So, this was mentioned in another thread, but I thought it deserved its own topic, because in my opinion, it's kind of a big deal. Since Loeffler has shown up, I think we have consistently failed to even remotely adequately prepare our backup QB for game action.
Before last season, we were told there was an open qb battle in the spring-summer. After the spring, Motely was in the lead for the position, but he hurt his back during the summer and Brewer ended up winning the job. During the season, Brewer struggled mightily, perhaps due to injury. We'll never really know. The issue though, is that Motely was never ready to play or replace Brewer. He was never an option once last year, even though the starter was struggling big time.
This season, when Brewer broke his collar-bone, Motley looked completely unprepared to throw a pass in the opener. We've since seen that he's able to throw, but it's like they only prepped him to do so once it became clear he HAD to take first string reps. Similarly, Lawson has looked totally unable to or unprepared to throw in the limited action he has seen, even though he's only one play away from starting, Motley has struggled with some injuries, and he takes a fair number of hits as the team's leading rusher thus far.
Is there a systematic failure to adequately prep our backup QBs? And if so, why?
Comments
Or and I'm just going out on a limb here and say the backups just were not that good at doing things required of the starting QB.
Would you agree that Motley looks at least adequate now? Did he just magically get better after the first week of the season?
Also - then why burn Lawson's redshirt? If he's totally incapable of throwing a pass, he shouldn't be on the field, right?
I thought we were talking about Motley last year? Lawson is the 2nd string he has been on campus how long again? Things take time.
I'm talking about both - I'm saying they never got him ready last year, and wouldn't have gotten him ready this year until Brewer went down. In the OSU game, he looked just like Lawson did in his smattering of plays - a runner who has no idea how to pass. He's since proved to be at least competent at passing.
Leoffler was trying not to get him killed. We had 11 games left at that point so instead of trying to run an offense with a guy that has been taking significantly fewer reps he went with what motley knew. Saying that motley wasn't prepared because of a failure in coaching isn't a fair judgement co sidering the circumstances.
Then what do you call it when the backup plan isnt prepared for use? What's the point of having a backup QB if there not going to be ready
No back up is going to be as prepared as the starter. He was prepared for his role and that is what Leoffler stuck with.
That's the problem
A backups role should be to take over and lead the offense should the need arise. You shouldn't have to completely abandon all hope in a game just because the starter is out. You don't expect the backup to run the offense as well but you expect him to operate the offense effectively until the starter can come back. Leave the special packages to the third stringer.
We don't have backup QBs at Tech. We don't. We have the starter and then a guy or two that can run special package during the game. We do not prepare an effective contingency plan should our starter go out and that fact has proven itself this year. Some might say that isn't a problem, which is fine.
If you were right then we wouldn't have 3 wins right now, but you aren't right. You can blame the coaches all you want but at the end of the day they did a good job of preppi g Motley to lead the team if Brewer went down and that is what happened.
In response to the entire above string of comments I would just like to add this to the conversation, in the hopes of establishing a better perspective of the situation.
In 2014, Brenden Motley recorded twenty-three plays from scrimmage. Those twenty-three plays were the sum total of his live game experience for us. He had attempted three passes in his college career. And before those 23 snaps in 2014, his last live game experience came in 2011, running the Wing T at Christiansburg High. He had, shall we say, limited experience.
I understand the concept that a QB coach has a responsibility to get their backup QB game ready, and in principle I agree with it. But to have such a narrow focus in that mindset of looking at how Motley performed coming into the Ohio State game is myopic, IMO. Had Motley stunk on ice for the subsequent five games, then I do believe we would have a legit gripe against Loeffler the QB coach. But the fact that Motley has been very good in four of the five games he has started, while running an offense significantly different from what Lefty had planned for Brewer to run, is, I believe, a testament to Loeffler as both a QB coach and an OC.
There are a number of possibilities for the offensive shutdown we saw against OSU when Motley came in. One I continue to assert is, knowing the outcome of that game had no effect on our goal of winning the ACC, the coaches conceded the game rather than risk losing the first and second string QBs to injury.
But the other possibility is that the moment, coming in against the defending national champions in the most hyped home game in recent history, was simply too large for a guy with 23 snaps to his name. And if that's the case, there is no amount of QB coaching or game planning that can overcome your QB being intimidated by the moment. That not a coaching issue, it's a psychology issue.
