January 20th, 2011 at 9:54 AM ^
I could listen to that voice all day! But apart from that, great interview, and he said all the right things I thought. I think Denard will benefit from having to run less as well. I would rather have him run less frequently, and average more per run (his average was still pretty darn high for a guy that the entire defense was selling out on) than take all those shots running 25 times a game.
January 20th, 2011 at 9:56 AM ^
As much as I hate to admit it, I like the fact that they're talking about Denard like they're not going to run him 20 times a game. The only game Denard ran fewer than 17 times was against BG, where he sat out most of the game.
I love watching him run, but it's not fair to a kid to have him run 20 times a game and have him pass 20 times a game. Against Wisconsin, as an example, he ran 22 times, threw 25. That's over 70% of the offense - and way too much for one player, even Denard.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:26 AM ^
Went and checked the records and our running QB's back when we played option football like Rick Leach (1975-1978) and Steve Smith (1981-1984) and Dennis Franklin (1972-1974) appear to have averaged about 10 caries per game or so.
Lends credence to your thought process that running a QB 20 times a game and asking him to throw 20 to 25 times a game may well be too much.
January 20th, 2011 at 11:34 AM ^
Defenses always want to make the offense 1 dimensional. If we start out 1 dimensional, that helps them. I think this is one reason why our yards per game did not add up to points against good defenses.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:02 AM ^
If he starts hitting open guys 20+ yards down the field consistenty - watch out Big Ten!
January 20th, 2011 at 10:06 AM ^
I think they are gonna be able to keep defenses off balance if the play calling is done right. You could run play action a lot with Denard because teams still know he is a threat to take off with his feet. His roll out skills and throwing on the run are good and I think this will help Denard stay healthy all season too. Don't count out Devin either, I think this kid could really excel in this system too.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:06 AM ^
Does anyone know if it is a common practice for the new coaches to contact the old coaches after a change? Obviously it would be more pleasant if you left voluntarily(retirement or promotion) than being fired, but it would seem the old coaches would have a wealth of information that would help speed up the learning process for new regime.
While I think that RR has to be very bitter at how things have gone he also has to care about the kids he has spent the last 3 years with and hope for their success. I would think it would be very beneficial for Borges to talk to RR to learn how certain players respond to different types of coaching, what they excel at, etc. College coaches have very limited contact with the their players and having a little head start on what they excel at could help things along. Obviously the coaches need to make their own evaluations, but it could help backfill theri information on some basics so they don't have to waste their time.
After I wrote all this I realized F. Jackson is still here so I guess he'll be a big help, but I think RR could really help things along here if the reached out.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:09 AM ^
It was nice to see Borges go out of his way to credit Rodriguez and co. for the coaching they've done with Denard. Too often, new coaching staffs act like everything that came before them was a total shambles and they need to reinvent everything.
January 20th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
I also like when he said that when he got to SDSU he had to oversee the transition from a spread offense to a pro offense. At least he's done this before.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:10 AM ^
I'm starting to really like this guy. I hope his confidence translates to continued offensive production (if not improvement) on the field next year.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^
...will take D-Rob to the next level.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:45 AM ^
The Borg say all will be assimilated...resistance is futile!
January 20th, 2011 at 10:12 AM ^
as a style of player, of course.
I would love to see the new passing Denard learn to take off and run rather than forcing a pass. Instant broken field with dilithium.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:47 AM ^
It worried me when he said, "I had Cade McNown at UCLA... probably not as dynamic a runner as Denard..." (emphasis mine). I hope Borges realizes truly that Cade McNown is not the prototype for Denard Robinson. He has probably not had a quarterback like Denard. If he drops back on 60% of our "passing" plays, we're in trouble...
January 20th, 2011 at 11:13 AM ^
At around the 1:00 mark, you see Denard in the pocket with his feet set and throwing a nice ball to D. Stonum.
Can we stop the Denard can't throw unless he's on the run meme. I think it's a rediculous statement.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
Borges mentioned that they had to transition from a spread at SDSU when they got there. I don't remember seeing anything about that here or on the main articles. Was it a running spread? Did the starting quarterback return? I don't know about the stats but given that Hoke had the program working its way out of the doldrums, they couldn't have been good beforehand or in Hoke's first year. Might be hard to glean how well Borges can accommodate Denard and this offense.
And yes, it definitely caught my eye when he said McNown probably wasn't as dynamic as Denard. Hopefully that was just a way of being nice to McNown.
January 20th, 2011 at 11:09 AM ^
Al Borges: Skee-matic.
January 20th, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^
He's got a voice that kids are going to listen too and hopefully learn a lot from.
I just hope he (and Hoke) are going to be healthy over the years. They are both BIG and in their 50's, just saying... Stressful job, overweight...hope they stay on top of their health.
January 20th, 2011 at 1:04 PM ^
loves them some donuts.