I'm late to the party re: Andy Ludwig

by BoylenOver on Aug 31, 2009 1:32 AM PDT

but as a Ute fan, I think he did a good-to-really good job as an offensive coach. When you look at the players that arrived here as freshmen in 2005, and how they evolved and got better by 2008, it's clear they were coached very well. I never thought Freddie Brown and Darrell Mack would amount to much, but they turned out to be instrumental to our BCS run last year. And except for Tommy Grady, he did a great job as QB coach with Ratliff and Johnson.

The problem (virtually) all Ute fans have with Ludwig is his play-calling. Too frequently he outsmarted himself. We'd drive 50 yards down the field using zone runs and the intermediate passing game, our bread-and-butter offense, then we'd try a fumblerooski or a reverse pass. These plays worked against bad defenses, but they put us in horrible situations against decent-to-good defenses.

Switching to the no-huddle in the 11th game of the season in 2008 was the best thing to happen to the Utes and Ludwig. We scored 63 points against SDSU, maybe the worst team in the conference; 48 against BYU (Brian Johnson was 30-of-36); and 31 against Alabama in the bowl game.

I wish Ludwig and the Bears nothing but luck this year. It would be nice to see a team other than the Trojans win the PAC-10.

The opinions expressed in a FanPost are, in every way, reflective of the opinions of every California Golden Blogs Marshawnthusiast. Moreover, they are reflective of every employee of SBNation, including Tyler "Blez" Bleszinski.

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Thanks for the assessment. I hope Tedford keeps him from outsmarting himself.

by Cugel on Aug 31, 2009 9:00 AM PDT reply actions

Great insight. I was wondering as to why Utah exploded those last few games.

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by Avinash Kunnath on Aug 31, 2009 4:05 PM PDT reply actions

Probably helped to have the Utah defense do whatever it did to pick Max Hall off five times in the Holy War, I imagine.

"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.

It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0

by AERose on Aug 31, 2009 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions

Tedford Outsmarting

Actually I think Cal Offense has been way too predictable lately and falls into patterns especially in big games, I hope Tedford/Ludwig aren’t afraid to take some risks even at the expense of being lampooned by Sunday morning quarterbacks/commentators.

At least Al Davis isn't running my team's drafts.

by bringbackbuddytrees on Sep 1, 2009 3:01 PM PDT reply actions

I’m starting to wonder if there shouldn’t be a moratorium on claiming that playcallers are predictable, considering how rarely said claims are actually supported by any kind of evidence.

"Let me tell you a story. I was a political prisoner for two years. The instant I was released I ran to McDonald's. I had a Big Mac and a Coke.

It was fantastic."
-Toyama Koichi, US Presidential candidate from Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0

by AERose on Sep 1, 2009 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions

Sounds like Hydro's going to have to write another post

On the nature of “predictable playcalling”.

Contact if you want to chat: bearsnecessities@gmail.com

by Avinash Kunnath on Sep 1, 2009 5:48 PM PDT up reply actions

What is predictability? If it’s just determining run or pass then the bar is pretty low and anyone can do that. Or are we determining what type of run or pass is called, and what type of blocking and what type of routes? That’s tougher. A lot of fans can say an offense is predictable based on just runs or passes. Fewer fans can actually substantiate their claim of predictability with evidence (usually statistics). And even fewer fans can say what about the offense exactly makes it predictable (such as personnel and formations aside from statistics).

I think there are two ways to analyze predictability. Using statistical analysis by looking at down and distance and prior history, etc., and by looking at the offense and personnel in particular to determine formational and personnel tendencies. Most fans do the whole statistics stuff. I do it, everyone does it. Fewer fans can actually go even further and do analysis on formations and personnel.

Anyways, if someone wants to do substantial research on how Cal’s offense is predictable AND an analysis on if it’s actually hurting the offense (as opposed to benefitting the offense), then I would love to see it. But like AERose said, nobody has yet to really substantiate a claim but only merely allege.

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by HydroTech on Sep 1, 2009 6:42 PM PDT up reply actions

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