1st down run/pass in Indiana game

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Without further ado, here are all the 1st down plays in the Indian game. Conclusions to follow...

1st and 10 at RUTG 25:
Chris Laviano pass incomplete

1st and 10 at RUTG 37:
Paul James run for 2 yds to the Rutgr 39

1st and 10 at IND 43:
Chris Laviano sacked by Jonathan Crawford for a loss of 9 yards to the Rutgr 48 Chris Laviano fumbled, recovered by Rutgr Chris Laviano , return for 0 yards

*** PUNT

1st and 10 at RUTG 25:
Josh Hicks run for 4 yds to the Rutgr 29

1st and 10 at IND 33:
Josh Hicks run for 9 yds to the Ind 24 Josh Hicks fumbled, forced by Chase Dutra,

*** TD

1st and 10 at RUTG 25:
Robert Martin run for 1 yd to the Rutgr 26

*** PUNT

1st and 10 at RUTG 25:
Paul James run for a loss of 2 yards to the Rutgr 23

1st and 10 at RUTG 42:
Chris Laviano pass complete to Leonte Carroo for 58 yds for a TD, (Kyle Federico PAT BLOCKED)

*** TD

1st and 10 at IND 40:
Chris Laviano pass incomplete to Leonte Carroo

*** DOWNS

1st and 10 at RUTG 25:
Chris Laviano pass complete to Andre Patton for 10 yds to the Rutgr 35 for a 1ST down

1st and 10 at RUTG 35:
Robert Martin run for 15 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down

1st and 10 at 50:
Chris Laviano pass complete to Andre Patton for 20 yds to the Ind 30 for a 1ST down

1st and 10 at IND 30:
Chris Laviano pass incomplete to Andre Patton

*** TD

1st and 10 at RUTG 46:
Paul James run for a loss of 1 yard to the Rutgr 45

1st and 10 at RUTG 45:
Justin Goodwin run for 3 yds to the Rutgr 48

1st and 10 at IND 42:
(SCRAMBLE) Chris Laviano run for 7 yds to the Ind 35

1st and 10 at IND 31:
Chris Laviano pass complete to Nick Arcidiacono for 8 yds to the Ind 23

*** TD

2nd HALF
(Rutgers is up by 3)

1st and 10 at RUTG 18:
Josh Hicks run for a loss of 2 yards to the Rutgr 16

*** PUNT

1st and 10 at RUTG 25:
Chris Laviano pass complete to Andre Patton for 9 yds to the Rutgr 34

1st and 10 at RUTG 36:
Robert Martin run for 3 yds to the Rutgr 39

*** INT

1st and 10 at RUTG 25:
Paul James run for 1 yd to the Rutgr 26

*** PUNT

1st and 10 at RUTG 35:
(SCRAMBLE) Chris Laviano run for a loss of 2 yards to the Rutgr 33 Chris Laviano fumbled, recovered by Rutgr Chris Laviano

1st and 10 at RUTG 46:
Josh Hicks run for 1 yd to the Rutgr 47

1st and 10 at IND 43:
Leonte Carroo 43 Yd pass from Chris Laviano (Two-Point Run Conversion Failed)

*** TD

1st and 10 at RUTG 32:
Robert Martin run for a loss of 3 yards to the Rutgr 29

1st and 10 at RUTG 46:
RUTGERS Penalty, Offensive holding (Dorian Miller) to the Rutgr 36

1st and 20 at RUTG 36:
Chris Laviano pass complete to Janarion Grant for 9 yds to the Rutgr 45

1st and 10 at IND 43:
Chris Laviano pass complete to Carlton Agudosi for 40 yds to the Ind 3 for a 1ST down

1st and Goal at IND 3:
Robert Martin run for 3 yds for a TD, (Kyle Federico KICK)

*** TD

1st and 10 at RUTG 37:
Robert Martin run for 1 yd to the Rutgr 38

1st and 10 at IND 49:
Robert Martin run for 8 yds to the Ind 41

*** TD

1st and 10 at RUTG 32:
Robert Martin run for 6 yds to the Rutgr 38

1st and 10 at RUTG 44:
(SCRAMBLE) Chris Laviano run for 2 yds to the Rutgr 46

1st and 10 at IND 36:
Chris Laviano pass incomplete to Andre Patton

1st and 10 at IND 14:
TEAM pass incomplete (CLOCK STOP)

*** FG

***************************************************

35 1st down plays

17 runs for 49 yards for 2.88 ypc on 1st down. Plus a nice run with hold call for -10.

