Naughty naughty

[yotemeal]

Ed received a reprimand from the Great West for his criticisms of the officiating after the UC-Davis game. I get a kick out of the fact that, in this article, he never actually apologizes or expresses regret. I guess the criticism still stands

www.argusleader.com/article/20101015/SPORTS/10150303/1002/SPORTS

[shamrock]

Im glad coach didnt appologize. shows us just how bad they really were. hopefully him and his players keep going with a chip on their shoulder.

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

That's Ed being Ed, but he completely missed the big picture and that was the passing game that cost USD the game, not the officials. When a team only scores 13 points, that's where the blame lies. Dante went 7-26 and was off on his deep passes. The receivers were dropping balls and it sounds like the protection has a little work to do.

Were there some blown calls? Yes, probably, but Ed has to be a man and suck it up and realize that's not why the team lost.

[shamrock]

totally agree. Dante did not make the throws. reicevers did not make the big plays. however defense played well enough to the point 13 points would have won the game. i think with our punter instead of it being first and ten at the usd 38 i think its 1st and 10 at there own 20 maybe farther in with the way our kid punts. but good point we gotta make plays on offense. defense gave them many chances to win.

[shamrock]

I will say tho after watching the film the offensive line was giving him plenty of time. an they were argueably our strongest unit. we ran for like 250 yards.

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

Thank you for that shamrock. I will take them off the hook. I heard it differently that USD was getting a pressured a bit, so this puts even more of the onus on Dante and the receivers as well.

Can you confirm for me that USD had a decent pass rush as well? It shouldn't like some of the blitzes were working against UC-Davis for once.

[Coyote Fan]

Oct 15, 2010 11:50:52 GMT -6 #1CoyoteFan (Admin) said:

That's Ed being Ed, but he completely missed the big picture and that was the passing game that cost USD the game, not the officials. When a team only scores 13 points, that's where the blame lies. Dante went 7-26 and was off on his deep passes. The receivers were dropping balls and it sounds like the protection has a little work to do.

Were there some blown calls? Yes, probably, but Ed has to be a man and suck it up and realize that's not why the team lost.

CF#1, I somewhat agree with what you are saying. If Meierkort Truley feels that the officiating drastically effected the game by all means he needs to let his opinions be known. He probably shouldn't have said the part about the Great West dispanding but his critisism was find by me as long as the circumstances warranted. Ed has to face his reprimand but what reprimand do the officials face if they blew the call(s). Surely it will be on tape so what I would like to see is the Great West come out and say something. Will the calls be reviewed will the situation be discussed if there were indeed some blown calls. I think accountability needs to be had not just for Ed but for the commissioner and the officiating to make sure we have the very best in trained officials.

Ed should also let it go and move onto the mirror gazing part of the week. USD needs to look at what went wrong and take appropriate steps to correct things not only for just a week or two but take what is learned from it and learn from it forever and keep the valuable lessons learned. What can be done now to prevent USD from losing to Cal Poly in 3 weeks. Certainly Cal Poly is going to watch film on what the UC Davis defense did to stop USD. Is USD going to study what they need to do different as well?

Now onto a slight rant...

Actually if I had the responsibility of being a coach I would keep a journal. I would note everything for each game that needs to be done better, what needs to be substained and would just jot down things to keep for future situations. During the off season I would take out that journal, read up on coaching strategies and just do whatever I could to make sure the team I coached was as knowledgable about the game as possible. If possible I would print out a manual specifically to give to the players to be tested on. Things like rules, strategies, game situations and how to react to them etc. I would make the players pass a test just as I would have to pass a test in a regular class at college. Maybe this is happening, maybe not but I think it would only go to help the team if it wasn't being done. I am not sure about the NCAA regulations when it comes to practice time but can players not have homework during the off season. That seems like a perfect time to get football 101.

Ok enough of that, how about the Yotes just get everything right from here on out and have a strong closing kick to the season.

[usdfbalum]

I think Ed is very deliberate in what he says - he seems to be the type of person that likes to mix it up and uses his brash, seemingly off the cuff statements to make a point. I think the last two weeks have produced some interesting comments from Ed. Against UND at half - his comment to the players when they were heading out for the second half were non-traditional, telling his players the score isn't zero to zero like a lot of coaches preach normally upon going out on the field. He said USD has been beating UND all day, and maybe they are just better , did you ever think of that? Thought that was awesome.

