...why offensively do we always act like "we're too good to run the football???"
I mean, really, our passing game is suspect and involves a lot of risk. Mitchell makes bad reads, bad throws, and requires our receivers to bail him out an awful lot. Don't get me wrong, he makes some plays too, and he's competent, but every time he drops back, there's a lot more risk involved than if we just run it for our ridiculously high yardage per attempt.
Mitchell's first pick 6 was a 100% bad read on a corner that just squatted on the ball (one play after he overthrew a wide open Taiwan who was 10 yards behind every defender). He never looked to check the corner, and was easily picked in the flat... the most dangerous place to throw a ball. On his fumble lost, he never looked left to check the corner and didn't read the blitz. Hell, a guy in a wheelchair would've sacked him on that play. And WORST OF ALL, we're up 27-24 going in to score, and after moving the ball in big chunks, we decide to mix it up and promptly throw and interception to let Montana stay alive and potentially give the game away on a single stupid play call. To a large degree, this isn't on Mitchell, but on our coaches.
Contrast that to Jones and Beaumonte who are the best RB tandem ever at EWU, and Jones maybe the best back ever at EWU---- given Jesse Chatman's stats, that's a bold statement. At the very least, Jones is the best playmaker, even if he isn't as good a pure RB. I mean, a good offense needs some diversity, but when the game is tight, hang your hat on what you do best.
I really hope Mitchell improves and becomes the kind of QB we expect at EWU... and he very well could because the tools are all there. But right now, he's marginal at best and we can't trust him to make big throws; it makes sense to do what we can do effectively, and that is run the ball for big yardage. Frankly, I'd make sure jones has 30 touches every game and Beaumonte carries the ball 15 times as well. In tight games, they may even see the ball 5 more times each.
I mean, really, our passing game is suspect and involves a lot of risk. Mitchell makes bad reads, bad throws, and requires our receivers to bail him out an awful lot. Don't get me wrong, he makes some plays too, and he's competent, but every time he drops back, there's a lot more risk involved than if we just run it for our ridiculously high yardage per attempt.
Mitchell's first pick 6 was a 100% bad read on a corner that just squatted on the ball (one play after he overthrew a wide open Taiwan who was 10 yards behind every defender). He never looked to check the corner, and was easily picked in the flat... the most dangerous place to throw a ball. On his fumble lost, he never looked left to check the corner and didn't read the blitz. Hell, a guy in a wheelchair would've sacked him on that play. And WORST OF ALL, we're up 27-24 going in to score, and after moving the ball in big chunks, we decide to mix it up and promptly throw and interception to let Montana stay alive and potentially give the game away on a single stupid play call. To a large degree, this isn't on Mitchell, but on our coaches.
Contrast that to Jones and Beaumonte who are the best RB tandem ever at EWU, and Jones maybe the best back ever at EWU---- given Jesse Chatman's stats, that's a bold statement. At the very least, Jones is the best playmaker, even if he isn't as good a pure RB. I mean, a good offense needs some diversity, but when the game is tight, hang your hat on what you do best.
I really hope Mitchell improves and becomes the kind of QB we expect at EWU... and he very well could because the tools are all there. But right now, he's marginal at best and we can't trust him to make big throws; it makes sense to do what we can do effectively, and that is run the ball for big yardage. Frankly, I'd make sure jones has 30 touches every game and Beaumonte carries the ball 15 times as well. In tight games, they may even see the ball 5 more times each.