I disagree. Motley wasn't prepped for the possibility of Brewer going down. He went into the Ohio State game with the intention of purely running the wildcat offense, and when Brewer went out, we were unprepared to continue our effective offensive strategy. We had to throw out the playbook and go simple and basic to essentially run out the clock. As soon as he was groomed to use our entire playbook, he flourished.
You don't go from unprepared to running the entire offense pretty well in 5 days
The problem is the number of reps Motley would need in practice to be ready to play + the number of reps Brewer needs to be ready to play likely > the number of available reps. Most teams max out the number of reps the starter gets because they're likely hosed if the backup has to play so they feel giving the reps to the starter maximizes their chances of winning.
SO I guess we're in agreement then. There is no backup plan, and the backup qb is not ready to play should he be forced into action. I'm saying that's a problem, especially given the number of hits we subject our qbs to.
Your can't argue there is no back up plan when it has already won 3 games this year, so stop trying.
No.
No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No. Yes they can but this is D1 football
Freshman/Soph in Top 100 QB through Week 6 all D1 players
by total yards completed
Rank School Year Excludes G5 schools
3 Texas tech So
7 Wash St So
8 Okla St So
22 miami So
27 BYU Fr (2nd String - Mid game injury replacement)
39 aTm So
42 Vandy SO
43 UCLA Fr
48 Florida Fr
57 ND SO (2nd String Mid game injury replacement)
Notre Dame is actually playing their 3rd string as their Summer season 2nd string is playing at FSU
10 of the top 57 QBs in D1 are Fr/SO plus 5 more at g5 schools
Motley was the #800 player in the country and supporting that rank well. Lawson was the #310 and top 15 Pro QB. Durkin.............
Durkin was 342 and Top 20 Pro QB Those Top 60 QBs that were Sophmores were in the same recruiting class as Durkin. Yet they are starting and putting up major numbers but Tech has similar talent that can't compete.
I'd say a valid point is that these things take more time if you're not getting snaps in actual games.
So is that a Coaching fail? again why are we not preparing our players for this. The next big thing, should be on the field this weekend. Should have been Lawson the entire time, just for that reason. Last year as Oklahoma State struggled Head Coach pulled the starter to allow game time and prep for the Next big thing, Freshman QB to be ready. The QB pulled, JR QB was 152 for 277 2041 yards 12/12 TD/Int threw 9 games. Freshman QB 1st game playing #9 Baylor. OK St's Sophmore QB is currently a Top 10 QB now
24/7 Top 20 QB just like Durkin and Lawson. in fact he would be right in the middle if they were all the same year. And like many of the other ones I mentioned further up, Top QB in D1 but recently got on campus
anOSU's NFL ready passrush might have had to do with a cautious approach with a backup QB
I'm with you on Lawson. I don't know what the coaches were planning on doing with him if Brewer wasn't hurt, and even now that he is, we still haven't seen much of him in an effective role. Makes no sense to waste a year.
Is it too late for him to fake an injury and get a medical redshirt? /s
It's not too late for him to have a lingering injury and get a medical redshirt.
And what are you attributing Motley's improvement too? If it is anything more than his great drive, combined with actually getting time to run with the 1's you are wrong.
It was very clear when brewer was the starter that he was taking every snap possible, and hat is a GOOD. As long as the NCAA is going to limit practice time it is foolish to not make sure your starter s getting as much time the role as possible, the fact is that any other answer handicapping the max output of your 1st team.
As for Lawson's RS, yes Im glad we burned it, if only for the fact of getting him as real a view of CFB a possible by taking some hits early and often, he is going to go into the Spring that much more seasoned.
And yet when given the chance, Motley has put up numbers equal to that of Deshaun Watson, Heisman Candidate at Clemson.
I don't think its fair to say the backups aren't good enough. Motley is proving that to be incorrect this season. I just don't think they're being given a realistic chance to show it.
To be fair, I'll point out two things here that I think are highly relevant.
1) Motley didn't practice at all last season. That's only a slight exaggeration. He was hurt most of training camp and then had a class conflict with practice. To expect him to have come in and played well there would have been nothing short of absurd.
2) The only other time we've seen him as a backup was against OSU and we all know there was a very complex gameplan for that game that only Brewer was comfortable running, with Motley running essentially a wildcat package to mix things up. We've always lamented the offense not executing plays correctly, so why take practice time away from the starter? As I mentioned in another thread, few teams will beat OSU with their starters, let alone their backups. So, I don't have a problem with Loeffler throwing his eggs all in the Brewer basket, as it gave him the best opportunity to give his best QB a good shot at OSU.
