Just rewatched the game. A couple thoughts on the lines.

[GretnaShawn]

I was at the game, so this is the first time I have watched the tv broadcast ( is a nice trimmed up version if you are interested). I primarily focused on the OL and the DL.

Things I took away:
-Gates played really well. Made a few mistakes, but probably had the best game of any OL.
-Kondolo played very poorly. He didn't finish blocks, got burned several times on run and pass blocking. Bad game for him.
-Utter struggled as well. Both guards were rough.
-Reeves and Lewis had some poor plays, but played at an acceptable level.
-There were a few plays where the OL blocked well, but the TEs (Foster and Cotton) blew it. Foster had one on a fly sweep where it looked like he didn't even try.
-It looks like many of the issues are correctable. Releasing too quickly on a screen and things like that.
-There were several plays that were blocked well but the RB pussyfooted around and didn't hit the hole.
-Young played great. Another young player with a high ceiling. #5 was everywhere.
-The DL played better than some are making saying. Collins was in the back field a lot. Hill escaped a lot of situations that would be sacks verse a QB that isn't so elusive.

 

[headcard]

Good stuff, thanks Shawn. Do you think Kondolo and Utter are overmatched, or just played poorly? I was surprised Foster didn't get any time at OG.

 

[rrdls]

Gretna, I agree with your analysis of Utter and Kondolo which is why I dislike Cavanaugh and RIley's statement that they will go with the No. 1s- don't the back up guards (Foster and Knevel) deserve a chance to show if they will perform better than Utter and Kondolo?

 

[otismotis08]

Gretna, I agree with your analysis of Utter and Kondolo which is why I dislike Cavanaugh and RIley's statement that they will go with the No. 1s- don't the back up guards (Foster and Knevel) deserve a chance to show if they will perform better than Utter and Kondolo?

That's apparently not Riley's way. You're a 1 for a reason, and it's earned in-practice and not in-game.

 

[GretnaShawn]

Good stuff, thanks Shawn. Do you think Kondolo and Utter are overmatched, or just played poorly? I was surprised Foster didn't get any time at OG.

Sometimes Utter looked overmatched. Other times he looked good.

Kondolo just seemed out of it. I hate to say lazy, because I don't think that is what he is, but he kinda looked lazy on some plays. Just didn't move his feet in pass pro, didn't finish blocks/gave up too early on the block, released the block in a screen way too early. I think this may just be a poor game for him. He did a great job last year when he was in, so I'm not going to say he doesn't have the talent.

 

[leodisflowers]

Watched a little bit of that, and agree with most of the points. Great work. Gangwish seemed to get lost once he beat the guy. Had plenty of opportunities to make plays and just got out of position.

 

[wxman42]

NU got what it deserved...a Loss. Watch the final play in slow motion. BYU had max protect with 7 to block 3. Their QB is right handed and our DE decides to make a spin move to the inside which means there was nobody to put any pressure on him and allows a roll out to his right. If the DE holds his ground the QB wouldn't have had as much time to wind up and throw against the wind. Meanwhile on the other end...NU had 8 to cover 3 so there was no excuse for that pass to ever be completed even though our DE made a mistake.

 

[G0B1GRED]

NU got what it deserved...a Loss. Watch the final play in slow motion. BYU had max protect with 7 to block 3. Their QB is right handed and our DE decides to make a spin move to the inside which means there was nobody to put any pressure on him and allows a roll out to his right. If the DE holds his ground the QB wouldn't have had as much time to wind up and throw against the wind. Meanwhile on the other end...NU had 8 to cover 3 so there was no excuse for that pass to ever be completed even though our DE made a mistake.

Nice first post, don't jump!!!

 

[jay-cheese]

We're all trying not to. Good analysis and opinion on what transpired in the last play.

I sure hope these coach's really understand what it means to be at a place where football matters big-time. When they first announced that they were coming, I thought that's exactly what they wanted, weren't getting at Ore St., and were looking for this type of change. Now they are hearing just exactly how much it matters around here and I sure hope they are as game now as they were before.

