Post Game Reflections 9.24

[Rjones61]

Lots to like, a few things that didn't go our way, but overall an awesome showing.

Gage Gubrud shows again how dangerous he is in open space. He was overall not SUPER accurate, but he was accurate enough to make us extremely potent (as seen by 50 points on the board).

Our rushing game looked very improved. We still aren't where we want to be. I reminisce when Forte would absolutely gash teams while we split carries and throws. Custer looks like the next Forte. Pierce is impressive as well. Our offensive line isn't ready to sustain a solid rush attack, but imagine when they are. That's right, our offense ISN'T COMPLETE YET. We are the most potent offense in the FCS, but we aren't at our peak yet. We will only get better in the coming years.

Defense gave up a lot of yards and scores, but it was against a solid NAU offense. They made plays where they needed to and picked the ball twice. We have dreamt of a middle of the road defense, so our offense doesn't have to take the brunt of the work. It is here. I have big expectations for this team.

One thing I noticed is special teams looked a lot better. We had those two crappy extra points, but they finished the rest of the game flawless. Deep returns. Kicks pinning NAU back. Punt recovery was fast and engulfing. They looked like the special teams of old.

 

[Seattle Eagle]

That was the most complete game we've played so far. The offense wasn't at its best, but we still put up 50 and the D played well enough to get some key stop (and takeaways). I think that's about the best we can hope for because of our style of play.

Gubrud looked a little shaky at times, but he made plays with his feet and most importantly, he took care of the ball.

Go Eags!

 

[eaglesfootball]

Butler was held to only 5 catches for 56 yards an no TD's. I didn't realize we limited him that much.

 

[Atomic Eagle]

Areas for improvement are run blocking and QB pressure.

And of course, extra points.

 

[EagInTexas]

The defense was pretty solid despite giving up quite a few yards and some big plays, which we all knew was going to happen. The "D" held NAU to 2/7 3rd down conversions in the second half and created turnovers, which was the difference in the game.

Our rushing yards need to improve going forward. I don't know if it's a problem with the youth of the line, but our running backs are more than adequate. The holes just don't appear to be there very often.

 

[Rjones61]

The defense was pretty solid despite giving up quite a few yards and some big plays, which we all knew was going to happen. The "D" held NAU to 2/7 3rd down conversions in the second half and created turnovers, which was the difference in the game.

Our rushing yards need to improve going forward. I don't know if it's a problem with the youth of the line, but our running backs are more than adequate. The holes just don't appear to be there very often.

The rushing game reminds me of 2012. We never seemed to get much going on the ground, but we HD talented receivers to bail us out.

The next year, the rushing game exploded with Forte and Bronson torching defenses.

Edit: stupid mobile typo

 

[Eags12]

I think the line will improve more as the year goes on. They've only played 4 games as a unit and have dealt with some injuries. Hopefully the injury to Ellison isn't too bad. Great team win today against a very good opponent!

 

[DefendtheRed]

I agree with all the comments above. The defense played almost as well as could be expected and created some turnovers. The offense executed pretty well, even with a visibly banged up Cooper Kupp. Gage Gubrud didn't look as sharp as he did in the WSU and NDSU games, but made good decisions and didn't force it too much. Him and the receivers weren't on the same page a few times so we need to clean them up.

 

[tomq04]

That's the first "complete" game i recall watching since we clobbered a D2 a couple years ago. I'm convinced based on what I've seen that playing like that we are the #1 big sky team and SHOULD be able to run the table, but I never count out the Griz.

Adding to that we definitely deserve our top 4 ranking, I'd like to see us at #2, but at that point it is just semantics.

edited my phone grammar.

 

[LDopaPDX]

Offense - another A grade
Defense- probably a C

You just can't give up that many yards and points and expect to win week in and week out. We've still got a lot of improving to do. The upside is this is the kind of game where we'd have given up 50+ last year or the year before that. The D made a few key stops and forced some turnovers, which is a step in the right direction.

If we want a deep tourney run, the D still needs to get better. And the offense needs to keep rolling along.

 

[60s Savage]

Proud and thankful to be an eagle. Welcome back Coop!

 

[clawman1]

FYI;
http://azdailysun.com/sports/local/nau-falls-to-eastern-washington---cookus-leaves-with/article_eadd3080-e4e3-54b8-80c1-d7848c118a76.html
The Jacks have a very prolific offense. They will rack up a lot of yards and TD's this season. I think our defense did an outstanding job of slowing them down and taking away any rhythm.
(Funny to note that everyone is concerned about playing at altitude yet by the 4th qtr we owned these guys.)
Their D-line was causing problems early on and Gage was "off" but a better running game than we've come to expect kept us going.
All in all a great performance.

 

[luckyintheorder]

Everyone should look at the Stats page for more insight.
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=136313&a=1

Sporadic camera work makes it hard to get complete picture, but this is one game I will enjoy watching again.

