Let's hear what everyone took out as their biggest positives and negatives from the URI game. Mine are:
Positives:
1. Speed. Gonzalez, Sims Jr, and Kinner have top big 12 speed and that was very evident last night. Having three guys that can take it to the house every time they get the ball is going to give Beaty something to really work with this season.
2. OL. Tatown said it in another thread, but Adeniji has NFL level footwork. If he spends his next 3 years living with Jackson in the weight room he'll be drafted. All the other OL pass pro footwork was good as well. With the way the big 12 has shifted to smaller quicker pass rushers, I'm not super concerned about the lack of strength on the OL in pass protection. With that being said, there's no doubt that we're not going to be able to just line up and run it at anybody in the big 12. The good news is that because of our speed at WR and RB we shouldn't have to rely that much on running it in the middle so when we open up the playbook and start doing outside zone, pulls, counters, etc. I expect the OL to look better in the run game.
3. QB. Both guys proved that they can get the ball to their play makers which we haven't been able to consistently do the last few years.. Don't think there's any doubt that Cozart played better, but I expect both to play against Ohio. Both of Cozart's deep balls to Sims Jr were what we'll need to score in the Big 12. Willis's one deep throw was short and Gonzalez won the jump ball against RI, but against big 12 competition is much more likely to be an in completion.
Negatives:
1. DL was the tale of two halves. First half got pushed around pretty good by a bad RI OL. Came out the second half and did the pushing. Hopefully they will be able to perform like they did in the second half, but I fear the difference was more we are in good shape and RI isn't. We'll see against Ohio.
2. Kicking looks to be another cross your fingers type year. Glad to see touch backs, but a bad snap a missed 31 yard field goal makes me cringe.
Positives:
1. Speed. Gonzalez, Sims Jr, and Kinner have top big 12 speed and that was very evident last night. Having three guys that can take it to the house every time they get the ball is going to give Beaty something to really work with this season.
2. OL. Tatown said it in another thread, but Adeniji has NFL level footwork. If he spends his next 3 years living with Jackson in the weight room he'll be drafted. All the other OL pass pro footwork was good as well. With the way the big 12 has shifted to smaller quicker pass rushers, I'm not super concerned about the lack of strength on the OL in pass protection. With that being said, there's no doubt that we're not going to be able to just line up and run it at anybody in the big 12. The good news is that because of our speed at WR and RB we shouldn't have to rely that much on running it in the middle so when we open up the playbook and start doing outside zone, pulls, counters, etc. I expect the OL to look better in the run game.
3. QB. Both guys proved that they can get the ball to their play makers which we haven't been able to consistently do the last few years.. Don't think there's any doubt that Cozart played better, but I expect both to play against Ohio. Both of Cozart's deep balls to Sims Jr were what we'll need to score in the Big 12. Willis's one deep throw was short and Gonzalez won the jump ball against RI, but against big 12 competition is much more likely to be an in completion.
Negatives:
1. DL was the tale of two halves. First half got pushed around pretty good by a bad RI OL. Came out the second half and did the pushing. Hopefully they will be able to perform like they did in the second half, but I fear the difference was more we are in good shape and RI isn't. We'll see against Ohio.
2. Kicking looks to be another cross your fingers type year. Glad to see touch backs, but a bad snap a missed 31 yard field goal makes me cringe.
