How'd yesterday's poll turn out?
I'm posting this here, because the site is having a temporary tech issue (which will probably be resolved as soon as I do this). So you can read Coordinators without evening clicking this week. Exciting!
…
John Shoop was trying to get quarterback [db]David Blough[/db] in a rhythm early against Minnesota. But it didn’t work.
Read more about Shoop and Greg Hudson’s thoughts after the loss to Minnesota and before the trip to Wisconsin below:
Offensive coordinator John Shoop
GoldandBlack.com: What were your impressions of the offense on Saturday?
Shoop: “My thoughts are that we weren’t real efficient on first down and then we were getting in some third-and-longs. And maybe after that first drive we kind of exhaled a little bit and I don’t know if we lost some intensity or not, I’m not sure, but we sure didn’t execute the rest of the game like we did that first drive. And it’s something that we’ve talked about and are really paying attention to because we came out of the locker room fired up, pumped up, sharp and had a 13-play drive to go down and score, and then – I don’t know how you put it – we didn’t execute quite as well as we needed to the rest of the way.”
GoldandBlack.com: Yes, the next 11 drives total less than 70 yards. How do you …?
Shoop: “Yeah, there’s never any one thing, and I know we want to point it out. We watched the film, a lot of this film as a group, and a lot of our coaches pointed out everything that happened, and I just think it was an overall situation where at every position we didn’t have the productivity that we needed. And we’ve got to come out and really play hard this week, because this test this week, with these guys, up there is going to be a real challenge for our guys.
“I’ll tell you this, we had a really intense practice (Tuesday). We had a really strong practice, physical practice today, but we did every day last week as well. This outfit really practices well Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays; for them, for us, for everybody in the Purdue community, I sure wish we were seeing more of those results, the reward of winning, on Saturday.”
GoldandBlack.com: Blough looked uncomfortable for much of the game, from not setting his feet, to drifting in the pocket, to throwing off his back foot. What did you see? And why was he more uncomfortable in this game?
Shoop: “We talked a lot about getting in a rhythm, getting in a rhythm and getting some easy passes. And there were times when he did get in one and most of the time, we just weren’t right in rhythm. There was sometimes where instead of three-and-a-hitch, it was a hitch-and-a-half, and sometimes where his feet sputtered and he was just a tick off. A great coach once told me you need a thousand reps in the pocket to get comfortable and those are things he’s working hard on getting. We try to mimic it as much as we can Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in practice, but there’s nothing like real game experience and we expect them to come out this week and work the pocket like he has at times the previous two games before Minnesota.”
GoldandBlack.com: The offense is rotating players, for example with D.J. Knox and Markell Jones. How do you determine, or where is the balance between rotating them in a set structure and going with the hot hand?
Shoop: “It’s a very good question. Most of the skill coaches are on the field, and so they have a sense of their players, and I leave it up a lot to the position coach, Coach (Gerad) Parker rotates the wideouts a lot, Coach (Jafar) Williams with the running backs. I always know who’s going in, if there’s a specific play or something like that and Coach (Terry) Malone rotates the tight ends from the box, and Coach (Jim) Bridge with the O-line. So I always know who’s in and if there’s something specific I want, I can get it. But their judgment is usually spot on and they know their players better than I do. They’ll also say a lot of times ‘This guy is hot, let’s keep feeding him.’ So I don’t think it’s any one thing, but those position coaches know their players and I sure rely on them for that.”
GoldandBlack.com: At the end of the first quarter into the second, you ran seven straight passing plays. Maybe those were run-pass check plays (choices by the quarterback). But you do that at a time when you lead. In hindsight, do you need to run more there? What goes into that, because it felt like establishing the rush would have been more warranted?
Shoop: “I can’t remember the exact plays. When we’re ahead in the game, and in the middle of the fourth quarter, you certainly want to shorten the game. When you’re behind in the game in the fourth quarter, you want to lengthen it. That’s why it’s so painful to watch basketball games sometimes, when they’re fouling guys. But you don’t start lengthening or shortening a game necessarily in the second quarter.
“I can’t recall the exact plays you’re talking about, but I know I was very conscience of ‘I’ve got to get Dave in rhythm. I’ve got to get Dave in a rhythm.’ And I’m sure some of the plays were run/pass options, but if Dave didn’t get in a rhythm, we … that’s part of my job too, is to help him get in that. And so, I remember thinking that, but not the specific plays you’re talking about.”
GoldandBlack.com: Darrell Hazell has talked about paring the offense down. What does that mean to you and do you need to do that to help Blough?
Shoop: “I don’t know that we need to do it to help any one person. Wisconsin has a lot of defenses and they’re pretty good. We can’t practice to everything that they do – you can’t do that with any team – and so we’re trying to, especially this week, pick out the things that we know we’re going to hang our hat on and try to get them run all four quarter. It’s as much as anything that they have a lot of volume, especially in their third-down stuff and nickel pressure packages that we can’t get it all practiced. We have some looks we really have to get through.”
GoldandBlack.com: Can you win with a smaller offense?
Shoop: “Oh sure, we can win. We can win if we go in with five plays and just execute them. We can win. That’s the key and that’s really what we’re talking a lot about our guys to. Just execute. Just execute. We don’t have to be 25 of 25 throwing it, we have to be one-of-one 25 times. We don’t have to run for 200 yards, we just have to make a profit on first-and-10, gaining four or five or six yards, every time that we do it. As long as we stay in that small – when I think small, that’s what I think, the now, not necessarily pare everything down. But stay in the present, make <i>this</i> play work. We really talked about that this week.”
GoldandBlack.com: What’s game-day play calling like for you? Are you in your own little cocoon? Malone is in the booth with you, do you consult with him?
Shoop: “I can talk to all the coaches. I can talk to every coach and there’s dialogue when there needs to be dialogue and there’s quiet when there needs to be quiet. While we have the ball, I’m pretty much the only guy who is talking. But in between series, all the coaches – Coach Hazell goes back-and-forth, he still has tremendous input throughout the game – and guys aren’t shy. If they see something, and we have things we’re all looking for, for instance, we may run a run play, and Coach Malone just may say right next to me ‘You’ve got the naked, or you’ve got the corresponding play off of it,’ things that he knew he should be looking for going in to it. We’re pretty good. Everybody is pretty seasoned on our staff. I wouldn’t say I’m in a cocoon, no.”
GoldandBlack.com: On Wisconsin …
Shoop: “They’re really good. They have two outside linebackers that are as good as anybody in the country, they really are. And their scheme is sound, they’re fun to watch. They’re aggressive in the secondary and really are physical at the corner spots. I’m really excited for this challenge for our guys. These guys are real good. I thought we had a strong game plan against them last year but when we had to pass late in the game, we couldn’t quite get it done. We can throw the ball a little bit better this year, we’re going to try to be as physical as we were running it some. I think our guys are up for the challenge. This is a really good defense and a really tough place to play.”
Defensive coordinator Greg Hudson
GoldandBlack.com: What were your impressions of Saturday?
Hudson: “To go into halftime and be that excited about the next 30 minutes and then to have seven plays that speak so much about the rest of the day, it’s hard.”
GoldandBlack.com: Those next seven plays, after half, weren’t good.
Hudson: “The same calls. The same response and different techniques. We’ve got to do the same thing for 60 minutes.”
GoldandBlack.com: It as simple as missing tackles after halftime or something more?
Hudson: “You saw the guys bounce off of them. In the first half, we were driving on the guy, down in the box and behind the line of scrimmage. Even if you make the tackle, a 12-yard gain is better than 72. We can live with that.”
GoldandBlack.com: I feel like I’ve asked these tackle questions for a few weeks. Why?
Hudson: “Really tackling is like going to the dentist, you’re going to get the Novocain shot and it’s going to hurt. Tackling on game day is going to hurt. It’s going to hurt all season. We’ve got to tackle. It’s a physical game. You’re never going to be right (physically) once the season starts. It’s an occupational hazard and we’ve got to do it better. We’re tacking in individual period (in practice) and wrapping up during scout team periods and running to the ball. Then again, when you can’t tackle the guy and you’ve got to shoot him out, you’ve got to shoot him out.”
GoldandBlack.com: On the 71-yarder, was there a gap assignment issue, too?
Hudson: “Nope, just ran right into him. You saw it.”
GoldandBlack.com: The four-linebacker package had some success. What did you like about it?
