Justin Willis is regressing

[drs1310]

He could dump the ball off to his rb's in the flats before he decideds to take off running cause 9 times out of 10 they are open!

[George S. Patton]

QB is the only position on a football team that demands a coach whose only responsibility is to work with those 2-3 guys. That's it.

And we don't have that. Now, we're paying for it.

Again, it's not a Justin Willis problem. It's a coaching problem.

[expony18]

He could dump the ball off to his rb's in the flats before he decideds to take off running cause 9 times out of 10 they are open!

he did it was a pick 6

[George S. Patton]

He could dump the ball off to his rb's in the flats before he decideds to take off running cause 9 times out of 10 they are open!

he did it was a pick 6

I might add that Justin locked in on the receiver. Can't remember who it was. And the DB read it and jumped the rout.

[drs1310]

so he did it once in two years and it was a pick, id still like to see it more often

[expony18]

He could dump the ball off to his rb's in the flats before he decideds to take off running cause 9 times out of 10 they are open!

he did it was a pick 6

I might add that Justin locked in on the receiver. Can't remember who it was. And the DB read it and jumped the rout.

it was a running back (DM)... and a linebacker who intercepted it... watching the game (tivo) i rewinded it a couple of times and for some reason burley was running towards the flats (im assuming he thought justin was going to run or it was a screen) and the LB was behind Burley who Willis never saw... it was obvious that ball was going to be picked... so he wasnt really "locked in" on DM since it was his check down

[Sideline]

The routes take too long to develop, as well.

A couple examples...

Patrick Fleming, who I think is going to be a real player, should not be running 20 yard routes with a pass rush like TCU. He is big and athletic with a basketball past. He can find an open zone within the first 10 yards of the line of scrimmage or with time will easily beat linebackers in man coverage. I only watched him run long developing routes and by the time Justin should have the ball out of his hands, his tight end is still five yards away from his break in a route. That's a system error. The tight ends should have had 10 catches last night. A 4-2-5 defense creates a gaping hole for simple tight end out routes, 5-8 yards deep. Hypothetically, a qb can take a snap, let a big route runner get open in less than 3 seconds, and the ball can be completed without having to scramble around and hope a miracle happens every time a pass play is called.

Even simple slant routes take forever in this scheme. Legitimate passing teams complete slants 10 yards from the sideline, at worst. Our slants get thrown, sometimes completed, about 20 yards from the sidelines and will get picked by linebackers down the road.

Hate to sound bitter about the passing game, but dont worry, the running game wears me out, too.

And if you're struggling to find someone that can provide a spark, take a look at your special teams ace, Andrew McKinney. Kid has every reason to feel shafted. Blows someone up each opportunity he gets, obviously doesn't fear contact, and in-tune staffs realize a player like that would maybe, just possibly, be a fit as a fullback/lead blocker type.

The kids are playing hard, though, and thats a testament to coaches believing in what they're doing. Unfortunately, their beliefs cant be shifted to 2007's challenge of utilizing what talent you have. Players are robotic and will play as they're coached.

I guess I'm out of date, but how hard is it to line up and run play action and bootlegs? Let Justin continue to move his pocket and use his feet, but create misdirections so guys aren't teeing off with the slow developing pistol and other bush league formations. And give tight ends a chance to complement the passing game.

Where's Aldrick Robinson? Speed like that doesn't show up on campus too often.

[PerunaPunch]

He's locking on to only his first option and doesn't look off. Those are things that should have been done during the week.

Patton,

That's not regression; he did the same thing last year... scrambling around until he found #17 and then tried to force something in there.

Doesn't invalidate your point though. Rather than regression, I see it as a lack of the improvement you'd hope to see between a first and second year starter.

[Ponymon]

The routes take too long to develop, as well.

A couple examples...

Patrick Fleming, who I think is going to be a real player, should not be running 20 yard routes with a pass rush like TCU. He is big and athletic with a basketball past. He can find an open zone within the first 10 yards of the line of scrimmage or with time will easily beat linebackers in man coverage. I only watched him run long developing routes and by the time Justin should have the ball out of his hands, his tight end is still five yards away from his break in a route. That's a system error. The tight ends should have had 10 catches last night. A 4-2-5 defense creates a gaping hole for simple tight end out routes, 5-8 yards deep. Hypothetically, a qb can take a snap, let a big route runner get open in less than 3 seconds, and the ball can be completed without having to scramble around and hope a miracle happens every time a pass play is called.

Even simple slant routes take forever in this scheme. Legitimate passing teams complete slants 10 yards from the sideline, at worst. Our slants get thrown, sometimes completed, about 20 yards from the sidelines and will get picked by linebackers down the road.

