QB's Too Aggressive?

Yeah there were many times where Denard could have just taken the 10-15 yard run or dump off to the TE but went deep. Tate the same. On the gross Hemingway TD, Denard had a good 15 yards to just take off and take, he chose to make a highlight reel. 

You don't know how many times I was screaming when both Denard and Tate completely ignored the easy first down or nice yardage by just dumping it in the flat to Webb. Instead they go for the homerun. But hey, both of them made their share of good plays so I'll gladly accept it..for now.

I think its the lack of experience coming through.  They're stubborn young guns, they need time to mature like those Cheez It commercials.  I think you'll gradually start to see them hitting their check downs more, and making the smart play.  Our offense may lose some explosion at that point, but at least the turnover margin will begin to sway back to the black.

comes with experience.  They'll get smarter and learn to play the odds as they get a bit older.

All part of the learning process.

 

Edit:  Great minds think alike.

to put up 70 points you kinda have to be aggressive..

They feel they have to score touchdowns as quickly and often as possible to carry our defense. Plus, they are both young. With a better defense next year, they will learn to be more patient and take what the defense gives.

It happens all the time with young quarterbacks.

they should be throwing more to the tight ends. Griese road those bootleg passes to the TEs all the way to the NC (with a lot of help from his defense.)

It happened enough that it would have been nice to get it corrected during the game. It will be interesting to see the progress in the next three games.

It's the right observation and frustrated me too. I do think it's partly maturity but also due to feeling like we (they) have to score every possession. I think once the D is more consistent that this would level off too. Speaking of Griese, I thought he did a nice job again but I got the sense he was trying hard to be objective with the commentary since he wanted so badly to GO BLUE!

I know it frustrates Rodriguez too, he's said a few times he wants Denard to trust his speed, and just run with it when his receivers are covered.

The TE's and RB's in the flat, and the bubble screen is there for them a lot. They will realize this with experience and film study. You have to realize how much pressure Denard has to be under to lead his team to TD's. His defense is awful, and doesn't have the benefit of a reliable kicker. Can you imagine how much pressure that has to be to a 19 year old kid, who has made 9 career starts, to know you need TD's damn near every time you get possession of the football?

When its 3rd and 5 or less, I say take the TE checkdown and move the chains.  It wasn't just today that they declined it.  I recall Denard had that same play to Koger for a first down against MSU and passed it up early in the game and it cost us points.  I don't mind if they play more aggressive on 1st or 2nd downs, but on 3rd downs just get the 1st down and get another set of downs.

I think it's also a function of the play-calling.  I seem to remember a drive in the 4th quarter where we ran the ball on 1st and 10 and 2nd and 6, but on 3rd and 2 we went for a deep ball (and it was incomplete).  I think that resulted in the FG attempt -- I was pissed.

At the same time, I will take 300+ yards passing from Denard in just 3 quarters of play against a quality defense.  The turnovers were painful, but I also think that they really loosened up the defense and kept them on their heels.  Hopefully that will prevent defenses in the upcoming weeks from just crowding the line.  Denard made Illinois pay in a way that he did not against MSU and Iowa.

On a side note, have the media already decided to give the Heisman to Newton?  Some commentators were saying that he basically salted it away by his performance today.  He gets huge credit for passing for 300+ against Chattanooga but Denard doesn't get as much love for his performance against Illinois?