OL struggled for the first time this season, not for lack of effort. It would help if GG actually did a pre-snap read and assisted with calling out blocking adjustments. Not sure if this is something the coaches just don't expect the QB position to do, trying to recall recent past. Personally, I think GG has a way to go; it isn't easy being a student athlete and wins like this should give him more confidence that he doesn't have to be his best if he takes care of the ball. Too many drops adds pressure as well.

Defense was outstanding with 8, counted them, 8 stops. Lots of personal changes throughout the game occasionally had them out of position. I think our secondary is quite good with Nzuzi and Fettig playing lights out. LB's in zone don't seem to cover TE's or RB's in the flat and that is a problem. Need to work on ONE blitz package and execute it, the rest isn't working. Hope we get back to letting the DE's manage the edge to keep plays inside. Havili does this particularly well.

Anyway Offense was a B; Defense was a B and we beat a good football team. Can't wait for the A game against Montana

 

[kalm]

Everyone should look at the Stats page for more insight.
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=136313&a=1

Sporadic camera work makes it hard to get complete picture, but this is one game I will enjoy watching again.

OL struggled for the first time this season, not for lack of effort. It would help if GG actually did a pre-snap read and assisted with calling out blocking adjustments. Not sure if this is something the coaches just don't expect the QB position to do, trying to recall recent past. Personally, I think GG has a way to go; it isn't easy being a student athlete and wins like this should give him more confidence that he doesn't have to be his best if he takes care of the ball. Too many drops adds pressure as well.

Defense was outstanding with 8, counted them, 8 stops. Lots of personal changes throughout the game occasionally had them out of position. I think our secondary is quite good with Nzuzi and Fettig playing lights out. LB's in zone don't seem to cover TE's or RB's in the flat and that is a problem. Need to work on ONE blitz package and execute it, the rest isn't working. Hope we get back to letting the DE's manage the edge to keep plays inside. Havili does this particularly well.

Anyway Offense was a B; Defense was a B and we beat a good football team. Can't wait for the A game against Montana

Good observation. It looks like we're making most of the reads and audibles from the bench this year which makes sense. A 5th year senior like Nichols might be capable of handling that load but it's a lot to expect from a sophomore. It also helps pick up our tempo. We had slowed tremendously last year to the point where you might as well huddle.

 

[luckyintheorder]

Everyone should look at the Stats page for more insight.
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=136313&a=1

Sporadic camera work makes it hard to get complete picture, but this is one game I will enjoy watching again.

OL struggled for the first time this season, not for lack of effort. It would help if GG actually did a pre-snap read and assisted with calling out blocking adjustments. Not sure if this is something the coaches just don't expect the QB position to do, trying to recall recent past. Personally, I think GG has a way to go; it isn't easy being a student athlete and wins like this should give him more confidence that he doesn't have to be his best if he takes care of the ball. Too many drops adds pressure as well.

Defense was outstanding with 8, counted them, 8 stops. Lots of personal changes throughout the game occasionally had them out of position. I think our secondary is quite good with Nzuzi and Fettig playing lights out. LB's in zone don't seem to cover TE's or RB's in the flat and that is a problem. Need to work on ONE blitz package and execute it, the rest isn't working. Hope we get back to letting the DE's manage the edge to keep plays inside. Havili does this particularly well.

Anyway Offense was a B; Defense was a B and we beat a good football team. Can't wait for the A game against Montana

Good observation. It looks like we're making most of the reads and audibles from the bench this year which makes sense. A 5th year senior like Nichols might be capable of handling that load but it's a lot to expect from a sophomore. It also helps pick up our tempo. We had slowed tremendously last year to the point where you might as well huddle.

Meant to give D coaches credit for bracketing Butler throughout the game, showed a lot of trust in the rest of the defensive backfield and held that threat down to 5 catches

 

[EWURanger]

The D gets a B from me, for a few reasons. They were able to hold NAU to 6 of 17 on 3rd down, and created 3 TO's. They were also able to hold both Butler (5 catches for 56 yards, 0 TD) and Marks (6 catches for 66 yards, 0 TD) in check for the most part. Going into this game, I believe Marks was the leading receiver in the Big Sky. That's a really good offense, and the fact that our defense was able to contain it suggests that they may actually be starting to turn the corner.

We seemed banged up along the offensive line. I'm not sure if the injury to Jones is season ending, but the SR article mentioned that they burned DJ Dyer's redshirt season to travel to NAU. Will Gram didn't make the trip due to concussion protocol. Not sure about Nick Ellison and Chris Schlichting. Need to check the participation report, but I know Ellison went out of the game at some point. I really hope we can get some of these guys back soon. That's already a unit that is really young. I'd say they've performed very admirably considering the circumstances.

 

[LDopaPDX]

The D gets a B from me, for a few reasons. They were able to hold NAU to 6 of 17 on 3rd down, and created 3 TO's. They were also able to hold both Butler (5 catches for 56 yards, 0 TD) and Marks (6 catches for 66 yards, 0 TD) in check for the most part. Going into this game, I believe Marks was the leading receiver in the Big Sky. That's a really good offense, and the fact that our defense was able to contain it suggests that they may actually be starting to turn the corner.

