Hey everyone this is my first post I have done. Like all of you I am frustrated at the level of performance that the hornets have shown in these first couple of games, because I believe that they are capable of beating both the teams that we faced. Were we supposed to win no we were the underdogs but I think that they have not played to their potential. As fans watching this offense over the past couple of years it has gotten better week after week with a few bad weeks but with all of the players signed during the off season expectations were even higher and then to come out and lose by the margin of defeat is disheartening. But reading these posts most people seem to blame the QB which I guess is natural since he is the leader of the offense but you can’t just look at his stats or a couple of bad throws to say “Quarterback Change” there is a much bigger picture. I personally I think that Smith has done OK with what he has had during the games. The hornets offense is a very systematic offense and is dictated by the way the defense lines up. There are a lot of plays that are audibled to a predetermined play at the line of scrimmage based on the D. The WR’s run designed routes with little variation. Therefore if an audible is called at the line based on a blitz a WR becomes the hot route if he doesn’t run the route he is supposed to it usually ends up being an incomplete pass or a run loss by the QB. Sound familiar? There have been numerous routes ran incorrectly the first couple of games, which most don’t know. There have been some nice grabs and some drops that should have been caught and some which would have been great catches but the saying is “if it hits your hands you should catch it.” Is that realistic, probably not but there have been some mistakes. Penalties have hurt the hornets especially holding on first and second downs and off sides on third and fourth. These quickly turn a pass/run into a pass. When you are down by multiple TD guess what you are going to pass and it’s tougher to complete a pass when the D knows. I think the UNLV game wasn’t a great game to measure Smith didn’t get a lot of opportunity and the team as a whole didn’t show anything. As far as Cal Poly he was 14 of 20, 177 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT in the first half. 2 of 10, 40 yds, 1 INT in the second half. There were a couple of dropped passes a few more that hit the receivers hands, a couple of wrong routes, and a couple where the timing was just a little off. The first INT there was 23 sec left in the half you have to force it down the field. The second INT was a great throw low in the end zone where only his receiver could get it. That DB just reached down and grabbed it when Heath rolled to his back. Also let me inform you that it was 31-12 with 9min to go in the 3rd before the hornets got the ball. Smith was not consistent in that first drive in the 3rd but marched them back down the field and then that second INT happened. I believe that the hornets are very close getting over that hump of a new group of offensive weapons that are so close in getting that timing down, understanding where each person is going to be on a certain play, not making those mental mistakes, and racking up huge numbers on offense. It’s not if they are going to click it’s when. By switching quarterback based on the team losing games that they were the underdogs you start back to where you began you lose your trust, leadership, timing, and cohesiveness they have been building.
