In Reply to: Re: Chesney has always had a run first offense posted by UCLART on October 29, 2026 at 09:12:52
"Bob Chesney doesn't pass the ball much", then the last two games are evidence against that rule. If it continues, I'd say the rule will have been disproven. We were talking about Arch. Well, Arch averages less than 30 passing attempts per game. I don't see how he would look at Ty's stats and conclude "UCLA won't throw the ball if I come". Chesney has let a QB with no prior FBS experience throw 30+ in consecutive conference games. I think a good passing QB would be comfortable that he could throw the ball here at least as often.
It doesn't matter what Chesney did the last 10 years, with different QB's, in different conferences, with different levels of talent. At Holy Cross he had Matt Sluka, who really wasn't a good passer but was an excellent runner. At the lower levels it is harder to find a good passing QB. You use what you have available to you.
So if someone were to tell Arch or another QB "Chesney doesn't throw the ball", that's based on outdated information. It looks to me like Chesney will use whatever tools he has on hand in the way that is most advantageous to the team. *That is the actual rule*. Last year at JMU, his QB Barnett threw quite a bit, even though JMU blew a lot of teams out and were in run-the-clock mode late in many games. He had three games where he threw 35 or more passes.
Chesney may also have learned a lesson that a running QB in the B1G is in much greater jeopardy than a running QB in the Patriot League or Sun Belt, and may pivot to more of a passing QB. They went hard after Brady Edmunds (Ohio St. commit), who is a pure drop-back passer, for example. And less running plays by the QB figures to lead to a lower % of running plays overall.
The point is, Chesney is a winner who knows there's more than one way to skin a cat. He's not a stubborn system guy.