Obviously, when Motley is allowed to have a full week of practice with the gameplan tailored to him, he's been productive. That also shows he was well-prepared and well-coached during the offseason. So no, I don't think Motley was neglected as a backup, we just haven't had much of a chance to see him in that role since Brewer got injured so early.
This at least touches on some reality. There are way to many variables at play in these situations to simply put the entire blame on the coaching staff.
ummmm...
After mulling it over, Leal, who has only played in mop-up duty his whole career, decided to pursue it.
Leal's departure moves redshirt sophomore Brenden Motley into the No. 2 quarterback spot behind Michael Brewer. The 6-foot-4, 214-pound Motley, from Christiansburg High, has not gotten any game action in his career.
Not much changes except for more reps for Motley, who was the No. 1 quarterback coming out of the spring before Brewer's arrival. He fell back in the competition because of a summer back injury.
So first off lets bring Leal in to this conversation. And realize this is what the entire debate is about, mop-up duty his whole career
Next lets see,
Summer back injury and teams don't practice in the summer. Hurt him, but no loss of team practice
Shane Beamer said. "There was a lot of anticipation and excitement about him going into spring practice."
Motley's reps have been affected this year by his class schedule, which has conflicts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Beamer said the Hokies are working with his professors so he can participate in more practice time on those days.
I don't think 2 days a week of practice is missing all practice
Why?....why have a backup QB that only knows one play.
He's the offense Coordinator, Why can't he have 2 plans for the game. His job is to manage and plan for the offense. My Game Plan (Trademark Loeffler) and Football Survival Guide on the Fly - When injuries Happen
In one week he learned how to QB?!?!?! We really need to maket that for some fundraising for the flag football boosters
Motley went from 4 for 9 on 36 yards to 16 of 24 on 233 yards because of one week of coaching? It's not even all the numbers that matter
Motley had 36 yards? Seriously. Apparently there were some penalties that reduced that number but would still have liked that higher
OSU Comparison
Lets welcome Indiana to the conversation
Halftime score OSU 6 @ Indiana 10
Indiana 's 1st string QB has injury and out for the game....In comes the BACKUP PLAN.
OSU 13 - Indiana 10
Final Score OSU 34 - Indiana 27
Final Play Indiana 4th and goal. 9 yards to force OT. Bad snap. game over
Backup QB was 6 of 14 for 76 yards. And rushed for 98 yards
Much of having a Backup plan is to keep everyone together. Weather thats a national emergency or a football game
edit - include OSU comparison and motley attempted passes
The bottom line is the back up isn't going to be as prepared as the starter
No, I'd say more because he went from playing against OSU to playing against Furman.
9 pass attempts + 2 sacks + 1 defensive pass interference call = 12 passing plays.
Well, I did not know that...updating
He's put up similar, but not equal, numbers. TD's and INT's are basically identical. Motley has 0.4 fewer YPA and a 13.3% lower completion percentage, though. That last one is big. Motley also trails on completion percentage on third down, along with having more third down attempts.
He has also been taking first team reps for 5 games. I'm okay with him not being quite as good.
I don't think it's that they aren't good enough. Motley is a solid QB. My theory is that Loeffler's offense is so QB-centric and puts so much pressure on the signal caller to make the right reads, recognize blitzes and read defenses, make adjustments to the protections, and call audibles and shifts, that it takes every single available first-team rep for the starter to be prepared and comfortable with the offense. Loeffler's pro style offense is so demanding on the signal caller that I think there isn't really time for the backup to get the reps needed in practice to fully be ready if and when he is called. That's why I think Motley looked lost when he came in for Brewer - no one expected Brewer to get hurt like that. When you spend every second of the offseason game planning and preparing the offense around one QB, it just sends the whole plan into disarray when something unexpected happens. We also saw this when Logan was knocked out of the Sun Bowl. Leal likely wasn't elite by any means, but he looked so rusty and unprepared that it looked like he hadn't had a single first-team rep.
We've seen Motley steadily improve since stepping into the number one role as he becomes acclimated to the offense and Loeffler tailors a gameplan built around him.