3 scrambles for 7 yards total
1 sack for minus 9 yards

11 passes for 197 yards plus TDs.. includes incompletes.. 17.64 ypa

If I add in the scrambles and sac it is 15 attempts for 195 yards or 13 yards per attempt

17 runs, 15 passes plus a holding call and a clock-stop .. hmm that's 34.. am missing something somewhere

Anyway, the point, I think, is made. Why the hell would we go 50/50 run/pass on 1st down against a team with such a poor pass defense?

This reminds me of playing Army after the Kent State homecoming debacle. Flood "protects" Nova vs Army by running the ball against a team with the absolute worst pass defense. Similarly, we knew Indiana had a bad pass defense... but we go 50/50 on run/pass on 1st.

The results tell the story. Less than 3 yards on 1st down is a BAD THING. It is FAILURE on 1st down.

What I would suggest is when we face a team with a poor pass defense, we pass MORE.

I'd also like to suggest we allow the OL to fire out ad hit people when we run the ball. If we are going to tell everyone we are a running team and then run the ball into 8 man front, at least allow the OL to hit people rather than being hit by the DL.

The whole zone-blocking, stand up and turn your guy to make a hole thing is for teams who fear you are passing the ball. If we don't make them suspect pass.. it does not work. Spread the field, have multiple WR sets.. spread them wide. We got good RBs. they can make people miss.. if there weren't s many of them clogged in the middle.

Call runs where the RBs move forward (or sideways) to get the ball while moving.

Allow the QB under center to look downfield while dropping back to handoff or pass.

Simple changes that might result in more than 2.88 ypc on 1st down runs.

 

[NBKnight]

Maybe the first down pass plays were successful because we were 50/50 run pass.

 

[RU in IM]

Maybe the first down pass plays were successful because we were 50/50 run pass.

This!

 

[StyleKnight]

This was the first game the offense looked competent. McDaniels is coming along nicely. The whole point of the prostyle offense is to be balanced. When the defense puts 9 in the box you throw, when they put 7 in the box you pass. 50/50 is exactly what you want. The game plan was great. Single back, 1 TE, Grant in the slot, WR's out wide. TE in motion. This is what I have been waiting for all year.

 

[Knight Shift]

Maybe the first down pass plays were successful because we were 50/50 run pass.

Is the OP inferring we should always pass on 1st Down? Wouldn't that be predictable?

 

[RAA-1]

Maybe the first down pass plays were successful because we were 50/50 run pass.

+1 or is it +2

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Okay, if that's the way you ostriches want to play it...

MAYBE.. the passes worked because Indiana's pass D is among the worst in college football.

MAYBE the only reason we ended up 50/50 run/pass is that we got so far behind by allowing Indiana to stack against the run and then we run it anyway.

Really.. you guys are happy that we needed a miracle to win that game?

You're happy with 2.8 ypc on 1st down runs?

MAYBE if we passed on 1st 60/640 or better in the 1st half then running on 1st might have been a bit more of a surprise and we'd get 5 ypc on 1st down runs. MAYBE.

 

[RURM85]

We scored 55 points and you're crying about the 1st down play-calling? Their pass D is among the worst in college football because their first 4 opponents were pass happy teams and all their games were shoot-outs. Their personnel in the secondary is not bad, with Fant leading the B1G in pass break-ups (due to their shoot-outs) and Crawford looking like a good athlete, along with Dutra who can hit. Rutgers has a run-oriented offense and there are days that the offense looks good such as this past Saturday.

We needed a miracle because our defense got shredded by Sudfeld until the last quarter, not because we ran too much on 1st down.

