CP held onto the ball too long after Cofield INT and took a huge loss on 1st and 10. That killed the series before it even started. We had to punt because of it. Is our special teams his fault? No. I haven't liked our special teams for the past two years. It's def the weak area of our team and I'm sure coach P will address it in the offseason.

CP is in his first year. He isn't the entrench starter yet, so rotating in other QB's for experience really isn't a bad thing, it actually gives the coaches some game film to chew on.

Again, I'm not bashing CP, this is just football observations. From the amount of games I've seen so far, he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. Is he talented sure. If its 3rd and 7 in a close game can he go through his progressions and hit the open receiver in under 3 seconds? I don't know if he can. Can he make a deep throw accurately? From what I see, he goes through his first two reads and then pulls the ball down and scrambles a lot. He ran 15 times last game. That's not Shredville, that's an option running offense.

Go Ags!

I get your reasoning. I really do. I just want to see the other QB's before we anoint CP as the starter for the next 3 years. We have some really highly regarded QB's waiting in the wings and all I'm saying is, before you commit to CP, you might want to see how this other QB's look on the field before making that decision. Who knows? Maybe we have a diamond in Eason or other QB just sitting on the bench.

Like I said, the next 3 games will say a lot about CP's projection. Teams now have film on CP and will start pressuring him even more. If he continues to fumble, throw INT's, and take sacks because he is slow on his reads and holding onto the ball too long...well...I think at the end of the season we are going to have a different conversation.

Stats are great. I love stats. But I love winning more. I think the coaches have a really good system in place and they know what they are doing. But if CP can't execute the plays....that's a problem. Just keep your options open right now is all I'm saying.

You are correct. I came into the season thinking this was going to be a rebuilding year and next year was going to be really good, but the team has exceeded expectations this season and for that I'm thrilled.

When I talk about CP its not personal, it's just football talk. I'm sure CP is a great kid. Pointing out his strengths and weaknesses is part of sports.

Great Aggie football talk is the best!!

Facts.

You are asking the wrong question. The right question would be if the backup QB played would we have had 3 turnovers and multiple sacks that killed drives? Who really knows, but a 5th year senior who has been developed in our system should have played if our starter wasn't 100%. We were playing an avg team, not NDSU or Montana St.

No I don't give brownie points. I'm a military man. You either do or don't do. We are UC Davis, our bar is high. We don't lower the bar if you can't make it, you get stronger until you meet it. If he was not ready to play he shouldn't have played. In all honesty, if the coaches had gone with the backup, we probably win this game.

CP: 2 INT, 1 Fumble, 3 sacks. He ran 15 times!!! He was not very good that day. Teams have film on CP now. They know his tendencies. It's not going to get easier, it's only going to get harder. As Socher said, Hastings and Maier didn't have to be super athletes to run the offense, they need to be quick decision makers. If CP can develop this on top of his athleticism then that is a huge win. If he can't well...

Only if the LBs are playing back, but if they are up near the line, then they should be fried chicken with a leaking TE to the open space right behind them, right? Corners are too far off to mitigate in time.

Well that changes everything. Thank you for providing that clarification. The loss of those two players Dobbs and Jones must have really impacted his confidence in passing. Just a tough day overall. Hopefully he bounces back strong next week.

I'll take a look at the presser, thanks for posting!

I think CP has a good grasp on running. He is good for a 15 yard run now and then and its good, but the problem is when he pulls it down too fast, he leaves the pocket, exposing his OL and then it becomes chaos...sometimes he hits a wide open receiver sometimes not...if he keeps his head down he misses wide open receivers and this usually leads to a sack.. If I were guessing I'd say he relies on his legs vs his arm when he needs to make a play. This can provide some pretty spectacular plays, but over time, DC's are going to start focusing on this and spying him. He has to make those throws to keep them back.

In an inverted cover 3 we are basically flipping the safeties responsibilities right? If so then they are daring CP to throw because in a cover 3 the deep middle should be wide open - this is where a TE slip to the vacated spot right behind the FS/SS who is creeping up should be money. I think we tried it early and it was wide open but CP overthrew the TE. We should have gone back to it to keep them honest.