The comments about the refs I think was really to solidify an "us against the world mentality." I sense that Ed wants his team to have more confidence and play with that attitude. I hope the Yotes bring that confident attitude to the Dome tomorrow and pull off a huge victory. I am as excited for this game as I have ever been. Should be an awesome game.

[westcoastfcs]

I was at the game, and was stunned when I read about Coach Meierkort's critique of the officials, particularly in light of how poorly the Coyotes performed. I've seen a lot of football, and nothing in the officiating of this game stood out as game changing in any way shape or form. What did stand out as game-changing for the Coyotes was the play of your QB and receivers, which was pretty poor. The QB is a great athlete and hurt Davis with his feet, but his accuracy was off and it sure doesn't help a QB get in a groove when his receivers aren't making plays. There were at least 4 clear drops, and several of them--especially 2 awful drops by the tight end-- would likely have changed the outcome of the game had the receivers made the play. I can't figure out why your coach would characterize such a poor team performance as one where they "played their asses off," but maybe he is trying to reinforce the whole us-against-the-world mentality.

Your coach mentioned three plays, a PI, a holding on a pass play and the fumble. I had a good look at both of the passing plays--and those calls were good, fellas. Didn't have a good look at the fumble, but very few people in the stadium did and there is no way any one on your sideline did. I went back and listened to the archived UCD radio broadcast on those three plays to see what their reaction was. Here's a bit more info on those calls in the order they happened.

The pass interference that included the interception was called by the radio broadcast immediately. In their opinion though, the refs called the infraction on the wrong guy. Chris Frierson number 7, clearly grabbed and held the intended receiver who was Hemmingsen, number 80. The refs called the penalty on Shane Potter, number 8, and the radio guys pointed out that they called it on the wrong guy. The penalty put UCD at the 50 yard line and ended with a field goal, making the score UCD 10 USD 6.

The fumble happened on the UCD side of the field on a third down. I didn't have a clear view, but the Aggie players and coaches were signaling fumble as soon as Warren went down. In listening to the radio broadcast, the guys in the booth called it a fumble pretty quickly and then went down to their sideline reporter for more info. He reported that he was right on top of the play, that it was a hard, clean hit that knocked the ball out and that UCD recovered the fumble. Next play, Wright makes a money throw to the tight end who had a few inside steps on the safety and makes a spectacular catch. This is the type of play UCD rarely runs, so I'm guessing that it caught them off guard. Score at this point is 17-13 UCD.

The holding call on 3rd and 16 was also a good call and those of you who have game film will be able to see the take down on 82 very clearly. The Aggies typically throw to 82 or 35 over the middle on 3rd and long, and the QB was looking for 82, who had just made a reception and was having a pretty good night. The linebacker knew it too, so when he came over the middle Meier outright tackled him before the ball was in the air. The UCD QB attempted a screen pass to the running back which was incomplete. UCD didn't capitalize and ended up punting 2 minutes later, giving the ball back to USD with just under 5 minutes left.

Neither team performed very well in the final 5 minutes, and USD had two chances to get in the end zone and put the game away. I was figuring that it was going to be their turn this year to win in the final seconds, but USD couldn't sustain the first drive and punted, giving UCD great mid-field position. UCD decided to go conservative and run the ball, which they only do excel in sporadically and hadn't done well all night, and they punted to USD, giving the Coyotes the ball on the 32 with 1:50 left. Warren made a nice run, Flanagan caught a pass or two but your tight end dropped a perfect pass that would've been a first down at around the 20. When your QB is having a rough night, the receivers have to step up and grab the easy passes. This has been an issue for UCD this year as well, as they have struggled in the passing game with a young, new QB and receivers dropping easy passes. On this night, the UCD passing game was clicking and the receivers were making big plays, which was the difference in the game.

Nobody got jobbed by the officials in this game, and it's a shame that your coach made comments that made it sound like UCD, with the help of the officials, had somehow stolen the game. That may be your coaches style, but I think it's far more important to hold your players accountable about their own poor performances than it is to tell them that the officials cost them the game.