 

[bac2therac]

I am going to side with GOR here..the stats do not lie. This game was a shootout yet Flood at times was playing like it. The drive to start the 3rd quarter was putrid as was the following drives. I think RU has been terrible on their opening drives off both halves, so predictable and unwilling to take risks. RU needed to stay aggressive but at times fell back into a conservative type offense and that gave Indiana some cushion

 

[RU76]

Stats don't lie unless you want them to. If I counted correctly, we had 14 possessions and scored 8 times. As far as their porous defense is concerned, that is the most points they gave up all season. We scored 21 more points than Ohio State scored against Indiana. I know many do not want to credit our offense and will disparage the coach, coordinator and QB at every opportunity, BUT I say my lyin' stats are way more believable than theirs.

 

[Blitz8RU]

we need to run to set up the pass. Our passing game can not function consistently when the run is shut down. Also running allows us to keep the IU offense and our defense off the field longer. Putting a gassed D out there for Sudfield is asking for disaster.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Why are some of you people so willing to ignore obvious flaws in our offense?

This is not attacking the players. I am saying the players are not being supported properly by the coaches. They are not being used to the best of their abilities.

Now, I cannot fault the OC on the 3rd down calls that did not work when the QB threw way to short to open guys on the wing. But even Laviano knows he screwed up more than a few times there.. and he corrected things at the end when it was most important.

The QB Flood insists on playing is hitting over 70% of his passes. While I'd like him to look downfield a bit more, I think that is great and actually highlights why Nova was a bad QB. He wasn't nearly as accurate as Laviano is.

But if you are going to play a dink and dunk and accurate passer.. Spread the formation and PASS THE BALL on 1st down. That is what will open up the running game and deeper throws.

How do some of you people not see that. It is obvious. It is what nearly every NFL pro-set offense is based on.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Okay, if that's the way you ostriches want to play it...

MAYBE.. the passes worked because Indiana's pass D is among the worst in college football.



.

Bingo, however, at least the staff took advantage instead of being stubborn and sticking with "run, run, pass." Kudos for that!

 

[MoobyCow]

When forced to be aggressive our offense was much better. There's a reason that, when we were down multiple scores in the first half we came back quickly, then again in the second half.

 

[bac2therac]

When forced to be aggressive our offense was much better. There's a reason that, when we were down multiple scores in the first half we came back quickly, then again in the second half.

it seems like Flood/McDaniels fall back to the default of a conservative style of play at beginning of halves and once RU got back into the game in the first half. RU scored on 8 of its 14 possessions because they simply had to...it was a shootout. You cant relax. RU did and blinked and all of a sudden they were down 25. RU was fortunate Indiana handed them the game. RU took advantage of Indy miscues by opening up their offense and going for the kill so I credit Flood for that but there were earlier possessions in the first and third quarter where I am sitting there saying to myself, we are screwed because we need to score EVERY possession to win this game, we weren't stopping them.

has RU scored at all on opening drives of the first or 2nd halves? Maybe Kansas or Norfolk in 2nd half? Has anyone charted these opening drives of halves? It does not seem pretty

 

[RURM85]

Why do some people claim to root for Rutgers football when they don't like any aspect of the product. If you want to root for a pass happy program there are plenty of programs that will throw all day long, including on 1st downs.

As for stats, from the point that we were down 52-27, we ran the ball 19 times and passed 11 times, which looks very similar to the break-down of 1st down plays. Out of the 19 rush attempts, Laviano was credited with 3 of those attempts, thus, he most likely was attempting to pass but could not find a open receiver.

Did you ever think that possibly the rush attempts early in the game and on first downs, wears the defense down, thus, more successful rushing the ball in the 4th quarter. Did you take a look at how lopsided the time of possession was, as our rushing attempts worked to limit Sudfeld from additional possessions, especially later in the game.

 

[derleider]

When forced to be aggressive our offense was much better. There's a reason that, when we were down multiple scores in the first half we came back quickly, then again in the second half.

True - but despite being more aggressive -we still generally split between passes and runs even down big.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Why do some people claim to root for Rutgers football when they don't like any aspect of the product. If you want to root for a pass happy program there are plenty of programs that will throw all day long, including on 1st downs.

I want Rutgers to maximize its potential. If we had Ray Rice back there breaking defenses that were stacked against the run with running plays where I'd see the OL firing out and hitting people and even seeing the big guys downfield hitting safeties on occasion.. I'd love that. But even then Schiano was too conservative with the lead and everyone said so. The best thing we can do right now is shift to a pass-first offense and run off that and change teh running plays to maximize their potential.