Do you have context on this series? I know they liked to start out in cover two but they would bring up the strong safety close to the line. You see the SS looking into the backfield? If I remember correctly, as the game progressed they kept moving him closer and closer to the line, which we should have countered with a TE slip up the middle or a wheel route for the RB to get him from spying, which they might have been trying to do, but CP either doesn't let the play develop or misfires into double coverage. I think he was just having a bad game and started seeing shadows..it happens with young players as another poster mentioned.

You don't need to be super athletic to play QB. Never have. To play QB you have to process quicker than the rest of the players. You have to be able to read the defense presnap, adjust to adjustments, and throw the ball to the right player. If you can do that, you will win. Period. If you can't do that but rely on running to bail you out, you are either going to get hurt or defenses will start stacking the box to prevent you from running. Now you REALLY have to be able to make your reads fast because they are coming.

Excellent analysis. You are absolutely correct in regards to learning to play through mistakes, this is very important for long term development. Good point. I love talking football strategy. 3/4, 4/3, stunt, nickle, cover 2, etc. I love all that stuff. Feel free to engage me anytime. This is why I'm on here, I love talking football and trying to figure out how we can make our Aggies champions.

You hit a key point on running QB's and how susceptible they can be to hits over time. There was a couple plays CP got hit and it looked like he might be done. I'd much prefer a bam bam QB who can go through his reads fast and deliver the ball before the rush gets through. Hike, 1, 2, 3, set, throw. But that takes time.

You are probably right regarding getting to deep in the QB order, but I would like if the the opportunity rises to get these other young QB's some game action. Cleeland is very interesting. That kids arm is nice. I'd love to see how he does with a rush in his face. Can he stand in the pocket and drop dimes?

What do you think the issue is with our Defense (understanding we loss the Conners brothers, which was a huge loss). Do we just not have enough big bodies up front? I couldn't really see how their RB was getting through so easily. For the most part, tackling looked good. Was it the scheme?

Agree. Some wild cat or even some options would be pretty nice for his skill set.

You are being generous and that's ok. I'm really not trying to bash the kid, I just think in the next 3 games we are going to find out a lot. If he can improve on his flaws he will be good. I just think with the talent that Idaho, Montana St, and SAC ST have, it might be a good idea for the coaches to get plan B ready just in case. I think our best player is Jordan Fisher. Fisher and Vargas are playing really great.

Drive 1: Fisher TD
Drive 2: Vargas TD
Drive 3: Interception
Drive 4: This is after Cofields INT. Immediate sack. Incomplete. Scramble for 2 yards. Blocked punt.
Drive 5: Jones TD
Drive 6: Caden runs and fumbles. End of half.
Drive 7: FG after getting to the four yard line.
Drive 8: FG after multiple penalties.
Drive 9: Punt. Another sack taking to long on reads.. Forced throw to Pinnick who was double teamed.
Drive 10: FG. 3rd and 14. He runs. He is short.
Drive 11: Interception. Forces throw into double team. Ball game.

Just a tough game. Hopefully he can learn from this and get better next time. But if he can't get his reads down and get that ball out there, it's going to be more scrambles and sacks, because no defense thinks he can consistently throw accurate balls. They are going to load the box and get him rattled and hope he pulls it down and runs. Watch.

He is an ok player. He has talent. No doubt, but is he better than some other players we recruited? I'm not sure. We will see.

Before this season even started nobody even knew who the starter was going to be. But remember we signed Axel Eason and Trynor Cleeland both 3 star QB's. If the season takes bad turn, I'd like to see what they look like on the field. I'm a big fan of Cleeland. That kid has an arm, but I'm really interested in seeing the legacy Eason.

They did not play a two high in the 4th qtr. They played a single safety back with a spy on the Caden. They decided to take away his run and dared him to pass. Watch how Idaho plays him next week. They know he likes to run and he holds the ball too long, I expect them to bring pressure and force him into sacks or interceptions.

Caden has to be more disciplined in progressions. He has to be decisive - hike the ball, go to his primary and secondary and get rid of the ball in less than 2 seconds. He can't continue to hike the ball and go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, start running....then either get sacked or throw a poor attempt.

If he can fix that, he will be really successful, but right now...he is seeing shadows out there.