Stoops on Devin Leary

[ok-cats-computer]

No lies detected, but Stoops was very critical of Leary: "Usually, I don’t say a whole lot during games to a quarterback to not get him off, but there’s no excuse to not hit some of those passes. I mean, we had some guys wide open, you know? We missed some open plays to keep it close early."

 

[trueblujr2]

No lies detected, but Stoops was very critical of Leary: "Usually, I don’t say a whole lot during games to a quarterback to not get him off, but there’s no excuse to not hit some of those passes. I mean, we had some guys wide open, you know? We missed some open plays to keep it close early."

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Tayvion Robinson had nobody within 15 yards of him and could have walked into the end zone but got wildly overthrown.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I'm more than fine with stoops calling out Leary because that early miss was a bad one and killed us. That said, I don't understand the continued coddling of the wrs.

Dropped passes, weak/wrong routes, running out of bounds or dropping to the ground with no defenders around, not playing the ball in the air, not sitting in the right zone.

Until there is some accountability in that wr room, the passing game can only get so good.

 

[cathouse]

And yet, CMS will not pull Devin, Jager, or other players who either can't perform at this level OR continue to fail to take corrective coaching.

If there is any.....

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

The missed passes and the three penalties on Burton and Walker were killers early on. May have not been as bad if those things had not happened early. But the game plan on defense was atrocious. Can't just sit back and hope they make a mistake. Top teams don't make many mistakes at all.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

Stoops has said something is off with the team right now. My guess is a big disconnect with the QB and rest of offense. I mean, something just isn’t working. Leary is the new peg. Seems the rest of the O isn’t confident in him. But for sure WR’s have been an issue. But geez Leary has been really bad.

 

[cathouse]

The missed passes and the three penalties on Burton and Walker were killers early on. May have not been as bad if those things had not happened early. But the game plan on defense was atrocious. Can't just sit back and hope they make a mistake. Top teams don't make many mistakes at all.

Especially when there is ZERO PRESSURE on the QB.
Zero QB pressures for the game.
Zero QB sacks. ZERO!!

Heck of a defensive game plan!!
And, we do it against every team with a good passing game......
Passive zone. Zero pressure. Ugh!!

 

[Rivals_Defender]

Burton has become a huge liability. He has killed many of our drives recently by dumbass penalties. And what in the hell did they ever see in Leary??? I just don't understand how he was that good at NC State, but can't hit the broadside of a barn here.

 

[Boyd94]

Who could

And yet, CMS will not pull Devin, Jager, or other players who either can't perform at this level OR continue to fail to take corrective coaching.

If there is any.....

Who could replace Leary that would be better? Sheron and Wade stunk it up against Iowa and Hogan must be worse than those 2.

 

[Rivals_Defender]

Who could

Who could replace Leary that would be better? Sheron and Wade stunk it up against Iowa and Hogan must be worse than those 2.

That's the problem...there is no option

 

[cathouse]

Who could

Who could replace Leary that would be better? Sheron and Wade stunk it up against Iowa and Hogan must be worse than those 2.

Typical response.
Who could have played worse than Leary???? That is the question we need to find the answer to.

Time to find out. It is time for CMS and this staff to man up, quit coddling the chosen few trying to be the good guys, and go Nick Saban on these players who are continually making unforced errors in these big games.

It is called choking. Some players can't perform at this level. When you figure out who they are, only the coach can fix that problem.

Time for CMS to at least TRY to fix the problem.

 

[bthaunert]

And yet, CMS will not pull Devin, Jager, or other players who either can't perform at this level OR continue to fail to take corrective coaching.

If there is any.....

I would assume, despite some of his shortcomings, that Stoops feels Leary still gives us the best chance to win. As long as that is the case, he will continue to play him.

 

[cathouse]

That's the problem...there is no option

And you know this how??
Have you seen Sharon in a game THIS YEAR??
He is at least TALL ENOUGH to see over the LOS.

And I almost guarantee you he can complete some of those wide open passes......at least better than 38%.

Put him in the game and let him actually run the dam offense. Handed the ball off every snap while Kirby has his backup QB slinging it even though he was 40 points in the lead.

CMS needs to improve his coaching MO.....quickly.....if we are ever going to develop a backup QB.

 

[Deeeefense]

Especially when there is ZERO PRESSURE on the QB.
Zero QB pressures for the game.
Zero QB sacks. ZERO!!

Heck of a defensive game plan!!
And, we do it against every team with a good passing game......
Passive zone. Zero pressure. Ugh!!

