Kansas St's QBs combined for 40 carries against Baylor We need to pound Bell about 20

[dennis580]

times a game. In order to get the most out of Bell this is what we need to do. Some of it can be in the Belldozer in short yardage situations, some of it can be on QB draws, and some of it can on read options.

Bell needs 20 carries a game. That is the most effective way to use Bell. Bell will also physically punish, and wear defenses down if he gets enough carries. Until Heupel understands this the offensive will not be as effective as it could be.

[BoulderSooner79]

That one KSU QB is big, fast and elusive. Bell is just big.

But KSU definite showed that a team that can play keep-away can beat Baylor.

[Widescreen]

Yeah, Sams is a very different athlete than Bell. Sams is quick laterally and straight ahead. Bell's only real running play is straight forward.

[Therealsouthsider]

...it doesn't matter, Josh knows best

ss

[Soonerjeepman]

Sams isn't is BIG ..he is fast and elusive though.

[ddub0224]

The belldozer scheme is done. It quit working late last season. He is too slow.

[badger]

Duuuuude, Texas was giving up 100+ rushing yard to opponents before us, yet we didn't see fit to run Belldozer ONCE in the first half, unless I'm mistaken.

If we couldn't pull that off against hated rival south of the red river, what chance do we have of seeing that against hated rival north of the... um... sunflower fields next to the corn stalks and giant open spaces of nothingness aka Kansas

[SoonerKnight]

We need to have Knight come change the pace and run and let him throw a little. Hell give KT a chance. Bell is a gamer but he looked lost out there. Of course it could be the fact that a new QB almost always loses the RRS game. It was not our year to get it done. But we'll see how Bell does. He is a big guy and his touch on the ball is lacking. He keeps throwing it too hard and it sails way out there. I think he can get it but I wonder if having the QB coach as the OC is hurting the QB development?

[dennis580]

The belldozer scheme is done. It quit working late last season. He is too slow.

Bell had back to back 10+ yards run against TCU to seal the game when they knew we were going to run. Bell is not too slow he just needs MORE carries. Bell is NOT too slow.

[EatLeadCommie]

Bell looked lost, but I think it's a different ballgame if Clay catches that pass that he dropped right into his hands. It gives him early confidence. Still, Josh called ZERO Belldozer plays in the first half. Inexcusable. Bell warms up running plays like that. It is his bread and butter. Plus, as people mentioned, it punishes the defense every time they have to bring down a 250+ pound runner.

Honestly, that was probably the worst called game on the offensive side of the ball since Chuck Long was our OC. The play action to Millard was the only play that got me excited all day and caught me off guard.

[EatLeadCommie]

Bell had back to back 10+ yards run against TCU to seal the game when they knew we were going to run. Bell is not too slow he just needs MORE carries. Bell is NOT too slow.

Bell is not Knight, but anybody who thinks he's slow needs to watch the long run against Baylor from last year. When he gets going, he moves pretty fast.

[SoonerKnight]

He has a long stride. Bell is a gamer. But his touch on the ball needs work. He stays calm as long as he can throw the short passes. To throw the long ball he seems to hurry himself or the o-line is not blocking well enough to give him confidence.

[Position Limit]

as if josh heupel would call more than 20-30 running plays a game. heupel will have a raging hard on to get into a shootout with a team like baylor.

[ddub0224]

Bell had back to back 10+ yards run against TCU to seal the game when they knew we were going to run. Bell is not too slow he just needs MORE carries. Bell is NOT too slow.

Bell is averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Knight is averaging 7.7. Last year Bell averaged 3.4. I'm not saying he can't run. What I'm saying is he is not our read option QB. You want designed runs, fine. But it's not going to be the Knight read option with speed. Its gonna be power runs and you can only go to that well so many times before its stopped (see ineffectiveness of Belldozer late last season) or before he gets hurt.

TCU and Texas started stacking the box and so will everyone we play the rest of the year. You have to have some kind of vertical or corner breaking threat to back them out. I'm not advocating starting Knight again, but what turned the momentum back to us in the ND game was when Knight came in for a series when Bell was hurt. That change of pace.

What needs to be addressed with Bell is how to get the ball down field. Are the receivers not getting space? Are the routes not good. Is Bell too timid to make the long throw? Are we even running routes longer than 10-15 yards?

[ddub0224]

He has a long stride. Bell is a gamer. But his touch on the ball needs work. He stays calm as long as he can throw the short passes. To throw the long ball he seems to hurry himself or the o-line is not blocking well enough to give him confidence.

Yes, he looked like Landry when he was under pressure. Happy feet, back peddle, throw (float it) off your back foot. Hopefully more reps will make him more comfortable.

