More info. would be appreciated.Went back and rewatched the game yesterday and here are my bullet point thoughts:
- OL play was really spectacular, both in the pass and run game. Really the whole OL did well, but I noticed Jackson just dominating and it is good to see he hasn't missed a beat. Then Siereveld came in some and really looked good out there. Simmons was getting to the second level in the run and screen game, and excellent in pass protection. Marshall's DL seems like one of their best units and we really handled them. That is the most encouraging part of this game imo
- RB play, what can I say that hasn't been said. Trey and Judkins are very similar, and are both thunder and lightning. Judkins absolutely blew me away though, he might be the best RB in the country and Trey is right there. It is awesome to have Peoples behind them not only for depth, but so he can learn from two of the best before he likely takes over as RB1 next year.
- Great to see Egbuka get his turn to ball out. Smith and Tate looked really good as well, would like to see a little more of Innis but there is only one football.
- I think the TEs are going to be a non-factor in the passing game unless Thurman makes a leap. Really that is fine though if they block well because we have enough receiving threats.
- Howard continues to impress. Very accurate and almost 90% of the time seems to put the ball right where it has to be. Even on that INT, I have zero problems throwing that ball if it is to JJ Smith, he will come down with most of those throws. I am also very impressed by his decision making, the rare times he has thrown the ball away it is a very smart decision and something that will pay off in droves down the stretch.
- Now we move to defense...yuck. I'll start at a high level and say I'm not concerned at all because we know the talent we have on defense and Knowles' prowess when we aren't playing a super vanilla defense. But super vanilla it was and to top it off, nobody in the back 7 ever attacked the ball carrier and just waited for everything to come to them, with the exception of Downs and Ransom.
- To that last point, Simon, Styles and Hicks just sat there flat footed. My grade for LB was a D- and that better be a blip on the radar, and not a systemic problem.
- The DL play wasn't much better overall and Tyleik is much more important than I think we realized. Hamilton seemed non-existent, Sawyer and JT had a few plays but were very inconsistent (I actually saw JT getting whooped quite a few times), and most of the rotation guys didn't do much. Almost zero pressure on the QB for the most part. Only bright spots were Malone (he probably earned some PT, he played very well) and Curry until his clear targeting ejection. I would go as far to say the only one that probably gets graded a champion is Malone on the DL.
- The secondary was pretty damn good in coverage, Marshall's QB was just having the game of his life and their receivers were executing. Safety play was definitely a champion grade with Ransom and Downs, both played extremely well. Burke, Iggy and Hancock were in the right position in coverage most of the time and you know what they say about defending a perfect pass. Factor in that there was zero pass rush and I would say the secondary did a really nice job.
- The only thing to talk about on special teams is the 3 in a row kicks out of bounds that led Day to yank Fielding out. Hopefully he just had the yips and a bad day, but it also looks like we might have been trying a directional kick that Fielding wasn't comfortable with. That I don't know, just looked like he was trying to angle the kick to the left. Good on Day to at least get him out for the rest of that game and we'll see if it is a one time thing.
Overall a 49-14 win ain't bad...look at all the other top teams that have struggled against inferior opponents this season and you can't feel bad about that win. We have clear room for improvement in certain areas, but still had a very comfortable win. On to conference play.
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