I'm trying REALLY hard to temper my excitement about SR, but everytime I think back to last night's game, my excitement about him just grows and grows.
Here are just a few things I saw last night out of him that makes me believe he's the real deal...
- That TD to Brun was just a thing of beauty. Nobody was open initially at all, but SR had the presence of mind to be patient and even throw in a pump fake until Brun cleared for the easy TD.
- The TD to Horne was another one where Horne must have been at least his 3rd option on the play, but yet he still saw him breaking open across the grain on the other side of the field. That takes great vision.
- The one scramble he had where he put a serious spin move on the defenders. Yes, it didn't end up getting him any extra yds because KU had another defender right there to take him down, but it just shows his desire to make a play. Kinda tells me that the "swagger" part of the ESPN analysis is probably pretty accurate.
- The presence of mind on the QB sneek, after he bobbled the snap, to take it to the outside when nothing was there over center. This is just football instincts folks. Just trying to make a play and improvise on the go. Too many QB's are like robots and only do exactly what the play calls for no matter what.
- Also, I don't remember SR last night ever throwing a 5 yd pass on a 3rd and 7 for example. He always seemed to throw past the 1st down sticks when needed. He didn't always complete them, but at least if they were completed they were first downs. Nothing irritates me more than throwing a 4 yd pass on 3rd and 6.
- And finally, his demeanor both during and after the game. During the game, he got excited when he made good plays. He congratulated teammates after scoring drives. Barnett also does this very well too IMO, but Steele always looks like he could care less and he never gets into it with his teammates at all.
And after the game in his interview on TV, he was calm and cool as a cat. He wasn't all excited and celebratory, but was more matter of fact and confident. He said he knew it was his shot and he was going to take full advantage of it. That showed a lot of confidence and almost a cockiness about it that I LOVE! He wasn't going out there with the attitude of "ok, now just don't go out there and screw up".... but instead it was more of an attitude of "go out there and dominate and win this game".
I just hate to get too excited about him yet, because as an ISU fan, it always seems to let you down at some point. I just hope he comes out and has a good game Friday against WV. Even if we don't win, I hope he has a good solid game that he can keep building from. I just saw way too many good things last night to not get excited about what his future at ISU could be though.