Just for shits and giggles, here is my analysis of the game.
QB: I didn't think we'd try as many pass attempts this week as we did against UW, but it was pretty close - 60 attempts. Two picks, one of which Bo dialed in on the receiver a little too much. I can't remember what happened on the second one. As I said before, when you are throwing the ball 60-70 times a game, it's hard to get too critical about Int's because the defense is sitting back expecting the pass every play. It wasn't a bad performance by Bo and certainly not why we lost the game, although there's always things that can be cleaned up. (C)
RB: Our running game at the moment isn't there. They are a young group and will get better as the season progresses, but it begins with the play of the O-Line. Hard to be too critical of the backs when there aren't any holes being opened up and the backs are forced to slide outside and get around the corner and getting tackled. In my opinion the only way we will be able to get any consistent yards from running is going to be by attacking the LOS head-on with quick hitting plays. The draws and misdirection stuff is working at times but it seems like that's all we're trying to do. Mario is a good back in space but with the lack of run-blocking at the moment I would like to see us give Bronson more carries and let's see if he can pound on some people long enough to open things up elsewhere. He had one carry for 5 yards in this game. On a bright note, our backs have been really good catching the ball out of the backfield. Also, for a True Freshman, Talley has played well in his first two games for as little action as he's seen. Would like to also see what Forte can do out there, we pulled redshirts on these guys for a reason, right? (D)
WR: Nick Edwards was the bright spot in this one. I think he played really well. Overall, it seemed like there were quite a few dropped balls. Some were probably catcheable, some probably were not. When you are relying almost entirely on your passing game to move the ball, that can't happen. It also seemed like at times, there were WR's giving up on plays. I think this may have been due to fatigue - those guys must be gassed at times running all those routes. We have a lot of depth at WR, so I will agree that perhaps we need to get other guys more playing time. Not only will it help build confidence in our backups, but it will help keep our starters stay a little more fresh running up and down the field all day. (B)
TE: Gehring had a couple of nice grabs just as he did in the UW game. I would like to see us use our TE's more in check-down situations. That worked well in the UW game. TE's haven't been too great in run blocking so far, but that's not specific to them. (C)
OL: With two All-American Seniors on this squad, I have to say I was more than a little disappointed. Our pass protection, which looked stellar in the first game seems to have dropped off some in this one. Our run blocking was almost non-existent. They are not driving the D-line back to open anything up. Everyone is getting on the backs, but it's hard to do anything when you have no holes to get through. That said, we have two guys starting on the right side that played their first significant time in the UW game. I am hoping that Will Post will be healthy enough for the Montana game to at least see some playing time, because right now we are feeling the loss of his presence, not only on a talent level, but also because of the fact that we have fewer guys to rotate in and out. (D)
DL: Tackles couldn't get enough penetration and the Ends couldn't contain. I was actually a little surprised by that, as I thought we'd be able to contain their QB a little bit better with all the athletes we have there. It wasn't horrible, though - there were a lot of times our Ends beat their blocks badly and just over-ran their QB. Lots of missed tackles that were near sacks, but credit their QB - he was very mobile. Would have liked to seen a little bit more of Ceja, because he is probably our fastest DE and probably would have helped contain a little more on passing situations. Lots of missed tackles, a couple of which would have been huge plays. (C-)
LB's: I really thought our LB's played well in the UW game, but in this one, not so much. Zach seems to be hampered by some sort of injury because he just doesn't look as mobile or quick to the point of attack as he usually does. Could be wrong there. Overall we are not playing at anywhere near the same standard as we were late last season, with almost the same personnel minus JC. Lots of missed tackles. (C)
CB's: I was really impressed with our CB's the first game but as with almost every other position their play seemed to drop off some. I was really impressed with how they stepped up against the run in the first game and wonder where that went yesterday. Again, lots of missed tackles. Another position that we seem to have a very steep learning curve at, but they will improve. (C)
Safeties: Have been decent so far in run stopping but got beaten really badly by the long ball a couple times in this one. Nice pick by Matt. I think he might also have gotten another sack, can't remember. (C)
*Edit* - Forgot Special Teams - Another bright spot. They played well for the most part. Gotta ask the question, though: Are we ever going to give our kicker a chance? In the first qtr it seems like we got greedy by going for it on 4th down. That early in the game you have to give your kicker a chance and take the points. Turning the ball over on possessions took away all our momentum and contributed to us going in that deep hole early. Any points would have helped at that point. I wasn't critical of the decision in the UW because in that situation you go for the win - but I think we kick the FG down 7-0 early in the game against an FCS opponent. Just my opinion. (B)
Overall:
Offense - C
Defense - C
The good news is that all of this can be fixed pretty quickly. It's not as if the talent isn't there. We all know it is. It's just up to the players on how successful they want to be this season, because I still believe we have the ingredients to be a playoff team. Most glaring deficiencies are in the play of the lines and I hope we can right the ship some in that regard. I guess that's enough babbling. Hope this doesn't come across as being too critical, but there's really no reason to sugar-coat. :thumb:
Go Eags!