I think Motley's performance in his 5 starts so far (okay, 4 of the 5) would discredit this theory. I think the problem is twofold:
1. We don't have an offensive "system" and a group of QB's who are all good fits for that system. They all have different styles and strengths/weaknesses. So your gameplanning has to focus on the maximizing the strengths of the guy who's going to start. If your starter goes down, you have to try and shoehorn the backup into a plan that built for somoene else.
2. NCAA restrictions on practice time limit your ability to get meaningful practice reps for the backup, especially when you're not particularly good on offense and the QB is still a bit of a question mark. That starter needs as many reps as he can get. It's different if you're Oregon 2014, where the offense is a well-oiled machine and your QB is a certain top-10 draft pick. Then you can afford the luxury of giving the backup more reps in practice, but VT 2013-2015 is not Oregon 2014 by any stretch of the imagination.
Lawson is young, the only way you put him in and have him make an impact is if you put him in full time and let him learn mainly by making mistakes and building up playtime. That being said, you only do that if he is your best option to win. Motley at this point is clearly better, at least in this situation. That being said, as much as I respect Motley and want him to succeed, he seems to lack the pocket awareness and other intangibles necessary to be a good quarterback. I think it's down to not recruiting consistently over the past four years at the quarterback position, not so much preparation.
That being said, I wonder who would be starting if Ford was still here.
We recruited some pretty highly sought after guys the last 4 years. One transferred and one is playing tight end. That leaves brewer and motley with Lawson the up and comer.
We've got a QB from the state of Michigan coming next year that is described as "the next Mariota". His father coached with Loeffler.
Sounds like another RB to add to the rotation to me
*ducks*
I was thinking he would fit in as a good #3 WR
so what you're saying is #3 stroman is transfering.. #Sauces
<--Ducks-->
They pay money on TSL so they must be legit
Motley has seemed about as prepared as a backup QB can be. In the anOSU game, the offense clearly had a plan to attack the Buckeyes that was centered around Brewer and the offense under Brewer. We've already seen that the offense is quite different under Motley. So it wasn't that Lefty didn't have Mot prepared, as much as it is tough to ask the offense to change game plans on the fly when they'd practiced and prepared with a particular game plan. I don't think you can draw many conclusions from Motley's performance in the OSU game.
The second part is that Lefty's scheme is a bit more demanding, and in today's college game there really aren't many practices and reps to go around. Lefty and many others have mentioned this. So it is hard to have multiple QB's that can fully grasp and execute the offense. The only argument I think one can make here is that Lefty's offense is too complicated. If it were simpler, then it would be easier to prepare multiple QB's. But who is to say a simpler offense is better than what Lefty is trying to install. I think Lefty has a long term plan for how he wants to develop QB's and depth, and it takes every player having multiple years in the system and some game experience to get to where he expects them to be. Like I said, I think the real culprit is practice time and only so many reps to go around.
I hope that we see the benefit of having two QB's capable of winning payoff down the stretch of this season. Having both Brewer and Motley could be real bonus.
During the OSU game, Mot really only had two possessions to get his feet wet before the game started to slip away and the rest of the team felt deflated. If we could have kept it closer for a couple more possessions, then maybe Mot would have settled in and LEfty would have called some plays that maybe would have gotten the offense moving.
I don't feel like there is an issue with backup QB's, and how ready could we really expect Lawson to be at this point. Very few true freshman QB's are ready from the start.
We're 3 years in and he is still trying to install it. The question answers itself.
what are you basing this off of exactly?
Logan's backups were "coached" by the same guy that unfixed Tyrod's hitch and turned a guy Whitfield raved about into looking pedestrian. Yeah looking at you O'cain.
Lefty said Logan needed 3 - 4 years coaching. I am sure that was true for all the QBs on the roster at the time. We saw what Leal was capable of in the Sun Bowl. Not good, was it? You think Lefty is at fault for that?
Fortunately we got the Brewdog who could take a serious beating and was a least serviceable last year. Leal leaves the program and really it's Motley and a few freshman. Now Brewer in his 2nd year under Lefty and Motley in his 3rd, are actually capable of winning games. Hell we knew Brewer was last year.
Who do we have behind them? Ford left. Durkin is turning into an H-Back. So Lawson, a true freshman.
I just don't get what premise you are basing this on? What exactly hasn't he done?
Yeah, I don't get what he is saying at all. The only teaching any VT quarterbacks got during the O'Cain era was Rodney Taylor fixing Tyrod's hitch that O'Cain never seemed to find the time to get around to.
