.I agree with Stallion - Hicks was much better tonight. People are complaining about the final score, but we put up almost 500 on offense. Without our starting RB, a QB making his first home start, and Sutton was in and out of the game and obviously not 100%.
That said, until he gets more consistency, his new nickname is "Scud".
Throws down the seam that he steps into are accurate.
Any throws with touch, he has mechanical issues and either lofts it or underthrows it. He lofted a play to the corner that allowed the DB to recover and make a play, and underthrew Sutton in the endzone.
When he throws to the sideline, he throws too hard if it isn't just a WR screen and the throws are all over the place.
He is much more accurate on the rollout, I expect we will see that a lot more frequently. Very impressive accuracy actually on those plays.
Sutton was injured and a decoy most of the night, but interesting they moved him around all over the place. Good adjustment by the staff to keep him from consistent and easy doubles. Lots of plays out of the slot and even came out of the backfield once.
We don't have any linemen who consistently "win". So the running game is inconsistent. In the redzone we can't run at all because Liberty absolutely loaded the box and no linemen dominate. Hicks is going to have to make a play in the redzone eventually. I expect the fade to Sutton and Honey to be used extensively the rest of the season, and even Colbert sightings in the redzone.
Defensively, the team is much better than expected. Secondary is awesome. Defensive line is great as well - Liberty's throws were two second throws because they didn't have any time to do anything else. When they got in long situations and tried to let the pass develop, they were pressured and sacked. When Liberty ran the ball successfully, they were hit in the backfield and we just didn't make the tackle. But we were there to make the play and it only happened late in the game when we were tired. After the first drive through most of the 3rd quarter the defense really shut Liberty down.
Linebackers need a lot of work still. When you seen the 3rd and long and screens make a first down, they are taking advantage of a lot of space on the field and a lack of speed at LB to make a play. Alos take note of the option plays - when they ran it, the DE (Badejo a couple of times) was right there and took out his player - the QB. But there was no linebacker in sight to take the RB and tackles were made way downfield.
Speaking of Badejo, great to see the progress. Was told by a lot of people and watched a couple of practices the first two weeks of fall and everyone said he was invisible. His progression is tremendous. He started tonight and made plays. Will be exciting to see his continued growth as the season moves along.
Liberty isn't bad - they gave VT a tough game in the opener. They will probably be a playoff team at their level this year. The score wasn't great, but converting drives would have made this a blowout early. And we had a ton of calls go against us that helped Liberty out as well. The potential is there, the QB isn't ready yet. I still have us at 5 or 6 wins with marked improvement as the season goes along and we close the season with a lot of easier games. Everyone should just have some fun this year watching the progress of the team.
Next year, watch out. 3 QBs competing for the job, one will be ready to go. Loaded at WR and RB. New OL will be ready to go. DL and secondary will still be good and LBs will be ready.
