Thoughts on the game
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 11:19 pm- It didn't really get cold until everyone in my section left at 28-14...
- I love everyone in my section. I'm not dogging on them. But we have 0 fanbase under the age of 40. And the 22-35 crowd is who sticks it out in the cold.
- The USF drive after we closed it to 28-24 was really, really depressing. WTF happened? We had shut them down outside of the first play, the fourth down play and the turnovers. And then that drive?
- Lack of dominance at any of the OL positions kills us inside the ten. You have to win your battles there. Nobody is scared of us throwing the ball, so they crowd the inside.
- After it was obvious we were going to struggle in the redzone, I would have liked to see fade to Sutton, or Freeman in the wildcat, or (what worked last week) Kevin Johnson. What happened to that? Gave us a speed option to the outside if they jammed up the middle.
- The pass that Hicks floated in the endzone that allowed the defensive player to get back and make a play is the one that got away.
- Not going to be too critical though; if it went to OT, Flowers vs our inability to score in the red zone gives them a major advantage.
- Great effort by the team. The way the game opened, it could have been Memphis part duex. Good work by the coaches and the team preventing that from happening.
- Why did it take us this long to target Sutton this frequently?
- Remember how June always had J Davis, Banjo, and other starters on special teams? I think we see why - starters on kickoff coverage vastly improved the effort.
- Kickoff return we still don't block. The bit with 3 returners instead of 2 removes a blocker and that can't help.
- Ever notice how our fastest guy of the 3 is K Johnson and he lines up in the middle and never gets the ball? Thomas always catches it on the outside. Other teams actually do their kickoff to the sidelines. Our kickoff in the middle of the field is the one we got burned on. And we have our best returner lining up in the middle of the field with coverage on either side, and he never gets the ball.
- WTF with the punt catch over the shoulder at the 1? We blamed it on Deion and we blamed it on youth and other people... I think there is a trend with the horrible kick return, kick coverage, punt coverage, punt return, punting. Special teams coach needs to go. Something needs to change. We have the worst unit in every phase of special teams of any of the teams we have played this year.
- We have a shot against Navy. They only had to throw three times against USF. We showed tonight we can do a decent job against the run. But the key is negative plays. We have to force Navy to make mistakes. If you play passive, like against Tulane, they will get 5 yards a play and grind you to death. You have to create negative plays. Safeties covering the pitch, blitzing up the middle so that the ends can go wide and contain. Isolate corners on an island. You have to gamble, otherwise it is death by paper cut. Hell be creative - go with 5 DL and 2 LBs. You have to go "all out". Because Navy isn't going to commit penalties, and they aren't going to turn the ball over. They will fall forward for 2 yards and go for it on 4th and 2 over and over and over again. Give up 2 home run plays instead of 5 ten minute TD drives. The thing that makes this game difference in the past is that we have corners good enough to iso and depth on the defensive line. If we play things right and stay aggressive, all is not lost. Air Force and USF both beat Navy by playing super aggressive early and getting out to a big lead. We can do that as well.
- I love everyone in my section. I'm not dogging on them. But we have 0 fanbase under the age of 40. And the 22-35 crowd is who sticks it out in the cold.
- The USF drive after we closed it to 28-24 was really, really depressing. WTF happened? We had shut them down outside of the first play, the fourth down play and the turnovers. And then that drive?
- Lack of dominance at any of the OL positions kills us inside the ten. You have to win your battles there. Nobody is scared of us throwing the ball, so they crowd the inside.
- After it was obvious we were going to struggle in the redzone, I would have liked to see fade to Sutton, or Freeman in the wildcat, or (what worked last week) Kevin Johnson. What happened to that? Gave us a speed option to the outside if they jammed up the middle.
- The pass that Hicks floated in the endzone that allowed the defensive player to get back and make a play is the one that got away.
- Not going to be too critical though; if it went to OT, Flowers vs our inability to score in the red zone gives them a major advantage.
- Great effort by the team. The way the game opened, it could have been Memphis part duex. Good work by the coaches and the team preventing that from happening.
- Why did it take us this long to target Sutton this frequently?
- Remember how June always had J Davis, Banjo, and other starters on special teams? I think we see why - starters on kickoff coverage vastly improved the effort.
- Kickoff return we still don't block. The bit with 3 returners instead of 2 removes a blocker and that can't help.
- Ever notice how our fastest guy of the 3 is K Johnson and he lines up in the middle and never gets the ball? Thomas always catches it on the outside. Other teams actually do their kickoff to the sidelines. Our kickoff in the middle of the field is the one we got burned on. And we have our best returner lining up in the middle of the field with coverage on either side, and he never gets the ball.
- WTF with the punt catch over the shoulder at the 1? We blamed it on Deion and we blamed it on youth and other people... I think there is a trend with the horrible kick return, kick coverage, punt coverage, punt return, punting. Special teams coach needs to go. Something needs to change. We have the worst unit in every phase of special teams of any of the teams we have played this year.
- We have a shot against Navy. They only had to throw three times against USF. We showed tonight we can do a decent job against the run. But the key is negative plays. We have to force Navy to make mistakes. If you play passive, like against Tulane, they will get 5 yards a play and grind you to death. You have to create negative plays. Safeties covering the pitch, blitzing up the middle so that the ends can go wide and contain. Isolate corners on an island. You have to gamble, otherwise it is death by paper cut. Hell be creative - go with 5 DL and 2 LBs. You have to go "all out". Because Navy isn't going to commit penalties, and they aren't going to turn the ball over. They will fall forward for 2 yards and go for it on 4th and 2 over and over and over again. Give up 2 home run plays instead of 5 ten minute TD drives. The thing that makes this game difference in the past is that we have corners good enough to iso and depth on the defensive line. If we play things right and stay aggressive, all is not lost. Air Force and USF both beat Navy by playing super aggressive early and getting out to a big lead. We can do that as well.
