Northwestern May Have Used Wrong Wristbands in First Half Against Cal
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:20 PM ^
Wanted this to be someone at underarmour complaining they didn't meet uniform requirements.
September 3rd, 2014 at 9:41 PM ^
I was like whoa... It's Fig Things week
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
Holy God. If you didn't noticed they ran the wrong play -- what? -- thirty times in a row... that's a fireable offense as a coach.
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:36 PM ^
These were the DEFENSIVE wristbands, and apparently only a few players had the wrong wristbands on. If just one or two DBs had the wrong wristbands on, they would just have been in the wrong coverages. If you had 9 guys running the right play and 2 DBs running the wrong coverage, it might take you quite a while to figure out WTF was going wrong because at first it would just look like they were blowing their coverage assignments. You would have to specifically ask them what the hell they were TRYING to do to figure out what was going on.
Which of course, should have happened, but every time you run the wrong coverage on a play it doesn't result in a completion against that defensive player. It might have taken several plays for the mistake to actually have led to something bad.
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:57 PM ^
Whoa, my mistake. That's a very rational breakdown of how that could've happened. Much respect, thank you for making me think about it closer.
September 3rd, 2014 at 6:25 AM ^
Sure, less obvious than if it were the offensive wrist cards and if it were the entire team. But if you were the defensive backs coach and one of your DBs ran the wrong coverage on a play, wouldn't you, first, notice, and, second, talk to them about it, even if it didn't lead to a bad outcome? At which point, the player responds, "Coach, I thought you called Cover 2, not Cover 4," at which point the mistake is noticed. Or, if your player, and you run one coverage but everyone else is running a different coverage, don't you wonder what happened?
If it happened once and then was immediately corrected, it's an unfortunate equipment error. If it happened more than once, then that's a remarkable display of poor coaching and, to a lesser extent, poor awareness on the part of the players.
September 3rd, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^
It really depends on who had the wrong wristbands and HOW they were wrong.
It may not have been obvious that the players in question were not patrolling the proper zones. Yeah, someone in the booth should probably have noticed. But from field level it wouldn't have necessarily been obvious at all, depeding on how the call was wrong. I mean, if guys were supposed to be in man and they were in zone then it would be obvious, but if they were just in the wrong zone coverage it wouldn't necessarily stick out immediately. They would still be jumping on receivers in a "zone' they would just be trying to pass them off to people at the wrong time and not patrolling the right area of control.
I'm not saying someone shouldn't have noticed it. I'm just saying I'm not stunned that no one did.
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^
I like the comment, "the thing is, if it was the offense wearing wrong wristbands, would anyone really notice this as being an issue?"! Funny stuff.
September 3rd, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
Maybe if it's 3rd and 15, the coach calls a pass and the offense runs a goal line play.
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^
Fire Borges.
September 3rd, 2014 at 12:19 AM ^
Rich Rod, he was the one who used wrist bands... I'll still log in to upvote you when I get home though.
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:35 PM ^
Sounds like an excuse, can't imagine they wouldn't have caught a mistake like that after a play or two tops.
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:36 PM ^
Must be a union thing......
September 3rd, 2014 at 1:37 AM ^
That anyone who down votes you is probably in a union, and has no immediate sense of humor.
September 3rd, 2014 at 7:08 AM ^
or the joke wasn't funny and the poster was just trolling
September 3rd, 2014 at 7:59 AM ^
Or maybe the poster doesn't really care what people think?
September 3rd, 2014 at 8:23 AM ^
It's not that funny. If he would've said that the guy who is supposed to check that shit is union and was on his fifth scheduled break of the morning when the players were suiting up, that would have been funny.
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:40 PM ^
I can't even imagine how mad I would be if this happened to us
September 3rd, 2014 at 9:38 PM ^
Just wow!
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:41 PM ^
So wanted this to be a Wolverine Devotee thread.
September 2nd, 2014 at 11:53 PM ^
And they want to be the smartest team in the conference...pfffffffft.
September 3rd, 2014 at 12:14 AM ^
Did their offense wear the wrong ones? They still only managed 7 points in the first half. Even if the defense should have been better, their offense was brutal for large stretches of that game.
September 3rd, 2014 at 12:15 AM ^
vs. Minnesota. Can they go this long and set the new record for mediocrity?
September 3rd, 2014 at 12:16 AM ^
I'm sure a unionized NorthWestern team rep would have prevented this.
September 3rd, 2014 at 12:30 AM ^
I really doubt this is true, and there seems to be very little supporting evidence.
September 3rd, 2014 at 12:54 AM ^
If true, it's the most Northwestern-y thing to happen just about ever.
September 3rd, 2014 at 9:00 AM ^
It really is, isn't it
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 3rd, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
Shon Morris
September 3rd, 2014 at 12:56 AM ^
Call the play out. The numbers system might, maybe, save you one second. Or it could make you the laughingstock of college football.
September 3rd, 2014 at 7:08 AM ^
Inside NU has a more detailed breakdown (in addition to what the OP's linked article quotes) on an instance where there was some rather obvious confusion right here - LINK
You can look at stills from the sequence in that article as well. I remember watching this part of the game and agree with the formation assessment - Cal was running 2x2 spread formation, Northwestern goes with Cover 4 with seven in the box and some untimely mid-play assignment switching left a receiver in the flat with all day to make a catch basically.
September 3rd, 2014 at 7:37 AM ^
ESPN and the SEC network are already using this as evidence that the Big 10 shouldn't get a spot in the playoffs.
September 3rd, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
There's a difference?
September 3rd, 2014 at 7:40 AM ^
Mike Hankwitz, a Michigan Man. A senior and tight end on Bo's 1969 team. He was DC for Colorado when they won the National Championship in 1990. He was still the DC for Colorado when he and the Buffalos came to Michigan Stadium for the Kordell Stewart Hail Mary game in 1994.
September 3rd, 2014 at 8:27 AM ^
Well, they are not a good team, which is what I have been saying for a few years.
September 3rd, 2014 at 8:56 AM ^
you can save a little money by not paying the quality guy.
September 3rd, 2014 at 9:06 AM ^
which reminded me of the old NFL Strategy game
Any other geezers ever play that?
September 3rd, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
I have to say I'm happy we never pursued Fitzgerald like some people (I won't mention names) wanted.
September 3rd, 2014 at 1:55 PM ^
I seem to recall some conversation that Michigan talked to Fitzgerald at some point.