....is that Mullen's offense puts the quarterback in a position to have to make a a bunch of decisions during the course of the game that often determine the game's outcome. On the zone read play, the qb has to read the DE and decide whether or not to give or keep. There's alot of option mixed in. Decision making is where Tyson Lee failed last year. Before the last play of the LSU Game, Tyson Lee was 32-64-337-2-3 and had rushed for 49 yards and a TD. He didn't play much against J-State, played from behind all night against Auburn, and played very well against Vanderbilt with a very conservative game plan. He scored to put that game away. Not great, but more in line with his play in 2008. He didn't have an INT until the LSU game, and one was on Ducre. I can't remember the other two.
After he makes the bad decision not to pitch against LSU, he basically fell apart. His worst two games were against Houston and Georgia Tech in terms of turnovers and poor decisions. Mentally, he was gone. He was smart enough to know that he had probably cost the team a bowl game. Also around that time was when Relf had his sabbatical. Lee on to fumble 7 more times and throw 11 more interceptions, with only 3 more touchdowns.
Mullen's offense requires a mentally tough quarterback. Look at Tebow. Not the world's best passer, but a great leader. Look at Alex Smith - not a great arm or athlete, but just a good solid player. In his offense, you can't really protect the quarterback. I got frustrated with Mullen some last year because he kept putting the ball in Lee's hands in big situations. Looking back though, the numbers speak for themselves. Even with Lee's poor decisions, we showed great improvement in both wins and offensive numbers.
Relf seems to handle the zone read pretty well, doesn't appear to be particularly fumble prone, and doesn't seem to be plagued by indecision. I hope he's mentally tough enough to handle the job. I feel good about Russell in time, too. He showed some toughness against South Panola a couple of years ago.
After he makes the bad decision not to pitch against LSU, he basically fell apart. His worst two games were against Houston and Georgia Tech in terms of turnovers and poor decisions. Mentally, he was gone. He was smart enough to know that he had probably cost the team a bowl game. Also around that time was when Relf had his sabbatical. Lee on to fumble 7 more times and throw 11 more interceptions, with only 3 more touchdowns.
Mullen's offense requires a mentally tough quarterback. Look at Tebow. Not the world's best passer, but a great leader. Look at Alex Smith - not a great arm or athlete, but just a good solid player. In his offense, you can't really protect the quarterback. I got frustrated with Mullen some last year because he kept putting the ball in Lee's hands in big situations. Looking back though, the numbers speak for themselves. Even with Lee's poor decisions, we showed great improvement in both wins and offensive numbers.
Relf seems to handle the zone read pretty well, doesn't appear to be particularly fumble prone, and doesn't seem to be plagued by indecision. I hope he's mentally tough enough to handle the job. I feel good about Russell in time, too. He showed some toughness against South Panola a couple of years ago.