GBR

 

[Tulsa Tom]

The oline guards were terrible and Reeves wasn't much better. Especially when the BYU nose tackle was in the game we were not getting him blocked. It seems crazy not to pull either Utter or Kondolo. There isn't an urgency to change anything if you know you have the position nailed down.

On the other side I thought the dline played reasonably well. The interior guys had some push and rarely went backwards. The ends played all right but it is tough for an end to play a mobile quarterback. I think we will be OK here.

 

[TheBeav815]

The DL play was nowhere near all the noise that was made about the DTs all offseason. They looked totally average. BYU threw what, 55 passes? Their sack/hurry combo was in the single digits. Meanwhile, TEMPLE notched 10 sacks.

For all the talk of aggressive, attacking defense, they looked like the same old DL that didn't know how to pressure a QB and couldn't finish him if they did.

Gangwish whiffing on his hurries was giving me Cam Meredith flashbacks. Love the kid's attitude, but he's no pass rusher.

Sad commentary that they are working MRI as a rusher because they don't have anyone who can run by a tackle and catch at QB.

The run game in general was soft as hell. RBs looking like they didn't want to stick their nose into contact, OL not looking clean or aggressive, coaches scared to dial up the QB run.

Gonna be a LONG season if they stay that soft on the lines. BYU looked like the nastier team.

 

[SilentCommit]

To be fair, our line is really, really green. They flashed a stat during the game showing the number of starts per lineman: 14, 2, 2, 1, 1. I'm not saying they played well by any stretch, but I think it's fair to temper our criticism some. As for the D-Line, someone made the comment that they played the same way our former coach would have had them, and I agree. It's clear they were asked to maintain lane integrity during their rush, and to keep Hill in front of them. Our tackles are just fine, thank you very much. Our ends, however, are not a strength at this time.

 

[TheNewNU]

The DL play was nowhere near all the noise that was made about the DTs all offseason. They looked totally average. BYU threw what, 55 passes? Their sack/hurry combo was in the single digits. Meanwhile, TEMPLE notched 10 sacks.

For all the talk of aggressive, attacking defense, they looked like the same old DL that didn't know how to pressure a QB and couldn't finish him if they did.

Gangwish whiffing on his hurries was giving me Cam Meredith flashbacks. Love the kid's attitude, but he's no pass rusher.

Sad commentary that they are working MRI as a rusher because they don't have anyone who can run by a tackle and catch at QB.

The run game in general was soft as hell. RBs looking like they didn't want to stick their nose into contact, OL not looking clean or aggressive, coaches scared to dial up the QB run.

Gonna be a LONG season if they stay that soft on the lines. BYU looked like the nastier team.

I've never been too high on our D Line, they looked really good at times last year mostly because Randy Gregory was drawing double and triple teams a lot of the time. Without Gregory to garner so much attention they look sub par

 

[jflores]

I sure hope these coach's really understand what it means to be at a place where football matters big-time. When they first announced that they were coming, I thought that's exactly what they wanted, weren't getting at Ore St., and were looking for this type of change. Now they are hearing just exactly how much it matters around here and I sure hope they are as game now as they were before.

GBR

I have to laugh to myself everytime I hear this. I don't know Riley anymore than jay-cheese or any other fan knows Riley. People who do know Riley say that even though he is polite, he is ultra competitive. I'm sure he didn't enjoy losing in Corvallis and won't enjoy losing here. OSU was more tolerant of it, because that's where they are in the CFB world, but I'm sure it didn't sit well with Riley he lost and no one in the administration seemed to want to reinvest in what little success they had.

People make it sound like, Riley's such a nice guy that he's like "oh shucks Andy, Goober beat us in marbles again" and he expected that D1 CFB is like that everywhere. It wasn't like that for Riley in Corvallis (he has to be aware certainly, while his detractors seem to allege he's so nice as to be naïve, are also fond of pointing out that Riley was facing heat over Banker, which is a situation that doesn't square with naïve picture they are trying to paint on Riley).