The plan or those executing the plan? When you see guys getting pushed back 2 or 3 yards on every snap it doesn't take a genius to see which team is super charged with energy and which one is just trying to get through the night. A different plan wouldn't fix that.

 

[bluecoon1]

Hate to pile on but we’ll be lucky to win two more games unless we can run the ball like we did against UF. Leary’s mechanics are off, throws quite often off his back foot which is why you see him under throw the long ball and sail the ball on those intermediate throws. It’s probably also in his head now which makes it work. Not sure if Wade is a dual threat but that may be an option to salvage the season if we don’t see a miracle. Hope it clicks for Devin as I hoped this week but it’s pretty depressing as a fan being on a high last week and doubting everything this week. Looking forward to some practice reports.

 

[bowfreak]

It is hard to believe that a backup QB can't complete 40% of their passes. We would be better off at this point putting Brown back there and running the Lynn Bowden offense. Plus, Brown wouldn't be able to drop passes if he was at QB.

 

[katwest]

Leary was so accurate in fall camp and practices and now can't even hit the open man. This doesn't make sense, people were raving about how accurate he was. I know camp and practice is not against SEC defenses, but an open man is an open man. He is struggling bad with putting it where he wants it. I would say our back up could hit the open man, but it looks like the only chance the backup QB will get is if Leary can't go. This means we will never have a very good back up because they won't ever get the chance. This is frustrating because the line has been giving him time, the season's half over now and I'm afraid not much is going to change.

 

[cathouse]

The plan or those executing the plan? When you see guys getting pushed back 2 or 3 yards on every snap it doesn't take a genius to see which team is super charged with energy and which one is just trying to get through the night. A different plan wouldn't fix that.

Playing your DB's 10 yards off the LOS on 3rd. and 7 and then turning and running back away from LOS when the ball is snapped to prevent a big play is scheme.......
Unless you think every DB for the past 4 years chose to play the same way......that's scheme, and we will never beat a team with an above average QB and decent WRS playing so passive, hoping they will make a mistake before they score.

If you choose not to pressure QB in favor of dropping more bodies into zone pass coverage, any decent QB with a decent OL can sit back there and throw to open receivers all night.

That is what we have seen over and over again with this prevent defense that is CMS/BW comfort zone....it is a losing scheme against the better teams.....

 

[JPFisher]

The missed passes and the three penalties on Burton and Walker were killers early on. May have not been as bad if those things had not happened early. But the game plan on defense was atrocious. Can't just sit back and hope they make a mistake. Top teams don't make many mistakes at all.

We were in position. We just didn't execute. The game plan was fine, but it's up to the players to play their assignments and play smart, and we just didn't do that. We'd been getting better in that regard ever since we started SEC play but we lost any and all progress at UGA.

They showed up. We didn't. Point blank. Coen and White both had solid game plans, but they can't execute the plays for the boys on the field.

 

[bluecoon1]

The plan or those executing the plan? When you see guys getting pushed back 2 or 3 yards on every snap it doesn't take a genius to see which team is super charged with energy and which one is just trying to get through the night. A different plan wouldn't fix that.

We were moving the ball early on the ground and then abandoned our game plan after the two stupid penalties which helped UGA take a 21-0 lead. Think everyone just gave up at that point. But your right, the Dawgs are pretty much going to bully everyone they play.

 

[JPFisher]

Playing your DB's 10 yards off the LOS on 3rd. and 7 and then turning and running back away from LOS when the ball is snapped to prevent a big play is scheme.......
Unless you think rmevery DB for the past 4 years chose to play the same way......that's scheme, and we will never beat a team with an above average QB and decent WRS playing so passive, hoping they will make a mistake before they score.

If you choose not to pressure QB in favor of dropping more bodies into zone pass coverage, any decent QB with a decent OL can sit back there and throw to open receivers all night.

That is what we have seen over and over again with this prevent defense that is CMS/BW comfort zone....it is a losing scheme against the better teams.....

First play of the game, we overpursue what would've been a 3 yard loss. We then fail to unf- ourselves and whiff two more times for a 6-7 yard game. I didn't even have to watch Hiles' analysis to see that horse crap.

I don't know if it's because we blew out Florida or what, but we played selfishly and without focus against UGA. Maybe getting smacked in the teeth is what we needed to get heads on correctly. We're going to need it the rest of the year.

 

[cathouse]

We were in position. We just didn't execute. The game plan was fine, but it's up to the players to play their assignments and play smart, and we just didn't do that. We'd been getting better in that regard ever since we started SEC play but we lost any and all progress at UGA.

