CadaverDawg
08-31-2014, 12:19 PM
I'm not going to go back over a lot of the obvious things. And we all know most of the obvious good things, so I may focus on some things we can improve on. But overall I was very pleased with last night.
Offensively:
I think a good percentage of our early offensive issues were due to 2 things that some have already mentioned...
1. Ashton Shumpert is typically our lead FB on goal line and short yardage
2. Our OL blocks better when Dak is an active part of the run game.
I am concerned with our OL, and thought Beckwith looked poor, but I feel like we went heavy on the handoff and USM knew it. We weren't going to let Dak take a bunch of hits last night, and we still ran for 200+. I will take that. And I will expect our OL to look much better when Dak runs more, and he will.
I think Dak stared down a few receivers early, and that will either get corrected or he will throw picks against good teams. I feel like he will learn to look guys off, and he even did a good job of it a few times last night. No worries there.
I think Dak needs to take advantage of our WR weapons in more than one way. USM had to respect our guys down field, so Robinson was wide open in the flats on multiple pass plays. Now, many times he'll need to go deep with it if it's open, but Robinson in the flats can be very Gurley-esque this season IMO. If teams are going to give us 5-10 yards out of the backfield on a high percentage pass play, take it.
Fred Ross. Wow. He may not have DeRunnya's size, but he plays much bigger than 6'2 210. He is a true WR that knows how to get open and use is body, and catch the ball at it's highest point. He could be a big part of this season.
Very happy for Nick Griffin. Not sure if something happened on his long run, or if he was just cautious due to wet turf, but he looked a little lame when he got out in space. Either way, he will be good in certain spots, and I just flat out like the guy.
Defensively:
What's not to love?
Our DL was getting more pressure than we've gotten in the last 10+ years. I know USM has a shitty OL, but we got pressure from EVERYBODY. Ryan Brown was in the backfield all night. AJ Jefferson was in the backfield all night. Preston smith was in the backfield all night. Kaleb Eulls was in the backfield several times. Chris Jones several times. Etc. we are going to be hell to block. And if our LB's don't have to help our DL get pressure, our defense will only be that much better.
I know it was 1 game...but Benny Brown looked like the most improved player on the field to me last night. He was flying all over the place, and laying the wood. He destroyed Mullen(s) a few times.
Kendrick Market is our best open field tackler. I feel like we can still use a little work on our tackling...too many times we had to have the second guy bring down the RB or WR in open space....but I put most of that on the fact that we were trying to strip the ball, and many times it was the second or third team DB's missing the tackles.
Overall, you have to dig deep to find a complaint with our D.
Special Teams:
We have got to get a true special teams coach. Our Special Teams is so frustrating. We do the same stuff year after year, and can't seem to correct it.
First of all, I will point out the positive of the FG block. Great to see. Another positive...I LOVE having Redmond and Cox back on kickoffs. Fortunately we didn't get but one attempt last night bc our D was psycho.
Bad snap on the FG...what's new? So many problems with FG kicking. First off, why is our Heisman candidate still holding for FG's when we have 5 QB's? Can we not teach a backup QB or a WR to hold? Jesus. Second, do we even have somebody that can make a kick? Yet to be determined, but I'll believe it when I see it.
And finally, the absolute worst part of our Special Teams. Yes, worse than FG kicking. PUNT RETURN. The only reason more people don't bitch about this unit, is because despite many muffs and screw ups, it hasn't cost us immediate points because it's a punt and not a FG. This unit is really really bad in many ways.
First off, we cannot block on a return. Nobody. We never have a return, because we let everyone through, and then we get no pressure on a kick because our 3 guys that break through the line just stop running. What is our goal on a punt return? Because we mights as well just not send anyone back to return it.
Second...why Jameon and Holloway? Neither can catch a punt, and neither knows that catching the punt is a necessity. If Mullen is teaching our punt returners to let the ball hit the ground, he needs to kick himself in the ass. We lose SO much field position because our PR team sucks. If you aren't going to ever have a return possibility, you at least have to fair catch the punt so we don't lose field position. We honestly would be better off to not send anyone back there than what we do right now. Because nothing good can happen when your only 2 options are muffing the punt or letting it bounce and roll 20 yards. Totally unacceptable to be so bad on PR. We need to find someone that can catch a punt, and just tell them to fair catch it every single time, and never let it bounce....That would be a great improvement. Besides, like I said, we don't block enough for a return anyway, so what good is a guy with speed or quickness? They won't get a chance at a return regardless, so put a ****ing Offensive Linemen back there if it means he will catch the ball, every time.
