Brilliant analysis all around - square peg, round hole. What the heck does that mean?
NW had a good plan and it was to to follow Newby and Tommy and take them out of the game. Force Tommy to throw. That is why you saw Newby get blown up so many times and yes he had a few good carries and those were the times we got a hat on the LB or get got caught up in traffic.
I can see what Langs is trying to do given what the D is showing. Bad thing is it is there most of the time for the taking, we can't complete it. Either Tommy throws wild, misses the wide open guy or it is dropped. That is execution.
Tommy has many bad habits from HS that he can tame down for a while but they keep coming back. Langs is obviously working on those things and Tommy has talked about it but in the heat of the battle he reverts back and he can sometimes get away with it which makes it even worse. I don't hear much complaining about those plays when he hits someone even if it looks ugly.
The D is just down right terrible in nearly all areas. There are multiple articles to be read about the quarters D and it has admitted weaknesses which include the out pattern depending on corner alignment. How many times this year have we seen 3rd and long converter on the sideline. Get use to it.
My biggest concern is that players are not playing with leverage and in control. They seem lost and unsure. That is coaching. We cannot put it all together to play a clean game on D. Sure you will get beat sometimes there is a reason we are dead last in the nation in pass defense.
Is it an athlete problem? I dismiss the notion that they just need to get "their guys" there to fit their plans. There is some truth to that but not that much. Basic assignments and technique does not change that much but reads do. We aren't going to recruit a new set of DB's and find they magically are that much better. A DB still has to have the fundamental skills and techniques whether they are running quarters, zone match up, cover 2, man-to-man or zone blitz.
This is going to be a long season and an even longer off-season I am afraid. I think it was Red Rover who was all excited about so many guys coming back. I remember years ago I use to chart teams and look up stats and all sorts of stuff and I would see these teams with lots of seniors and think wow they are experience and could give us fits. What I finally realized is that if the talent level was not high as a junior it didn't magically increase as a senior. Yes, experience lets you get a little better but the overall skill level doesn't increase significantly. You should, however, get much smarter!
Here is a news flash - this team is just not very good. They are not playing nearly up to their talent level which is a huge concern. Tom regularly got beat by teams with better talent and rarely go beat by teams with less talent. That is a key to long term sustainability and right now we don't have it.
Today it seemed like we were 3rd and 2 or 3 all day long. I don't recall trying to run it because the way they were lining up to stop that. Then we can't complete a 3 yard pass.
Don't get me started about special teams - we are woeful in just about every area. I am surprised we are this bad. Again, that goes back to fundamentals of breaking down and maintaining leverage. We don't have that.