About Those Passes
Earlier today, I mentioned it would be interesting to ask Steve Sarkisian about the decision to pass so much and not use a balanced offense. The Trojans threw 35 of their first 58 plays.
``Early in the game, we wanted to get Mark in a rhythm and get him feeling comfortable,'' Sarkisian said.
He then added, ``The goal is to be balanced by the end of the game.''
Of course, I said it would be interesting to ask, not that the answer would be interesting.
I don't put much stock in that last quote, because USC was just running out the clock, so of course the runs would increase.
"I don't put much stock in that last quote, because USC was just running out the clock, so of course the runs would increase."
Uh, Scott, I think that's what Sark means. See, you get the game in hand, then run the ball for clock control. Get it?
I thought at half time the number of passing plays was 17 and the number of running plays was 16.
Just went over to the L.A. Times to get coverage on the game and discovered that we rushed for 218 yards. Never would have known that reading this blog.
B
The point of offense is to score points. USC got 52 of them. The goal is not to see if we can run the same amount of time that we pass the ball. But then again, that's why Bob Knight said about sportswriters: "All of us learn to write in the third grade. Most of us go onto better things."
Scott, what is your deal? I never held much stock in people being critical of you, but you try so hard to be objective and not a homer that you do the opposite. 52-7! They moved the ball both on the ground and the air. You come across as such an arrogant jerk.
And they passed only 60% of the time on their first 58 plays. You'd think it was 80% of the time by your comments.
SW has replaced BO for the flip/flop title! Brent please post that US News link you posted the other day; thanks.
Brent:
Never mind! I found it!
Thanks
Goal is to win and you take what a team gives you (See Nebraska '07 or U of M in the Rose Bowl a few years ago.). It's coach speak, something you wouldn't know as a tabloid writer.
So how come nobody's mentioning the 3 batted down passes that Mark had. If it were Booty, everyone would've been all over it.
LordTrojan, Griese gave good insight into those. It's not low release like Booty suffered from, it's late throws when the passing lanes close up. And 1 of those was just an amazing athletic play by the D-lineman. I think you take the other two because Mark stayed in and stepped up in the pocket. Booty would have his passes batted down after a quick 5 step drop. I'd give it a couple weeks and see if it's really a problem. But if it is a problem for Mark, it's a different problem.
Griese noted that the batted passed were due to Va's inability to rush Sanchez. Thus, they were left with jumping up to deflect the pass. Griese noted that they watched Sanchez's eyes to see where the ball is going. Sanchez showed good touch, especially on the deep ball to RoJo. Booty threw lasers that were destined to be tipped...especially on 2-pt conversions.
As for Scott's post, I think it just shows that statistics can be manipulated to make an argument. Scott refers to the ratio of plays after about 3 quarters (35 passes of first 58 plays). Scott then argues that the USC offense is unbalanced. He should look at the first half drive chart. After USC started with four straight passes (because Sark wanted Sanchez to get off to a good start), it was nearly run-pass-run-pass for the rest of the first half:
1st Quarter
USC - 13:34
1st-10, USC44 13:34 M. Sanchez passed to J. McKnight to the right for 8 yard gain
2nd-2, UVa48 12:55 M. Sanchez passed to V. Hazelton to the left for 9 yard gain
1st-10, UVa39 12:30 M. Sanchez passed to D. Williams to the right for 19 yard gain
1st-10, UVa20 12:01 M. Sanchez incomplete pass down the middle
2nd-10, UVa20 11:43 C. Gable rushed to the left for 13 yard gain
1st-7, UVa7 11:15 M. Sanchez incomplete pass to the right
2nd-7, UVa7 11:13 C. Gable rushed up the middle for 4 yard gain
3rd-3, UVa3 11:13 S. Johnson rushed up the middle for 3 yard touchdown. D. Buehler made PAT
****
USC - 9:04
1st-10, UVa48 9:04 M. Sanchez passed to A. McCoy to the right for 10 yard gain
1st-10, UVa37 8:45 J. McKnight rushed to the right for 13 yard gain
1st-10, UVa24 8:45 M. Sanchez passed to A. McCoy down the middle for 10 yard gain
1st-10, UVa14 7:45 S. Johnson rushed to the left for 4 yard gain
2nd-6, UVa10 7:10 M. Sanchez passed to J. McKnight to the right for 10 yard touchdown. D. Buehler made PAT
***
USC - 6:00
1st-15, UVa47 6:00 J. McKnight rushed to the right for 3 yard gain
2nd-12, UVa44 6:00 M. Sanchez passed to J. McKnight to the right for 4 yard gain
3rd-8, UVa40 4:55 S. Johnson rushed up the middle for 7 yard gain
4th-1, UVa33 4:10 C. Gable rushed to the right for 33 yard touchdown. D. Buehler made PAT
****
USC - 2:06
1st-10, USC13 2:06 J. McKnight rushed up the middle for 4 yard gain
2nd-6, USC17 1:29 M. Sanchez passed to D. Williams to the left for 11 yard gain
1st-10, USC28 0:55 M. Sanchez passed to A. Bradford to the left for 11 yard gain
1st-10, USC39 0:25 J. McKnight rushed to the left for 6 yard gain
2nd Quarter
USC continued
2nd-4, USC45 15:00 A. Bradford rushed to the left for 5 yard gain
1st-10, 50 14:25 M. Sanchez passed to V. Hazelton to the right for 6 yard gain
2nd-4, UVa44 13:41 C. Gable rushed to the left for 1 yard gain
3rd-3, UVa43 13:05 M. Sanchez passed to S. Havili to the left for 14 yard gain
1st-10, UVa29 12:30 M. Sanchez rushed to the left for 6 yard gain
2nd-4, UVa23 12:10 M. Sanchez passed to A. Bradford to the right for 4 yard gain
1st-10, UVa19 11:35 J. McKnight rushed to the right for 11 yard gain
1st-8, UVa8 11:35 M. Sanchez passed to D. Williams to the right for 2 yard gain
2nd-6, UVa6 10:20 S. Johnson rushed up the middle for 3 yard loss
3rd-9, UVa9 9:47 M. Sanchez passed to V. Hazelton to the right for 7 yard gain
4th-2, UVa2 9:30 D. Buehler kicked a 20-yard field goal
***
USC - 4:40
1st-10, USC29 4:40 S. Johnson rushed to the left for 7 yard gain
2nd-3, USC36 3:55 M. Sanchez passed to V. Hazelton to the right for 7 yard gain
1st-10, USC43 3:30 M. Sanchez incomplete pass to the right
2nd-10, USC43 3:25 C. Gable rushed up the middle for 3 yard gain
3rd-7, USC46 3:00 M. Sanchez passed to J. McKnight to the right for 2 yard gain
4th-5, USC48 2:30 G. Woidneck punt, no return
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/boxscore?gid=200808300008&page=plays
*********
In the 3rd quarter, USC did resort to more passing than running. Those stats were included by Scott to skew the balance shown in the first half. The 4th qtr was mostly run plays in order to bleed the clock.
Thus, if anything, USC ran a very balanced attack in the first half, went with the pass in the 3rd qtr (because Sanchez was not being pressured), and ran out the clock in the 4th qtr. Sounds like a winning recipe to me.
USC's offense ran a balanced attack. Scott's attack of USC's offense was unbalanced.
Fight On!
For a writer(?) covering SC football, you know as much about football as you do writing...zilch!