Comments on: Football: Wednesday practice update

By: rollonubears

rollonubears — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:19:41 +0000

you can also run a reverse. plus, maynard has on several occasions rolled out to the right, and hit his receiver in stride near the sidelines. some of those have been dropped. the only serious issue i’ve seen with accuracy is when he throws to the right from the pocket. i don’t think he needs to roll out on every play, but at least 75% of the time, when they’re not running, would be nice to see, and to both sides of the field. i agree, if you only run to the left, you put the team and the qb at a disadvantage, but he’s not that bad on the run, to either side.

By: toohandy

toohandy — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:13:28 +0000

Abe, when you fake a run and roll out the other way, it’s called a bootleg. Guess you never played.

By: rollonubears

rollonubears — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:03:31 +0000

A trip to the rose bowl is always worth the effort, regardless of the outcome.

By: 1brsfan

1brsfan — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:21:56 +0000

I wonder if playing on a Thursday night affected Maynard’s preparation. I’m sure playing two good teams also had an effect but he’s played well on Saturday games or at least well enough to win.

By: BlakeStreetBear

BlakeStreetBear — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:37:46 +0000

Ditto Milo. But I think if we improve we should be able to compete well with asu and possibly sneak out a win there to end 8-4, let’s hope.

I am debating whether or not to hop in the car on Saturday and head down the 5 to the RB. Hmmmm…?

By: SturdyGoldenBear

SturdyGoldenBear — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:30:28 +0000

Milo, I agree that we can’t roll left on every pass play. I wouldn’t be surprised if fucla plays a lot of QB spy to defend the read plays as well as scrambles. But what do I know. Still pretty optimistic about this one.

7-5 would be pretty terrific considering our schedule and the strength of some of the teams in our conference. Our 3 losses are to teams that either were ranked or have been ranked. Not that that means a whole lot, but it does mean that we’re losing to solid teams and beating inferior teams. 7-5 would leave us losing to furd and asu, neither of which would be heartbreakers.

For me, 6-6 is the bare minimum. Bowl game is a must for this team and staff, despite certain position depletions. 7-5 would be excellent, and may give us the confidence to go into the last two games with some spoilage on our minds. We should win the next three, but 6-6 would be acceptable and still provide enough hope for a solid season next year.

By: tj

tj — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:01:44 +0000

The field gets cut in half because a QB is typically only able to throw with accuracy and strength when he runs in the direction of his throwing arm, in this case it would be the left side of the field for Maynard since he is a south paw. If they roll him out of the pocket every single play, Cal will only be using the left side of the field, and if Maynard rolls out to the right, then it’s a run. Best way to keep an offense balanced and a defense honest is to stay in the pocket! That being said, it’s awesome to see Tedford incorporate more roll outs for Maynard, it’s one of his strengths.

By: 93BearInOregon

93BearInOregon — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:44:44 +0000

Tedford is absolutely right in not wanting to halve the field too often. Rollon, none of your arguments refute that since JT is clearly using Zach on the roll (moreso now than before it seems) so all the benefits you list are part of the game plan. But you can’t limit yourself all the time or you become much easier to defend, at which time all the “JT is a bad game day coach” comments would start flowing. He’s got a varied offensive system and he’s teaching his QB to execute it as fast as he can learn.

Zach clearly wasn’t great at reading defenses the first few games – big shock. He hadn’t played in a long time and at this level. How is he going to get better at that without reps and practice reading defenses?

Roll Zach out. Some! But the rollouts themselves will be more effective if he’s also a threat in the pocket. BTW Abe, rolling Luck out in that situation works BECAUSE furd can run at will. The D has to key so strongly on the run that when he rolls out to the other side no one’s there. If they rolled Luck outevery passing play without establishing the run Luck would look remarkably pedestrian as a QB

By: milo

milo — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:38:51 +0000

Maynard played well against a decent Utah defense. He should do well against UCLA.

Tedford is right about mixing it up. If Cal ran Maynard rolling left 75% or more, every opposing defense would simply game plan that.

Maynard and Cal need to get fat and healthy off the middle of the Pac; UCLA, WSU, OSU.

7-5 would be reasonable if not totally great. At least it’s progress and next season should be better.

By: wehofx

wehofx — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 05:01:51 +0000

Roll, I kinda agree with you.

On the other hand, look at Vick and Reid – a pretty damn good oc. Once nfl defenses knew that Vick was only effective scrambling to the left and ineffective on the right side, they eliminated the left side and vick has not been effective since last third of last season to today.

Vick and Reid have been unable to make the adjustment.

I am still optimistic. I’m betting ucla -5/-6 even though I got lit up against $c and p knight u.

Go Bears!