Offensive Playcalling in 2007

This has been a point of contention for a while for me, and ultimately, what I think has been the most significant factor (outside of a lack of defense, perhaps) preventing UNH from winning games in the playoffs, and getting a hire seed in the regular season. Let me just take a moment to point out some of the insanity that has happened in the last two years:

4th and Goal at the 4 yard line, UNH trails UMass 28-20 and there is about 30 seconds left to play. With a stacked line of scrimmage clearly showing blitz, the playcall is to have Ricky Santos roll to the left and pitch it to Bobby Simpson for the touchdown. Not surprisingly, the BLITZING linebacker knocks the ball down and recovers it. Game over. Meanwhile, UNH had scored 17 points in a row by throwing the ball over the middle of the field to the slot receivers. They had fallen behind 28-3 by trying to be fancy. Earlier in the game, they were driving and tried a fake punt on 4th and 1 at the UMass 40 or so. You're telling me a fake punt as the highest potential to succeed there? (And yes, I realize it worked at Hampton...the difference is, at Hampton, it was a direct snap to Maurice Duper, not a designed rollout for Matt Henry). If UNH had just done what they did best, instead of trying to be fancy, they win that game.

Also, does anyone recall the playoff game in 2005 against UNI, at home? Yes, UNH fumbled the ball 5 times, but UNI simply was not better than UNH. They had no right to win that game, even with our fumbles. UNH scored 21 consecutive points in a ten minute span at will, because they weren't running dink and dunk screen passes to the outside receiver. For some reason, the coaching staff decided to forget about the normal offense and instead, tried to become the New England Patriots. It was one of the most disappointing moments in my history as a sports fan, because UNH would have hosted the Semifinal game against, well, whomever. It was simply inexplicable that they would change a gameplan that generated a 1 loss team in the regular season against only average competition.

How about against Northeastern at Northeastern immediately following a regular season loss to James Madison. The team played terrible the entire game, but after two miraculous late game drives and an OT score, UNH found themselves in a position to win, 35-28. It was 4th and 5 at the 20 yard line for Northeastern, and inexplicably, UNH allowed a 20 yard touchdown pass. That's somewhat acceptable, but as Northeastern came on the field with their FG unit, UNH called timeout to "ice the kicker" on an extra point attempt. They returned to the field to go for two, and quite naturally, won the game. Chances that calling that timeout makes any difference on the extra point try are quite slim, and to call a timeout when the home team is granting you double overtime is insane at best.

Or how about against UMass in the playoffs? For the most part, that was a well played game. However, UNH again found themselves with 4th down on around the 4 yard line and the game on the line (down 7). This time, however, it was 4th and short after a debatable David Ball catch that was marked short of the marker. Instead of just running a QB sneak or a short run, UNH again rolled Santos out, and again saw the ball get knocked down by a blitzing LB. Not only does the clock stop with a first down (and I believe it would've been an easy run up the middle), but also, with three timeouts left, it would've been easy to stop the clock. It was just inexcusable.

The only team that has really outplayed UNH was James Madison, both in 2005 and 2006. That's going to be a bitch of a game in 2007.

I'll review the schedule next time around, but in all honesty, if this team expects to go further in the second round, it needs to be coached better. Gaffs like this simply aren't acceptable on a playoff caliber football team.