We seemed banged up along the offensive line. I'm not sure if the injury to Jones is season ending, but the SR article mentioned that they burned DJ Dyer's redshirt season to travel to NAU. Will Gram didn't make the trip due to concussion protocol. Not sure about Nick Ellison and Chris Schlichting. Need to check the participation report, but I know Ellison went out of the game at some point. I really hope we can get some of these guys back soon. That's already a unit that is really young. I'd say they've performed very admirably considering the circumstances.

I can't quite get on board with calling giving up 35 points and 491 yards a B-grade. NAU scored more against us than they did in their other games against D1 competition combined. We need to get to keeping teams under 30 points week in and week out. We have yet to keep anyone under 30 this season.

The big upside is that we aren't giving up 50+ anymore, despite NDSU getting 50 in OT. This was the kind of game that would have been ugly last year. Better, yes... But a lot of improvement still needed.

 

[ewueagle2010]

Honestly, I think a C grade actually feels like a B with how bad the D was the last 2 seasons. The difference this season is better tackling and more takaways. This D is definately better, and it's enjoyable to see!

 

[kalm]

The D gets a B from me, for a few reasons. They were able to hold NAU to 6 of 17 on 3rd down, and created 3 TO's. They were also able to hold both Butler (5 catches for 56 yards, 0 TD) and Marks (6 catches for 66 yards, 0 TD) in check for the most part. Going into this game, I believe Marks was the leading receiver in the Big Sky. That's a really good offense, and the fact that our defense was able to contain it suggests that they may actually be starting to turn the corner.

We seemed banged up along the offensive line. I'm not sure if the injury to Jones is season ending, but the SR article mentioned that they burned DJ Dyer's redshirt season to travel to NAU. Will Gram didn't make the trip due to concussion protocol. Not sure about Nick Ellison and Chris Schlichting. Need to check the participation report, but I know Ellison went out of the game at some point. I really hope we can get some of these guys back soon. That's already a unit that is really young. I'd say they've performed very admirably considering the circumstances.

I can't quite get on board with calling giving up 35 points and 491 yards a B-grade. NAU scored more against us than they did in their other games against D1 competition combined. We need to get to keeping teams under 30 points week in and week out. We have yet to keep anyone under 30 this season.

The big upside is that we aren't giving up 50+ anymore, despite NDSU getting 50 in OT. This was the kind of game that would have been ugly last year. Better, yes... But a lot of improvement still needed.

This. It's a C.

In 2010 we we averaged 31.5 points per game while giving up 24.9. IIRC we averaged around 22 during the regular season.

And as most of us remember, we forced 26 int's and recovered 21 fumbles to finish with a +12 TO margin.

If you'll allow me to reminisce for a second:

Matt Johnson
Zack Johnson
JC Sherrit
Jesse Hoffman
Tyler Jolley
Renard Williams

Holy crap did we have some play makers on that D, and at every level!

We have some very solid kids right now on D with huge upside and our offense is obviously more potent. But keep in mind many other offenses have improved as well so the scoring margin needs to continue to grow.

 

[MLEagle]

The D gets a B from me, for a few reasons. They were able to hold NAU to 6 of 17 on 3rd down, and created 3 TO's. They were also able to hold both Butler (5 catches for 56 yards, 0 TD) and Marks (6 catches for 66 yards, 0 TD) in check for the most part. Going into this game, I believe Marks was the leading receiver in the Big Sky. That's a really good offense, and the fact that our defense was able to contain it suggests that they may actually be starting to turn the corner.

We seemed banged up along the offensive line. I'm not sure if the injury to Jones is season ending, but the SR article mentioned that they burned DJ Dyer's redshirt season to travel to NAU. Will Gram didn't make the trip due to concussion protocol. Not sure about Nick Ellison and Chris Schlichting. Need to check the participation report, but I know Ellison went out of the game at some point. I really hope we can get some of these guys back soon. That's already a unit that is really young. I'd say they've performed very admirably considering the circumstances.

I can't quite get on board with calling giving up 35 points and 491 yards a B-grade. NAU scored more against us than they did in their other games against D1 competition combined. We need to get to keeping teams under 30 points week in and week out. We have yet to keep anyone under 30 this season.

The big upside is that we aren't giving up 50+ anymore, despite NDSU getting 50 in OT. This was the kind of game that would have been ugly last year. Better, yes... But a lot of improvement still needed.

This. It's a C.

In 2010 we we averaged 31.5 points per game while giving up 24.9. IIRC we averaged around 22 during the regular season.

And as most of us remember, we forced 26 int's and recovered 21 fumbles to finish with a +12 TO margin.

If you'll allow me to reminisce for a second:

Matt Johnson
Zack Johnson
JC Sherrit
Jesse Hoffman
Tyler Jolley
Renard Williams

Holy crap did we have some play makers on that D, and at every level!

We have some very solid kids right now on D with huge upside and our offense is obviously more potent. But keep in mind many other offenses have improved as well so the scoring margin needs to continue to grow.

Thanks for reminding folks of that list, it is impressive talent for sure.