Hate to sound bitter about the passing game, but dont worry, the running game wears me out, too.

And if you're struggling to find someone that can provide a spark, take a look at your special teams ace, Andrew McKinney. Kid has every reason to feel shafted. Blows someone up each opportunity he gets, obviously doesn't fear contact, and in-tune staffs realize a player like that would maybe, just possibly, be a fit as a fullback/lead blocker type.

The kids are playing hard, though, and thats a testament to coaches believing in what they're doing. Unfortunately, their beliefs cant be shifted to 2007's challenge of utilizing what talent you have. Players are robotic and will play as they're coached.

I guess I'm out of date, but how hard is it to line up and run play action and bootlegs? Let Justin continue to move his pocket and use his feet, but create misdirections so guys aren't teeing off with the slow developing pistol and other bush league formations. And give tight ends a chance to complement the passing game.

Where's Aldrick Robinson? Speed like that doesn't show up on campus too often.

SuperPrep had Fleming in his top 125 list last year. He just might be a player!

[PerunaPunch]

Sideline,

Speaking of McKinney... What ever happened to the concept of getting your best 11 ball players on the field? I know McKinney is theoretically a TE, but couldn't we get him on the field at least as a lead blocker for D-Mart? The guy's as big as a house, incredibly fast for his size, itchin' to hit somebody, and a player with a nose for the ball to boot. Watching us get gashed up the middle by Arky State, I couldn't help but wonder why we couldn't find somebody on our roster who could plug up the middle... Heck, I know he probably doesn't know the position, but wouldn't lining him up at DE make more sense than burning the redshirt off a guy like Smart or Yenga?

I'm sure there's a reason, but it looks like he has all the physical tools for the job. He certainly has the attitude.

[Ponymon]

Sideline,

Speaking of McKinney... What ever happened to the concept of getting your best 11 ball players on the field? I know McKinney is theoretically a TE, but couldn't we get him on the field at least as a lead blocker for D-Mart? The guy's as big as a house, incredibly fast for his size, itchin' to hit somebody, and a player with a nose for the ball to boot. Watching us get gashed up the middle by Arky State, I couldn't help but wonder why we couldn't find somebody on our roster who could plug up the middle... Heck, I know he probably doesn't know the position, but wouldn't lining him up at DE make more sense than burning the redshirt off a guy like Smart or Yenga?

I'm sure there's a reason, but it looks like he has all the physical tools for the job. He certainly has the attitude.

Its obvious that Bennett knows more about football than you or any other SMU football fan could ever HOPE to know in a thousand years. This is the reason we started off 1-3. His plan is to keep these guys on the bench until the last game of the year and then spring them for a surprise that will keep the season from being a total loss!

[Stallion]

TCU doesn't even recruit DEs. They recruit tall FBs and RBs with speed and quickness and turn them into DEs. Ortiz, Blake and Jerry Hughes were all very good high school running backs. McKinney would be a DE at TCU. I think those who went to the game would agree that Willis couldn't shake them in the second half. Willis got most of his rushing yardage in the first half on the cut option or whatever they call the option play where the QB attacks inside the DEs. SMU had something like 11 sacks and/or TFL of more than 84 yards.

[chillinfool]

I agree totally with you Patton! A QB coach would help Willis immensly!
Willis has raw talent but doesn't do the little things like pump fakes or looks off defensive backs which he should be able to be taught if someone coached him on the little things.
And speaking of players, Bell was all over the place on punt coverage, I would love to see him play corner or safety sometime this year!

[idlePony]

This has got to be the worst rendition of a spread offense I have ever seen. and I think that Dmart showed why we need to get him the ball more. Can someone tell me why this guy only has like 200 yards this season? I seem to remember Bennett saying he wasnt going to give him more carries this year because we were getting enough yards from Willis scrambling......when did Willis become a running back? And as far as im concerned he isnt a Pat White(West Virginia running QB), so why do we insist on trying to make him one?

[George S. Patton]

I guess I'm out of date, but how hard is it to line up and run play action and bootlegs? Let Justin continue to move his pocket and use his feet, but create misdirections so guys aren't teeing off with the slow developing pistol and other bush league formations. And give tight ends a chance to complement the passing game.

Where's Aldrick Robinson? Speed like that doesn't show up on campus too often.

This might be one of the most salient points of this thread. Give the kid to move the pocket and create time so he can work with the WRs. We saw a little bit of that last year. Where the hell is it this year.

And as far as Aldrick Robinson is concerned, I'm certainly glad we burned his redshirt for the Tech game. Have we seen him since? I don't remember.