Not impressed with the play calling. Very few long passes, no pitchouts to running backs, run up the middle on 1st and 20, no naked bootlegs by QB, didn't make Western Illinois' defensive backs work that hard, etc.. Our defensive line almost seemed outmatched -- poor job of containing WIU's QB on his keepers.
I’m with you. The play calling felt pretty conservative, although Fickell saying afterward that Joseph was still a little dinged up from the Notre Dame game probably explains some of the reluctance to push the ball downfield.
Still, the run game was working, and they didn’t lean on that consistently enough either. Defensively, allowing 154 rushing yards to Western Illinois, particularly with the QB run game causing problems, was probably my biggest concern.
I agree. It all seems very underwhelming to me. Fickell did say postgame that Joseph was dinged up during the ND game so they 'took shots downfield off the table.' If Joseph was indeed banged up, I understand protecting him a bit. But overall, I agree.
Not impressed with the play calling. Very few long passes, no pitchouts to running backs, run up the middle on 1st and 20, no naked bootlegs by QB, didn't make Western Illinois' defensive backs work that hard, etc.. Our defensive line almost seemed outmatched -- poor job of containing WIU's QB on his keepers.
I’m with you. The play calling felt pretty conservative, although Fickell saying afterward that Joseph was still a little dinged up from the Notre Dame game probably explains some of the reluctance to push the ball downfield.
Still, the run game was working, and they didn’t lean on that consistently enough either. Defensively, allowing 154 rushing yards to Western Illinois, particularly with the QB run game causing problems, was probably my biggest concern.
I agree. It all seems very underwhelming to me. Fickell did say postgame that Joseph was dinged up during the ND game so they 'took shots downfield off the table.' If Joseph was indeed banged up, I understand protecting him a bit. But overall, I agree.