Just had a chance to review what was apparently the inexcusable pick. Here's what actually happened:
The pass was going to Callinan who was running either a hitch or a curl. I can't tell, because Callinan runs such bad routes he actually ended up running neither. For those who don't know the primary difference is that a hitch has a very sharp radius of return, almost like a pivot in basketball, plant a foot and turn whereas a curl is more of a 3 strep process to get yourself facing LOS.
At any rate, on neither play should the WR ever just sit down in a spot. A WR that has stopped a route is a WR helping his QB be picked off. It's like that in Pop Warner, HS, College, NFL, Canadian, whatever. In the same way a WR is taught to catch a ball at its highest point, they're also taught to go grab a ball at the earlier opportunity. You never just sit and let it come to you. The reasoning here is that the longer a ball is in the air, the more probability is has of being intercepted. What Callinan should have done was continue his route driving back to and through the ball. Instead, he literally sat there, flat footed, waiting for it. Just an egregious error, and one we make constantly - to the point where I almost wonder if its ever even talked about by our staff to the kids. When we finally see Nolan Borgersen, you'll see he never does this. He didn't do it as a Soph in college. Watch the tape, it's on youtube.
Now, let's look at what Flutie was looking at:
This is the moment Flutie's brain decides to throw to Callinan. Callinan is the guy on the 23 about to squat. You'll notice Shawon Lurry just now peeling back off our guy moving downfield. He was able to do this because NIU had 3 coverage guys for our two targets on that side of the field. When you watch the play, you'll see from this moment until the interception occurs Callinan does not move. What he should do is continue to drive back towards the ball. He's have caught the ball around the 20 and been tackled by Lurry who would not have caught up yet.
Now, some will say he shouldn't have thrown the ball. Well, it looked open, it certainly would have been in HS. Flutie hasn't the experience to know this yet. On top of this, any hitch or curl is automatically a timing route, something that only comes with repetition. Typically on a route of this length the QB would be expected to release the ball approx 2 steps before the WR actually drops his hips into his break with the ball arriving as the eyes regain focus from the turn. The ball should almost shock you when it arrives.
This was not some egregious foul up. This was an inexperienced QB playing like an inexperienced QB and a WR being sloppy - all of course compounded by having a DB in the area who will play on Sunday and who did the same sort of stuff to Cardale Jones twice last week.
For those wondering, yes, this was the primary read on the play.
The pass was going to Callinan who was running either a hitch or a curl. I can't tell, because Callinan runs such bad routes he actually ended up running neither. For those who don't know the primary difference is that a hitch has a very sharp radius of return, almost like a pivot in basketball, plant a foot and turn whereas a curl is more of a 3 strep process to get yourself facing LOS.
At any rate, on neither play should the WR ever just sit down in a spot. A WR that has stopped a route is a WR helping his QB be picked off. It's like that in Pop Warner, HS, College, NFL, Canadian, whatever. In the same way a WR is taught to catch a ball at its highest point, they're also taught to go grab a ball at the earlier opportunity. You never just sit and let it come to you. The reasoning here is that the longer a ball is in the air, the more probability is has of being intercepted. What Callinan should have done was continue his route driving back to and through the ball. Instead, he literally sat there, flat footed, waiting for it. Just an egregious error, and one we make constantly - to the point where I almost wonder if its ever even talked about by our staff to the kids. When we finally see Nolan Borgersen, you'll see he never does this. He didn't do it as a Soph in college. Watch the tape, it's on youtube.
Now, let's look at what Flutie was looking at:
This is the moment Flutie's brain decides to throw to Callinan. Callinan is the guy on the 23 about to squat. You'll notice Shawon Lurry just now peeling back off our guy moving downfield. He was able to do this because NIU had 3 coverage guys for our two targets on that side of the field. When you watch the play, you'll see from this moment until the interception occurs Callinan does not move. What he should do is continue to drive back towards the ball. He's have caught the ball around the 20 and been tackled by Lurry who would not have caught up yet.
Now, some will say he shouldn't have thrown the ball. Well, it looked open, it certainly would have been in HS. Flutie hasn't the experience to know this yet. On top of this, any hitch or curl is automatically a timing route, something that only comes with repetition. Typically on a route of this length the QB would be expected to release the ball approx 2 steps before the WR actually drops his hips into his break with the ball arriving as the eyes regain focus from the turn. The ball should almost shock you when it arrives.
This was not some egregious foul up. This was an inexperienced QB playing like an inexperienced QB and a WR being sloppy - all of course compounded by having a DB in the area who will play on Sunday and who did the same sort of stuff to Cardale Jones twice last week.
For those wondering, yes, this was the primary read on the play.
