USU QB Diondre Borel

Calendar October 20, 2009 | Posted by AggieNoise

First things first, Diondre Borel is one of the top quarterbacks in the WAC. He is far better than the quarterbacks USU has fielded in recent history. As a fan, I can’t be disappointed in the effort and determination shown by our QB.

Having said that, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what this team needs to win right now. This throws out the options of recruiting better talent and improving strength over the off-season. The solutions I’m looking for are the kind that can have an immediate affect. Things like player improvement from week to week and coaching changes.

The coaching has been there. Our team has been able to put points on the board and slow down opposing defenses well enough to keep us in the game. Each week the team has a game plan that focuses on attacking the other team’s weaknesses. I think the coaches are doing their jobs.

From the first six games of the season, we know that the defense will allow somewhere between 30 and 40 points per game against a good team. I don’t think this is going to improve this year. The defense will need to increase strength and upgrade a few positions in the off season.

If our defense is going to give up between 30 and 40 points per game with little chance of improvement, our offense is going to have to score 40 or more points per game to win. As the leader of our offense, this burden falls on the shoulders of Diondre Borel. So far, he has yet to get the job done.

Our offense has yet to score 40 points in a game, but that doesn’t mean it can’t. We have seen the ability of this offense to score in a hurry. We have decent wide receivers and a strong running back core. Until Borel becomes better at running this offense we won’t be able to beat the good teams and we will finish in the bottom three of the WAC once again.

Borel has shown improvement each week, but there are two key areas where he needs to step up:

Borel calls his own number too often. Last week he ran the ball 21 times against just 7 for Robert Turbin, one of the best running backs in the WAC. On the season, Borel has run the ball 93 times for 223 yards against Turbin’s 91 times for 640 yards. There are option plays in our offense that give Borel the choice of handing the ball to the running back or keeping it for himself. The keeper plays are detrimental for two reasons, Borel is taking an unnecessary beating on his body and his production is far less than that of our running backs. These option plays should go to the running back 75% of the time or more.

Borel has improved in the passing game, as evidenced by his play against Nevada, but he can still improve. The spread offense is designed to give you several receivers to choose from. Borel tends to key in on one receiver and scrambles if the pass isn’t there. While the offensive line is the cause of some scrambles, there are hot routes available to counter a good rush. Often there are players wide open in the flat waiting to bail out the QB that get completely ignored. One statistic that looks good on the surface is Borel’s 9:1 touchdown to interception ratio. This ratio tells me that Diondre could take a few more chances, especially considering the Aggies have had to attempt several late game comebacks. Either Borel isn’t seeing his receivers or he is too gun shy.

When Borel can improve upon these two issues our offense will be very explosive. 40 points per game would be an achievable benchmark. Our defense would have less pressure on them and could play more aggressively. We would be able to beat good teams on a regular basis.

It may not seem fair to ask so much from Diondre Borel, seeing as this offense is new to him, but fair doesn’t have anything to do with it. When you are the quarterback of a football team you better be prepared for criticism. Besides, I wouldn’t demand so much from him if I didn’t think he had the ability to produce. We are lucky to have a quarterback as talented as Diondre to lead our team. I wish him the best as he tries to lead the Aggies to victory, and when he does I will give him all of the credit that he deserves.

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