Went to the game, sat in the upper deck on about the 5 yard line. Not a bad seat. First time sitting in the upper deck since 1988 or so. Anyway, my thoughts on the game
1- We are not a good post-bye-week team. Not offensively anyway.
2- Our OL has to be able to contain a 4 man rush, for however Mississippi's are needed to run the passing play that was called. It is going to be a long season if teams can get to our QBs without needing to blitz. Bruns defended the OL on the post game, saying that their corners shut down our receivers. i didn't see it that way.
3- We were too predictable on offense. On first down, TT tended to stack the box, with man coverage on the corners and only 1 safety. We stubbornly tried to run right into that, which was often followed by 2 and 9. TT would respond by subbing in a safety and defending the pass. We never had their defense guessing.
4- After TT missed a field goal in the 4th quarter, they put out a D set that had no safeties at all, and man coverage on the corners. Rather than audible to a pass over the middle, we ran right into it for no gain. Pretty sure this ended up being a 3 and out. We were either unable to, or unwilling to, change the play at the line based on how the defense lined up.
5- on the place kicking, I think it is time to give the other kid a try. At least let him try the next 40+ yard field goal, which we aren't likely to make anyway. Kicking is a fickle, psychological beast. I get that the current #1 obviously looked the best in spring and fall practice. But he just isn't able to carry that over to game situations. Maybe the 2nd stringer is a gamer?
6- I wasn't real impressed with Steele's decision making. I know criticizing him is all the rage now, but it just seemed like he was just making the wrong decision in lots of different situations. Not handing off in the zone read when giving to the RB was the clear decision. Scrambling out of the pocket when he should have stepped up to avoid the rush, and delivered the ball. Does he have a conference win? Maybe it is time to give the kid with multiple conference wins a try?
7- When Steele does scramble outside, it results in amazingly few downfield completions. I noticed on multiple occasions that downfield receivers would just stop when he scrambled. Nobody came back to the ball, or broke off their route to give him a target. They just stopped. On the deep pick in the 4th, the intended receiver was the only one moving when Steele scrambled (and he was wide open). The underneath guys quit moving.
8- Our jet tempo didn't prevent TT from subbing. Not sure what good this really serves if we allow the other team to sub.
9- Defense + KvdK came to play. Special teams was good, neglecting the field goals.
Now, a few things overheard from my section last night:
1- From the guy behind me: "Its a bad sign when your middle linebacker is your leading tackler". What? Yes, by all means, let's get the safeties involved a little more.
2- On one of kirby's punts in the fourth quarter: "Oh that punt was awful". I counted off the yards: 10, 20, 30, 40, 45... 47 or 48. An no return.
cyphoon
1- We are not a good post-bye-week team. Not offensively anyway.
2- Our OL has to be able to contain a 4 man rush, for however Mississippi's are needed to run the passing play that was called. It is going to be a long season if teams can get to our QBs without needing to blitz. Bruns defended the OL on the post game, saying that their corners shut down our receivers. i didn't see it that way.
3- We were too predictable on offense. On first down, TT tended to stack the box, with man coverage on the corners and only 1 safety. We stubbornly tried to run right into that, which was often followed by 2 and 9. TT would respond by subbing in a safety and defending the pass. We never had their defense guessing.
4- After TT missed a field goal in the 4th quarter, they put out a D set that had no safeties at all, and man coverage on the corners. Rather than audible to a pass over the middle, we ran right into it for no gain. Pretty sure this ended up being a 3 and out. We were either unable to, or unwilling to, change the play at the line based on how the defense lined up.
5- on the place kicking, I think it is time to give the other kid a try. At least let him try the next 40+ yard field goal, which we aren't likely to make anyway. Kicking is a fickle, psychological beast. I get that the current #1 obviously looked the best in spring and fall practice. But he just isn't able to carry that over to game situations. Maybe the 2nd stringer is a gamer?
6- I wasn't real impressed with Steele's decision making. I know criticizing him is all the rage now, but it just seemed like he was just making the wrong decision in lots of different situations. Not handing off in the zone read when giving to the RB was the clear decision. Scrambling out of the pocket when he should have stepped up to avoid the rush, and delivered the ball. Does he have a conference win? Maybe it is time to give the kid with multiple conference wins a try?
7- When Steele does scramble outside, it results in amazingly few downfield completions. I noticed on multiple occasions that downfield receivers would just stop when he scrambled. Nobody came back to the ball, or broke off their route to give him a target. They just stopped. On the deep pick in the 4th, the intended receiver was the only one moving when Steele scrambled (and he was wide open). The underneath guys quit moving.
8- Our jet tempo didn't prevent TT from subbing. Not sure what good this really serves if we allow the other team to sub.
9- Defense + KvdK came to play. Special teams was good, neglecting the field goals.
Now, a few things overheard from my section last night:
1- From the guy behind me: "Its a bad sign when your middle linebacker is your leading tackler". What? Yes, by all means, let's get the safeties involved a little more.
2- On one of kirby's punts in the fourth quarter: "Oh that punt was awful". I counted off the yards: 10, 20, 30, 40, 45... 47 or 48. An no return.
cyphoon
