BIG RED HEAD ZONE

Wake Forest Game: September 10, 2005

By Jim Meier

THE CRUX:

My guess, Win No.2 yields a little more overall team confidence!

This in spite of an offense currently in search of itself. The trifecta…Blackshirts 21, Offense 10, Demon Deacons 3. Yes a win but this win, place show point producing finish is a long shot next week and the weeks that follow.

THE QUOTE:

No.1
“Defense wins games”
~Jim Meier

Note: nothing original here. Nothing ordinary either. No doubt legions of coaches have barked this to their teams. I did it weekly (BUT NOT WEAKLY) to the boys and girls I coached.

No. 2
Another quote…” There are times when you really start to feel hot. The coaches were calling plays where we knew guys would be open. I started building confidence with each throw. Guys were making good plays for me.”
~Zach Taylor

So what? Think about it…what Taylor is saying here. There is this glimmer of continuity, connectivity, linkage between players and coaches, being in sync, having a system, playing within that system, executing that system, coaches coaching and players playing. There is a long, looonnnng ways to go…maybe next week there will be two series that Zach will look back on and say…”I started building confidence with each throw” With the many changes, more than ever it is one play and one series at a time on OUR WAY to regaining the MO in MOmentum in Memorial Stadium.

Mental Muscle:

Let’s attend to pass receiving:

The oh no’s…Zach Taylor tossed six balls that were dropped. Note to those receivers What to do? Review those drops once. See what you did wrong, make the mental adjustment then forget about it (See my point on this last week).

The AH! In the third quarter Grant Mulkey caught and HUNG ONTO a pass while his head was being rearranged on his neck and shoulders. That was focus. That was concentration. Laser concentration. Key ingredients in any players and coaches and YES, fans mental muscle food groups. Good for Grant…he made that catch because he ran the route, saw the pass, and used his fine hands. But without that laser focus that pass would have been an IC.

Maybe Mr. Mulkey is siphoning out some of that High Octane juice from Steve Octavien.

Weekly How To:

Receivers: Mentally practice by:
1) Seeing the ball coming to you
2) Feeling your hands catching it with just the right amount of soft hands firmly gripping the ball
3) Lock-out the noise…put yourself in a sound proof chamber…it’s the QB, the ball in flight, you catching it.
4) Absolutely forget drops and recall those good grabs

Coaches: Teach 1-2-3-4 and integrate this into physical practice time. The more simulation you do that COMBINES the physical with the mental the stronger the two become synchronized

Fans: Have fun mentally doing this yourself OR do the physical part too if you are gridiron “qualified”. Meaning you have pads and good health insurance. Once you get this down yourself transfer a goodly chunk of that confidence and skill to the Husker receiving corp.

Remember…confidence begets confidence AND it is VERY POSSIBLE to Help someone gain confidence by believing in them and letting them know!