 

[jflores]

To be fair, our line is really, really green. They flashed a stat during the game showing the number of starts per lineman: 14, 2, 2, 1, 1. I'm not saying they played well by any stretch, but I think it's fair to temper our criticism some. As for the D-Line, someone made the comment that they played the same way our former coach would have had them, and I agree. It's clear they were asked to maintain lane integrity during their rush, and to keep Hill in front of them. Our tackles are just fine, thank you very much. Our ends, however, are not a strength at this time.

I think the DL strategy was clear because, pretty much every other coach in the country who faces a running QB threat, wants to keep lane integrity, even as they apply pressure. You might call it a "best practice" in private industry. There's not a lot of coaches who have a Randy Gregory type that might take a QB 1 on 1 in a foot race if they take the "all hell breaks loose blitz" approach and only the one guy makes it through.

 

[BornNBredRed]

Nice first post, don't jump!!!

It is hard to argue against his point. The first priority of an end is to contain the QB inside, that is unless there is a stunt giving someone else that responsibility. If the QB is not allowed to roll to his right on that play, we win. That is the case with most hail mary passes. A right handed QB can't roll left and throw a 50 yard pass. We should have had Dedrick in as a 4th rusher to chase the QB and it really would have been game over. It was a bad coaching call and even worse execution by the DE who let the QB escape outside. No excuse.

 

[jflores]

I have to laugh to myself everytime I hear this. I don't know Riley anymore than jay-cheese or any other fan knows Riley. People who do know Riley say that even though he is polite, he is ultra competitive. I'm sure he didn't enjoy losing in Corvallis and won't enjoy losing here. OSU was more tolerant of it, because that's where they are in the CFB world, but I'm sure it didn't sit well with Riley he lost and no one in the administration seemed to want to reinvest in what little success they had.

People make it sound like, Riley's such a nice guy that he's like "oh shucks Andy, Goober beat us in marbles again" and he expected that D1 CFB is like that everywhere. It wasn't like that for Riley in Corvallis (he has to be aware certainly, while his detractors seem to allege he's so nice as to be naïve, are also fond of pointing out that Riley was facing heat over Banker, which is a situation that doesn't square with naïve picture they are trying to paint on Riley).

I also have to think that Riley, besides being disappointed in himself when he loses, isn't going to have any regrets about this job. He's going to retire from here in all likelihood, either a Saint or a Dope, and he's made enough millions over the years and had enough personal success to not let the fan base get to him for some value of his selfworth.

 

[CC_Lemming]

I didn't see the second quarter on Saturday, so I thought I'd comment on two things I've heard regarding it.

One is that we abandoned the run and tried to turn Tommy into a pocket passer, but I didn't see that. We had four total drives. The first drive is affected by two false start penalties on back-to-back series, which favors us passing from then on. Drive two begins with two running plays, the second resulting in a fumbled exchange between Wilbon and Tommy. Third drive begins with two passes, we convert a screen for a first down but get penalized for too many men. Throw the ball on 2nd and 3rd down and don't convert. Final drive begins with 1:38 left on the clock, so yeah, we throw the ball a lot. Conclusion: the run was not abandoned, the clock and penalties necessitated that we pass more.

Another thing that has been stated is that the line's blocking was bad. It certainly wasn't good, BYU's defensive end got pressure on more than on play, but pressure on at least three plays can be attributed to us running screens. So some at least some of it was designed.

 

[CC_Lemming]

Also, Cross doesn't purposefully run out of bounds. He just isn't aware of where he is on the field.

 

[jflores]

I didn't see the second quarter on Saturday, so I thought I'd comment on two things I've heard regarding it.

One is that we abandoned the run and tried to turn Tommy into a pocket passer, but I didn't see that. We had four total drives. The first drive is affected by two false start penalties on back-to-back series, which favors us passing from then on. Drive two begins with two running plays, the second resulting in a fumbled exchange between Wilbon and Tommy. Third drive begins with two passes, we convert a screen for a first down but get penalized for too many men. Throw the ball on 2nd and 3rd down and don't convert. Final drive begins with 1:38 left on the clock, so yeah, we throw the ball a lot. Conclusion: the run was not abandoned, the clock and penalties necessitated that we pass more.

