Herbert’s Long Run:
In this clip, Herbert fakes to the back and seeing the defender responsible for covering the quarterback disappear towards the running back, pulls the ball and heads outside with no defenders in sight. He is able to gain 37 yards without a hand laid on him. This is not a dangerous play as Herbert can see all the defenders closing in on him and in the end, steps out of bounds avoiding any contact. For those who worry about injuries, the quarterback has more chance of serious injury being hit by a pass rusher he can’t see while in the pocket.
Jaylon Redd’s TD:
Herbert throws a bullet right on the hands of Jaylon Redd who has beaten two safeties on this pass play. Herbert is an extremely accurate passer on this kind of throw. At this point he could put a bit more loft on his deep passes down the sideline, making for an easier catch by the receiver. Justin had three passes dropped in the first half against Bowling Green, all that should have resulted in big gains. To his credit, he did not lose confidence or trust in his receivers, which has to be a challenge with multiple drops.
Troy Dye’s Interception:
Here is an example of why Troy Dye is considered an All American candidate. The edge pass rusher does a good job of hurrying the quarterback and forcing him out of the pocket and towards the sideline where he wants to throw the ball out of bounds. Because the defensive end has done his job of containing the quarterback, Dye is able to widen, cover the field and break on the pass towards the sidelines. Dye covers a great deal of ground and makes a fabulous catch, remembering to get one foot down for possession before he crashes out of bounds. This is an athletic move few linebackers are able to pull off. Perhaps Dye should take some reps as a wide receiver as well?
Pete Carrol’s film on teaching safer, rugby-style tackling. The Seahawks have lead the way in developing, teaching and publicizing rugby-style tackling as a way to prevent the concussions that are hurting players and the image, of football. I have seen the Washington Huskies practice tackling without helmets and Carroll shows drills his players do to accomplish the same thing. Awareness has been raised to a high degree at all levels of football from little league to the pros. It will take a change in mentality for some to make that switch and in the pros, especially, you find there are some players that aren’t frightened by the statistics and don’t want to change their attitude towards punishing opponents with blows to head area with their helmets. This is definitely an issue at the youth football level.
Terrible Targeting Calls Part 2–Here are several real-life examples from the 2017 season of targeting calls by officials that are at best, disputable. You make up your mind on these. Are the referees seeing things? And what role is the replay booth playing in this controversy?
“I learned football working under many great coaches, among them Len Casanova, Jerry Frei, John Robinson, Bruce Snyder, George Seifert,and Ron Stratten at the University of Oregon, Jim Owens at the University of Washington and Jim Walden at Washington State University. Most of my coaching experience was on the offensive side of the ball with quarterbacks, receivers and kickers although as a head coach I coached defensive backs, linebackers and offensive line.
I achieved my first goal of being the youngest head coach in college football at the age of 26 and throughout my career in coaching and outside of it, as a journalist and broadcaster, have experienced how exciting and gratifying it is teaching the game to others.”