You call 20 yards "big yardage"?

There seems to be some discrepancy over the definition of "Explosive plays". This website call them a run of 12 yards or more, or a pass of 20 yards or more:
http://www.nfltouchdown.com/explosive-plays-are-key-to-nf.../

This website says that an explosive play in a run of 15 yards or more, or a pass of 20 yards or more:
http://tinyurl.com/ojs7c4k

Still another website, Football Outsiders, considers an explosive play to be any run or pass of 20 yards or more.

All of them would agree that a 20 yards pass is an "explosive play".

I would be happy to get back to the LB play we had in 2011. Very, very close to a MAC title that year and beat Utah State on the Blue Turf.

The coaching staff put together a scoring system for the game and one of the ways the offense could score was an "explosive play" of 25 yards or more or a "big play" of 15-24 yards.

If the 3 starters can stay on the field we will be scary at linebacker. I also liked what I saw of Collins and Grilliot and DiCillo....whose dad sat in front of me and was quite the cheerleader. That makes
6 and Daugherty and Moore looked decent last year.

I'm excited about the future of OUr linebackers.

I'm excited about our STARTING linebackers. The rag-tag collection of walk-ons behind them makes me nervous. Its a big drop off from Jovon Johnson to anyone else that is not Brown or Poling.

Just the humble opinion of a respected Bobcat expert and Internet message board hero!

I'm not saying that my critic there is the only cause for our struggles, or even one of the major causes. That is just one factor and really one of the few critics I have on this coaching staff. Additionally, my comment was aimed at two seasons ago as much as last season.
I don't think fumbles or drops are the fault of the coaching staff which is exactly why I haven't called them out like many have on this board. In fact, I think I'm one of the bigger defenders (certainly not in the Top 5, more like top 25%) of this staff. I think they are doing a good job building this program to levels we haven't seen before and I can live with a down year when the overall trend is UP. Especially when that down year comes with an inexperienced team. That happens with any program. No matter how well you manage player-personnel, when you have guys limited to a 4 year season span for playing you are going to have some years worse than others. You can minimize that but never avoid it. And I think inexperience IS a big reason for drops and fumbles.

All that said, I'll stand by my critic. I think we could do a better job of getting our smaller backs the ball in space. Especially in the Pistol... It was built for a jet-sweep.

That is very exciting to hear. I do think that as you have a more experienced team you are able to throw in more variations like this.

Thank YOU!!!!

There is a direct parallel between 2013-2014 and 2007-2008. The recruits from 2002-2003 powered the team to success in 2006, and then left, leaving a rebuilding time. The recruits from 2008-2009 powered the team to success from 2011-12, and then left a rebuilding time. During the first valley (2007-2008) the team was a combined 10-14 (.417). During the second valley, 2013-4, the team was a combined 13-12 (.520). Was this improvement because of playing more easy teams? Splitting it by winning record/not winning record, 2007-8 was 1-4 against teams with winning records, and 9-9 against teams without winning records. The 2013-14 teams were 2-8 against teams with winning records, and 11-4 against teams without a winning record.

When I look at data and try to determine if there is an uptrend, I usually connect the valleys and see if the direction is pointed up or down. If I connect .417 to .520 6 years later, I get a general uptrend. It is also true that the last peak (2009-2012) was both higher and broader than the peak before (2006), another indicator of an uptrend. Will the next peak (2015-2018) be higher than the last peak (2009-2012)? Since I believe that the uptrend continues to be true, I certainly expect that.


Yes, OCF already acknowledged that he must have been mistaken about whether the pass was complete or not. I do agree with you that Billy's point about whether 20 yards was a big play or not was moot, but it was interesting to learn that, while you hear lots of people talking about "explosive plays", there is no consensus about exactly what constitutes an "explosive play".

By the way, one of the things I love about this board is the use of language. Moot is a word that I think is misused more often than it is used correctly, and in this case, it applies perfectly, since Billy's question, whether a 20 yard pass was a "big play", was in this case simply an abstract question that does not arise from existing facts.

Thanks. I think Morgan and Mangen will both be very good tight ends, and hopefully Boland will be as well. Tight end is a position where its tough on Freshmen. Another year for them will make a big difference. The other thing that will make them a lot more visible part of the offense is the improvement in the offensive line. When the running game is working, those play action passes to the TE start becoming very effective.

Got to agree with Monroe here. We've had great success and more fun compared to the utter crap of the Knorr era, but not compared to the best Mac programs, which is where I would have expected us to be by this point in the Solich tenure. Still need at least one MACC to cement his legacy here.

Monroe Post of The Year.