Chop: I agree with your stock analogy. All the pieces are there. The management needs to put it together.
Ahem, let’s acknowledge that management put the pieces there. 😉 We like to say that Doeren is incompetent but like Hale said, but for a decent kicker State could have been 10-2 in 2016. That’s not what I call bad management.
Our starting QB has said he is working to add muscle, weight, speed and quickness this spring so he will better able to take advantage of opportunities to pick up yardage he left to the field last year. I don’t put it on him either but I do like his attitude. It looks like our blue collar, hands in the dirt, work ethic extends to positions not traditionally known to be that way.
I don’t know what to do when we get in the red zone but I do know the field shrinks. There is less area to cover. Not saying that management made the right calls but the same calls that get you to the red zone may not be the calls to get you into the end zone. Just saying…
On a good note the areas we fell short last fall were worked on heavily this spring. Red zone offense, special team play and Ones vs Ones line play in particular. It wasn’t just the kicking that management thought needed improvement. We won’t know how much difference the Ones vs Ones line play will make a difference but Doeren said that last year our O-line couldn’t block our D-line and this spring they could or were competitive — I don’t remember which. I didn’t get the idea the D-line had gotten any less effective.
Note: While the competition was there and the intensity was there, there was no chippiness between the O and D lines. It was One Pack/One Goal with the lines working to help each other get better.