Another thing that has been stated is that the line's blocking was bad. It certainly wasn't good, BYU's defensive end got pressure on more than on play, but pressure on at least three plays can be attributed to us running screens. So some at least some of it was designed.

The passing was certainly evident, but circumstances dictated it as you noted. I was happy the staff called a bunch of short and screen passes. Spielman seemed happy with the offensive play selection mostly as well. Of the 40 attempts, probably nearly half were screens, essentially run game. And Westerkamps TD reception, was basically a run as well.

 

[leodisflowers]

I have to laugh to myself everytime I hear this. I don't know Riley anymore than jay-cheese or any other fan knows Riley. People who do know Riley say that even though he is polite, he is ultra competitive. I'm sure he didn't enjoy losing in Corvallis and won't enjoy losing here. OSU was more tolerant of it, because that's where they are in the CFB world, but I'm sure it didn't sit well with Riley he lost and no one in the administration seemed to want to reinvest in what little success they had.

People make it sound like, Riley's such a nice guy that he's like "oh shucks Andy, Goober beat us in marbles again" and he expected that D1 CFB is like that everywhere. It wasn't like that for Riley in Corvallis (he has to be aware certainly, while his detractors seem to allege he's so nice as to be naïve, are also fond of pointing out that Riley was facing heat over Banker, which is a situation that doesn't square with naïve picture they are trying to paint on Riley).

Agree. Watch his reaction on the sideline after that pass. It wasn't like he just said "well that is a neat play by them". It is definitely different at Nebraska and the whole staff knows it. I ran a relay race right before the season up in Oregon with the men's soccer coach of OSU. He is still tight with a lot of the folks that came to Nebraska. He said they are well aware of the pressure and were amped to get here because of everything Nebraska offers. They know that they will be on the hot seat at all times, and are embracing it, although people calling them out like they don't think they are in the know.

 

[jflores]

Agree. Watch his reaction on the sideline after that pass. It wasn't like he just said "well that is a neat play by them". It is definitely different at Nebraska and the whole staff knows it. I ran a relay race right before the season up in Oregon with the men's soccer coach of OSU. He is still tight with a lot of the folks that came to Nebraska. He said they are well aware of the pressure and were amped to get here because of everything Nebraska offers. They know that they will be on the hot seat at all times, and are embracing it, although people calling them out like they don't think they are in the know.

I personally would have thought that the "insider meeting" article in the Portland paper would have put to rest any idea that Riley is here to collect a pay check and kiss babies and get walk-ons into med school after a Rudy moment. But apparently a frank admittance that Riley understands he needs to "win now" isn't enough to get people to think he's not just some naïve goober in over his head and surprised that fans get upset when losses occur. And I find it doubly hilarious because the fans haven't won anything, our pretty much singular contribution to the program is having enough discretionary income left over from life to throw a good bit away into football during August to December.

 

[CC_Lemming]

Summative thoughts:

I also thought the corners were competitive. They all had one or two bad plays (Kalu on the slant in the second quarter, Davie out of position on the 4th and 1 in the fourth, Cockerell on a long pass in the first), but aside from these they were mostly where they needed to be and making plays.

I'd attribute the loss to the following factors. If any one had been different, I think we would have won:

- inability to convert 3rd down, especially in crucial situations (e.g., 13:01 in 3rd Q, 6:45, 1:39 in the 4th Q)
- two missed field goals
- drive killing penalties on offense (esp. second quarter)
- poor execution on the final play
- Armstrong doesn't lead Reilly on the long throw with 3:00 left in the 4th (goes for a TD assuming Reilly doesn't get caught by the safety)
- poor clock management on final drive

I saw a competitive team that made more than its share of mistakes. That's not surprising for the first game with a new coaching staff, we just have to hope and expect that will get cleaned up as the season progesses. Listening to the first half of the game on the radio, I thought we were much less competitive on defense than we were. So I don't think the defense was as bad as the stats indicated, and it improved considerably in the second half when we started getting some more pressure on the QB.

