The greatest blogging minds in Wildcat nation come together to tackle the tough questions.
After a week away from football, the B.O.T.C. council of writers once again turn their gaze to the grid iron. As always, please grace us with your answers in the comment section, y’all did great last week.
Conor Riley was a question mark heading into the season. What do you consider his “strength” 5 games into his play calling career?
What’s one area you would like to see change/improve?
Note: As JT points out, Riley is 6 games into his play calling career after guiding the ‘Cats to the victory in the Pop Tarts Bowl.
Drew Schneider
It’s always a bit nerve racking to break in a brand-new play caller. Coach Klieman did Connor Riley a huge favor by bringing in Matt Wells to help. Still, at the end of the day, the weight is on Riley’s shoulders to perform.
Through 5 games, if I’m handing out grades, Riley has a solid B.
His strength as a play caller is his ability to scheme open guys in the red zone and short yardage. The tight ends, in particular, are feasting near the goal line where someone always seems to pop wide open. Having the testicular fortitude to call a DJ Giddens wheel route on 4th and 1 against Tulane showed Riley’s confidence when it comes to short yardage play calling. He saw a chance to go for the throat and took it.
In terms of areas of improvement, the passing game is most obvious area of concern, but I’m not sure I put that on Riley. I’m sure the scheme is fine, but it’s hard to get a feel for it when the execution has lacked at times. I put that on a first year starting quarterback working with a group that lacks a clear #1 receiver (although Jace Brown is trying to change my mind on that).
One thing I would like to see is a better initial plan from the Wildcat brain trust. In boxing terms, it seems like it takes the offense the first half of the fight to warm up. I’d like to think it’s more of Riley landing body shots and seeing how the defense reacts to certain plays and formations before knocking them out in the second half.
That’s fine and good when the defense is playing well, but giving a team like Colorado a 2-quarter head start is probably a bad idea. They hung 21 on Oklahoma State in the first half last week, and that’s something they may need to replicate against the Buffs. I’m interested to see how Riley deals with a shoot-out.
Luke Sobba
I think it’s difficult to judge at this stage because we are breaking in a young quarterback behind an almost entirely new offensive line. Considering those caveats, I don’t see much reason for complaint. The offense is a little run-heavy, but that’s not surprising since the backfield has more proven talent than the wideout positions. I have been impressed with Riley’s ability to scheme open running backs and tight ends, especially in the red zone. Well…you know…that BYU head-scratcher aside.
Jon Morse
It’s hard to identify anything about Riley because we just don’t know how much of the play calling is him and how much is Matt Wells. Taken as a duo, I’d say they’ve been pretty good at adjusting at halftime; other than the BYU debacle the offense has been perfectly fine in the second half all season.
The one true weak link on this team is the passing game, specifically the receiving corps. I don’t know that the flaws with that unit can be fixed, because it really appears that much of it is simply physical. What that means is that Avery Johnson has to adapt to that. There are guys he seems to consistently overthrow (and I’m not going to call anyone out here specifically, but you probably know who I mean), and the inference there is that they’re just not getting to where they’re supposed to be quickly enough or they’re just not able to get up and get the ball. These are things Avery has to compensate for and take just a feather off the throw.
JT VanGilder
Well, technically, it’s 6 games in, because Riley did call plays for the Pop Tarts Bowl. And I think we saw some of that bleed over into the start of the season and play calling that seemed to emphasize “traditional” offensive roles (drop-back passing, handoffs, but little RPO or QB runs). I think both Riley and Wells were still learning what these guys could do against live competition, and how well guys would hold up during live game reps.
I think we saw some more freedom appear during the Oklahoma State game, but I’m still not certain what they’re trying with the overall gameplan. We still seem to go away from our strength (the run game) too often. Like we’re trying too hard to be “balanced”, or to get our beleaguered receiving corps into gear through sheer reps.
I do think those guys will figure it out. Riley is in his first season ever calling plays and he’s still learning. Wells is probably trying to help, but also trying to not step on Riley too much while Conor is going through his growing pains. These are smart guys; I have faith we’ll get there. It just may still be bumpy a few more times this season.