Sunday Morning Thoughts -- Post Bowling Green
- Thread starter Doc Fumble
- Start date
Was it? Okay. Well, point still stands: After the backups settled in, they played much better from what I saw.
I thought Tree was ahead of Guttula on the depth chart. I'm not feeling it with Gunner, he doesn't move people around and I have concerns when we get to the meat of the schedule. What's up with Nyziah? Last year he was our best blocking WR and possibly our best receiver. He seems to be the third option now. Am I the only one who felt the unis were a little off? Just weird.
I'll probably feel optimistic again with a good night's sleep.
I'll probably feel optimistic again with a good night's sleep.
I’m in Thailand for the season, so all I see are post game highlights. So far, this team reminds me of late 90s K-State. They’ll get a chance to play some real teams real soon. The next game is at least a reasonable warmup for the NFL-adjacent gauntlet to follow. I predicted this would be the year it finally happens, as soon as I figured out I wouldn’t see any of it. I hope I’m right…
Honestly, Cigarman, I cannot remember the last game where we never punted, not even once.
Colandrea is a ray of sunshine...despite being a bottom-feeding-scumbag(BFS)- according to B1G rankings. But...he'll prove to be the best of the "BFSes" by season's end.
We finally(?) have an O-line wothy of a run game, so I'm all a flutter about that potential...especially closer to annual season-ending games when we can REALLY use it.
RBs...?...enough said...right? I mean, we only need to connect the dots to the OL; however, they are pretty damn good in their own right.
The same for our WRs...connect the dots to the OL. If we weren't kicking sand in our recent opponent's faces, I'd have a liitle heartburn about them dropping catchable passes, but I'm not going to lose sleep over them until it costs us a game.
The defense is making the games more enjoyable to watch up to this point. But let's see where that meter heads when the B1G starts.
Until then, play on men...play on.
We finally(?) have an O-line wothy of a run game, so I'm all a flutter about that potential...especially closer to annual season-ending games when we can REALLY use it.
RBs...?...enough said...right? I mean, we only need to connect the dots to the OL; however, they are pretty damn good in their own right.
The same for our WRs...connect the dots to the OL. If we weren't kicking sand in our recent opponent's faces, I'd have a liitle heartburn about them dropping catchable passes, but I'm not going to lose sleep over them until it costs us a game.
The defense is making the games more enjoyable to watch up to this point. But let's see where that meter heads when the B1G starts.
Until then, play on men...play on.
When I watch the games, I compare them to past bad teams we played.
The Good
Redzone
Explosive plays
I think DL took a small step forward
LB play
D was faster to the ball
The Bad
OL is still not all the way there. I am a little concerned about the guards. There was a play where Black chased a lineman who went out of the play on a stunt. Instead of moving to the next level as he should have, he chased a guy who took himself out of the play. A 2-yard gain could have been a 10+ yard gain.
It is fixable, but they are still a step away.
Can we run if we need to?
The Ugly
Penalties
I did not see a Heisman returned; just saying.
The Good
Redzone
Explosive plays
I think DL took a small step forward
LB play
D was faster to the ball
The Bad
OL is still not all the way there. I am a little concerned about the guards. There was a play where Black chased a lineman who went out of the play on a stunt. Instead of moving to the next level as he should have, he chased a guy who took himself out of the play. A 2-yard gain could have been a 10+ yard gain.
It is fixable, but they are still a step away.
Can we run if we need to?
The Ugly
Penalties
I did not see a Heisman returned; just saying.
Hands - he tends to set his sights ahead of actually catching the ball. Not that he's gotten worse - but some are/are getting better.
My revised outlook for this team:
Offense: QB solid so far, pass pro decent, running game a bit up and down but the RBs have answered the question can we replace EJ, offense overall looks well planned especially the screen game. If the OL gets more solid in the run game and we fix the drops - this will be a good offense. AC10 can and does find open receivers - that to me is the biggest improvement - his ability to see the field and get he ball out.