 

[BornNBredRed]

Summative thoughts:

I also thought the corners were competitive. They all had one or two bad plays (Kalu on the slant in the second quarter, Davie out of position on the 4th and 1 in the fourth, Cockerell on a long pass in the first), but aside from these they were mostly where they needed to be and making plays.

I'd attribute the loss to the following factors. If any one had been different, I think we would have won:

- inability to convert 3rd down, especially in crucial situations (e.g., 13:01 in 3rd Q, 6:45, 1:39 in the 4th Q)
- two missed field goals
- drive killing penalties on offense (esp. second quarter)
- poor execution on the final play
- Armstrong doesn't lead Reilly on the long throw with 3:00 left in the 4th (goes for a TD assuming Reilly doesn't get caught by the safety)
- poor clock management on final drive

I saw a competitive team that made more than its share of mistakes. That's not surprising for the first game with a new coaching staff, we just have to hope and expect that will get cleaned up as the season progesses. Listening to the first half of the game on the radio, I thought we were much less competitive on defense than we were. So I don't think the defense was as bad as the stats indicated, and it improved considerably in the second half when we started getting some more pressure on the QB.

The corners sat 5 yards off the play all day, then tackled after the catch. That was terrible. There wasn't a single corner involved in the final play, was there. Wasn't it Gifford and Gerry on the receiver at the end. Where were the corners? They should have better ball skills and reaction skills to actually play the ball.

 

[jay-cheese]

No. Appreciate the insight. We don't lose games here that we should win. It's really that simple. Is that an entitled mentality...yes it is...but that's a byproduct of being the most successful cfb program in the modern era. And it's also what makes this place special (and we're fighting hard not to lose it, not matter how many smiles, throat slashes, hail mary's-for or against, or secret tapes transpire). It's our identity and no person outside of this state will understand it until they've lived it with similar success. I can tell you that a good chunk of the Oregon population could care less if they were .500 or not...well that's not the same case here.

I do think the new coaches get this. It's why I truly believe that they took this job. They want people that care instead of not. I'm sure they heard most fans in the stadium utter the "are you kidding me line" when that WR caught that prayer to win...

GBR

 

[Husker.Wed.]

No. Appreciate the insight. We don't lose games here that we should win. It's really that simple. Is that an entitled mentality...yes it is...but that's a byproduct of being the most successful cfb program in the modern era. And it's also what makes this place special (and we're fighting hard not to lose it, not matter how many smiles, throat slashes, hail mary's-for or against, or secret tapes transpire). It's our identity and no person outside of this state will understand it until they've lived it with similar success. I can tell you that a good chunk of the Oregon population could care less if they were .500 or not...well that's not the same case here.

I do think the new coaches get this. It's why I truly believe that they took this job. They want people that care instead of not. I'm sure they heard most fans in the stadium utter the "are you kidding me line" when that WR caught that prayer to win...

GBR

Wow, this commentary on Nebraska-exceptionalism almost sounds like a Limbaugh commentary on American exceptionalism.

How come your post count is only 117? Did you get a reset somehow?

 

[sparky62]

No. Appreciate the insight. We don't lose games here that we should win. It's really that simple. Is that an entitled mentality...yes it is...but that's a byproduct of being the most successful cfb program in the modern era. And it's also what makes this place special (and we're fighting hard not to lose it, not matter how many smiles, throat slashes, hail mary's-for or against, or secret tapes transpire). It's our identity and no person outside of this state will understand it until they've lived it with similar success. I can tell you that a good chunk of the Oregon population could care less if they were .500 or not...well that's not the same case here.

I do think the new coaches get this. It's why I truly believe that they took this job. They want people that care instead of not. I'm sure they heard most fans in the stadium utter the "are you kidding me line" when that WR caught that prayer to win...

