End of an era?

[azepp]

Let me start by saying that I am a Rhoads supporter. However, there is one thing that he has done fairly consistently during his tenure that has always really bothered me. I'm hopeful that he learned something from Bill Blankenship yesterday and that this can change.

My pet peeve is the tendency to coast into halftime without taking a shot at putting points on the board. This almost backfired yesterday when we had Tulsa with 4th and long right before the half and rather than using our timeout and ensuring that we'd get the ball back, CPR was content, as usual, to let the clock run out. Blankenship took a timeout with 3 seconds left so he could get off a low-risk, high-reward play and it wasn't too far from being 6 for Tulsa (thanks to Klein for knocking it down).

We could have prevented the play from happening and given ourselves a shot at some points if we'd taken our timeout as soon as the 3rd down play ended.

Now I realize that with the way our offense was playing we weren't likely to actually score, but I hate the "let's just get to the locker room" mentality. It is the opposite of "ALL IN".

Is there any chance CPR learned something from Bill Blankenship yesterday and may change the way he approaches these situations? Could the "just make it to the locker room" era be over?

[megamanxzero35]

There offense and defense were clicking. You take a timeout with 45+ seconds left to try and get the ball and they convert? Well they might easily put more points on the board. Then they would have more momentum and would get the ball at the half.

Rhoads didn't want that. It was better to get the team in the locker room, regroup, try and fix what was wrong and head back out.

[Luth4Cy]

CPR is a smart guy. My guess is he learned a lot yesterday not just in terms of strategy in games but also in schematics and how to practice before a bowl.

[CyArob]

Enough with the dumb threads. If he took a TO, ISU would have got the ball with under 30 seconds left inside the 20 and then taken a knee.

[Bobby45]

Let me start by saying that I am a Rhoads supporter. However, there is one thing that he has done fairly consistently during his tenure that has always really bothered me. I'm hopeful that he learned something from Bill Blankenship yesterday and that this can change.

My pet peeve is the tendency to coast into halftime without taking a shot at putting points on the board. This almost backfired yesterday when we had Tulsa with 4th and long right before the half and rather than using our timeout and ensuring that we'd get the ball back, CPR was content, as usual, to let the clock run out. Blankenship took a timeout with 3 seconds left so he could get off a low-risk, high-reward play and it wasn't too far from being 6 for Tulsa (thanks to Klein for knocking it down).

We could have prevented the play from happening and given ourselves a shot at some points if we'd taken our timeout as soon as the 3rd down play ended.

Now I realize that with the way our offense was playing we weren't likely to actually score, but I hate the "let's just get to the locker room" mentality. It is the opposite of "ALL IN".

Is there any chance CPR learned something from Bill Blankenship yesterday and may change the way he approaches these situations? Could the "just make it to the locker room" era be over?

Are You saying that bill blankenship is ALL IN and coach rhoads is NOT? Thats Funny...btw you could be right! lol

[clonedude]

CPR is a smart guy. My guess is he learned a lot yesterday not just in terms of strategy in games but also in schematics and how to practice before a bowl.

If Rhoads didn't learn how to practice for a bowl game after last year's debacle, what makes you think he will after this game?

[Wally86]

Enough with the dumb threads. If he took a TO, ISU would have got the ball with under 30 seconds left inside the 20 and then taken a knee.

No he is saying ISU would have had a chance for a big punt return and shot at the endzone instead of defending the hail Mary by Tulsa. By not taking the time out early ISU let Tulsa dictate who took the last shot in the half.

[azepp]

Enough with the dumb threads. If he took a TO, ISU would have got the ball with under 30 seconds left inside the 20 and then taken a knee.

But you also force Tulsa to punt instead of giving them an opportunity to take a shot at the end zone.

[azepp]

No he is saying ISU would have had a chance for a big punt return and shot at the endzone instead of defending the hail Mary by Tulsa. By not taking the time out early ISU let Tulsa dictate who took the last shot in the half.

Well said.

[chuckd4735]

Enough with the dumb threads. If he took a TO, ISU would have got the ball with under 30 seconds left inside the 20 and then taken a knee.

Or you set yourself up for a big punt return, a bad snap on the punt or even a block. I agree with the OP 100%, I may have even said that I hope Tulsa scores once they took that TO just to teach CPR a lesson on that mentality. Of course I said that in the heart of the moment and out of pure frustration and didn't really mean it, but the conservative mentality going into halftime does drive me nuts... SPECIFICALLY WHEN WE DON'T GET THE BALL TO START THE 2nd HALF!

Even if we did just take the punt,and then take a knee, at least we had control of the ball. I thought the timeout by Tulsa was genius.

[CycloneNorth]

Or you set yourself up for a big punt return, a bad snap on the punt or even a block. I agree with the OP 100%, I may have even said that I hope Tulsa scores once they took that TO just to teach CPR a lesson on that mentality. Of course I said that in the heart of the moment and out of pure frustration and didn't really mean it, but the conservative mentality going into halftime does drive me nuts... SPECIFICALLY WHEN WE DON'T GET THE BALL TO START THE 2nd HALF!

Even if we did just take the punt,and then take a knee, at least we had control of the ball. I thought the timeout by Tulsa was genius.

What if the punt return is fumbled in the cold rainy conditions? Then Tulsa heads into half with more momentum and everyone on this board is asking when CPR will learn to just let the clock run out at the half.

[azepp]

What if the punt return is fumbled in the cold rainy conditions? Then Tulsa heads into half with more momentum and everyone on this board is asking when CPR will learn to just let the clock run out at the half.

I think the chances of Tulsa completing a hail mary are probably about the same as fumbling the punt return, so the risk is probably a wash. However, the upside is much greater on the punt. Plus, you can always choose to not field the punt.

Edit: anyone who would be asking when he'll learn to run the clock out hasn't been watching ISU football for a few years.

[chuckd4735]

What if the punt return is fumbled in the cold rainy conditions? Then Tulsa heads into half with more momentum and everyone on this board is asking when CPR will learn to just let the clock run out at the half.

Sure, lets play scared. I guess I trust our football team to be able to handle a punt in the rain, and I would hope that CPR does as well. We are a Big 12 football team for god sakes.

[CycloneNorth]

Sure, lets play scared. I guess I trust our football team to be able to handle a punt in the rain, and I would hope that CPR does as well. We are a Big 12 football team for god sakes.

The Cyclones have returned only 10 punts all year. With Tulsa's field position the punt would have either been fair caught or allowed to drop. Using a timeout early would not have changed anything.

[00clone]

No he is saying ISU would have had a chance for a big punt return and shot at the endzone instead of defending the hail Mary by Tulsa. By not taking the time out early ISU let Tulsa dictate who took the last shot in the half.

To be fair, the defense had about as much chance of scoring as the offense did yesterday....