(Meant to post over bye weekend but life intervened.)
A few thoughts on the season so far;
First, how can it be half over all ready? Seems it took for ever for the season to start and now after like about 3 weeks, it is half over? Proof that Einstein was right, time is relative.
Please tell McSorely to shave, the beard ain't cuttin it.
Nice to see full houses and excited crowds again.
Now for football stuff; Gotta say I have never been so nervous about us being rated so high. We haven't had a tough schedule and have not played to our full potential. We have great talent and could very well run the table but we have areas that need improvement to do so.
Offense gets a B, D gets an A, Special teams..a B, coaching a B+.
Offense: Barkley is amazing. Even with teams throwing everything at him, he still shines. Even though he failed to hit the 100 yd standard a couple of games, he makes up for it in pass receiving and blocking. Announcers that have done the games all list him as the Heisman favorite even if his stats don't always show it. He Is That Good. Been an honor to watch and cheer for him.
T9 has played well overall. Good passes, good reads, good decisions. Spreads the ball to all of his receivers. And best of all strong leadership. He really has the team around him. Seems stronger than last year.
The receivers are awesome. Blacknail is back to form, Polk has scary speed. And it looks like T9 and J Johnson have really started to click. Could be awesome as the season gets into the meat of the schedule. G Seckie started out strong but the sore shoulder has limited him. Week off should help as he is a key part of the O.
That brings us to the much maligned line. Definitely some issues on the right side. As I understand it, a couple guys are playing banged up.....sore ankle and a knee. Again the week off should help. The line is very young and is developing. Huge test coming up this week. More on the line later.
The D has been a great surprise, at least to me. Doing well in all phases. Last year we gave up a lot of early TDs, forcing us to play from behind. This year, no points in the first qtr! Amazing turn around. Cabinda has really come along after two major knee injuries. Not easy to do. He has been a beast the last couple of games as his comfort level has grown. The D line is very quick off the ball, stunts well, and plays with a high motor. Where R U has played very well, maybe our best d back. All the D Backs cover well, at least from I can tell on the tube that doesn't really show coverages very well.
Special teams are greatly improved, except for field goals. The punts and coverage is probably the biggest improvement over last year. We have had so much better field position that it dramatically changes our whole game strategy. Still don't like having Barkely return KOs. Too big an injury risk and leaves him winded for the next offensive plays.
Now to the coaching. They have done a great job in recruiting, prepping for games, keeping kids focused, and schemes. Problems are in the red zone, field goals, and fixing the O line issues. The red zone and line issues may be related....our plays are too predictable. We usually run right since both T9 and Barkley are right handed. And Ds will key on Barkley to take our best player out of the game. That opens up our passing game but we can do more to help the run and the red zone.
Mix in some two back sets, say Barkley and Sanders on either side of T9 allowing him to turn either way. That way the D must play straight up instead of just forcing their attention to Barkley. And the MLBs will have to play it straight instead of flying to Barkley. That takes pressure off of the right side of the O line and would give Barkley the half step he needs. Also, shift one back into the slot and run some misdirection. Imagine a fake to Barkley with a counter run by Sanders or Robinson. Lots of options there-an inside handoff on a slot back counter then a fake to Barkley. Or fake to B and a pitch to Sanders coming around the back. Make the D think and try to find the ball. The two back could also help out with blocking on the right side. Even helps in pass protection or gets another short receiver they would have to cover, opening up the deep routes. And Robinson is so short that the D would lose him behind our line.
Opposition Ds seem to have the dual objectives of taking Barkley out of the game and not giving up the big play. Makes sense to stop our best player and stop the big play style we had last year. Running a two back O with the speed we have would stop both of those objectives.
The read option is way too slow for the red zone. With the D crashing in those are just too slow to develop. And we even ran a couple of delayed draws in the red zone which is even worse. Too Damned Slow. When a D is playing 7-8 in the box best run is a quick hit. Won't always work but when it does it goes for a long way once the back clears the line. Just like the long run by Barkley against NW, once he cleared the front he was one-on-one with the D-back and gone for the touch.
Predictions? Not my strong suit as football is a weird sport to predict...bad bounces, bad calls, freak plays, weather, injuries. But what the hell....
Michigan. Their O is awful and will be hard pressed to get more than ten. Will be close until fourth qtr then we pull away. But if their D rips our o line it could be us winning 6-4!
That team from the west will be tough in the Shoe. Their O has really cranked it up last couple of games. And their D is good. Will be an awesome game. If weather is good, look for the T9/Johnson combo to leads us to victory.
MSU will be a good test also. Having three big games in a row could be taxing physically and mentally. Beating the team from the west may set us up for the upset. But the coaching staff and this team's moxy should gets us through.
We should finish strong. If we lose one it will be an ugly beauty contest to get into the playoffs, just like last year. If we get in we make it to the NC game against 'bama. That should one crazy game that I like our odds.
Sorry it was so long. Just wanted to bloviate....