GBR

Boy there is a lot of stuff I agree with here. We're not some rinky-dinkp poe-dunk college. I can promise you that when that pas was caught MR almost had a heart attack. There was a break down in coverage. BUT that play should never have happened. Take care of your 3rd & 1, on 3 different occasions & that 1 second is gone. Now that being said. IMO what I saw last Saturday is that a coach who shall remain nameless has left the cupboard very bare. MR knows that & I also think that this will be one of the better offenses that we will faace this year. Not the best, but pretty close. Will they learn from this. I sure hope so. These coaches have to know that have been given the golden key of their career and want to make the most of it.

 

[jlb321]

Boy there is a lot of stuff I agree with here. We're not some rinky-dinkp poe-dunk college. I can promise you that when that pas was caught MR almost had a heart attack. There was a break down in coverage. BUT that play should never have happened. Take care of your 3rd & 1, on 3 different occasions & that 1 second is gone. Now that being said. IMO what I saw last Saturday is that a coach who shall remain nameless has left the cupboard very bare. MR knows that & I also think that this will be one of the better offenses that we will faace this year. Not the best, but pretty close. Will they learn from this. I sure hope so. These coaches have to know that have been given the golden key of their career and want to make the most of it.

it takes 3-5 years to stock the cupboard .. I really hope we can be patient enough to allow for steady progress

 

[jflores]

it takes 3-5 years to stock the cupboard .. I really hope we can be patient enough to allow for steady progress

I think we will be. I don't think Riley is going to be a four win a year coach for us. We should continue to see improvement and player development and with Meyer at OSU the expectation from the national media will be that we handle our division, not that Riley is going to come in and dominate OSU in years two and three.

There's only so much capital to spend both tangible and not on these types of endeavors. We're not about to jettison a coach in two years unless there is extremely obvious cause.

 

[CC_Lemming]

The corners sat 5 yards off the play all day, then tackled after the catch. That was terrible. There wasn't a single corner involved in the final play, was there. Wasn't it Gifford and Gerry on the receiver at the end. Where were the corners? They should have better ball skills and reaction skills to actually play the ball.

I grant your point, the corners mostly gave the receivers space, especially in long down and distance situations (1st and long, 3rd and long). But if your point is that the corners didn't make any plays, or that they were always away from the ball when it was caught, that's not at all what I saw. To your point, it did look to me like we were really concerned about BYU's vertical passing game.

I thought Kalu showed good ball skills, and I thought Davie was a mixed bag. I didn't see anyone else show up one way or the other except Cockrell and Mosely, for one pass each in which they gave up big gains. With :47 seconds left, on BYU's final drive, Davie is competitive in coverage downfield and Kieron Williams additionally helps jar the ball loose on a long pass. Davie was there and I thought the coverage was good. Maybe the BYU receiver makes the catch if Williams doesn't land on his head, but again, I thought Davie was competitive and in a spot to make a play.

You're right about the final play, but I fail to see how running a prevent defense on the final play serves as an indictment of the corners generally. It's not as if they beat us on an inside slant from 8 yards out. It seemed like four defensive backs were trying to cover a BYU player in the very back of the end zone and they completely neglect the guy three yards in front of it. And if you watch shorter down and distances, my impression was the corners crept up to the line of scrimmage considerably.

 

[Crushinator]

I think some of that playing off the recievrers was about their height advantage. We'll see if they press more this weekend against a different team. Tough to say at this point what is normal for our scheme and what is an adjustment for an opponent.

As for Riley and his staff, they know what the deal is here. I have no worries there. People are concerned because it seemed that the prior coach was oblivious to the environment and turned on us pretty hard when he found out. That won't be an issue with Riley.

 

[RedSea]

The announcers kept harping on how tall the BYU receivers were. But I didn't see us getting beat on jump balls, I saw us getting beat because our DBs were too far off the receiver too much. Even if they were tall, you don't solve that problem by giving them more space. You may solve speed by giving more space, but not height.

 

[BornNBredRed]

I grant your point, the corners mostly gave the receivers space, especially in long down and distance situations (1st and long, 3rd and long). But if your point is that the corners didn't make any plays, or that they were always away from the ball when it was caught, that's not at all what I saw. To your point, it did look to me like we were really concerned about BYU's vertical passing game.