Hudson: “It stopped the run. I think it was about two (yards) a carry. You’ve got to cover the 7 route (on play-action).”
GoldandBlack.com: The ‘7 route,’ the Gophers hit the play-action vs. it for two touchdowns.
Hudson: “Well, it’s man-to-man, you’ve got the guy. Even if they run it, you’ve got the guy.”
GoldandBlack.com: So there was no reason for either of your coverage guys to look into the backfield?
Hudson: “No. Not without your hands on him. Grab him. They grab us. Grab him and hold on to him.”
GoldandBlack.com: How much did Ja’Whaun Bentley’s loss affect what you wanted to do? Any?
Hudson: “No, we played the exact same, same defense, not at all. You can’t change when one guy is out. You’ve got to replace the plays, you can’t replace the player. There was 11 guys on that field; I think he’s averaging nine to 10 tackles a game, then everybody has to chip in and get one more. That’s all you’ve got to do. Replace the plays, not the player.”
GoldandBlack.com: Would you have run more of the four-linebacker package with him?
Hudson: “No. It wouldn’t have changed anything.”
GoldandBlack.com: In general, how much does it affect the defense not having him. He’s a good player.
Hudson: “Pre-practice, he’s the guy they’re calling it up around (in the huddle). He’s the man in the middle. The seniors and the guys on the player committee, they’re sort of the representatives of the room. They’ve got to step up and lead, everyone is standing around watching. Got to lead and at least, if anything, lead by example. Going hard and doing your job so guys at least see it on film. You can’t rely on just one guy with all the juice. Ray Lewis wasn’t the only guy making plays in Baltimore. There were some other good guys.”
GoldandBlack.com: Then, it exacerbates things when you don’t have Jimmy Herman either. He looks pretty nicked up.
Hudson: “Hopefully, he’s back.”
GoldandBlack.com: How did you think Garrett Hudson played in the middle?
Hudson: “He did a good job. The thing is I don’t get to see it. Game day, I’m looking at my call sheet and the personnel on the offense, so I really don’t see the defense. He stuck his face in there and if he can stick it in there a little more – and I’m allowed to shove it in there since he’s mine (laughs) – you go from one minute wondering whether you’re going to play to thrown in the fire. That’s not the JUCO we were going against now; it’s his first time in some serious action and got about 20 plays and he’ll do better.”
GoldandBlack.com: The defense gives up the big play on the second play of the half. What do you need from it to recover more quickly? Mentally tougher?
Hudson: “There’s not going to be a drastic scheme or change to say ‘OK, we’re going to stop that play.’ I think we just have to be a little more violent in there and physical. Tackle the guy.
“The other thing is that the guy can’t keep running through seams or gaps at a high rate of speed. At some point, the front four have to get off a block and get a hand on him or a shoulder. I keep saying they have to affect the quarterback. They can affect the running game more than anybody. We have four D-linemen grading at a high percentage with zero production points. I can do that.”
GoldandBlack.com: What’s the difference there? Grading out means you’re doing your assignment …
Hudson: “If you’re supposed to get your hands on a guy and hold your gap, then you’re just going to stand there and watch the ball go by. Technically, you did your job. But your job is to stop the guy with the ball, too.
“For example, Evan (Panfil) and Gelen (Robinson) did what we asked. They did a great job of being physical on their tight ends and tackles and keeping them off linebackers. They’ve got to throw them off a little sooner and a little better. They’ve got to lay out and affect the ball-carrier. We’re watching films getting ready for games and watching 7 from Nebraska ([db]Maliek Collins[/db]), he’s throwing everybody around. You know you’ve got guys balling up front when you have big guys leaving their feet. Because they don’t like being on the ground.”
GoldandBlack.com: You know what Wisconsin is going to do, right?
Hudson: “Absolutely, have known it for a long time. Walk in there and they’ll hand you the playbook. You know what they’re going to do and where it’s going and we’ve got to go get it.”
GoldandBlack.com: For the defense, it’s the same as last week? Just have to do it better.
Hudson: “Did it the week before (vs. MSU), not all the time, but did it a little better. Different mindset. This game is a physical game, I know it is. But it’s a mindset, you’ve just got to be a different cat out there. You’ve got to play football and just can’t like being a football player.
