I actually have a bit of hope.
Mistakes made last night? Certainly. However...
- There were not forced passes, I counted 1 - maybe 2.
- Running game - fantabulous. Especially in the 2nd half.
- AA "getting a little help from his friends" down near the goal line, shoving him closer to paydirt.
- Mr. Arnaud, you finally saw your running back streaking down the sidelines and hit him - wasn't that fun?
- Ballzy and effective running the same play in succession, sometimes 3 or 4 times in a row. Most demoralizing thing you can do to a team if effective.
- Hamilton is finally showing why he can/should be this team's #1 WR.
- While Army is really one dimensional (running) defense did a solid job. I thought our ends would get spun around alot with the triple O but they held their own
- Much better job tackling, although this still is a big area for improvement
- Biggest play given up was for 30 yards. Biggest run was for a little under 20. I'll take that.
- Brandtner. 'Nuff said.
- "Money" Mahoney!
- No punt drops - yay!
- No turnovers - double yay!
- Responding to Army's scoring drives quickly (except for their early FG). GW drive was the one to start the 2nd half, IMO.
I'm still concerned about these items...
- ARob's what looked to be hammy
- Depth
- AA continuing to take what the defense gives him instead of forcing things
- Herman making run first, pass second. IMO he's still too quick to go to the air for this team, at this time.
- Receives getting separation
- Going 3/11 on 3rd down
- Giving up 100% of the 4th down conversions
- Stupid, idiotic, dumb, moronic, inexcusable personal foul penalties. I was absolutely livid over both, especially the late block on special teams after we had great field position.
- Gotta wrap up on defense, boys
- Still not much pressure on the QB
- Can't miss that gimme FG, Mahoney
- Not being able to put teams away
Before the season, I certainly would have taken a 3-1 start. Now, IMO, we played very poorly in those first 3 games - even though we won two - we certainly did not look good. However, last night we looked much better.
In order for this team to go 4-1 and then get...well...who knows...we MUST make sure this offense runs through ARob first and foremost. And only after the defense is stacking against the run do we look to "air it out". And I've heard the stats about year 1 vs year 2 at Rice for Herman...blah, blah, blah. As long as ARob is here (and we bring back virtually the entire offense, including the line) - this should be a team that seeks to run the ball upwards of 40+ times per game. We hit 43 carries last night and ARob had 21. Recipe for success.
Oddly enough, the defense continues to not slit our throats, which is really the amazing thing. Are they good/dependable? Not yet. But so far, the offense has been more of the problem than our defense - by a mile. Kudos boys.
I was mildly looking forward to our road trips to KC and Lawrence the next two weekends, until last night. IMO, the K-State game is still a toss-up (one we aught to win though) and I think KU is better than we are, but beatable. Both should be fun games and I'm certainly stoked to see 'em in person now.
I just hope the players stay grounded with this 3-1 start (and there is plenty to stay grounded about) and fans realize we probably got one more game this season that causes all of us to go WTF?!?. Still cautious about this team, but for now a good home win cures most ails.
Mistakes made last night? Certainly. However...
- There were not forced passes, I counted 1 - maybe 2.
- Running game - fantabulous. Especially in the 2nd half.
- AA "getting a little help from his friends" down near the goal line, shoving him closer to paydirt.
- Mr. Arnaud, you finally saw your running back streaking down the sidelines and hit him - wasn't that fun?
- Ballzy and effective running the same play in succession, sometimes 3 or 4 times in a row. Most demoralizing thing you can do to a team if effective.
- Hamilton is finally showing why he can/should be this team's #1 WR.
- While Army is really one dimensional (running) defense did a solid job. I thought our ends would get spun around alot with the triple O but they held their own
- Much better job tackling, although this still is a big area for improvement
- Biggest play given up was for 30 yards. Biggest run was for a little under 20. I'll take that.
- Brandtner. 'Nuff said.
- "Money" Mahoney!
- No punt drops - yay!
- No turnovers - double yay!
- Responding to Army's scoring drives quickly (except for their early FG). GW drive was the one to start the 2nd half, IMO.
I'm still concerned about these items...
- ARob's what looked to be hammy
- Depth
- AA continuing to take what the defense gives him instead of forcing things
- Herman making run first, pass second. IMO he's still too quick to go to the air for this team, at this time.
- Receives getting separation
- Going 3/11 on 3rd down
- Giving up 100% of the 4th down conversions
- Stupid, idiotic, dumb, moronic, inexcusable personal foul penalties. I was absolutely livid over both, especially the late block on special teams after we had great field position.
- Gotta wrap up on defense, boys
- Still not much pressure on the QB
- Can't miss that gimme FG, Mahoney
- Not being able to put teams away
Before the season, I certainly would have taken a 3-1 start. Now, IMO, we played very poorly in those first 3 games - even though we won two - we certainly did not look good. However, last night we looked much better.
In order for this team to go 4-1 and then get...well...who knows...we MUST make sure this offense runs through ARob first and foremost. And only after the defense is stacking against the run do we look to "air it out". And I've heard the stats about year 1 vs year 2 at Rice for Herman...blah, blah, blah. As long as ARob is here (and we bring back virtually the entire offense, including the line) - this should be a team that seeks to run the ball upwards of 40+ times per game. We hit 43 carries last night and ARob had 21. Recipe for success.
Oddly enough, the defense continues to not slit our throats, which is really the amazing thing. Are they good/dependable? Not yet. But so far, the offense has been more of the problem than our defense - by a mile. Kudos boys.
I was mildly looking forward to our road trips to KC and Lawrence the next two weekends, until last night. IMO, the K-State game is still a toss-up (one we aught to win though) and I think KU is better than we are, but beatable. Both should be fun games and I'm certainly stoked to see 'em in person now.
I just hope the players stay grounded with this 3-1 start (and there is plenty to stay grounded about) and fans realize we probably got one more game this season that causes all of us to go WTF?!?. Still cautious about this team, but for now a good home win cures most ails.