Defense: Scheme wise we can stop the run. Can we do it without giving up big plays in the pass game.....TBD. How they played vs. BG needs to be the template the rest of the year. Mean, flying around, making plays.
Special Teams: Too many penalties but overall we didn't fall off a cliff. Archie just does not have a huge leg so we need to avoid punting deep in our end as much as possible. That long FG try looked good except it was a bit short......be interesting when we play more talented teams if our ST performance holds up.
Offense: QB solid so far, pass pro decent, running game a bit up and down but the RBs have answered the question can we replace EJ, offense overall looks well planned especially the screen game. If the OL gets more solid in the run game and we fix the drops - this will be a good offense. AC10 can and does find open receivers - that to me is the biggest improvement - his ability to see the field and get he ball out.
Defense: Scheme wise we can stop the run. Can we do it without giving up big plays in the pass game.....TBD. How they played vs. BG needs to be the template the rest of the year. Mean, flying around, making plays.
Special Teams: Too many penalties but overall we didn't fall off a cliff. Archie just does not have a huge leg so we need to avoid punting deep in our end as much as possible. That long FG try looked good except it was a bit short......be interesting when we play more talented teams if our ST performance holds up.
For you X and O's guys who are smarter than me (that means pretty much everyone)...have the coaches kept the playbook pretty vanilla so far considering our level of competition?
I have a couple of thoughts, but I'll be gone for a bit so I can't renege or defend. Still, I'll put them out there.
Dropped passes: Last year players were making one handed catches right and left. This year they seem to have trouble hanging onto the ball with two hands. I think there is a legitimate reason, but still one that I hope can be fixed. Last year Dylan often floated the ball and seldom tried to fit the ball into tight corners. Colandrea often finds an open receiver that is barely open. He fits the ball in nicely, but with some heat. He has to because unless a receiver is wide open, the ball has to be faster than the defender. I'm guessing Dylan didn't try that because his arm just wasn't strong enough and he didn't react fast enough to squeeze the throws that AC does. Now there are some drops by some wide-open receivers too. And not the receivers played with Dylan but I think the reason holds. It might be because AC has a little speed on the ball in the hopes that once the receiver catches the ball, he will have more time to make something extra happen. So, should AC soften the throws and quit trying to fit the ball into tight corners? I don't think so. Imo to fix this I think the onus is on the receivers.....almost entirely. Balls are going to be coming in tight corners and a little hotter, they better get used to it. Reps and more reps are the answer imo.
Penalties: There has been a lot of talk from coaches on both sides of the ball about playing fast and hard. Until players are so experienced they don't need to analyze so many things, I think there will be some missteps. So, should the coaches' slow things down and let the new system be absorbed more fully to minimize mistakes? Again, I don't think so. If my assessment is correct in at least one reason for penalties (there are others such as refs calling things different this year), I think it's just a matter of repetitions, both in the game and in practice.
Dropped passes: Last year players were making one handed catches right and left. This year they seem to have trouble hanging onto the ball with two hands. I think there is a legitimate reason, but still one that I hope can be fixed. Last year Dylan often floated the ball and seldom tried to fit the ball into tight corners. Colandrea often finds an open receiver that is barely open. He fits the ball in nicely, but with some heat. He has to because unless a receiver is wide open, the ball has to be faster than the defender. I'm guessing Dylan didn't try that because his arm just wasn't strong enough and he didn't react fast enough to squeeze the throws that AC does. Now there are some drops by some wide-open receivers too. And not the receivers played with Dylan but I think the reason holds. It might be because AC has a little speed on the ball in the hopes that once the receiver catches the ball, he will have more time to make something extra happen. So, should AC soften the throws and quit trying to fit the ball into tight corners? I don't think so. Imo to fix this I think the onus is on the receivers.....almost entirely. Balls are going to be coming in tight corners and a little hotter, they better get used to it. Reps and more reps are the answer imo.
