoneU]

Our running game was a lot better this year which opens up the passing game. Hajj missed a lot of wide open guys Maiava wouldn't have. It would have been different more TD's and more picks but overall he is better than Hajj.

A lot of the running stats have to do with Hajj improvising on broken plays which pumped up the numbers. I think half of Marion's playcalls were just **** it, send dudes out on 25 yard patterns and let Hajj figure it out.

 

[Rosegreen1]

A lot of the running stats have to do with Hajj improvising on broken plays which pumped up the numbers. I think half of Marion's playcalls were just **** it, send dudes out on 25 yard patterns and let Hajj figure it out.

There’s some truth to that. Offense was supposed to operate differently and not be a complementary/game management offense. Everything Marion was saying last offseason was this will be an attacking offense with emphasis on speed/time.

As the games got more meaningful down the stretch, the more conservative the playcalling got.