It's common to give young players a certain amount of leeway when evaluating their development.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to remember to impart that same courtesy to first-year head coaches.
Jeff Quinn is now five games into his tenure with the Bulls and his report card is filled with incompletes.
Like any coach, Quinn has had his share of good calls and bad calls. He has shown that he has no qualms about going for it on fourth down and his personality has endeared him to the Bulls faithful.
That warm and fuzzy feeling has started to fade, however, as Quinn continues to make some questionable decisions on a weekly basis. Some fans have been disappointed with his play calling, in particular, on Saturday evening against Bowling Green.
In the first quarter against the Falcons, neither team had scored, but the Bulls were threatening deep in the Bowling Green red zone. The struggles of sophomore quarterback Jerry Davis have been well documented, but he looked fluid as he drove the Bulls deep into Bowling Green territory.
On first-and-goal, Quinn called in freshman quarterback Alex Dennison for Davis to attempt a quarterback run.
Dennison fumbled the ball and all momentum was lost for the Bulls. The defense did its job and forced BG to punt, but Davis threw an interception on the very next offensive play, which led to a Falcons touchdown.
The Bulls won the game, but the confidence level of Davis dropped considerably. He claimed after the game that it had no effect on him and that he was happy to see his teammate get into the game, but I'm not buying it.
I understand the thinking behind playing two quarterbacks if it's working for an offense, but it is clearly not for the Bulls. Dennison has made several big mistakes, and while Davis has been awful at times, he has also shown how good he can be this season.
Aside from what players Quinn picks to play, the offensive mindset of the coaching staff has been very puzzling at times.
With a two-touchdown lead late in the third quarter, Quinn still had Davis hurling the ball downfield. He decided to go for the dagger instead of playing smart and trying to kill some clock.
I think you have to play smart with a lead, especially on the road. Davis ended up throwing his fourth interception in the fourth quarter and the Bulls almost lost on a last-second field goal attempt by the Falcons.
On the final drive by the Falcons, however, Quinn made the right call at the most crucial time. With two timeouts in his back pocket, he chose to wait until the Bowling Green kicking team was ready to attempt the 40-yard field goal to ice the kicker with both timeouts.
Quinn also unleashed senior running back Ike Nduka on Saturday after sticking with freshman Branden Oliver since opening week. Nduka finished with 49 yards rushing in the game and scored the Bulls first rushing touchdown of the season.
When everything is said and done, the Bulls are 1-0 in the Mid-American Conference and Quinn's goal of a MAC Championship is still in play.
But the rookie head coach has to start putting together 60 minutes of quality decision making if the Bulls hope to go anywhere this year.
E-mail: matthew.parrino@ubspectrum.com
