Penix is a stud! That dude gets the ball out quickly, on time and is incredibly accurate. I don't know if he will be that precise all year. But if he is, he'll be an NFL 1st round draft pick.
We were unable to get any pressure on him - primarily because he made quick reads and got the ball out in 3 seconds or less. And, those were not all quick slants he was throwing!
The only way we were going to win that game was if our offense controlled the ball and we scored 35+ points. And, as it turns out, our offense was terrible in the 1st half. We couldn't run the ball and our O Coordinator was too late to recognize this fact.
The good news, other than OSU's Stroud, we won't see another QB like Penix this year.
A couple other points:
1. I think Coach Hazelton had better take a page out of the Iowa defensive playbook: Play zone almost exclusively. Keep it simple. The "multiple" defensive alignments and coverages are only serving to confuse OUR DEFENSE. It appeared that on most plays in the Washington game the Huskies kept one of their TE's in to help with pass blocking. That means we had 5, 6 or 7 guys back to cover 3 or 4 receivers - - and Penix still found [wide] open receivers to throw to. This means we had LOTS of coverage busts. Coach Hazelton- stop with the complex looks and coverages. Go with vanilla zone defense (90% of the time) and play it well.
2. It's ok to be a pass-first offense. We have very good receivers - and Barker is a stud at TE. Our Oline is only an average run-blocking unit. So go with your strength: pass the ball--especially on 1st down! How many effing 3rd and long situations did we have in the Washington game? This was primarily because of our terribly ineffective running game. How about quick passes to the WR which results in a 6 or 7 yard gain? Or, how about a pass to your RB? These are safe, typically effective plays that stretch and tire out the defense . . . Coach Tucker needs to realize quickly that we need to score 35 points a game to win games. Our defensive backfield is so porous that we can't expect to hold B1G teams to les than 20 points per game. Not going to happen.
On to the B1G season. Go Green!
We were unable to get any pressure on him - primarily because he made quick reads and got the ball out in 3 seconds or less. And, those were not all quick slants he was throwing!
The only way we were going to win that game was if our offense controlled the ball and we scored 35+ points. And, as it turns out, our offense was terrible in the 1st half. We couldn't run the ball and our O Coordinator was too late to recognize this fact.
The good news, other than OSU's Stroud, we won't see another QB like Penix this year.
A couple other points:
1. I think Coach Hazelton had better take a page out of the Iowa defensive playbook: Play zone almost exclusively. Keep it simple. The "multiple" defensive alignments and coverages are only serving to confuse OUR DEFENSE. It appeared that on most plays in the Washington game the Huskies kept one of their TE's in to help with pass blocking. That means we had 5, 6 or 7 guys back to cover 3 or 4 receivers - - and Penix still found [wide] open receivers to throw to. This means we had LOTS of coverage busts. Coach Hazelton- stop with the complex looks and coverages. Go with vanilla zone defense (90% of the time) and play it well.
2. It's ok to be a pass-first offense. We have very good receivers - and Barker is a stud at TE. Our Oline is only an average run-blocking unit. So go with your strength: pass the ball--especially on 1st down! How many effing 3rd and long situations did we have in the Washington game? This was primarily because of our terribly ineffective running game. How about quick passes to the WR which results in a 6 or 7 yard gain? Or, how about a pass to your RB? These are safe, typically effective plays that stretch and tire out the defense . . . Coach Tucker needs to realize quickly that we need to score 35 points a game to win games. Our defensive backfield is so porous that we can't expect to hold B1G teams to les than 20 points per game. Not going to happen.
On to the B1G season. Go Green!
