I decided to relive the blunder that was the UGA game today, and specifically try to watch how Jake reads his receivers.I'm no coach, but consistently what killed him that game was waiting too long to pass to the open receiver. He would consistently throw the ball to the right receiver who was open, but the problem was he hung on to the ball way too long before attempting the pass, resulting in UGA's DB's being able to come up and bat the ball away as he stared them down. Combine that with our run blocking being awful that game against UGA's defensive line, and we I think that constitutes the majority of why we couldn't put up a fight. Jake's good throws would come when he passed to a guy like Edwards or Deebo, where he did not hesitate making the decision to pass to them. Where he would hang on to the ball too long is when throwing to a TE or one of the more unproven receivers.In a similar vein, Muschamp's recent report from scrimmage says that Jake is holding on to the ball too long. That tells me that our secondary, which, as Muschamp said, is becoming SEC caliber, has learned to consistently read Jake's eyes and beat out his hesitant throws. And a possibility as to why he is becoming so hesitant is that without Deebo, who made our WR corps so electric, he may not have complete trust in his receiving corps to catch the ball.
If you ask me, I think that's why he struggles in big games. It's not necessarily that he gets anxious and plays worse, I think it's because he can get away with being too late on his throws against bad defenses, but not quality secondaries. That also would explain his struggles (primarily interceptions) in the red zone, too. When the field gets short for him and he needs to fit it inside tighter windows, being late on your throws sets up a lot of 50/50 balls. That's what happened against UVA, for example. His hesitation and staring down the open receiver lead to INT's. I think Jake plays his best football when he is confident in his receiving corps as a whole, and is ready to just lay it all on the line. He was locked in against Clemson this past year, putting full trust in his receivers, and it paid off. A lot of guys made catches that night, and while it was the Deebo show, Jake's ability to get the ball in other receivers' hands helped spread out that Clemson secondary and give us more opportunities through the air. In games where he struggled, like UGA, he would stare down an open receiver (again, unless it were Deebo or Edwards), unsure if he should throw it to them, and when he did, it was already too late.
On the bright side, I am glad that our secondary is finally able to really test Jake, and really compete against our receivers. It will force Jake to trust his receivers more and not think twice about throwing to the open man if he wants to keep his job and find success against talented defenses. If we want to have a shot against anybody good this year, Jake has to play with confidence not only in himself, but against his receivers. I'm rooting for him.
If you ask me, I think that's why he struggles in big games. It's not necessarily that he gets anxious and plays worse, I think it's because he can get away with being too late on his throws against bad defenses, but not quality secondaries. That also would explain his struggles (primarily interceptions) in the red zone, too. When the field gets short for him and he needs to fit it inside tighter windows, being late on your throws sets up a lot of 50/50 balls. That's what happened against UVA, for example. His hesitation and staring down the open receiver lead to INT's. I think Jake plays his best football when he is confident in his receiving corps as a whole, and is ready to just lay it all on the line. He was locked in against Clemson this past year, putting full trust in his receivers, and it paid off. A lot of guys made catches that night, and while it was the Deebo show, Jake's ability to get the ball in other receivers' hands helped spread out that Clemson secondary and give us more opportunities through the air. In games where he struggled, like UGA, he would stare down an open receiver (again, unless it were Deebo or Edwards), unsure if he should throw it to them, and when he did, it was already too late.
On the bright side, I am glad that our secondary is finally able to really test Jake, and really compete against our receivers. It will force Jake to trust his receivers more and not think twice about throwing to the open man if he wants to keep his job and find success against talented defenses. If we want to have a shot against anybody good this year, Jake has to play with confidence not only in himself, but against his receivers. I'm rooting for him.
? :sad: 