“It’s brutal.”
I'm posting this here, because the site is having a temporary tech issue (which will probably be resolved as soon as I do this). So you can read Coordinators without evening clicking this week. Exciting!
…
John Shoop was trying to get quarterback [db]David Blough[/db] in a rhythm early against Minnesota. But it didn’t work.
Read more about Shoop and Greg Hudson’s thoughts after the loss to Minnesota and before the trip to Wisconsin below:
Offensive coordinator John Shoop
GoldandBlack.com: What were your impressions of the offense on Saturday?
Shoop: “My thoughts are that we weren’t real efficient on first down and then we were getting in some third-and-longs. And maybe after that first drive we kind of exhaled a little bit and I don’t know if we lost some intensity or not, I’m not sure, but we sure didn’t execute the rest of the game like we did that first drive. And it’s something that we’ve talked about and are really paying attention to because we came out of the locker room fired up, pumped up, sharp and had a 13-play drive to go down and score, and then – I don’t know how you put it – we didn’t execute quite as well as we needed to the rest of the way.”
GoldandBlack.com: Yes, the next 11 drives total less than 70 yards. How do you …?
Shoop: “Yeah, there’s never any one thing, and I know we want to point it out. We watched the film, a lot of this film as a group, and a lot of our coaches pointed out everything that happened, and I just think it was an overall situation where at every position we didn’t have the productivity that we needed. And we’ve got to come out and really play hard this week, because this test this week, with these guys, up there is going to be a real challenge for our guys.
“I’ll tell you this, we had a really intense practice (Tuesday). We had a really strong practice, physical practice today, but we did every day last week as well. This outfit really practices well Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays; for them, for us, for everybody in the Purdue community, I sure wish we were seeing more of those results, the reward of winning, on Saturday.”
GoldandBlack.com: Blough looked uncomfortable for much of the game, from not setting his feet, to drifting in the pocket, to throwing off his back foot. What did you see? And why was he more uncomfortable in this game?
Shoop: “We talked a lot about getting in a rhythm, getting in a rhythm and getting some easy passes. And there were times when he did get in one and most of the time, we just weren’t right in rhythm. There was sometimes where instead of three-and-a-hitch, it was a hitch-and-a-half, and sometimes where his feet sputtered and he was just a tick off. A great coach once told me you need a thousand reps in the pocket to get comfortable and those are things he’s working hard on getting. We try to mimic it as much as we can Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in practice, but there’s nothing like real game experience and we expect them to come out this week and work the pocket like he has at times the previous two games before Minnesota.”
GoldandBlack.com: The offense is rotating players, for example with D.J. Knox and Markell Jones. How do you determine, or where is the balance between rotating them in a set structure and going with the hot hand?
Shoop: “It’s a very good question. Most of the skill coaches are on the field, and so they have a sense of their players, and I leave it up a lot to the position coach, Coach (Gerad) Parker rotates the wideouts a lot, Coach (Jafar) Williams with the running backs. I always know who’s going in, if there’s a specific play or something like that and Coach (Terry) Malone rotates the tight ends from the box, and Coach (Jim) Bridge with the O-line. So I always know who’s in and if there’s something specific I want, I can get it. But their judgment is usually spot on and they know their players better than I do. They’ll also say a lot of times ‘This guy is hot, let’s keep feeding him.’ So I don’t think it’s any one thing, but those position coaches know their players and I sure rely on them for that.”
GoldandBlack.com: At the end of the first quarter into the second, you ran seven straight passing plays. Maybe those were run-pass check plays (choices by the quarterback). But you do that at a time when you lead. In hindsight, do you need to run more there? What goes into that, because it felt like establishing the rush would have been more warranted?
Shoop: “I can’t remember the exact plays. When we’re ahead in the game, and in the middle of the fourth quarter, you certainly want to shorten the game. When you’re behind in the game in the fourth quarter, you want to lengthen it. That’s why it’s so painful to watch basketball games sometimes, when they’re fouling guys. But you don’t start lengthening or shortening a game necessarily in the second quarter.
“I can’t recall the exact plays you’re talking about, but I know I was very conscience of ‘I’ve got to get Dave in rhythm. I’ve got to get Dave in a rhythm.’ And I’m sure some of the plays were run/pass options, but if Dave didn’t get in a rhythm, we … that’s part of my job too, is to help him get in that. And so, I remember thinking that, but not the specific plays you’re talking about.”
