heres one reason to be optimistic about Jennings and the offense

the first down on 3rd and 7. because there's actually a lot going on here and all of it is really good.

Wisconsin had a safety blitz set up, but the hard count gets him to bite and the linebacker has to change the play. Jennings calls for the ball and Dickson, on the right side of the line, runs a route across the middle.




Dickson was seemingly the first option, but the safety and DE both peel off and go with him, so Jennings starts his progression.




this alone makes Jennings more like Zach than... you know. the quarterback before Zach. you know the one I mean.

so Jennings looks left and sees Diarse, who is actually not open yet, but he will be. Jennings knows the route, knows where Diarse will break, and trusts him to do so. he's already made his decision and started to throw before Diarse breaks. I've seen people say it's dumb to stop the route before the first down marker but it's not, that's where the CB expects you to stop, breaking the route off a step early gives Diarse separation.




after that you just have to trust in the WR to make a play. and since Diarse is 210, and runs the route right, and the ball stops in his hands as if you just dropped it on a pillow, that's what he does.

NOTE: the pass here by Jennings is terrific. it's almost 30 yards (I think), against a blitz, and it would have hit Diarse in the throat if he hadn't caught it (the hashmarks are 20 yards from the sideline, Jennings throws it from the hash on the 48, Diarse catches it about a little off the sideline on the 40. I'm guessing that's about 28 yards in the air, total, but I'm borderline retarded at math so that's probably not even close).

also, a lot of receivers frick this up by slowing down or stopping, they post up basically, not because they're dumb but because they're focusing on the ball and pausing for an instant is the natural thing to do, but Diarse keeps his feet moving which helps him get away from the corner. maybe he does that naturally but it probably means he's receptive to coaching and has worked on it.




and Magee deserves a lot of credit here as well. he reads the safety too, he's watching him the entire time, but the call was changed and its the OLB who blitzes now. Magee moves to the strong side then does a really job at getting back in time to block for Jennings.




there's no point in repeating every negative thing that was ever said about the QB before Zach, but plays like this didn't happen when he was here, for whatever reason. he would stare at one guy and either throw it to him or run, assuming that he hadn't been sacked yet while staring at the one guy.

that worked often enough for some people to think he was a good QB. he was not. it's not a terrible idea with the right player, it's pretty much what Texas AM and OK State do now. in fact it's close to what Mike Leech and West Virginia do. the ball is snapped and the QB throws it to a predetermined spot on the field. they don't read the defense, they catch the ball and they throw it. that's how Texas Tech always had 3-star prospects leading the NCAA in passing, and it's why those guys never make it in the NFL despite throwing for 600 yards a game in college.

it's also why West Virginia threw for a million yards on us but hardly scored. our defense didn't "tighten up" in the red zone, that phrase doesn't even mean anything, the spots to throw too just got smaller and smaller. all we really did that night was wait for them to get inside the 20 and then they were done. with the athletes we had on that defense they had no where left to run, we just stood there and punched them.

which is the problem with that offense. barring some disparity in talent between the teams or some other outlier, a good defense will stop it.

this however is true pro-style. this is an example of a QB who is both smart and well coached. in fact everyone here looks well coached. it's just one play in one game but do this right and the offense will score on anyone.