Here's a montage of every pass we attempted on Saturday. Since Prince v. Brehaut will likely come up several more times over the next couple days, I thought this might be a solid tool for anyone looking to analyze Prince's game 1 performance.
I feel that sometimes our game-day vision is impaired by passion, excitement, frustration etc. This phenomena leads to fuzzy pseudo-memories in which Logan Paulsen was called for 30 penalties in one game and Jrue Holiday was the worst freshman b-ball player in NCAA history.
Looking through these plays, I would say that Prince deserved at least five more completions and 40 or so more yards for the day. That's not necessarily a ringing endorsement but I think the kid should get at least a few more starts before we give him the hook in favor of another youngster who has shown no pocket presence outside of one scrimmage.
over 1 year ago
LVBruin
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One stylistic suggestion LV
Whenever you are adding some analysis/perspective to these videos … you should consider putting them up in FanPosts. I think something like this deserves more views and reflective posts like this with video should get some more via Fanposts. For next time …
Great job
Here’s to a much better week. Go Bruins !
Bruin for life!!!!
You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one. - John Wooden
Good job
From what I saw, Prince just has to get back into a rhythm with his mechanics. His location could have been much much better, but his decision making, was, with the exception of two or three plays, was basically spot on, but the receivers didn’t fill in the other side.
The play at 1:55 is a perfect example. Embree has made that catch time after time (thinking back to Craft here), and if that ball was just a foot ahead of Embree, it would have been 17-14 Bruins, no doubt about it. This is a week where there are plenty of things that can be easily improved upon.
Formerly ucla13_usc9
I agree and would add.
that until Prince stops staring at his intended target right from the snap, he will not have good success. He really seems locked in on one receiver the whole time and that just gives the D a bit more of an advantage. Very nice montage LV
by 84 on Sep 8, 2010 7:35 AM PDT up reply actions
Noticed that also.
He stared at his main read for the entire play, numerous times. His footwork could also be improved. Not getting his feet set, too much happy feet syndrome. Overall he needs to settle down, seems rushed. If this is how he was in practice, RB should have played. The kid needs more reps to get his pocket confidence back.
But, I agree the good is he did make the correct reads on the majority of the plays. This is the main reason the coaches are probably sticking with him.
agree
some of the other receivers were wide open! hopefully he gets it going Saturday and spreads it around a bit. The O line did a nice job protecting him.
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that count's" - John Wooden.
Offensive line
Great job LV—the video emphatically proves the point made here that the offensive line is better than I have seen in at least a half-decade at least while we are passing. (I use the half decade cut off point because I can’t remember the last time our offensive line played this well.)
And you are right during the game the passion for victory interferes with a colder more calculated assessment of what went right and what went wrong.
Last add. I sure wouldn’t want to be the UCLA receivers coach this week.
UCLA receivers coach
The route running by our receivers really need to improve. That is something we will have to keep a close eye during next 2-3 games. We also had issues with route running, getting separation from DBs this past season.
It’s a little perplexing b/c CRN himself was a “receivers coach” at UCLA and did outstanding job developing guys like JJ Stokes, Kevin Jordan, Mike Nguyen (sp?), and others. I’d like to see much better and polished effort from our WRs. It will be up to Reggie Moore to get this done.
i was thinking after the game
that reggie moore didnt do much to get himself off the hot seat.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
"Getting Separation"
was indeed a problem. On most of those throws, Prince had very little room for error. (But, I wonder whether when he was throwing into such tight coverage he had other receivers who were more open). No way to know that from this film, but the coaches will.
On some of the completions, the ball was absolutely on the money — in tight coverage.
There was very little separation on most of those passes. The most open receiver was Marvray on the touchdown. But, he was not that open on the other attempts to him — which is a bit disappointing after all of the pre-season hype about how he could get open easily.
This is a great post — it allows the kind of discussion upon which BN thrives. Thanks, LV.
sjh
Thanks a lot for the video
I am not sure I am buying what people above are selling on Prince’s great decision making here. I say that because on the majority of camera angles you can’t see what some number of (downfield) receivers are doing. What seems remarkable is how often the intended receiver is receiving the ball and being hit hard right as the ball arrives, often in a double team. That may be making a poor read, it may be that receivers were not getting separation, it may be that Prince is telegraphing his passes, or it may be really great defense. (could also be poor play design / play calling, if we want to bring the coaches into it as well). I am not saying Prince was making bad decisions, just that I am not seeing what some people above are seeing that makes them say that Prince’s decisions were so good.
I think one clear positive from that montage is that Prince was almost never in danger of being intercepted – the two INTs included one awesome defensive play, and the latter was a desperation throw. Over the past couple of years UCLA QBs have had us with our hearts in our mouths on a regular basis, so that is a welcome change. I wonder whether that was part of a conservative game plan going in; and, in retrospect, whether threatening the deep ball a couple more times might have opened up some more space underneath. Also, I wonder whether they are not expecting to have much time to throw behind our OL and so are not drawing up plays that require too much time in the pocket? Seems like we totally ignored potential size mismatches on the outside with Rosario and the TEs…
would particularly appreciate any insight from people who were at the game
and could give a more full assessment of the whole field
I'm kind of in the same boat here...