A few thoughts on the season so far;
First, how can it be half over all ready? Seems it took for ever for the season to start and now after like about 3 weeks, it is half over? Proof that Einstein was right, time is relative.
Please tell McSorely to shave, the beard ain't cuttin it.
Nice to see full houses and excited crowds again.
Now for football stuff; Gotta say I have never been so nervous about us being rated so high. We haven't had a tough schedule and have not played to our full potential. We have great talent and could very well run the table but we have areas that need improvement to do so.
Offense gets a B, D gets an A, Special teams..a B, coaching a B+.
Offense: Barkley is amazing. Even with teams throwing everything at him, he still shines. Even though he failed to hit the 100 yd standard a couple of games, he makes up for it in pass receiving and blocking. Announcers that have done the games all list him as the Heisman favorite even if his stats don't always show it. He Is That Good. Been an honor to watch and cheer for him.
T9 has played well overall. Good passes, good reads, good decisions. Spreads the ball to all of his receivers. And best of all strong leadership. He really has the team around him. Seems stronger than last year.
The receivers are awesome. Blacknail is back to form, Polk has scary speed. And it looks like T9 and J Johnson have really started to click. Could be awesome as the season gets into the meat of the schedule. G Seckie started out strong but the sore shoulder has limited him. Week off should help as he is a key part of the O.
That brings us to the much maligned line. Definitely some issues on the right side. As I understand it, a couple guys are playing banged up.....sore ankle and a knee. Again the week off should help. The line is very young and is developing. Huge test coming up this week. More on the line later.
The D has been a great surprise, at least to me. Doing well in all phases. Last year we gave up a lot of early TDs, forcing us to play from behind. This year, no points in the first qtr! Amazing turn around. Cabinda has really come along after two major knee injuries. Not easy to do. He has been a beast the last couple of games as his comfort level has grown. The D line is very quick off the ball, stunts well, and plays with a high motor. Where R U has played very well, maybe our best d back. All the D Backs cover well, at least from I can tell on the tube that doesn't really show coverages very well.
Special teams are greatly improved, except for field goals. The punts and coverage is probably the biggest improvement over last year. We have had so much better field position that it dramatically changes our whole game strategy. Still don't like having Barkely return KOs. Too big an injury risk and leaves him winded for the next offensive plays.
Now to the coaching. They have done a great job in recruiting, prepping for games, keeping kids focused, and schemes. Problems are in the red zone, field goals, and fixing the O line issues. The red zone and line issues may be related....our plays are too predictable. We usually run right since both T9 and Barkley are right handed. And Ds will key on Barkley to take our best player out of the game. That opens up our passing game but we can do more to help the run and the red zone.
Mix in some two back sets, say Barkley and Sanders on either side of T9 allowing him to turn either way. That way the D must play straight up instead of just forcing their attention to Barkley. And the MLBs will have to play it straight instead of flying to Barkley. That takes pressure off of the right side of the O line and would give Barkley the half step he needs. Also, shift one back into the slot and run some misdirection. Imagine a fake to Barkley with a counter run by Sanders or Robinson. Lots of options there-an inside handoff on a slot back counter then a fake to Barkley. Or fake to B and a pitch to Sanders coming around the back. Make the D think and try to find the ball. The two back could also help out with blocking on the right side. Even helps in pass protection or gets another short receiver they would have to cover, opening up the deep routes. And Robinson is so short that the D would lose him behind our line.
Opposition Ds seem to have the dual objectives of taking Barkley out of the game and not giving up the big play. Makes sense to stop our best player and stop the big play style we had last year. Running a two back O with the speed we have would stop both of those objectives.
The read option is way too slow for the red zone. With the D crashing in those are just too slow to develop. And we even ran a couple of delayed draws in the red zone which is even worse. Too Damned Slow. When a D is playing 7-8 in the box best run is a quick hit. Won't always work but when it does it goes for a long way once the back clears the line. Just like the long run by Barkley against NW, once he cleared the front he was one-on-one with the D-back and gone for the touch.
Predictions? Not my strong suit as football is a weird sport to predict...bad bounces, bad calls, freak plays, weather, injuries. But what the hell....
Michigan. Their O is awful and will be hard pressed to get more than ten. Will be close until fourth qtr then we pull away. But if their D rips our o line it could be us winning 6-4!
That team from the west will be tough in the Shoe. Their O has really cranked it up last couple of games. And their D is good. Will be an awesome game. If weather is good, look for the T9/Johnson combo to leads us to victory.
MSU will be a good test also. Having three big games in a row could be taxing physically and mentally. Beating the team from the west may set us up for the upset. But the coaching staff and this team's moxy should gets us through.
We should finish strong. If we lose one it will be an ugly beauty contest to get into the playoffs, just like last year. If we get in we make it to the NC game against 'bama. That should one crazy game that I like our odds.
Sorry it was so long. Just wanted to bloviate....
Last edited:
