Give Hicks credit for...

[smu2004]

Hicks undoubtedly gets a lot of scrutiny for myriad reasons, but one thing he is great at is reading the field. He gets through his progressions quickly and almost always makes the right throw. This is precisely why Courtland hasn't gotten many targets; defenses are doubling him a lot a rarely is he the 'right throw' (there is certainly an argument to made for force feeding him at some point, but that is another discussion).

That being said, what can be frustrating about Hicks is that after making the right throw, he occasionally does not put it where it should be...and that can be frustrating to watch. Missing open guys down the field is annoying as a fan to be sure, but he also hits a lot of them.

Until we see improvements for the better in this regard, I think we just all need to accept that he is going to miss a few throws a game (one reason his completion % is lower than we would all like) and take that as part of the package. The good definitely outweighs the bad and I think as time goes on, he will improve on minimizing the errant ones.

[SmooBoy]

Hicks is the chosen one and we live and die by his season. Loved the Sutton wildcat look and want to see more sprinkles of Gillens. I am hoping we roll UConn and hold a few looks/plays back for UH.

[malonish]

Could Hicks then be described as high accuracy - low precision? Accuracy meaning the "right throw" and precision being on target vs too high / out of bounds ?

[smitty329]

Could Hicks then be described as high accuracy - low precision? Accuracy meaning the "right throw" and precision being on target vs too high / out of bounds ?

Hi Identification/Analysis, Low Accuracy/Precision. Noticed his completion % dropped through the last qrtr, I believe at one point he was 75% or greater.

[PonyFan32]

The most frustrating throws he made all night were the red zone ones right before we settled for field goals... he seemed to either give up on the play too quickly or just throw it nowhere near anyone on our team. It was so far away it didn't even seem like an errant throw but more a conscious decision. And there were multiple times this weekend where there was a wide open receiver that he never saw. Granted that undoubtedly happens to every QB, but it was still frustrating.

[Charleston Pony]

As long as the running game is "on" and he doesn't throw picks I'm O.K. with his performance. We just can't afford to put him in a position of having to bring us back to win a game

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

As long as the running game is "on" and he doesn't throw picks I'm O.K. with his performance.

Yep!

The running game is actually the MVP of the defense.

[Treadway21]

As long as the running game is "on" and he doesn't throw picks I'm O.K. with his performance. We just can't afford to put him in a position of having to bring us back to win a game

True. But his problem is also inside the red zone and 10 yard line. He may not throw picks like last year but I think he may have only 1 or 2 TD passes inside the 20 yard line.

We cannot settle for field goals with our kicking game - see TCU. Turn those field goals and missed field goal into touch downs (tho no assurance of the extra point) and we could of had another 15 points.

[Digetydog]

He is tied for 12th in touchdown passes. Smu is 5th in scoring offense. Clearly, he sucks.

[JoeKidd]

He is tied for 12th in touchdown passes. Smu is 5th in scoring offense. Clearly, he sucks.

No one is saying that at all, but Treadway is right....we have been missing throws in the red zone. Against AsU he missed Sutton at the back of the end zone and instead threw it over the head of Proche out of bounds and we settled for a field goal on that drive. That get's us beat by better teams coming up like Houston, Memphis and Navy. Ben is going to have to sharpen up if we want to get to 8 wins....we'll get to 6 and most likely 7 with the way we're playing now.

[White Helmet]

Id rather him throw it in to the stands and try for 3 than all the red zone INTs he threw last year.

[SoCal_Pony]

As long as the running game is "on" and he doesn't throw picks I'm O.K. with his performance. We just can't afford to put him in a position of having to bring us back to win a game

This offense needs a dynamic QB to win the games we all want to win.

My biggest concern? He's our QB next season as well.

[Stallion]

He is tied for 12th in touchdown passes. Smu is 5th in scoring offense. Clearly, he sucks.

No one is saying that at all, but Treadway is right....we have been missing throws in the red zone. Against AsU he missed Sutton at the back of the end zone and instead threw it over the head of Proche out of bounds and we settled for a field goal on that drive. That get's us beat by better teams coming up like Houston, Memphis and Navy. Ben is going to have to sharpen up if we want to get to 8 wins....we'll get to 6 and most likely 7 with the way we're playing now.

You have to suspend reality to think Hicks had a chance to throw the ball to Courtland Sutton-watch the replay. Sutton lined up far to the left and Hicks rolled out hard to his right. He had a ASU player right in his face at the time he would have had to look back at Sutton dragging across the back of the endzone. The only way he could have thrown to Sutton is if he had time to set his feet look back to his left and throw it--but at that moment he would have gotten sacked if he had done that

[JoeKidd]

He is tied for 12th in touchdown passes. Smu is 5th in scoring offense. Clearly, he sucks.

No one is saying that at all, but Treadway is right....we have been missing throws in the red zone. Against AsU he missed Sutton at the back of the end zone and instead threw it over the head of Proche out of bounds and we settled for a field goal on that drive. That get's us beat by better teams coming up like Houston, Memphis and Navy. Ben is going to have to sharpen up if we want to get to 8 wins....we'll get to 6 and most likely 7 with the way we're playing now.

You have to suspend reality to think Hicks had a chance to throw the ball to Courtland Sutton-watch the replay. Sutton lined up far to the left and Hicks rolled out hard to his right. He had a ASU player right in his face at the time he would have had to look back at Sutton dragging across the back of the endzone. The only way he could have thrown to Sutton is if he had time to set his feet look back to his left and throw it--but at that moment he would have gotten sacked if he had done that

If he had to set his feet to throw then yes he would have been sacked, I thought he could have thrown it on the run. Regardless throws have to be better in the red zone, e.g. when throwing to Sutton leave it in bounds so he can make a play if its 1 on 1. Otherwise we become 1 dimensional or we have to have more wildcat plays.

[mrydel]

We have several red zone options, including at least 3 different wildcat, or I mean wild Mustang sets. I think Morris is trying to get it done with Hicks, but has options when he feels it is needed. I am willing to wait and see as the season progresses. Preseason is over. Now we have to win every game we can for a conference championship.