Hello, Mr. Maly.
I hope this note finds you doing well.
I’m compelled to write.
I like Jake Rudock. Jake is a proven winner. His numbers almost look like typographical
errors. We’re 2-0. Despite our win, I’m extremely uneasy.
Jake seems to make all the throws, but one. Jake can’t hit the streaking wide receiver. I
don’t know if his better judgment gets the best of him, or if he is just incapable of
making that long throw, with both velocity and touch…that
just-drop-it-over-the-defensive-back-and-hit-your-receiver-in-stride throw. This problem
then cascades through the offense…and defense…and crowd. I was stunned at the number of
times Ball State put all 11 guys within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage, and stopped us
(for Pete’s sake). With Jake, even when we have a long field, we always have a short
field. Neither UNI nor Ball State respected our ability to throw beyond 20 yards.
For a brief glimpse Saturday, we saw what could be. When the defense has to respect the
speed and play-making ability of our wide receivers, then our running backs run wild in
space. Our tight ends have meaningful routes. I disagree that the run has to establish
the pass. If a defense is completely disregarding your ability to pass over the top,
instead committing 11 guys to stopping the run, then you have to be able to make them
pay. With Jake, the defense never pays. Even when we throw downfield, our receivers
either get slaughtered, or have to fade back into coverage in order to wait for the ball.
As a consequence, our running game is stifled (and another potent weapon is rendered
impotent). Our defense could be rested and energized. The crowd would be electrified.
There would no longer be empty seats in Kinnick.
By the way, I think the reversal of the Beathard-to-Powell touchdown was absolutely
wrong. I saw the receiver control the ball, first foot down in bounds, cross the plane of
the goal line (thereby scoring a touchdown), THEN getting pushed by a defender, forcing
him to shift the ball to his opposite hand, never losing control, ball never touches the
ground. But, what happened AFTER he crossed the goal line seems irrelevant unless, of his
own accord, he loses control. A defender hitting him after he scores a touchdown is just
a frustrated defender. On the other hand, we can’t possibly expect a receiver to hold the
ball in a frozen position when exposed to direct contact with a real college football
player. The play was beautiful, the place was rocking, and no one seemed to care that the
the ball movement was in response to a defender’s contact. I don’t know the specifics of
the rules but, if that wasn’t a catch, then the rules need to be modified.
I like Jake. I hope he will be as good a teammate to C.J. as C.J. has been to him. This
game was a 56-10 rout that didn’t happen, that couldn’t happen with Jake. We can win with
Jake, and it’s great to know your reserve quarterback can rally your team to an
improbable win. But, with C.J., this would have been an entirely different game. I don’t
understand what valid experiment was completed by not allowing Beathard to take another
snap. I felt Coach Ferentz placed his loyalty to Jake over the importance of winning this
game. With Jake, we can have a respectable season. With C.J., we can have a special
season.
We have a gunslinger on the sidelines who deserves a chance, and his name is C.J.
Beathard. Coach Ferentz needs to pull the trigger.
-- Richard Hayman