GoldandBlack.com: Darrell Hazell has talked about paring the offense down. What does that mean to you and do you need to do that to help Blough?
Shoop: “I don’t know that we need to do it to help any one person. Wisconsin has a lot of defenses and they’re pretty good. We can’t practice to everything that they do – you can’t do that with any team – and so we’re trying to, especially this week, pick out the things that we know we’re going to hang our hat on and try to get them run all four quarter. It’s as much as anything that they have a lot of volume, especially in their third-down stuff and nickel pressure packages that we can’t get it all practiced. We have some looks we really have to get through.”
GoldandBlack.com: Can you win with a smaller offense?
Shoop: “Oh sure, we can win. We can win if we go in with five plays and just execute them. We can win. That’s the key and that’s really what we’re talking a lot about our guys to. Just execute. Just execute. We don’t have to be 25 of 25 throwing it, we have to be one-of-one 25 times. We don’t have to run for 200 yards, we just have to make a profit on first-and-10, gaining four or five or six yards, every time that we do it. As long as we stay in that small – when I think small, that’s what I think, the now, not necessarily pare everything down. But stay in the present, make <i>this</i> play work. We really talked about that this week.”
GoldandBlack.com: What’s game-day play calling like for you? Are you in your own little cocoon? Malone is in the booth with you, do you consult with him?
Shoop: “I can talk to all the coaches. I can talk to every coach and there’s dialogue when there needs to be dialogue and there’s quiet when there needs to be quiet. While we have the ball, I’m pretty much the only guy who is talking. But in between series, all the coaches – Coach Hazell goes back-and-forth, he still has tremendous input throughout the game – and guys aren’t shy. If they see something, and we have things we’re all looking for, for instance, we may run a run play, and Coach Malone just may say right next to me ‘You’ve got the naked, or you’ve got the corresponding play off of it,’ things that he knew he should be looking for going in to it. We’re pretty good. Everybody is pretty seasoned on our staff. I wouldn’t say I’m in a cocoon, no.”
GoldandBlack.com: On Wisconsin …
Shoop: “They’re really good. They have two outside linebackers that are as good as anybody in the country, they really are. And their scheme is sound, they’re fun to watch. They’re aggressive in the secondary and really are physical at the corner spots. I’m really excited for this challenge for our guys. These guys are real good. I thought we had a strong game plan against them last year but when we had to pass late in the game, we couldn’t quite get it done. We can throw the ball a little bit better this year, we’re going to try to be as physical as we were running it some. I think our guys are up for the challenge. This is a really good defense and a really tough place to play.”
Defensive coordinator Greg Hudson
GoldandBlack.com: What were your impressions of Saturday?
Hudson: “To go into halftime and be that excited about the next 30 minutes and then to have seven plays that speak so much about the rest of the day, it’s hard.”
GoldandBlack.com: Those next seven plays, after half, weren’t good.
Hudson: “The same calls. The same response and different techniques. We’ve got to do the same thing for 60 minutes.”
GoldandBlack.com: It as simple as missing tackles after halftime or something more?
Hudson: “You saw the guys bounce off of them. In the first half, we were driving on the guy, down in the box and behind the line of scrimmage. Even if you make the tackle, a 12-yard gain is better than 72. We can live with that.”
GoldandBlack.com: I feel like I’ve asked these tackle questions for a few weeks. Why?
Hudson: “Really tackling is like going to the dentist, you’re going to get the Novocain shot and it’s going to hurt. Tackling on game day is going to hurt. It’s going to hurt all season. We’ve got to tackle. It’s a physical game. You’re never going to be right (physically) once the season starts. It’s an occupational hazard and we’ve got to do it better. We’re tacking in individual period (in practice) and wrapping up during scout team periods and running to the ball. Then again, when you can’t tackle the guy and you’ve got to shoot him out, you’ve got to shoot him out.”
GoldandBlack.com: On the 71-yarder, was there a gap assignment issue, too?
Hudson: “Nope, just ran right into him. You saw it.”
GoldandBlack.com: The four-linebacker package had some success. What did you like about it?
