Ok, no hiding it here this game was a big disappointment. Oh gawd, where to start. The Huskies scored 47 points. That is right in line with past pac 12 games that we have won! The way they got those surprised me more. I thought they would pound the ball a lot more and break more long runs, remember 2014, every other play was a missed tackle and a long run. I think they had like 320 in rushing. But on offence we had too much self destruction.
THE BAD:
FEWER EAGLE FANS: I went to the last game at Husky stadium (2014) and there was noticeably fewer Eagle fans there. Fewer than what traveled to Oregon (2015).
UNFORCED ERRORS:
Starting off with those penalties on O-line on that first drive, nothing like putting yourself in the hole early.
Dropped balls by the receivers, two by our TE that were drive killers. Yeah our TE is better than that and he will bounce back but it is what it is.
PLAY CALLING:
For the most part I thought the play calling was good except for, we have this supper fast dual threat QB that can cause the defense headaches but I'm not sure we even had designed run for him. One time I remember him taking off for an 11 yard run for a first down but come on! Roll him out with a run/pass option! If no one is open just go and get the easy 5 yards! I don' know how many times I was just saying " come on just run" when Berriere just kept waiting for an open target that never materialized, take what the defense gives you!
RECEIVERS: Okay here we go, its 2017 all over again. Remember the opener at Texal Tech. after we had Kupp, Bourne, Hill had all run out of eligibility and we were wondering who would step up to be the next great Eastern receiver/s. Well for that game it didn't happen. Matter of fact , it looked a lot like Saturdays game with a bunch of dropped balls and missed opportunities. One receiver had a good game Saturday but more on that later.
RUNNING BACK: One good, one bad. I have never been real big on Custer. One I don't think he is all that fast. His legs go fast but because he's short and it looks like hes going a million miles an hour until you see somebody run him down. I hear Merrett got the start but I was a little confused early in the game because Merrit is now wearing Number 6 this year but lets just look at the stats for the both of them.
Custer: 14 carries for 24 yards 1.7 aver. Receiving 2 for -1.
Merrett: 5 carries for 37 yards 7.4 aver. Receiving 4 for 25.
Last year I thought Merritt had (and still do) kind of odd running style. He just looks odd when he runs, like his legs are a little long or he raises his knees kinda high or something, I cant put my finger on it but he just looks weird when he runs BUT he gets results!
ZERO PRESSURE ON THE QB:
I sat in the end zone (lake side) real close to where I sat last time, good seats by the way. On another thread Former Eag said something about how he thought the D line play was one of the bright spots. I must admit that when I first read that I thought he was crazy but after I thought about it for a bit I think he is right. He didn't go into detail but I will under the GOOD section, (to follow). Passing plays the D line could get ZERO pressure on the QB. Okay I remember one play he had to run but that was it.
But (blaming the coaches here) we didn't have any kind of safety blitz to put heat on the QB. All QB had to do was sit back there and go "La ti da, ho hum" take his time and dump the ball off. I sure when Peterson grades him he will get an incomplete just because he had ZERO pressure.
SECONDARY:
These guys should probably get an incomplete grade also. Yes they were out of position numerous times but I thought they at times they recovered quickly and with ZERO pressure up front these hang forever with those wide receivers.
Ok enough bitching lets get to the good.
RUN Defense:
Going into this game I was most worried about UW running back Ahmed. That guy is blistering fast. If he turns the corner he's gone! But he was 15 for 44yrds. Excellent job! Pleasant is another good back and he was 5 for 7 yrds. Excellent again!
I was quite happy with the run defense. I saw a number of time D lineman get off blocks quickly to make a tackle on the running back. Oh lets not forget Chris Ojoh, 11 tackles, 9 solo! Where would we be without him!
Andrew Boston, last year he was the only one of the receiver besides Webster that played with some authority and he's looking the part this year. Boston would be my Offensive player of the game with Ojoh on defense.
Ok, moving forward we will get better, we just need steady improvement every game and when we get Moore back on the D line that will help. More consistency at receiver. Playing Washington will be a big help. As far as I know we came out healthy and gained way more experience than playing a D2 school. Players will get better and coached will get better. Oh and that Husky team is way better than that Cougar team that we beat in 2016 or the last Husky team we played in 2014!