They showed up. We didn't. Point blank. Coen and White both had solid game plans, but they can't execute the plays for the boys on the field.

I don't know what game you watched Saturday night, but even Brad White said he had a bad game plan and couldn't get a call right.

I thought Coen called a great game. Players couldn't execute. I agree with you there. But defense was totally unprepared to play that game.

That’s on BW and CMS.

 

[cats2010]

Same story, different year. We are halfway through the schedule and the only team in the SEC that the backup QB has not attempted even one pass. Stoops continues to fail miserably in have a serviceable backup that is ready to go when called upon due to zero game experience. Honestly do not know how he can continue to be so clueless in this regard 11 years in.

 

[JPFisher]

We were moving the ball early on the ground and then abandoned our game plan after the two stupid penalties which helped UGA take a 21-0 lead. Think everyone just gave up at that point. But your right, the Dawgs are pretty much going to bully everyone they play.

That's what we had to do. Getting behind the chains means UGA can snuff out our run game and dare Leary to make a play to his suspect WRs. Once we got behind by a few TDs, we had to try and get explosive plays in the passing game. Even if we wanted to run it down their throat, UGA had begun stopping us inside the line. The Dawgs have a good enough back seven to minimize any outside runs, too.

Without a solid passing game, we were relegated to basically playing Gran ball, but without a Schlarman line. That allows defenses to dig their heels in. All things considered, the fact that Coen was able to get a few good drives going before our players just gave up was really something.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

The missed passes and the three penalties on Burton and Walker were killers early on. May have not been as bad if those things had not happened early. But the game plan on defense was atrocious. Can't just sit back and hope they make a mistake. Top teams don't make many mistakes at all.

Don't forget the huge drop by brown on second snap. Blew a 45 yard perfect pass that would've been huge.

Jmo but the disconnect is in that wr room. Those guys are getting treatment no one, other than Jager, gets. All the lazy, selfish play gets excused. It's just bizarre. I guess the staff is terrified of the portal. Go let these guys be lazy and selfish somewhere else

 

[BlueRunner11]

That's what we had to do. Getting behind the chains means UGA can snuff out our run game and dare Leary to make a play to his suspect WRs. Once we got behind by a few TDs, we had to try and get explosive plays in the passing game. Even if we wanted to run it down their throat, UGA had begun stopping us inside the line. The Dawgs have a good enough back seven to minimize any outside runs, too.

Without a solid passing game, we were relegated to basically playing Gran ball, but without a Schlarman line. That allows defenses to dig their heels in. All things considered, the fact that Coen was able to get a few good drives going before our players just gave up was really something.

Can’t even imagine what this team would look like without R Davis.

 

[john4uk]

Leary was so accurate in fall camp and practices and now can't even hit the open man. This doesn't make sense, people were raving about how accurate he was. I know camp and practice is not against SEC defenses, but an open man is an open man. He is struggling bad with putting it where he wants it. I would say our back up could hit the open man, but it looks like the only chance the backup QB will get is if Leary can't go. This means we will never have a very good back up because they won't ever get the chance. This is frustrating because the line has been giving him time, the season's half over now and I'm afraid not much is going to change.

You have to wonder if the reserves have the skills necessary if they can't replace the guy who may be better suited for intramural flag football.

 

[JPFisher]

I don't know what game you watched Saturday night, but even Brad White said he had a bad game plan and couldn't get a call right.

Brad has never struck me as a guy who's going to throw his players under the bus. They didn't execute, but if you watch the tape (God forbid), our guys were in position. Scheme was fine.

Our DLine was getting pushed around (completely unexpectedly). That negated LB play and forced our secondary to play safety valve way too often. They got burned constantly.

Scheme can hide some personnel deficiencies, but cannot overcome poor execution. There's a reason White is so well respected by Stoops and national/SEC pundits, and it's not because he calls bad games constantly.

This might just have to be a situation where we respectfully disagree. Could he have called a better game? Sure. No coach is perfect. Sometimes we just have to accept that the opponent has a great game plan and doesn't shoot their toes off, though.

 

[JPFisher]

Can’t even imagine what this team would look like without R Davis.

I shudder just thinking about it. Protect that man at all costs. Cover him with bubble wrap if we have to.

 

[sluggercatfan]

I'm more than fine with stoops calling out Leary because that early miss was a bad one and killed us. That said, I don't understand the continued coddling of the wrs.

