First down plays in the first half

Thought i would break it down since some thought we should run more and some thought we should pass more.

On first down Allen was 6 of 8 for 39 yards (17 on one play), an INT and one first down on a defensive holding that goes as a no play.

Duke had 10 yards on 3 carries
Birden 1 carry for 6
King had one sweep run for 2 yards.

Not very successful running or passing in my opinion. Unless Birden has been putting the ball on the ground in practice, he should get more first down opportunities.

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Definitely not even close to successful, but it also doesn’t fit the “OMG WHY DO WE ALWAYS RUN UP THE MIDDLE ON FIRST” narrative this board jumps on.

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The OC is an amateur and needs to be shown the door. If that does not fix things then Applewhite needs to be next.

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That is the same analysis that had A&M send Spavital packing at A&M. You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip. I’m pretty sure Applewhite chose Allen as the starter, not Johnson.

If this staff works like any other staff then the decision on Allen was made by discussion that resulted in mutual agreement. Applewhite and Johnson were both college QBs. They wouldn’t be the first coaches seduced by the ability of a 6’5" highly-rated QB with a cannon for an arm. Sometimes you don’t know what you got till you roll the ball out there and see.

Allen doesn’t mentally handle pressure well. He panics and makes mistakes. The question is do you have patience and see if he can learn not to do that and calm down, or do you go with the very capable backup that by all accounts is extremely cool under pressure?

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That is kind of what they did after the Arizona game. He didn’t have a good game and people made the excuse it was his first game. So the real question should be, did Kyle make any of the same mistakes against Tech that he made against Arizona. If he did and he gets to start again, it becomes “fool me twice,” shame on Applewhite.

I think Applewhite is very aware of needing to see game actions. He actually commented on that leading up to the season that he needed people to show their game play, not merely practice.
Allen may be a practice QB. He has all the physical tools, so would look fantastic when not needed to make crazy pressure decisions with failure on the line.
He definitely didn’t pass the test today and it wasn’t even a hard one.

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I don’t know why people keep bringing up pressure or the offensive line failure. The third play of the game that resulted in an INT was on a first and 10 and he was comfortably in the pocket. Who cares about physical tools when the decision making is bad? We have the same problem at running back. Supposedly Catalon is the strongest back but that shouldn’t matter when he hits the line standing straight up and doesn’t show much ability to find holes when the play isn’t there.

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Because it is an indicative impression of the entire game as a whole and not a singular moment like the one you pointed out.

Postma made some nice plays yesterday because Tech wanted us to run clock going methodically down the field. Defenses obviously have trouble with the QB run game, which Postma adds, something that both Applewhite and Johnson have used in their pasts as play callers. They see something with Allen’s arm, but if he can’t make good decisions it doesn’t matter if he has a cannon. We’ll see going forward.

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Tech may have been laying back a bit to keep everything in front of them, but I don’t think they expected Postma to come in and have the impact he had at the same time. It was like the offense woke up. I think the ending was a little more uncomfortable than Tech wanted, which is why it is my opinion despite the Tech defense during the 4th quarter, that Postma did more than he is getting credit for.

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This! You know who else had a cannon for an arm? Brock Osweiler and Jamarcus Russell to name a couple. If you can’t read a defense and see guys who can easily jump routes, it doesn’t matter if you can throw the ball 80 yards. Allen simply doesn’t see the defense well and that is a major problem. And it will be a Major problem if he continues to start despite that inability.

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