People are crazy here now...even wanting stiney to be the OC again
Does anyone else remember the double screen he called against Clemson in 2012? Marcus Davis threw it I believe....
Ah fond memories...there use to be a gif for the double pass dance
I wasn't too upset with the trick play. It was a screen pass to Marcus Davis (former QB) who then tried to throw it to Logan... so not a terrible play call. But then he called it a SECOND time while we were running a TWO MINUTE OFFENSE to try and win the game. I believe Marcus threw an INT the second time. I will never understand the logic behind that play.
Didn't they even allow Motley to have a class that conflicted with practices last year? If you are seriously prepping your backup QB, you don't have him schedule that class. (I guess Leal was the backup at the beginning of the semester)
Depending on several factors outside the control of the staff he might have had to take that class. This isn't UNC they actually have to go to class.
Besides, how many teams are going to fight that hard to move things around for their 3rd string QB? It was a class he had to take, probably only offered in the fall, and probably only at that time slot - guessing based on past experience with VT's scheduling system. I don't think I'm reaching all that much here.
They don't have a mechanism for recording the class or something similar?
Think you have a good point about it not being Motley, not being coaches... but I can't believe they couldn't stick a go pro on some diligent chick and provide some extra study hours with a tutor.
D1 CFB QB... he should aspire to the NFL... not getting even mental reps sounds pretty out of line... but I don't know how other schools do it
The day Virginia Tech allows proxies to attend class for athletes is the day I pull my support.
Video recording in classes is generally prohibited and is done (usually) by permission of the professor only. Audio recording, too, which is generally only granted (from what I have seen) when a student has a legitimate need to spend extra time listening to the material (e.g., learning disability). Professors are usually pretty happy to give permission to students who need a bit of help, not those who would rather do something other than be in class. And from what I have seen in helping students do scheduling during freshman orientation, the academic side wins in any conflicts. If a required class is at a certain time, there's no question. Things don't get moved around for one guy on one team. I saw a kid change majors because a required, 1-credit, class conflicted with one practice session a week (not football). Our department wouldn't waive the requirement, so he walked.
Don't worry the NCAA has your back too
at VT our student athletes are here to play school. This isn't anOSU for god sakes
For godsake is probably a lot more in the Honor Code at BYU and Notre Dame, but they seem to be doing fine with a backup QB
The back ups don't take the same number of practice reps as the starters. There isn't enough practice time. So much of offense is built off of timing, line checks, cohesiveness that gets developed with practice. The backups don't get that time. Even in the pros it doesn't happen. Look at the number of back up qbs in the pros that come in & look awful (hey Vick!)
Don't forget about Leal in the Sun Bowl.
My personal theory is that Loeffler has an offense that is too complex for a college football team. We certainly have players with enough talent and intelligence, hell Loeffler seems to be pretty good at developing QBs, but they only get so much practice time.
Loeffler has effectively created an offense with the same principles as Cici's pizza. Sure having a restaurant that allows you to eat 6 different types of pizza not even including dessert pizzas sounds like a great idea, and maybe on occasion you surprise the other team with a type of pizza they weren't expecting. In the end however, everyone is able to guess that it's shitty pizza regardless of all the variety.
Or maybe...just maybe...it's the type of pro-style offense that will actually get QBs ready for the NFL, meaning a player needs at least a year to learn it. Unlike Lefty's predecessor, who did best when he got a 5 star QB who he just let wing it when the pocket collapsed.
There are more options for an offense than Loeffler's and Stinespring's thankfully. Don't get me wrong, if we knew we'd only have to play one QB all season Loeffler would be a great OC. However, if it takes a whole season off the field, and then an addition month of first team reps the next season to get the offense going at an acceptable level there is a problem. The lack of time and number of injuries in college football make this plan unreasonable in terms of risk to reward ratio.
Dunno. Seems like an extensive amount of hand-wringing here. We were going at what I'd call an acceptable level by week 2. The learning curve for Mot was amazingly quick, IMO. In fact, our worst offensive outing came AFTER Motley had gotten a month of first team reps. I have no complaints about backup QB play this season. I think Motley has done some fantastic work.
See Also:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-nfl-has-a-quarterback-crisis-1441819454
As far as backups go, minus one half of football, Motley has been at least serviceable. I think this is unfair criticism.
French: saying in one line what the rest of us try so hard to articulate comment after comment.
Totally agree.
