Is the offense too focused on 'pushing the ball down the field'

[Jaxcat]

I watch a lot of football, more college than pro, but still watch parts of several games every week. The vast majority of teams in both college and pro do NOT throw a lot of bombs. They either use their passing attack as more of a ball control scheme with the periodic deeper throw (like the Chiefs tend to do) or they are more run-first and use the passing attack almost exclusively in the intermediate (10-20 yards) areas and create big plays with YAC or missed tackles. Is it only the difference of talent in the NFL vs college that requires more of a controlled passing attack as most NFL teams play to eliminate the big, homerun play on defense?

It seems to me, and I may be misinterpreting the facts, that Stoops and UK's revolving door OCs have all talked about 'pushing the ball down the field', creating 'explosive plays', etc., especially when Coen came on board and ever since then. But, at least to my eye, it seems like we rely on throwing long passes which we have NOT been very successful completing for the most part versus shorter passes that have the possibility of becoming an explosive play if the defender misplays the receiver, the receiver breaks a tackle, the receiver catches the ball in full stride and simply outruns the defender, etc. With many long pass plays requiring the OL to pass pro for an additional second or more, it seems counterintuitive to me that we should continue to throw the deep ball as often as I perceive we do (and, again, I may be misinterpreting or misremembering how often we throw deep - but it does seem to be more often than the many other teams I watch every week).

I watched the Ravens play this past week and they are definitely more of a run-first offense. When Lamar does throw, he's usually throwing in the 10-20 yard areas. I think I heard that the Ravens lead the NFL in YAC, which has led to Lamar currently leading the league in yds/completion. But, from what I've seen in the 2 games I've watched the majority of, it's not because he's throwing 30+ yard bombs all the time.

It seems the past few years, we've completed a small percentage of those long passes - so why do we keep going to that well?

[Davidmack]

I haven’t been impressed with our offense since stoops has been here. Why can’t he get a great QB? Is it recruiting or lack of coaching development of the QBs we have had in his tenure?

[Trueblujr]

The only real time we were successful throwing downfield under Stoops, was when we had Wan' Dale playing catch. Key caught a handful of nice ones as well when he was here, but by and large it's been missing. what I don't like is taking those shots on 3rd down. Throw to the sticks in that instance. The long bombs should be tried on first down or 2nd and short when you catch them off guard and you get another opportunity to convert if you fail.

[Jaxcat]

I haven’t been impressed with our offense since stoops has been here. Why can’t he get a great QB? Is it recruiting or lack of coaching development of the QBs we have had in his tenure?

I personally believe it's been a horrendous lack of development. There are numerous examples of lightly recruited and/or a middling 3* QB who, in the right system and with the proper development, has done well in college. We have historically taken the opposite route: land a high 3* or better with a nice offer sheet and he's as good when he steps on campus the first time as he is after 3+ years of 'development' - at least under Stoops. It's baffling, to be honest.

[Jaxcat]

The only real time we were successful throwing downfield under Stoops, was when we had Wan' Dale playing catch. Key caught a handful of nice ones as well when he was here, but by and large it's been missing. what I don't like is taking those shots on 3rd down. Throw to the sticks in that instance. The long bombs should be tried on first down or 2nd and short when you catch them off guard and you get another opportunity to convert if you fail.

Wan'dale did seem to solve a whole lot of passing problems, didn't he? The likelihood that we'll have a Wan'dale-like talent on the team every year is pretty slim, imo.

I also agree that we seem to throw the bomb at inopportune moments when, after it's likely failure, it hamstrings the offense and basically kills the series. I, too, don't understand on 3rd and 4 why we run 4 receivers 20+ yards down the field. And the flip side is just as maddening: it's 3rd and 11 and we run 3-5 yard routes, I guess expecting the receiver to be able to break one or more tackles to pick up the yardage we actually need.

And, there's no reason you can't create 'explosive' plays by throwing an 8-yard slant that the receiver takes another 18 yards, right? Why do explosive plays, according to Stoops and his OCs, only count if the ball is in the air for more than 30 yards? When you look at our receivers this year, there are very few who have shown the ability to create separation yet we expect them to do so as we lob long ball after long ball. Wouldn't a drag pattern across the field give our receivers a better opportunity to catch and run and perhaps pick up big yardage?