I’m not either, but I love your thinking… However, I’m only going along with it if the penalty for non compliance is much more severe than the next possession.
I don’t think that you can actively punish a guy for trying to make a play. That’s part of who he is and what’s made him so good.
You can certainly work with Cam on trying to be smarter about when and how to run, and you certainly don’t set up designed QB runs for him. However, when he’s got multiple 300+ pound dudes bearing down looking to rip his head off, you can’t punish the guy for taking off and making a run for it.
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Exactly.
Many athletes who’ve had success at a high level in sports have robust egos, at least within their avocation. To get out on that stage, take risks and be the hero almost requires that.
In most other sports, there are so many reps that taking risks almost gets beaten out of a player. Think of a seriously talented basketball player - the ones who think they can make every play end up riding the bench, because it’s easy to devise defenses to negate the star player. In baseball, the percentages catch up with you - if you try to hit a home run on every pitch, you’re going to set strike out records.
Tyler Huntley used to drive me crazy because as a Soph he was always trying to make a play, even when it wasn’t there. But he had the talent to make plays others simply couldn’t.
He’s starting for the Dolphins tonight on MNF, so he grew out of most of that, but the underlying ego of a sports star is a big part of what got him to that level… and with football a healthy dose of crazy that 99% of the population doesn’t have.
Think of the old style hockey heros - no helmets, no teeth, but plenty of crazy and determination.
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Some insights here:
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Hard to imagine a young bull like Cam doing this, but it worked well for Brady:
During a play, Brady stays very aware of the offensive live protection collapsing around him and he instantly tucks the ball and crumples his body. This means he doesn’t get body slammed to the ground while his arm is in mid-throwing motion, or get his knees/ankles crushed by defenders.
Ask HN: How is it possible that the 45 yo Tom Brady still plays professionally? | Hacker News.
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Of all the years that a game like this UA game doesn’t matter for Utah, this is the year. Unlike in the entire history of Utah football, “access” is based on only 1 criteria - winning the conference. Style points, bad losses, injuries, “the committee” etc don’t matter at all. (It was extremely unlikely a Big XII team was going to get an at large bid.)
All Utah has to finish the regular season with the 2nd best record in the conference and every door is open. When Cam likely returns, it’s likely Utah end up in the Big XII championship game.
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Here’s how I reset expectations, I shift into “I HATE SPORTS” mode. FYI: It doesn’t work or make you feel any better.
Unless they move into the neutral zone, it cannot be a penalty unless it is accompanied by some audible that mimics a snap count. On both occasions the crowd was so loud I don’t know how anyone could have heard what was said.
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That’s what I thought, but it contradicts the explanation made by the ESPN broadcasters after the second delay of game call (11:44 remaining in the fourth quarter) against the Utah defense.
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I was of the same opinion as UTEopia, but if the basis of the rule is to penalize defenses trying to disrupt the snap count, a “sudden movement” that mimics the snap is conceivably illegal, when conditions are such that there is no audible snap count.
In the 4th, RES was at a 10 on loudness, UA’s WRs were yelling in each other’s ear holes to communicate. They must have gone to a silent snap count and were looking toward the center for a visual cue.
Then like a sorcerer, Noah Fifita drew all our attention back to the 1st quarter.
For us, by now the team has moved on, they’re deep into recharging and prepping for Tempe.
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I believe I read that Noah Fifita is the nephew of former Ute great Steve Fifita. Is that indeed true?
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Got to hand it to Arizona. After we scored to get within 6 points, they were backed up deep in their own territory and the entire stadium was yelling our heads off (even the fans in the pricey seats looked as boisterous as the fans in the north end) and they calmly made a few plays to go down and score.
Last weekend was a gut punch and Utah will need to learn from our mistakes, but Wildcats outplayed us in our own field on a dark mode night and earned that victory.
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his mom tweeted that he attended many gsmes as a kid at RES
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I wonder if he saw Steve score his touchdown run against BYU in 2004.
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That long completion from deep in their territory in the conditions you describe above, with a defender in his face, and Fifita backing up was the dagger. That thing fell into the receiver’s arm while around three Utah guys. That completion just can’t happen, but Fifita found a way.
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Yep, that’s the play that stands out to me the most about that loss.
AZ (Fifita, mostly) simply made the plays when it mattered and Utah did not.
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As I have directly contributed exactly $0 NIL money to Utah, I probably have very little, if any, right to express this. I would love to see KPI/metrics on the returns of NIL funds spent.
My 2 pesos.
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It was great to see Steve Fifita again… not in that context, but good to see he’s doing well.
I remember being at a game at Logan, I was focused on Steve through my binoculars - he was lined up inside, drew a double-team of OL blockers, bull rushed both of them and sacked the QB.
Our strength & conditioning coach said some NFL scouts were coming through and asking about prospects.
“If there’s any room in the NFL for a 6 foot DT, you need to see this guy”
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This is what I am reading in the rule book. It sounds like they added some clarifying language this year
4. Any player within one yard of the line of scrimmage (stationary or not)
may not make quick, abrupt or exaggerated actions that are not part of
normal defensive player movement (A.R. 7-1-5-IV).
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