Florida is going to get a taste of what it might be like with their 2nd string QB in the game against LSU this weekend, let's see how that guy does.
that guy was the #1 in the 1st game and started and won games last year. hes no worse than will greir is or no better. they haven't been winning games with QB play. LSU was beating them either way I believe.
I think Motely has been pretty good when it's been known he is the #1 guy. My criticism is that he was totally not ready to play when he was the #2 guy. And our #2 has consistently looked that way to me throughout Loeffler's tenure, regardless of who it is. I think Motley looking decent this season actually supports my point - he was capable of doing a lot more, but had training wheels on him until he HAD to be the guy.
I don't think Loeffler is the one that put training wheels on him. I think the training wheels were more a result of not having much game experience. Until you actually get that experience, learn from it, get some confidence, it is hard to make progress and climb the learning curve. I think given where VT is as a team, Motley has climbed that curve pretty quickly and produced pretty well. I get your point, but I think it is just a fact that a first time starter is going to have growing pains regardless of the system and the QB coach.
If you feel the "training wheels" are a factor do you support playing Dwayne Lawson more in preparation for next year? Not a criticism just trying to understand your thought process on the matter.
I guess I just don't see what "game experience" he had prior to becoming the full-time starter contributed towards his development in any way. He basically was just a read-option wildcat back. I'm not sure if he even threw a pass in any of his limited action last year or against OSU before Brewer went down.
It's the same kind of stuff we see Lawson running now, and I guess speaks to my point that we're only preparing one qb at a time to really play.
I am pleased with Motley and given his athletic abilities, think he's our best option for the remainder of the season. If his accuracy improves, he will be putting up some serious numbers. The two or three overthrows he's had on open receivers (would have been TD's) would likely have changed the outcome of both the ECU and Pitt games. I expect this from a QB in his 'Rookie' season.
I feel like most teams would see their backup struggle if they were thrown into action midway through a game. OSU wouldn't because they've got two QBs. Bama wouldn't because they can just run the ball without worry. But most teams would see a drop-off, and then the next week their backup would play better by virtue of getting the reps in practice that week.
Loeffler's offensive schemes have a lot of things going on. That in itself is why Brewer struggled last year and why any backup quarterback not taking a ton of meaningful snaps is going to struggle. The offense has the potential to be extremely successful if executed correctly, and extremely messy when pieces get mixed up. I feel confident that if Loeffler could get a QB in for 2+ years and coach him up that the offense could have a ton of success. Whether he will ever get that is questionable though as is trying to run a system such as his in college.
Agreed:
Every article I've read always mentions the following:
That being said, I think Motley is succeeding in part because Loeffler's simplified his scheme, pure conjecture on my part, and that Motley is becoming more familiar with the offense with each snap. Given the circumstances that Brendan Motley has been thrust into, he has done a pretty good job. Yes, he is making mistakes, but as someone else has already mentioned, this is his rookie season.
Even in engineering, you can watch someone design a new system, but until you get to be the lead designer and are forced to make all the design decisions, it isn't the same. Nothing beats OJT (On the Job Training).
Leg for Coop.
Don't forget that Leal was the backup most of the year last year. Motley, as already mentioned above, had a class conflict, and was 3rd string last year until Leal left.. so to say he was unprepared last season when he became the backup would probably be correct, but Lefty didn't schedule Motleys classes for him, so it's hard to blame that on Lefty
Good recall. I completely forgot about that. Leg up for you.
Loeffler has only ever had two back up QBs. The first one was Mark Leal and he flat out just wasn't a very good QB. Second he's had Brenden Motley. I don't know about others' opinions, but I have been generally satisfied with Motley's play. I found myself pissed off by every QB that has played since 2012 (rightfully so or not, I don't know), but Motley hasn't done this yet. Sure, he didn't look great against Ohio State, but that's Ohio State. In every other game (I'll let him slide against Pitt; offensive line would have made any QB fail that game), I think Motley has been an adequate QB. Keep in mind, Motley's true freshman year was the only year Loeffler wasn't his QB coach.
Youre asking why the backup QB with a different skill set as the starter, significantly less experience than the starter, and far fewer reps than the starter, came in cold against the number 1 team in the country and couldnt execute an offense designed for the starter?
Come on guys, this isn't rocket science. Motely has done well in the games he's started, that's all you can reasonably ask for out of a backup.
Trust this guy, I think he knows what he's talking about.