[dennis580]

Bell is averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Knight is averaging 7.7. Last year Bell averaged 3.4. I'm not saying he can't run. What I'm saying is he is not our read option QB. You want designed runs, fine. But it's not going to be the Knight read option with speed. Its gonna be power runs and you can only go to that well so many times before its stopped (see ineffectiveness of Belldozer late last season) or before he gets hurt.

TCU and Texas started stacking the box and so will everyone we play the rest of the year. You have to have some kind of vertical or corner breaking threat to back them out. I'm not advocating starting Knight again, but what turned the momentum back to us in the ND game was when Knight came in for a series when Bell was hurt. That change of pace.

What needs to be addressed with Bell is how to get the ball down field. Are the receivers not getting space? Are the routes not good. Is Bell too timid to make the long throw? Are we even running routes longer than 10-15 yards?

That 3.1, and 3.4 average is very misleading. Some of the 3.1 this year is on sacks, and a lot of the 3.4 last year was because he was used almost exclusively on short yardage situations.

[ashley]

Bell is not Knight, but anybody who thinks he's slow needs to watch the long run against Baylor from last year. When he gets going, he moves pretty fast.

You used the key words, "when he gets going", point he can't get going out of a drop back stance. Too slow. He can't dodge a snow plow.

[SoonerKnight]

Yes, he looked like Landry when he was under pressure. Happy feet, back peddle, throw (float it) off your back foot. Hopefully more reps will make him more comfortable.

Is part of that the O-line? Or is it the fact that he can not throw a deep ball?

[Hornkiller]

Is part of that the O-line? Or is it the fact that he can not throw a deep ball?

That is a big part of it. TCU showed Texas just crowd the line 10 yards in and you'll stop the Sooner O. What happened that we went from Josh to Nate to Jason to Paul to Sam to Landry and now we can't seem to find a guy who can hit water from the Titanic if it was only 20 yards away.

Another problem (and what a problem to have) is it seems we have too many good players trying to get touches and not enough great players to rely on.

There is no Peterson we can give the rock to 25 times a game. There is no Broyals we can give 15 touches a game to. No Murray, No Griffen, No Stills, No Trent Smith, No Gresham, No Kelly. No one you trust to give the ball to make a big play.

The running back by committee doesn't let one guy get a feel for the game and get his engine going. Without a go to receiver teams don't have to focus on shutting down one guy leaving another in one on one coverage. We've not no big TE that can wrestle away a ball.

To me that's part of the problem... which leads to the question is it better to have a lot of very good players or just a few great players.

[BoulderSooner79]

That is a big part of it. TCU showed Texas just crowd the line 10 yards in and you'll stop the Sooner O. What happened that we went from Josh to Nate to Jason to Paul to Sam to Landry and now we can't seem to find a guy who can hit water from the Titanic if it was only 20 yards away.

Another problem (and what a problem to have) is it seems we have too many good players trying to get touches and not enough great players to rely on.

There is no Peterson we can give the rock to 25 times a game. There is no Broyals we can give 15 touches a game to. No Murray, No Griffen, No Stills, No Trent Smith, No Gresham, No Kelly. No one you trust to give the ball to make a big play.

The running back by committee doesn't let one guy get a feel for the game and get his engine going. Without a go to receiver teams don't have to focus on shutting down one guy leaving another in one on one coverage. We've not no big TE that can wrestle away a ball.

To me that's part of the problem... which leads to the question is it better to have a lot of very good players or just a few great players.

I agree with a lot of this, with the caveat that are never any simple absolutes. I'm probably the only one here (or at least that has posted) that thinks the horns were holding the cards. The horns had a pretty simple plan on D and the players to implement it. I don't think for a second that "just pounding the rock" would have turned the tide. Given any 65 yard+ field to navigate, we would have had to execute at least one precision pass play in order to keep a drive going. Probably more than one. I didn't see good odds of that happening. At this level of football, it is imperative to get effective play from the QB position in order to win consistently. Now that we are in conference play and the defense is weakened with the loss of Phillips and Nelson, the coaches have a tall task ahead of them if we can't improve at the QB position. I'm not saying we'll see games like this again because I don't think any of the remaining teams have the players to implement the defense at the level that TCU and UT did. But I can see closer games than we are used to against average teams.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

You used the key words, "when he gets going", point he can't get going out of a drop back stance. Too slow. He can't dodge a snow plow.

This..

[stoops the eternal pimp]

And you can say it does not mean anything, but Brandon Weeden's 40 time and Bell's 40 are identical..