I thought Kalu showed good ball skills, and I thought Davie was a mixed bag. I didn't see anyone else show up one way or the other except Cockrell and Mosely, for one pass each in which they gave up big gains. With :47 seconds left, on BYU's final drive, Davie is competitive in coverage downfield and Kieron Williams additionally helps jar the ball loose on a long pass. Davie was there and I thought the coverage was good. Maybe the BYU receiver makes the catch if Williams doesn't land on his head, but again, I thought Davie was competitive and in a spot to make a play.

You're right about the final play, but I fail to see how running a prevent defense on the final play serves as an indictment of the corners generally. It's not as if they beat us on an inside slant from 8 yards out. It seemed like four defensive backs were trying to cover a BYU player in the very back of the end zone and they completely neglect the guy three yards in front of it. And if you watch shorter down and distances, my impression was the corners crept up to the line of scrimmage considerably.

I just found it odd that on the last play none of our corners were near the guy who caught the ball. He is their stud, isn't he? You would think one of them would have been in on the play.....and a corner would have had a better chance than a freshman linebacker and a safety. Oh well.....on to the next game.

 

[Husker Psycho]

Riley and staff get the winning thing. There can be no doubt about that. They have all been in the game a long time at various levels and in the pros. They understand the expectations.

I for one do not see this as a long term project. Good football coaches have a special talent. If they have that talent they can make huge advances in the quality of team play and individual player performance very quickly. I think we will see major changes in performance within the next couple of months. We are already seeing better quarterback play, better receiver play and a noticeably superior athletic performance at important positions. All that points to a coaching staff that gets it. There is talent on this team.

I'm not writing off this years team. My expectations for this year have not changed one bit. I don't believe the expectations of the coaches or players have changed either.

 

[oly_10]

Lol RedSea, you creep up to jam (good luck having our 5-11 DBs jam their 6-6 wideout) or in the red zone to take away the slants.Therefor you see the cushion. Also, every single dropback for their qb(s) were at least a three step, meaning no quick throws. A 6-6 dude can cover 5 yards in about 2 steps...feel free to process that.

 

[Husker-N-VA]

Watching the replay what stood out to me was that we scored 0 points in the last 20 mins of the game. Did not like the 3rd down play calls in the 4th quarter but what do I know. The jet sweep by JT on 3rd and 3 when you know they are bringing a lot of heat? Would like to throw that play out of the playbook altogether unless you have DPE in the game.

 

[suhnami]

I saw Kondolo wiff after the DL player did a stutter step and blow right by him multiple times. It's like Kondolo wasn't able to apply the techniques the coaches were teaching him to the game atmosphere.

The rotation issue is just stupid... unless the 2s are really that bad, which is sad if they are. Gotta think you want fresh players as much as possible.

Utter, to me, just seems over matched.

Lewis had multiple communication issues. When the DL would cross Lewis would still try to block the end who was going inside.

 

[suhnami]

Lol RedSea, you creep up to jam (good luck having our 5-11 DBs jam their 6-6 wideout) or in the red zone to take away the slants.Therefor you see the cushion. Also, every single dropback for their qb(s) were at least a three step, meaning no quick throws. A 6-6 dude can cover 5 yards in about 2 steps...feel free to process that.

I think it'd be more like 3-4 steps, but the cushion was still excessive. DB's have to tighten up coverage. Kalu did a decent job of it in the 2nd half.

 

[CC_Lemming]

Watching the replay what stood out to me was that we scored 0 points in the last 20 mins of the game. Did not like the 3rd down play calls in the 4th quarter but what do I know. The jet sweep by JT on 3rd and 3 when you know they are bringing a lot of heat? Would like to throw that play out of the playbook altogether unless you have DPE in the game.

But it was effective numerous times?

 

[Husker-N-VA]

When you know they are looking to stuff the run its not a good play call IMO. Get the first down & that's game.