Winning on the Road

[DocRebel]

Winning has been rare at home, but it's been nearly nonexistent on the road. This is one area I hope to see improvement in this season, to compete in every road game and play smart and hard in hostile environments. I would be delighted to watch our guys go into NIU and fight to the very end with a chance at victory.

Last season I planned to travel to almost every road game. But after the utter implosion at Tuscan in week 1, I was so embarrassed and ashamed in how Hauck's team quit and fell apart I realized it was pointless.

I hope our team this year believes in themselves and has the pride and confidence to go into opponents' stadiums and expect to win (not try to not lose). Winning on the road is something UNLV has struggled with and if Sanchez can lead these guys to compete at their highest level while away from Sam Boyd I will be quite impressed.

 

[rebelbuck]

Hit the nail on the head with this one. Last year was infuriating for many reasons. A couple of the worst reasons were (1) How many times we did just drive down and score first on the opening drive to then go ice cold most of the half on offense? (2) I believe it was 8 games were one score games at halftime and then the third quarter the wheels would fall off.

Looking for much the same things you are Doc, a more prepared and fired up team (want to see some emotion and activity on the sideline) . Halftime adjustments from the coaching staff and what we do with them.

 

[rebelx]

Even more frustrating was the predictable Hauck trademark of giving up a late first half score and a first or early second half possession score to ice games that were competitive. Usually because of some chickenS$%# overly vanilla play calling and certainly poor adjustments and poorly motivated half time meetings.

 

[LasVegasReb]

Even more frustrating was the predictable Hauck trademark of giving up a late first half score and a first or early second half possession score to ice games that were competitive. Usually because of some chickenS$%# overly vanilla play calling and certainly poor adjustments and poorly motivated half time meetings.

Wow. Did that BS always piss me off. How many times do you have to do the same sh!t until finally learn?

It will be very refreshing to see a seasoned OC and DC call plays. Hallelujah. As I mentioned earlier, Hauck and Sanford didn't really bring in experienced OC and DC's. I thinking having some P5 coaching experience is going to go a long way.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Wow. Did that BS always piss me off. How many times do you have to do the same sh!t until finally learn?

It will be very refreshing to see a seasoned OC and DC call plays. Hallelujah. As I mentioned earlier, Hauck and Sanford didn't really bring in experienced OC and DC's. I thinking having some P5 coaching experience is going to go a long way.

As good as Rosenbach was his first year as an OC he was equally bad last year. In our bowl season it seemed if the offense struggled in the first half they were able to make second half adjustments and move the ball. Last season I believe we scored on our first drive in 8 games. That is a pretty impressive stat. Unfortunately after that first drive the Rebs usually struggled to move the ball the remainder of the game.

I felt there were far to many slow developing plays last year in the passing game, and as a result Decker took a beating. The offensive line did not play as well last year and I don't think Rosenbach did a good job in changing the offense up to get the ball out of Decker's hands quick enough.

 

[willlevi]

I actually felt Rosenbach should have been retained. His offense set several passing records over the last two years. His teams produced 411 and 387 yards of total offense. For me, injuries and Decker turnovers were the primary things holding back the offense along with the horrible linebacker play that doomed the defense.
You also had a running game that set records his first year at the helm.
It will be interesting to see where the offense falls this year with the team expected to transition towards being more run heavy

 

[malachi martin]

2/3 of the sacks that decker took was because of decker . Remember , he was the quarterback of the happy feet. Would not step up in pocket , ran out of protection early, and O line was wondering what is this guy doing. Caleb was disciplined , ran only when he had to, and trusted his line. O line has lost some big dudes. It will be interesting to see if decker has matured and has become more disciplined . 2 of our losses were strictly on his shoulders last year. Caleb he is not.

 

[rebelbuck]

Hopefully something has "Clicked" with Decker much like it did with Caleb his senior year and we see this offense be much more balanced and dangerous. The loss of Cornett and injuries to Davis/Sullivan really changed the dynamic of what we were able to do much of the year.

 

[bcvegaspt]

We'll see if a full-time QB Coach pays benefits this year.

 

[DocRebel]

Decker developed happy feet but a lot of that resulted from the OL leaking like a sieve last year and defenses keying in on the passing game since the running game was so inept as well as the team usually being forced to play from behind. It was a substantial amount of extra pressure on a QB making the transition from JC to D1. Decker will have to trust the pocket more without a doubt. The OL also has to improve blocking and the RBs have to produce far more than last year in order for Decker to be consistent. Basically the offense as an entire unit needs to step up and produce.

 

[willlevi]

I actually forgot that the NIU game flipped to a sure loss on a 1st and goal interception at the 5:25 mark in the fourth after marching to the 7-yard line. That game could have been a tie going down to the wire too with 3 plays to get the ball in the end zone minus the interception.



I also think you would be hard pressed to have had a better quarterback coach the Rosenbach. A guy that finished 7th on the Heisman ballot as a junior was a 1st round NFL draft choice. He also had a full season as a starter in the NFL and had been a full time coach at four year colleges since 2000
Ron O'Dell had some good quarterbacks at Gorman but he has never been a full time quarterback coach at a four year college. It will be a growing process for him this season as well.

 

[LasVegasReb]

I forgot how fun it was to watch this game and how I thought the Rebs we're going to pull it out in the end. Defense couldn't contain NIU. If the crazy end zone interception didn't occur the Rebs may have stole it.

Wow. Can't wait for the season to start. Looking forward to see these kids and new coaches in action.

 

[bcvegaspt]

Rosenbach was the OC. O'Dell is a QB Coach exclusively. Maybe I wasn't clear when I stated that having a full-time QB Coach who doesn't have to focus on the rest of the offense may pay dividends this season.

I wasn't insulting Rosenbach's top-quality ability to help our QB make 18 interceptions. I agree that anyone who coaches the player that throws that many interceptions should not only be retained but given a raise! How did we let him slip away?!?

Ok, so you were friends with Rosenbach and his name and reputation will be your new sounding horn. Are there any other past players or coaches you'll be defending as "quality" so we can be prepared to defend our points of view should we insult their "excellence" in producing a 2-win season? Your bias really shows sometimes and that unintentional humor only continues with each excuse you make for your friends.