Thoughts on the Tulane game

[JasonB]

- Offense was great in the first half. Criticism against TM has been that he holds the ball too long, and hasn't been great against the blitz. Tulane blitzed him like crazy in the first half, and even though he took some hits, he got the ball out and was phenomenal. He went through progressions much quicker, and that had to impress all the NFL people in the audience. He is a bigger NFL prospect that SB. It was interesting the second half, Tulane bounced back and forth between dropping 8 with the occasional blitz, and he struggled with the max coverage look a little again. But that first half was incredible. The step up in the pocket and rip it to the TE down the middle, that was a pro throw. Very legit performance by him.
- Reggie is back. The overthrow in the endzone was the first fly pattern this year where he just blew by people. That is very exciting going into the last half of the year.
- Epton is really coming around. Showed more burst today. Good to see him in the rotation.
- What can you say about Ali. When he first came in for Bryant, he struggled. He got blown up on a running play and the RB was tackled for a loss. I made a comment to folks around me, and right after I did, he absolutely mauls a guy on the 7 yard TD run and pushes the defender all the way back to the goal line. To play LT for the first time and come out okay, and then switch and play RT and end up coming out okay, that is just amazing.
- Thomas came in off the bench, but that was his best performance of the season. Very encouraging to see. He seems to be getting back to his best. I'm sure they planned to not play him much to make sure he was healthy for the big stretch coming up, and that changed with the Bryant injury, but it was great to see him good again.
- Hickman struggled. Tulane has a good NT and were blitzing up the middle. We knew it was going to be a struggle, which is why we had so many rollout calls with TM on the first couple of drives, and continued with it periodically through the game. The Houston DL is not a joke, so something to watch for next week. If JT and Bryant are back, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ali at center.
- Grant had a monster game. Interesting to see a lot more of 14 in the mix. He is explosive split out off the line, and he is going to make a play for us at some point this year. The drop he had on the quick slant, he really jumped off the line. With his size, it is dangerous.
- Cool to see the TE group swarm 86 after the point after was kicked after his TD. Everyone was pumped about him getting into the endzone. Love the team chemistry.
- Defensively, it was an interesting evening. Lots of gambling on calls to try and stop them quick and get the ball back, but it led to more home run plays than we have seen in quite a while. The screen call against the all out blitz was a fantastic offensive call. The deep ball against Crawford, he stumbled on his turn and couldn't catch up. Rogers fell down and left a guy wide open on 4th down. Denbow took an awful angle on the deep ball heading towards the north side of the stadium. So lots of self-infliected mistakes. But it is going to be interesting to see if we take a different, aggressive approach on D in these next few games instead of a bend-don't-break approach. I think the aggressiveness of the defense might change a little, and it started with the Navy game, where we saw the same thing - lots of really good defensive plays with a couple of long plays given up because of the added aggressiveness.
- The DL was really good again. Chatman I thought was fantastic. The Stang role really continues to evolve and play well. Wiley was not great in the first half but made several big plays in the second, including that violent hit on the QB that probably shouldn't have been a foul.
- Moore played really well after sitting for most of the Navy game. Nice to see him and ISM come back and play well after sitting during that last game.
- McMorris was really good in coverage.
- What can you say about Massey as a returner? Wow, absolute lightning.

That Houston game is going to be legit. We have the advantage at QB and skill positions, but their OL and defense are very good. Really a must win for us in the western conference race because of their ease of schedule. The ECU game is going to be interesting to watch for them, because it is the first high powered offense they have faced, and we will see if the Houston D is as good as advertised.

[SMU_Alum11]

Thanks for the review and insights. I agree that looked like our best performance in the first half. Sadly never feels like a 4 quarter complete game (even if we score over 50 points).

2 questions:

1) Is there any concern or word that TM got hurt? I remember seeing him taking pressure off his right leg I believe and looked like he was in pain.

2) Why did we put in PS when he only has 4 games of eligibility to not burn his RS? As I understand it, he's our true backup and if TM goes down, you would think they would want to conserve as many games as possible.

[ponyup123456]

Only thing I can think of is if TM gets hurt in a game coming up at least PS has taken a college snap before being put in

[peruna81]

Coxe was active and involved all night. Enjoyed watching him being a quick pest up front.

With gambling on defense, you do give up big plays, like the toss to the RB on our zone blitz. I also saw DBs compete for balls all game long.

Calcaterra being flagged for two offensive PI was kind of interesting, considering Gray was held off the line on virtually every play. In West Virginia the DB would have had to marry him after the game.

Both first possessions of each half the offense came out flat...wondering if we are still careful in showing anything, or if this is a focus issue.

The really good news? Still undefeated, and STILL haven't put together a complete game.

Bury the Kitties...

[ponyswim]

So Jason, just to clarify. Hickman played the whole game at center. When Bryant got hurt, Thomas went to LT and Ali to right tackle? If so, great flexibility from Ali, but also I wish one of the young tackles that supposedly have a lot of promise would warrant playing time. Apparently they are not ready. Hopefully we get everyone healthy for Houston and the rest.

[JasonB]

Thanks for the review and insights. I agree that looked like our best performance in the first half. Sadly never feels like a 4 quarter complete game (even if we score over 50 points).

2 questions:

1) Is there any concern or word that TM got hurt? I remember seeing him taking pressure off his right leg I believe and looked like he was in pain.

2) Why did we put in PS when he only has 4 games of eligibility to not burn his RS? As I understand it, he's our true backup and if TM goes down, you would think they would want to conserve as many games as possible.

No, I don't think there is any issue with TM.

You put in PS because this game and Tulsa are the only games on the schedule left with potential mop up duty. Give him some time in case he has to play against one of the big teams.

[JasonB]

So Jason, just to clarify. Hickman played the whole game at center. When Bryant got hurt, Thomas went to LT and Ali to right tackle? If so, great flexibility from Ali, but also I wish one of the young tackles that supposedly have a lot of promise would warrant playing time. Apparently they are not ready. Hopefully we get everyone healthy for Houston and the rest.

Yes. I think Ali and Thomas were going to alternate possessions at LT, but that changed when Bryant got hurt.

Of the young tackles, Perdue can really play, but he was set back by an injury in fall camp. Hickman is really the next guy up in terms of talent. Him starting was more a reflection of how well he played against Navy than a knock against anyone else. He just had a very difficult matchup against the Tulane NT.

[originaloverthehilltop1]

i thot we had another transfer qb and isn't he ready to play?

[SMU_Alum11]

i thot we had another transfer qb and isn't he ready to play?

My understanding is:

1) TM
2) PS
3) Derek Green who I think has only a few snaps and don't remember how good he was. I imagine he's going to transfer.