As for your other examples re: run/pass.. running into a prevent defense that is up 25 points is very different than running when the score is close or with the lead. Furthermore, our running plays do not "wear out" defenses. You need the larger OL firing out and hitting smaller DL to do that. And while we were calling plays with some fast tempo later in the game.. and I loved it... it seems being down multiple scores caused us to call and execute plays in a more timely fashion. Id love to see it earlier in competitive games.

This upcoming OSU game is going to be painful because, on paper, our best bet is to take the air out of the ball and eat clock as much as possible. But in more competitive games, why can't we see a hurry-up when things are going well?

 

[RU-ROCS]

GoodOl'-

Some decent points, but it's generally hard to criticize the offense/play calling when RU put up 50 points!

 

[RUInsanityToo]

It's not really too difficult to understand. Indiana runs a no-huddle fast paced offense where they look to cram as many plays into a game as possible. This limits the opposing Defense ability to swap guys between plays and tires the defense out.

A general strategy used against this type of offense is to "shorten" the game through more run plays and clock management. I imagine that through the first half and into the second - when RU had the lead (and/or in the very early 3rd QTR when the score was still manageable) - they were employing this type of strategy. When the score margin became too large and RU needed to score/lengthen the game - they changed offensive mindset.

 

[RU76]

Smaller, quicker, talented lineman can most certainly wear out larger defenses. It is a matter of fitness and depth.

 

[BuckRU]

A week where we scored 55 points and had almost 600 yards of offense is probably the wrong week to be criticizing our offense. I do agree, however, that we seem to take a few series to get "warmed up" when we come out of the locker room... at least in the last couple of games.

 

[DHajekRC84]

I can't stand our run-run-pass system BUT I do think in this game they opened it up a bit. Yeah probably because we had to but perhaps because we are also developing and learning. I like that KF admitted to sticking with Martin. And funny how we can find other guys open to hit and mix in when Carroo isn't CL's only option..or first and only look. I still saw us get tight and go back to force the run a bit when we got down close..but that was an offence and mind set I could live with.

We're not going to blow teams like PSU, Mich, OSU off the line with this blocking scheme... but let's see what we do. We will learn MUCH about where this program is next few weeks. I wish we could just now go out and hire a stud D coordinator and see what we got then.

 

[RUSK97]

This was the first game the offense looked competent. McDaniels is coming along nicely. The whole point of the prostyle offense is to be balanced. When the defense puts 9 in the box you throw, when they put 7 in the box you pass. 50/50 is exactly what you want. The game plan was great. Single back, 1 TE, Grant in the slot, WR's out wide. TE in motion. This is what I have been waiting for all year.

Agree with your post except for the first sentence. What, did the O look like chopped liver against Sparty?

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

A week where we scored 55 points and had almost 600 yards of offense is probably the wrong week to be criticizing our offense..

Disagree. Down 25 at 52-27 near the end of the 3rd Quarter, all the criticism was warranted.

So why wouldn't that same criticism stand just because we got desperate and changed things up and even ran against a prevent D?

The criticisms address the point of being down 25 points to Indiana near the end of the 3rd Quarter. A few breaks the other way and the game ends with us being blown out. We needed mistakes by their QB and longsnapper to make the game apear closer and to get us the victory.

What I am saying is that our players are better than that and that it is the coaching that is letting them down. Just look at Michigan last year to this year where the main difference is quality of coaching and decision making.

 

[StyleKnight]

Agree with your post except for the first sentence. What, did the O look like chopped liver against Sparty?

Besides Caroo yes. The play calling was not good against MSU. On first and 10 at midfield we had a goal line package in. I saw this look at least 3 times that game. Indiana was the first game we had the WRs split wide to give our RBs room to make plays.

 

[NBKnight]

GoodOl'-

Some decent points, but it's generally hard to criticize the offense/play calling when RU put up 50 points!

I could understand if the first down run/pass was 75/25, but at around 50/50 it is a bit of a reach. I have not done a detailed breakdown, but it looked like we ran better later in the game. Staying with the run wears down the defense.

Overall we had 43 pass and 40 runs, and that is with Laviano credited with 6 runs. I believe 2 were sneaks and the rest were pass plays. So we really called 47 passes and 36 runs. We still averaged 5.2 yards per rush.