Dropped passes, weak/wrong routes, running out of bounds or dropping to the ground with no defenders around, not playing the ball in the air, not sitting in the right zone.

Until there is some accountability in that wr room, the passing game can only get so good.

What about the coddling of Burton?

 

[ukalum1988]

Burton has become a huge liability. He has killed many of our drives recently by dumbass penalties. And what in the hell did they ever see in Leary??? I just don't understand how he was that good at NC State, but can't hit the broadside of a barn here.

Agree about Burton. At the very least he should have been benched for at least the following possession.

Who could

Who could replace Leary that would be better? Sheron and Wade stunk it up against Iowa and Hogan must be worse than those 2.

This whole Leary / Mertz dichotomy could very well end up ruining what could have been a special season. Mertz is no Heisman candidate but he has played far better than Leary. I’ll also state that IMO UK and UF receiver corps are roughly equal.

I think part of the equation in all of this is that Leary has just the one season of eligibility, whereas Mertz has two(?). I think Stoops and Coen wanted a guy with just one year of eligibility so as not to demotivate Wade and Sheron and cause one or both of them to transfer.

The problem is that we’re going to be in a real pickle for our QB position in 2024. I don’t want Boley to be thrown to the wolves, and like you and others have stated, I don’t have much cause for confidence with either Wade or Sheron.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

What about the coddling of Burton?

I agree and posted as much several other times. As early as first game last season I pointed out Burton was vastly underperforming. He was badly missing twists last year and the staff blamed the tackle.

This season it's even worse. His snaps were awful, missed assignments, getting beat, now the stupid penalties. It's beyond bad and the coddling is bizarre. Bench him.

 

[rick64]

No problem with Stoops comments on Leary.

But the WRs need to be called out as well. They aren't doing Leary and UK any favors either. I don't know where the disconnect is. Is it focus/concentration? Is it technique? Is it scared of getting hit? Is it running the the wrong/bad route? Coen and the WR coach has to address this.

 

[megablue]

I'm more than fine with stoops calling out Leary because that early miss was a bad one and killed us. That said, I don't understand the continued coddling of the wrs.

Dropped passes, weak/wrong routes, running out of bounds or dropping to the ground with no defenders around, not playing the ball in the air, not sitting in the right zone.

Until there is some accountability in that wr room, the passing game can only get so good.

I've noticed several times where Barion Brown is running a "go route" along the sidelines and has appeared to have stepped out of bounds along the way ... could be wrong, of course, but I believe it's happened a few times.

 

[JHannibalSmith]

And you know this how??
Have you seen Sharon in a game THIS YEAR??
He is at least TALL ENOUGH to see over the LOS.

And I almost guarantee you he can complete some of those wide open passes......at least better than 38%.

Put him in the game and let him actually run the dam offense. Handed the ball off every snap while Kirby has his backup QB slinging it even though he was 40 points in the lead.

CMS needs to improve his coaching MO.....quickly.....if we are ever going to develop a backup QB.

I agree that he needs to improve there, dramatically. But, it’s not just backup QBs, or a lack thereof, that have been a problem. Outside of 21, when have we had a legit, reliable passing attack under Stoops? Our QB play has been average to below average for 10/11 years & that’s putting it nicely. The conservative, simple playbooks (aside from Coen) haven’t done the QBs any favors, though.

Towles was very inconsistent & never lived up to the hype, despite having prototypical size & tools. Barker was injured & never really had a chance. Stephen Johnson played with great heart & could make plays with his feet. But, the passing attack struggled mightily while he was QB & was never a threat keeping opposing DCs up at night.

Terry Wilson was very similar to SJ. He was faster & a slightly better passer, but, he was also wildly inconsistent & prone to turnovers & the passing game was basically an afterthought. Then we had the Bowden season when forward passes were practically nonexistent bc no other QB on the roster had been developed. Levis was really good in 21, but, also lacked some consistency. He regressed a little last season, IMO, although he had valid excuses, playing hurt & adjusting to a new OC & OL coach.

And, throughout all those seasons, regardless of how poorly the starter may have played, we RARELY saw any of the backups take a snap unless there was an injury forcing the issue. The QB position & the passing game in general have seriously held this program back for Stoops’ entire tenure. It was understandable when he got the job & was just starting the rebuild. But, there’s no excuse for the problem persisting into year 11. Hopefully, Boley &/or Saunders can change the narrative, eventually.

 

[bigbluedon]

That's the problem...there is no option

And that is on Stoops, again.