I didn’t find the video to mitigate the appearance of a poor performance by Prince. it seems like the the throws that were “dropped” by the receivers, aside from the first couple by Carroll, were either because of bad passes or because the receiver got hammered by two defenders the moment he sniffed the ball. It’s important for the QB to deliver the ball in an area where the receiver doesn’t have to be paranoid of getting blown up from two different directions at once. Regardless, I’m hoping the practices this week help Prince sync up with his receivers, and that we have a much, much stronger showing against the ’furd.
I think you mean Presley, not Carroll.
Some of the passes early on were so bad, looking at it like this I am really surprised CRN didn’t pull Prince for the rest of this game. It really looked like they hadn’t played together. I’m really hoping this week will get them on the same page…that a week is enough.
Go Bruins!
Carroll
Is he just out played and buried on the bench now?
From practice reports
I think he’s had some consistency issues. Marvray certainly played his way ahead of Carroll I would say, and I dont think anyone expected Carroll to challenge for Rosario or Embree’s spots. He’s only a true soph, his time will come. Also, there really just weren’t enough plays to go around on offense, hopefully we can turn the TOP clock in our favor and he (and several others) can get more opportunities.
Logan Paulsen
Made the Redskins final 53 man roster -
I'm really pleased for him.
He didn’t have the easiest path to the pro’s.
Now, if he can avoid dumb penalties …
sjh
very interesting to watch, thanks for making! Rosario definitely had the most looks, but Marvray just has an explosion to the ball that is great to watch. Can’t wait to watch Marvray grow, I think he’ll be special.
that Embree drop hurts me so much to watch.
and those are some happy feet on Prince at 2:15.
This is really helpful...
After watching this video I’m less upset about the effort from our receivers. Sure they dropped way too many passes but It seemed as though many of KP’s completions (including the big one to Harkey) required some serious adjustment to haul in the catch. Prince’s timing was way off but this compilation made it look like he had the jitters… Even his short passes were off (that missed screen pass to JetSki at 1:28 is infuriating). The Marvray TD pass was the only one where the ball was right on target (and keep in mind the target was much larger because Ricky got 2+ steps behind the defense).
That all being said, I’m still firmly on Team Prince. Prince is our guy and we need to stand behind him. Yes, he has a propensity to get hurt. And yes, he looked out of sync after missing almost all of Fall camp. But he still gives us the our best chance to win this season and he’ll only get better as the season goes on.
by DoubleTroubleBruin on Sep 8, 2010 3:17 PM PDT reply actions
I am too, but only if he gets practice.
This timing issue is really serious I think. And the fact that he hasn’t worked with the receivers that much really hurts. I was thinking about a discussion we had about going deep, and I thought that maybe KP couldn’t go deep because of his physical issues. This isn’t okay, because we do have speed in our WR crew and they can get open going deep. It may turn out to be one of our best weapons, but not if KP isn’t up to it. I hope he will be, but he needs to practice!
Go Bruins!
I'm for Team UCLA
Whichever QB can best get the job done should be the one slinging passes. now its up to the receivers to make those catches. True, there were several balls that were off target, forcing the receivers to contort their bodies, but as the old saying goes, if you get your hands on the ball, you’d better catch it. There is no excuse for that. QB’s never put it on the money on every play. Its your job as a reciever to go and get it. And if you don’t, don’t expect the QB or the coach to rely on you next time. We didn’t hear much from Pressley after those first two drops. Hopefully he and the rest of the receivers can fix those issues before this weekend.
formerly Westwood78
Suicide Passes
That’s what my (rugby) coach would have called those in High School. Look at where the ball is being delivered. Not only does Prince seem to be telegraphing his read, but he’s not locating the ball well. Passes delivered in places that require the receivers to break their stride or stretch out inevitably leave them exposed to both huge hits and dropped balls. The pass to Rosario at the 40 second mark is a good example of the former. He might have been able to hang on to that ball if the pass was delivered lower and he didn’t have to stretch out. Maybe Prince was trying to exploit the height advantage, but it doesn’t look that way given the hook route, which is a timing driven thing. Also, I assume he was staring there the whole time because he was trying to see if the corner was in Zone (Hook route + zone = potential pick 6) but it really didn’t make it easy for Rosario.
Not saying there weren’t a few ridiculous drops. The Embree drop on the 2ish yard line has been making my blood boil all week.
I think the biggest problem for Prince came down to inaccuracy, more so than bad decision making. Not saying he didn’t make any bad decisions, just that some of the passes that look like bad decisions were really just bad throws. I’m not a skilled enough analyst of football to understand why Prince was having so much difficulty with his accuracy, but it was definitely his biggest problem in my book. Although the 1st pick was a spectacular catch, it was also a ball thrown behind the receiver.
Thank you LVBruin, this is a great resource! I’d love to have this to look at every week. Makes my Wednesday Evening Quarterbacking much more legitimate. This was a study break from Econ 102 and the tyranny of McDevitt. Just kidding Professor McDevitt, I know you’re a huge college football fan, so if you read this and see fit to give me some Extra Credit for quality analytical thought…
GO BRUINS.
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