Overall, I was very pleased with the performance. I like that we have some things to work on so that we won't get complacent. Obviously, I'm having to dig deeper for things to work on, which is great. And we are in great position to make a run this year. I'm pumped.
Offensively:
I think a good percentage of our early offensive issues were due to 2 things that some have already mentioned...
1. Ashton Shumpert is typically our lead FB on goal line and short yardage
2. Our OL blocks better when Dak is an active part of the run game.
I am concerned with our OL, and thought Beckwith looked poor, but I feel like we went heavy on the handoff and USM knew it. We weren't going to let Dak take a bunch of hits last night, and we still ran for 200+. I will take that. And I will expect our OL to look much better when Dak runs more, and he will.
I think Dak stared down a few receivers early, and that will either get corrected or he will throw picks against good teams. I feel like he will learn to look guys off, and he even did a good job of it a few times last night. No worries there.
I think Dak needs to take advantage of our WR weapons in more than one way. USM had to respect our guys down field, so Robinson was wide open in the flats on multiple pass plays. Now, many times he'll need to go deep with it if it's open, but Robinson in the flats can be very Gurley-esque this season IMO. If teams are going to give us 5-10 yards out of the backfield on a high percentage pass play, take it.
Fred Ross. Wow. He may not have DeRunnya's size, but he plays much bigger than 6'2 210. He is a true WR that knows how to get open and use is body, and catch the ball at it's highest point. He could be a big part of this season.
Very happy for Nick Griffin. Not sure if something happened on his long run, or if he was just cautious due to wet turf, but he looked a little lame when he got out in space. Either way, he will be good in certain spots, and I just flat out like the guy.
Defensively:
What's not to love?
Our DL was getting more pressure than we've gotten in the last 10+ years. I know USM has a shitty OL, but we got pressure from EVERYBODY. Ryan Brown was in the backfield all night. AJ Jefferson was in the backfield all night. Preston smith was in the backfield all night. Kaleb Eulls was in the backfield several times. Chris Jones several times. Etc. we are going to be hell to block. And if our LB's don't have to help our DL get pressure, our defense will only be that much better.
I know it was 1 game...but Benny Brown looked like the most improved player on the field to me last night. He was flying all over the place, and laying the wood. He destroyed Mullen(s) a few times.
Kendrick Market is our best open field tackler. I feel like we can still use a little work on our tackling...too many times we had to have the second guy bring down the RB or WR in open space....but I put most of that on the fact that we were trying to strip the ball, and many times it was the second or third team DB's missing the tackles.
Overall, you have to dig deep to find a complaint with our D.
Special Teams:
We have got to get a true special teams coach. Our Special Teams is so frustrating. We do the same stuff year after year, and can't seem to correct it.
First of all, I will point out the positive of the FG block. Great to see. Another positive...I LOVE having Redmond and Cox back on kickoffs. Fortunately we didn't get but one attempt last night bc our D was psycho.
Bad snap on the FG...what's new? So many problems with FG kicking. First off, why is our Heisman candidate still holding for FG's when we have 5 QB's? Can we not teach a backup QB or a WR to hold? Jesus. Second, do we even have somebody that can make a kick? Yet to be determined, but I'll believe it when I see it.
And finally, the absolute worst part of our Special Teams. Yes, worse than FG kicking. PUNT RETURN. The only reason more people don't bitch about this unit, is because despite many muffs and screw ups, it hasn't cost us immediate points because it's a punt and not a FG. This unit is really really bad in many ways.
First off, we cannot block on a return. Nobody. We never have a return, because we let everyone through, and then we get no pressure on a kick because our 3 guys that break through the line just stop running. What is our goal on a punt return? Because we mights as well just not send anyone back to return it.
Second...why Jameon and Holloway? Neither can catch a punt, and neither knows that catching the punt is a necessity. If Mullen is teaching our punt returners to let the ball hit the ground, he needs to kick himself in the ass. We lose SO much field position because our PR team sucks. If you aren't going to ever have a return possibility, you at least have to fair catch the punt so we don't lose field position. We honestly would be better off to not send anyone back there than what we do right now. Because nothing good can happen when your only 2 options are muffing the punt or letting it bounce and roll 20 yards. Totally unacceptable to be so bad on PR. We need to find someone that can catch a punt, and just tell them to fair catch it every single time, and never let it bounce....That would be a great improvement. Besides, like I said, we don't block enough for a return anyway, so what good is a guy with speed or quickness? They won't get a chance at a return regardless, so put a ****ing Offensive Linemen back there if it means he will catch the ball, every time.
Overall, I was very pleased with the performance. I like that we have some things to work on so that we won't get complacent. Obviously, I'm having to dig deeper for things to work on, which is great. And we are in great position to make a run this year. I'm pumped.