My brother and I attended the Marshall game in person and came in expecting us to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, especially though on offense. My thoughts on what I saw and how to move forward...
1. Passing game: There are no bigger fans of Austin Appleby than me. I love his confidence and his overall demeanor - really a class act in my opinion. The first pass of the game would have been on target, but it was scripted and we ended up with a pick six - terrible way to start the season, but for the most part, he kept his composure going forward. Overall though, and it pains me to say this, I don't think the game is slowing down for AA since I rarely see him go through his progressions. If we are to have any success this season, we need to rely on our running game - putting pressure on AA to win games for us with his arm will only lead to more of the same. I hope I'm wrong though.
2. Running game: It looked like our line was more comfortable run blocking than pass protecting. In addition, both Knox & Jones looked good... real good considering they were constantly trying to find room to run on read option plays. Look, I'm all for the occasional play with AA pulling it back and running for a first down on third and short, but most of our running plays were of that sort. When you have an experienced and bigger offensive line going against a defense that is tired, stop playing games and simply line either one of them up behind (not next to) the QB and let them hit the hole with some force. Further more, I would have liked to see Keyante Green and/or Richie Worship in on some of the short yardage situations that we had... establish an identity to build on, since we are simply not going to beat many teams with our passing game.
3. Defense: Other than their final drive that they were steamrolled on, I noticed overall improvement. We didn't give up any really big plays, were opportunistic in getting turnovers and while not at the level that we need to be at, we tackled better than we did last year. Markus Bailey was one of the true freshman who I think will be a 3 year starter for us at LB. We need to put more pressure on their QB though - the guy wasn't that good and he had consistently more time to pass than AA did.
4. Coaching: I'm not a conservative play caller my nature, so my frustration for this loss begins and ends with our play calling, especially on offense. When you get the ball on their 30 yard line after a turnover and go with 3 conservative running plays and end up missing the field goal, that's on Shoop. We've all seen teams play us that have us in the same position... our defense is tired, the momentum has shifted and they'll run a play that we're not expecting and put the game out of reach. My question for Shoop would be, "What are you afraid of? We're 4-20 over the last two seasons... go for it!!!" Other than the pick six when AA was forcing the issue, he completed both passes that he attempted over 10 yards - I want the defenses we play to actually be concerned with us throwing deep. When it comes to the defense, I would like to see us just once protect the middle of the field when other teams are passing... it always seems to be a soft spot year after year.
1. Passing game: There are no bigger fans of Austin Appleby than me. I love his confidence and his overall demeanor - really a class act in my opinion. The first pass of the game would have been on target, but it was scripted and we ended up with a pick six - terrible way to start the season, but for the most part, he kept his composure going forward. Overall though, and it pains me to say this, I don't think the game is slowing down for AA since I rarely see him go through his progressions. If we are to have any success this season, we need to rely on our running game - putting pressure on AA to win games for us with his arm will only lead to more of the same. I hope I'm wrong though.
2. Running game: It looked like our line was more comfortable run blocking than pass protecting. In addition, both Knox & Jones looked good... real good considering they were constantly trying to find room to run on read option plays. Look, I'm all for the occasional play with AA pulling it back and running for a first down on third and short, but most of our running plays were of that sort. When you have an experienced and bigger offensive line going against a defense that is tired, stop playing games and simply line either one of them up behind (not next to) the QB and let them hit the hole with some force. Further more, I would have liked to see Keyante Green and/or Richie Worship in on some of the short yardage situations that we had... establish an identity to build on, since we are simply not going to beat many teams with our passing game.
3. Defense: Other than their final drive that they were steamrolled on, I noticed overall improvement. We didn't give up any really big plays, were opportunistic in getting turnovers and while not at the level that we need to be at, we tackled better than we did last year. Markus Bailey was one of the true freshman who I think will be a 3 year starter for us at LB. We need to put more pressure on their QB though - the guy wasn't that good and he had consistently more time to pass than AA did.
4. Coaching: I'm not a conservative play caller my nature, so my frustration for this loss begins and ends with our play calling, especially on offense. When you get the ball on their 30 yard line after a turnover and go with 3 conservative running plays and end up missing the field goal, that's on Shoop. We've all seen teams play us that have us in the same position... our defense is tired, the momentum has shifted and they'll run a play that we're not expecting and put the game out of reach. My question for Shoop would be, "What are you afraid of? We're 4-20 over the last two seasons... go for it!!!" Other than the pick six when AA was forcing the issue, he completed both passes that he attempted over 10 yards - I want the defenses we play to actually be concerned with us throwing deep. When it comes to the defense, I would like to see us just once protect the middle of the field when other teams are passing... it always seems to be a soft spot year after year.