Hudson: “It stopped the run. I think it was about two (yards) a carry. You’ve got to cover the 7 route (on play-action).”
GoldandBlack.com: The ‘7 route,’ the Gophers hit the play-action vs. it for two touchdowns.
Hudson: “Well, it’s man-to-man, you’ve got the guy. Even if they run it, you’ve got the guy.”
GoldandBlack.com: So there was no reason for either of your coverage guys to look into the backfield?
Hudson: “No. Not without your hands on him. Grab him. They grab us. Grab him and hold on to him.”
GoldandBlack.com: How much did Ja’Whaun Bentley’s loss affect what you wanted to do? Any?
Hudson: “No, we played the exact same, same defense, not at all. You can’t change when one guy is out. You’ve got to replace the plays, you can’t replace the player. There was 11 guys on that field; I think he’s averaging nine to 10 tackles a game, then everybody has to chip in and get one more. That’s all you’ve got to do. Replace the plays, not the player.”
GoldandBlack.com: Would you have run more of the four-linebacker package with him?
Hudson: “No. It wouldn’t have changed anything.”
GoldandBlack.com: In general, how much does it affect the defense not having him. He’s a good player.
Hudson: “Pre-practice, he’s the guy they’re calling it up around (in the huddle). He’s the man in the middle. The seniors and the guys on the player committee, they’re sort of the representatives of the room. They’ve got to step up and lead, everyone is standing around watching. Got to lead and at least, if anything, lead by example. Going hard and doing your job so guys at least see it on film. You can’t rely on just one guy with all the juice. Ray Lewis wasn’t the only guy making plays in Baltimore. There were some other good guys.”
GoldandBlack.com: Then, it exacerbates things when you don’t have Jimmy Herman either. He looks pretty nicked up.
Hudson: “Hopefully, he’s back.”
GoldandBlack.com: How did you think Garrett Hudson played in the middle?
Hudson: “He did a good job. The thing is I don’t get to see it. Game day, I’m looking at my call sheet and the personnel on the offense, so I really don’t see the defense. He stuck his face in there and if he can stick it in there a little more – and I’m allowed to shove it in there since he’s mine (laughs) – you go from one minute wondering whether you’re going to play to thrown in the fire. That’s not the JUCO we were going against now; it’s his first time in some serious action and got about 20 plays and he’ll do better.”
GoldandBlack.com: The defense gives up the big play on the second play of the half. What do you need from it to recover more quickly? Mentally tougher?
Hudson: “There’s not going to be a drastic scheme or change to say ‘OK, we’re going to stop that play.’ I think we just have to be a little more violent in there and physical. Tackle the guy.
“The other thing is that the guy can’t keep running through seams or gaps at a high rate of speed. At some point, the front four have to get off a block and get a hand on him or a shoulder. I keep saying they have to affect the quarterback. They can affect the running game more than anybody. We have four D-linemen grading at a high percentage with zero production points. I can do that.”
GoldandBlack.com: What’s the difference there? Grading out means you’re doing your assignment …
Hudson: “If you’re supposed to get your hands on a guy and hold your gap, then you’re just going to stand there and watch the ball go by. Technically, you did your job. But your job is to stop the guy with the ball, too.
“For example, Evan (Panfil) and Gelen (Robinson) did what we asked. They did a great job of being physical on their tight ends and tackles and keeping them off linebackers. They’ve got to throw them off a little sooner and a little better. They’ve got to lay out and affect the ball-carrier. We’re watching films getting ready for games and watching 7 from Nebraska ([db]Maliek Collins[/db]), he’s throwing everybody around. You know you’ve got guys balling up front when you have big guys leaving their feet. Because they don’t like being on the ground.”
GoldandBlack.com: You know what Wisconsin is going to do, right?
Hudson: “Absolutely, have known it for a long time. Walk in there and they’ll hand you the playbook. You know what they’re going to do and where it’s going and we’ve got to go get it.”
GoldandBlack.com: For the defense, it’s the same as last week? Just have to do it better.
Hudson: “Did it the week before (vs. MSU), not all the time, but did it a little better. Different mindset. This game is a physical game, I know it is. But it’s a mindset, you’ve just got to be a different cat out there. You’ve got to play football and just can’t like being a football player.
“It’s brutal.”
