Insights from the game
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 3:06 pmOkay. A day has passed, now let's see what everybody thinks. Some good and some questions.
- I was worried about not having Beasley this game was going to handicap us, but now I'm wondering if our receivers may have may have had the chance to get better this game because of his absense. Had a couple of guys, especially DJ, come up big in the game, and this might have been a chance for guys to get some reps and catches they might not normally get. Since we got the win this turned a negative into a positive.
- Kicking game is solid all around. Our kicker isn't fantastic, but is competent, and hasn't hurt us so far. The missed XP probably didn't hurt us at all because TCU went for two and missed (Thank God). Our punter is solid and our return game isn't spectacular but hasn't made the mistakes they made last year. Margus still looms for all teams desperate enough to kick.
- We still aren't getting turnovers. The one we got was HUGE but the only qualm I have with our D is that they have to be more opportunistic.
- I hate it when people question playcalling, but I have to say it: There is a definite trend of us giving up leads and it's not just mental. I know people say that this is a potential weakness of the RnS, but we have a RB that can run AND block, and apparently we might have TWO decent RB's in the group now. Is it crazy to put a second RB in and run a little when we have a lead - shoot, that might blow the opposing D's mind! Am I crazy here - just add a little bit of a wrinkle to the O when you need to burn three or four minutes? Even long completions don't burn clock.
- I would love to know how much of an impact one game (or maybe one season) can have on conference realignment. I have said on this board a number of times our conference realignment options are limited somewhat due to the fact that TCU is basically a bigger, more successful version of SMU, ATHLTICALLY speaking. Same size, location, history, etc. If a conference was going to look at SMU they had to consider TCU first because of these reasons, potentially blocking any options SMU might have. But perception may change a little bit after yesterday - I wish I know what other schools AD's thought after seeing our score, if anything.
- I was worried about not having Beasley this game was going to handicap us, but now I'm wondering if our receivers may have may have had the chance to get better this game because of his absense. Had a couple of guys, especially DJ, come up big in the game, and this might have been a chance for guys to get some reps and catches they might not normally get. Since we got the win this turned a negative into a positive.
- Kicking game is solid all around. Our kicker isn't fantastic, but is competent, and hasn't hurt us so far. The missed XP probably didn't hurt us at all because TCU went for two and missed (Thank God). Our punter is solid and our return game isn't spectacular but hasn't made the mistakes they made last year. Margus still looms for all teams desperate enough to kick.
- We still aren't getting turnovers. The one we got was HUGE but the only qualm I have with our D is that they have to be more opportunistic.
- I hate it when people question playcalling, but I have to say it: There is a definite trend of us giving up leads and it's not just mental. I know people say that this is a potential weakness of the RnS, but we have a RB that can run AND block, and apparently we might have TWO decent RB's in the group now. Is it crazy to put a second RB in and run a little when we have a lead - shoot, that might blow the opposing D's mind! Am I crazy here - just add a little bit of a wrinkle to the O when you need to burn three or four minutes? Even long completions don't burn clock.
- I would love to know how much of an impact one game (or maybe one season) can have on conference realignment. I have said on this board a number of times our conference realignment options are limited somewhat due to the fact that TCU is basically a bigger, more successful version of SMU, ATHLTICALLY speaking. Same size, location, history, etc. If a conference was going to look at SMU they had to consider TCU first because of these reasons, potentially blocking any options SMU might have. But perception may change a little bit after yesterday - I wish I know what other schools AD's thought after seeing our score, if anything.