Kerwin didn't NEED to throw the ball a lot in 1984. When you had Neal Anderson, John L. Williams, and Lorenzo Hampton rushing for nearly 2500 yards, Rickey Nattiel didn't have a whole lot of balls thrown his way. It was similar to the Dolphins when Griese had Csonka, Kiick and Morris in the backfield In 1972. Little wonder Paul Warfield got 21 yards/catch with only 29 catches.
Mertz is still missing the right read too often. I keep hearing that the offensive scheme is bad but there are open receivers on almost every passing play and Mertz seems to lock onto the one guy in triple coverage. He can absolutely get this going in the right direction because he’s accurate and fairly poised. Hopefully the light comes on soon.
Mertz is fine, but to be honest, that’s kind of one of the problems with this team. You need more than fine somewhere.
We can’t block. Period. Mertz doesn’t have a prayer. It’s not his fault we stink on offense Our two o- line coaches are doing a great job (said no gator fan,EVER). That’s our total problem in a nutshell. Charlotte damned near killed mertz. What’re we going to do versus Georgia? I feel badly for mertz (except he’s got an incredibly good looking GF , so I don’t feel all that bad).
when you say Mertz , is fine and not the problem , I say wrong he is part of the problem but is not the whole problem the Play calling is worst and a bigger problem, However , he is not making the right reads when he throw into double and triple coverage , He is holding the ball too long (granted there have been times when no one is open , due to poor play design ) scrambling and trying to extend plays is really not what he does good and too often we are seeing him do just that, but it not all on him , even the great play that Ricky P made last week , the ball should have not been thrown to him and most times that is either going to be an incompletion or worst , Douglas was wide open for a TD on the play
True, Kerwin didn't need to throw, but it wasn't due to just the RBs. He had arguably the best OL we've ever had with the Great Wall that could open up running lanes for those great backs. By the way, even though Kerwin had those great backs and the Great Wall, he only completed 53% of his passing attempts.
The team had a chance to get back into the game in the second half. We got the stop coming out of half time, and, despite how bad they played in the first half, a touchdown makes if 14-23. The problem was the offense. I just don't know if you can say a quarterback is playing well when the offense is stalling...Mertz's numbers are not bad, but, obviously, what he is doing is not driving the offense down the field.* As others have noted, the O-Line did not block well in the run or the pass, which makes things difficult. We also do not seem to utilize misdirection much in the offense. Like the run plays never seem to catch the defense looking, or guessing. Our offense seems like it is good at generating a one on one match up that the offensive player should win, but never really makes the defense "wrong" in the run game. * I know some do not like soccer comparisons, but Mertz plays like a midfielder that does not turn the ball over, but does not play the ball into dangerous positions that result in goals. In soccer, this gets described as lacking in incisiveness. And this is how I feel Mertz plays, and why his numbers are a mirage. Good quarterback play scores points, and the O is not scoring. Mertz has a higher completion percentage than Kyle Trask, but c'mon, we all know that comparison is not even close.
I think he is playing ok to good but he is not pushing the ball downfield often enough and is missing some open receivers and instead checking down to shorter throws. Even if your guy is not wide open, if he is one on one with no safety help on a deep shot, TAKE IT. Give your guy a chance to make a big play.
It could be worse for sure. But is our OL that bad? The running game, save for the UT game, borders on inept. The passing game has been “ok”. Not explosive, obviously we were missing our potentially most explosive WR. We’ve had our share of “inept” passing offenses in the last 15 years (with Trask practically the sole exception). This isn’t like that, Mertz has been mostly solid. Biggest (correctable) issue is he’s rolled himself right into sacks a few times instead of stepping up into the pocket. Our OL isn’t great and he’s probably feeling that, but at least a couple times the OT pretty much did his job, but because Mertz prematurely scrambled he ends up sacked for a big loss. Usually happens when he scrambles to the right. The big issue against UK was obviously the total inability to stop the run on D. UK guy averaged 17ypc against us. Unheard of. Both lines got dominated.
When the Oline doesn't give him enough time it's hard to get downfield throws. When the Oline can't block for the rb's then the rb's can't run which puts all the pressure on Mertz. This seasons losses all rest with the Oline and Dline.
Great point. All the focus on his completion percentage but the ultimate focus should be “is he leading the offense on drives that end with points on the board?” 11 vs Utah, 22 vs lowly Charlotte and 14 vs Kentucky ain’t gonna cut it. Folks got upset when Mertz is called a “game manager” but that’s precisely what he is. If you’re up comfortably he won’t ruin the game for you, but if you’re down by 2TDs then you might as well chalk it up as a loss because he’s not engineering a comeback.
Show me a team that struggles to block a team like Charlotte and I’ll show you a team that might need a complete player/coach overhaul
Kentucky’s QB was terrible and they stomped us. Why? Because the other 10 players on offense did their jobs. Some are critical of Mertz for not carrying the team, but he’d need to be a miracle worker to do that with the support he’s getting.