 

[bigbluedon]

The plan or those executing the plan? When you see guys getting pushed back 2 or 3 yards on every snap it doesn't take a genius to see which team is super charged with energy and which one is just trying to get through the night. A different plan wouldn't fix that.

No but maybe coaching acumen would. Stoops is not a very good motivator or strategist. It’s on Stoops that we don’t have a capable backup. Well we are not sure he is not capable because he never gets a chance. We don’t blow out the OOC teams so our backups get very little game experience.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I've noticed several times where Barion Brown is running a "go route" along the sidelines and has appeared to have stepped out of bands along the way ... could be wrong, but I believe it's happened a few times.

Fact it's even that close speaks volumes and goes exactly what I mean about weak/poor routes.

He has to carve out space to give his QB room to throw it to outside shoulder. Immediate outside release and putting himself directly on the sideline is awful technique because it gives the QB nowhere to go.

Second snap of the game he did just that yet again but Leary throws a beautiful ball. Instead of playing it over the shoulder, brown inexplicably turns completely around and tries to backpedal into the catch, just like last year. Hit him right in the hands and drops it. Then I'm sure he asked out of the game like he always does after every target. Dropped 45 yard completion on a dime that could totally change everything.

It's easy for fans to watch our passing game and blame it all on Leary. He deserves criticism for sure for the misses, but every QB will miss. The vast majority of our passing game issue is on the wrs and it's all effort/focus. Weak routes, refusal to block, dropped passes, egos, asking out after a target - it's all completely unacceptable and killing an otherwise explosive offense.

All the same issues derailed us last year when tayvion admits he basically quit because of scang. Instead of telling him to get lost because he quit, we coddled him back. I guess we think these guys don't respond well to accountability, so we won't give them any. That's a very poor approach. Yet we continue to force touches to these guys.

The entire thing is highlighted by a selfless, way more productive ray Davis that gives us everything while being gracious and humble. He is literally one of the best backs in the nation and gives up touches (while being a beast pass blocking) to guys who can't be bothered to run two routes in a row.

Take off the kids gloves and bench these guys just for a game (and Burton for good) to see how they respond. Yes there is a talent drop off but I'd rather live with that if the backups show good effort and attitude

 

[trueblujr2]

Stoops has said something is off with the team right now. My guess is a big disconnect with the QB and rest of offense. I mean, something just isn’t working. Leary is the new peg. Seems the rest of the O isn’t confident in him. But for sure WR’s have been an issue. But geez Leary has been really bad.

Makes us miss Will Levis at this point. Leary was supposed to be the Prize of the transfer QB;s this year. he certainly hasn't lived up to that. we can watch film of him at NC State and see him hitting guys with pinpoint accuracy on his way to 3000+ yards and 35 TD's in a season, but whatever has changed, be it his injury or what, he's not the QB we thought we were getting.

 

[megablue]

Fact it's even that close speaks volumes and goes exactly what I mean about weak/poor routes.

He has to carve out space to give his QB room to throw it to outside shoulder. Immediate outside release and putting himself directly on the sideline is awful technique because it gives the QB nowhere to go.

Second snap of the game he did just that yet again but Leary throws a beautiful ball. Instead of playing it over the shoulder, brown inexplicably turns completely around and tries to backpedal into the catch, just like last year. Hit him right in the hands and drops it. Then I'm sure he asked out of the game like he always does after every target. Dropped 45 yard completion on a dime that could totally change everything.

It's easy for fans to watch our passing game and blame it all on Leary. He deserves criticism for sure for the misses, but every QB will miss. The vast majority of our passing game issue is on the wrs and it's all effort/focus. Weak routes, refusal to block, dropped passes, egos, asking out after a target - it's all completely unacceptable and killing an otherwise explosive offense.

All the same issues derailed us last year when tayvion admits he basically quit because of scang. Instead of telling him to get lost because he quit, we coddled him back. I guess we think these guys don't respond well to accountability, so we won't give them any. That's a very poor approach. Yet we continue to force touches to these guys.

The entire thing is highlighted by a selfless, way more productive ray Davis that gives us everything while being gracious and humble. He is literally one of the best backs in the nation and gives up touches (while being a beast pass blocking) to guys who can't be bothered to run two routes in a row.

Take off the kids gloves and bench these guys just for a game (and Burton for good) to see how they respond. Yes there is a talent drop off but I'd rather live with that if the backups show good effort and attitude

Your apt description of Brown's play is what I've observed, too. It was the same way last year.