THE BAD:
FEWER EAGLE FANS: I went to the last game at Husky stadium (2014) and there was noticeably fewer Eagle fans there. Fewer than what traveled to Oregon (2015).
UNFORCED ERRORS:
Starting off with those penalties on O-line on that first drive, nothing like putting yourself in the hole early.
Dropped balls by the receivers, two by our TE that were drive killers. Yeah our TE is better than that and he will bounce back but it is what it is.
PLAY CALLING:
For the most part I thought the play calling was good except for, we have this supper fast dual threat QB that can cause the defense headaches but I'm not sure we even had designed run for him. One time I remember him taking off for an 11 yard run for a first down but come on! Roll him out with a run/pass option! If no one is open just go and get the easy 5 yards! I don' know how many times I was just saying " come on just run" when Berriere just kept waiting for an open target that never materialized, take what the defense gives you!
RECEIVERS: Okay here we go, its 2017 all over again. Remember the opener at Texal Tech. after we had Kupp, Bourne, Hill had all run out of eligibility and we were wondering who would step up to be the next great Eastern receiver/s. Well for that game it didn't happen. Matter of fact , it looked a lot like Saturdays game with a bunch of dropped balls and missed opportunities. One receiver had a good game Saturday but more on that later.
RUNNING BACK: One good, one bad. I have never been real big on Custer. One I don't think he is all that fast. His legs go fast but because he's short and it looks like hes going a million miles an hour until you see somebody run him down. I hear Merrett got the start but I was a little confused early in the game because Merrit is now wearing Number 6 this year but lets just look at the stats for the both of them.
Custer: 14 carries for 24 yards 1.7 aver. Receiving 2 for -1.
Merrett: 5 carries for 37 yards 7.4 aver. Receiving 4 for 25.
Last year I thought Merritt had (and still do) kind of odd running style. He just looks odd when he runs, like his legs are a little long or he raises his knees kinda high or something, I cant put my finger on it but he just looks weird when he runs BUT he gets results!
ZERO PRESSURE ON THE QB:
I sat in the end zone (lake side) real close to where I sat last time, good seats by the way. On another thread Former Eag said something about how he thought the D line play was one of the bright spots. I must admit that when I first read that I thought he was crazy but after I thought about it for a bit I think he is right. He didn't go into detail but I will under the GOOD section, (to follow). Passing plays the D line could get ZERO pressure on the QB. Okay I remember one play he had to run but that was it.
But (blaming the coaches here) we didn't have any kind of safety blitz to put heat on the QB. All QB had to do was sit back there and go "La ti da, ho hum" take his time and dump the ball off. I sure when Peterson grades him he will get an incomplete just because he had ZERO pressure.
SECONDARY:
These guys should probably get an incomplete grade also. Yes they were out of position numerous times but I thought they at times they recovered quickly and with ZERO pressure up front these hang forever with those wide receivers.
Ok enough bitching lets get to the good.
RUN Defense:
Going into this game I was most worried about UW running back Ahmed. That guy is blistering fast. If he turns the corner he's gone! But he was 15 for 44yrds. Excellent job! Pleasant is another good back and he was 5 for 7 yrds. Excellent again!
I was quite happy with the run defense. I saw a number of time D lineman get off blocks quickly to make a tackle on the running back. Oh lets not forget Chris Ojoh, 11 tackles, 9 solo! Where would we be without him!
Andrew Boston, last year he was the only one of the receiver besides Webster that played with some authority and he's looking the part this year. Boston would be my Offensive player of the game with Ojoh on defense.
Ok, moving forward we will get better, we just need steady improvement every game and when we get Moore back on the D line that will help. More consistency at receiver. Playing Washington will be a big help. As far as I know we came out healthy and gained way more experience than playing a D2 school. Players will get better and coached will get better. Oh and that Husky team is way better than that Cougar team that we beat in 2016 or the last Husky team we played in 2014!
