Saturday, October 9, 2010

Week 6 Thoughts

Hey, why wait? Some very quick thoughts from Saturday's flatliner of a game to Wagner (or scattershooting as to whatever happened to Keion Wade....)

Where To Begin? I don't need to say much here. Seeing the game is not enough. Looking at the numbers of this game ought to make Hoya fans sick to their stomach. Not since Elliot Uzelac has the fan base seen such a mess in the stat sheet, and it bit the Hoyas right back. So let's look at the numbers:
  1. Why did the offensive game plan bail on Philip Oladeji? He had four carries for 27 yards in the First quarter. Second quarter: One carry. Third quarter: One carry. Fourth Quarter? One carry, totalling 12 yards. Averaging 5.5 yards a carry isn't too bad; unless, of course, you get the ball three times in the last 45 minutes of a game.
  2. Why did the offensive game plan bail on Chance Logan? First three carries of the game, 20 yards. Second quarter: One carry. Third quarter: One carry. Fourth Quarter? Two carries.
  3. Why did the offensive game plan bail on Dalen Claytor? Already being tabbed as the fastest player in the backfield, Claytor's first carry goes for 20 yards in the second quarter. Number of carries thereafter? One.
  4. Why did the offensive game plan bail on Patrick Ryan? Two passes, one caught for eight yards, and that's it.
  5. Why didn't the offense use Jeff Burke? Third leading receiver entering Saturday's game at 12.5 yards a reception. The result? One pass thrown, one catch.
  6. When has tight end Mike McIntyre suddenly become Erik Carter? For those who remember, Carter was the workhorse blocking fullback who saw six carries the entire 2005 season. McIntyre has played in six games and has one catch for three yards.
  7. How many passes did Keerome Lawrence drop or miss Saturday? He missed six and caught one for a net of two yards.
  8. How many rushes did the running backs get? 16 carries, 85 yards.
  9. How many QB/wilcdat keepers did Georgetown run? 25 carries, 55 yards.
  10. How many consecutive rushing plays does it take for an opposing defense to get wise to what Georgetown is running? The Hoyas began the third quarter running the ball and did not throw a pass until less than 10:00 minutes in the game. Fourteen straight carries! This isn't Nebraska circa 1971, either. And how much did those 14 consecutive runs net them? 31 yards, or the equivalent of two passes to Jeremiah Kayal and one to Tucker Stafford.
  11. How does a team punt once after halftime, with a 10 point lead, and still lose that lead? Three first downs and three turnovers in the final 30 minutes of a game, that's how.
  12. How many rushing plays in the second half? Seventeen. How many passes? Two.
  13. Third down conversions, first quarter: 1-4
  14. Third down conversions, second quarter: 3-5
  15. Third down conversions, third quarter: 0-2
  16. Third down conversions, fourth quarter? 0-1. That's right, only one series even made it to a third down.
  17. Did I mention 14 straight runs to open the second half? Any pattern here?
    1. Darby
    2. Darby
    3. Oladeji
    4. Darby
    5. Darby
    6. Logan
    7. Wildcat: Lawrence
    8. Wildcat: Lawrence
    9. Wildcat: Lawrence
    10. Wildcat: Lawrence
    11. Logan
    12. Logan
    13. Darby
    14. Claytor
  18. 32%. That was the rate Wagner was holding opponents on third down entering the game. Georgetown was 4-15 (26%). Connect on one other third down and Wagner likely never lines up for that kick to go into overtime, and Scott Darby doesn't drop his third turnover in as many games.
  19. Three. Georgetown conencted on 3-4 fourth down opportunities to put away the win against Holy Cross. Since then, only three attenmpts and none successful. (By the way, those three mised opportunities translated into ten points over two weeks.)
  20. Points off Turnovers: Wagner got 9 points. Georgetown, 3.
If you think I'm ignoring the defense, I'm not. But ask any random defensive coordinator if they would be satisfied holding the #30-ranked team in total offense to three points with 10:04 to go in a game and having picked off its opposing quarterback four times, and most would say yes. Now, ask them what they'd say if the defensive unit had to spend ten of the last 15 minutes of the game on the field.

It's a difficult thing to say, but if this weekend is any indication of Georgetown's intended play calling down the stretch, the Hoyas will not see a fourth win this season.