Thought might as well post this separate also
OSU Comparison
Lets welcome Indiana to the conversation
Halftime score OSU 6 @ Indiana 10
Indiana 's 1st string QB has injury and out for the game....In comes the BACKUP PLAN.
OSU 13 - Indiana 10
Final Score OSU 34 - Indiana 27
Final Play Indiana 4th and goal. 9 yards to force OT. Bad snap. game over
Backup QB was 6 of 14 for 76 yards. And rushed for 98 yards
Much of having a Backup plan is to keep everyone together
"Backup QB was 6 of 14 for 76 yards. And rushed for 98 yards"
1) So Indiana's backup came in and played like crap? This is a good thing?
2) 79 of the 98 yards rushing came on 1 play. 6 remaining carries for 19 yards.
Much of having a Backup plan is to keep everyone together.
You see the 2 final scores? one team didnt stay in the game
So Indiana's backup came in and played like crap? This is a good thing?
Yes. experience all around. Not playing mop up/Garbage time everytime a backup QB gets in the game
Just for shits and giggles I took a little look around the football landscape comparison with backup QB's:
Currently there are 10 QB's out due to injury that started the season first string in FBS.
I found 6 of the teams from quickly researching for comparison purpose:
ND: Starter Malik Zaire
Backup Deshone Kizer: Per Game Average : 262 ypg , 26 att, 2TD's, 1 Int (Rushing: 41 att 128 yds total)
BYU: Starter Taysom Hill
Backup Tanner Mangum (Fr): Per Game Average 261 ypg, 45atts 1 TD, 1 INT Avg
(Rushing: 38 att -79 yds total, must be slowest man alive)
South Carolina: Good God, no matter Spurrier left, everyone is getting the chance to throw the ball there.
Damn good running game though: 200 yds a game average
Boise State (Weakest Schedule I've ever seen): Starter Ryan Finley
Backup: Brett Rypien (Fr): Per Game Average 310 avg, 2.5 TD 35 att a game
(Rushing: 13 att 7 yds total)
Kansas State: Starter Kody Cook (Sr)
Backup: Joe Hubnerer (Jr): Per Game Average 165ypg, 12 att, .5 Ints
(Rushing: 64 att 224 yds total)
Virginia Tech: Starter Michael Brewer (Sr)
Backup Brenden Motley (Jr): Per Game Average 197 ypg, 26 att, 2TD, 1 Int (223ypg not counting Pitt game)
(Rushing: 71 att 194 yds total, 2.7 yds avg, Most carries on team by double)
Just by looking at stats:
1. Motley is running the ball way too much with little success
2. Compared to the other 5 FBS backups listed here, Motley is holding his own.
3. Boise State's schedule is weaker than the one pile toilet paper I wiped my ass with this morning! Just Shit everywhere!
Exclaimer: Math is not one of my strengths.
My point is not to diminish how Motley has been performing these past few weeks. It's rather to note that he's capable of playing at such a high level, although whenever he came in for spot duty/Brewer injury he was limited to basically just running the wildcat/turkey. When there was an option A ahead of him, I felt like he was totally unprepared to throw, which meant that Brewer HAD to play, or we were dead in the water, regardless of his health. We were one injury (say, a broken collarbone) away from having no competent offensive system for the duration of the game, despite having a backup QB who is capable of producing when given the chance.
I feel like the staff utilizes Lawson similarly, in that if Motley went down in the NCSt game (during which he was noticeably limping), we would have NO passing attack. It's putting all of our eggs in one basket, and then using that basket as a leading rusher for the team. Is Lawson capable of handling a passing attack at all? No idea, but Motley didn't look capable in his spot duty before he was pressed into the starter's role, and has proven to be able to do it. I guess that's what I'm saying - our backup qbs aren't ready to go in if they need to, and that puts too much pressure on the starter to tough it out/play hero ball, because there's literally no-one behind them who we even consider allowing to pass.
Part of Motleys rushing attempts and yardage is from sacks. If you remove those the stats will look better and give a better picture of the play calls.
There seems to be Lots of confusion on How we practice and limitations and get everyone ready. So why not got to the Source NCAA DIVISION 1 MANUAL
All players are induhvidual and all players have 20 hours of on field practice per week. Subtract 3 hours for Gameday and 1 day off. All players have 5 days to get in 17 hours of Practice time at anytime during the day. Add in non practice time in Video time, coaches meeting, Classes, and Personal Time.