Penalties: There has been a lot of talk from coaches on both sides of the ball about playing fast and hard. Until players are so experienced they don't need to analyze so many things, I think there will be some missteps. So, should the coaches' slow things down and let the new system be absorbed more fully to minimize mistakes? Again, I don't think so. If my assessment is correct in at least one reason for penalties (there are others such as refs calling things different this year), I think it's just a matter of repetitions, both in the game and in practice.
Totally agree, Jimbosc. He's been sacked a couple of times but it's never been because he spent too much time in the pocket. I love the way he's found the open man -- and when there was no one, he's wisely thrown the ball away.
Come on, that's nit-picky.
I'll take Archie's performance against Bowling Green Every. Damn. Game!!!
Has Hunter dropped a pass this season? I dont remember him dropping one but I could be wrong. I think he is drawing the best defender from each team as he is our leading returning receiver. I think Barney is getting the second best and Gilmore gets the remaing cover man who is probably the worst of the three just because he is the youngest and the new guy. That may change as the season goes on. Hunter had a TD called back on a BS call and had the nice play against BG with the hurdle. I think we will see more of him as this season goes on as well.
Circling back on Archie - the good news is I had to be nit-picky to be critical of Special Teams. It is also possible he's being told not to boom it to ensure the coverage is there and we don't give up big returns. I just worry he can't flip the field like some punters can but if that is our most serious problem this season we probably will be a pretty good football team. At Iowa it would be considered a major crisis.
I thought we did what we were supposed to do for the most part.
Couple nagging thoughts:
#1 why wasn't TJ in the game sooner, so Kaelin could also get in the game?
#2 Colondrea's INT? Why wasn't it considered simultaneous possession? Barney's knee was down and if it was simultaneous possession, the offense keeps the ball.
#3 Why not give Rule any touches in the second half...let him get over 100 yds.
#4 Penalties need to stop. Where's the accountability?
Couple nagging thoughts:
#1 why wasn't TJ in the game sooner, so Kaelin could also get in the game?
#2 Colondrea's INT? Why wasn't it considered simultaneous possession? Barney's knee was down and if it was simultaneous possession, the offense keeps the ball.
#3 Why not give Rule any touches in the second half...let him get over 100 yds.
#4 Penalties need to stop. Where's the accountability?
Rhule made it sound like that was the original plan but Bowling Green's TOP in the third quarter put the kabosh on that.
I totally agree. If he wasn't in full control when his knee hit the turf, then call it incomplete. I agree that the defender wrestled the ball away--but it was after Barney was already on the ground.
I wondered the same thing. Rhule said in his post-game presser that Rule said he was a little tight at halftime and so they decided there was no need to risk it.
Coach Rhule said that the ST penalties "were on him." He said they've been coaching an aggressive style and the refs are calling the game much tighter than they did last year. He said they'll have to adjust if this is the way the officials are going to call things the rest of the season.
For offense, I don't think so. For the run game, every team runs pretty much the exact same plays (Iso, Duo, Off-Tackle, Counter, Inside/Outside Zone, etc). From one team to the next they may have different names, but the concepts are the same.
For pass plays, every team has a base offense and week to week they just tweak existing plays or add a few "wrinkles" to exploit a specific defensive look. For example, if you notice the defense is in man coverage, a usual tell-tale is a single high safety, although an offense can use motion to see if it is truly man to man. As a further example, The long TD pass to Jacory Barney was a specific route the installed on a play versus a specific look that Bowling Green's defense gave. OC Holgorsen saw that look on film and knew that Barney on that route (forgot what the coaches called it) would beat it.
On defense though, Matt Rhule (in his presser today) said that versus Bowling Green the Nebraska defense stayed mostly base defense due to their RPO game. Which makes sense because teams that run a lot of RPO, the players on defense need to read their keys to make sure the guy their responsible for doesn't get left uncovered.
Congrats to Anthony Colandrea for being the B1G's Offensive Player of the Week.
