I want to start off with the defense because I thought they looked really good. Up front the defensive tackle played well and they rotated a lot of guys. Obviously once the game starts getting out of hand it gets tough to judge because KU is so much deeper. I think they have six interior DL they can play. One of the best things I saw was Dean Miller's speed coming off the edge. We will have to see how that translates going up against Illinois RT.
I felt the OL started a little slow. Until early in the second quarter the lanes weren't there for the backs. When they pulled some of the starting skill players out of the game the starting OL stayed in. They wanted to get that group more work. In the end the Lindenwood DL wore down and the better unit took control. I think that's one area the OL will have to improve next week against Illinois. I haven't got deep into the front four on Illinois but we all know they will be much better than Lindenwood.
When Neal and Hishaw run like they did, and you have commit enough defenders to the box, this offense is going to be hard to defend. I know Grimes and Leipold said before the game they would not hold anything back. Trust me, they held a lot back. This was a vanilla plan and Grimes didn't show any of his tricks. This was as plain of a scheme that they could use and it was by design. You wanted to get out of the game with Daniels staying healthy and they did. There were no designed runs and I don't think Daniels left the pocket and I can't remember a "true" rushing attempt he had.
That is going to change next week. Illinois hammered Eastern Illinois who is a better team than Lindenwood. They both play in the same conference. We didn't get a look at the whole offense. I mean Arnold and Skinner were only targeted three times. I'm looking forward to next week because I think we will get a better picture of what the offense is.
I liked the way the defense moved and ran to the ball. Even against teams like Lindenwood they will still find a way to get yards and move the ball in week one. But the defense shut them down and I thought Lindenwood started waving the white flag late in the second and the third quarter. On third and longs they ran the ball or went back to the screen. I mean you can only run a screen so many times in a game. I think they just wanted to get on the bus with everyone healthy. There were some situations I thought they would go on fourth down but they punted. They just wanted to use clock and make KU have a longer field no matter the score.
Couldn't tell much from special teams. Greaves had the easiest job of the night. Allen missed the XP but I can't read too much into that. There was one returned kick that didn't do much either way.
I think this was a typical and good first game. The better team wore down the opponent and ended up dominating the game.
I plan to watch Illinois if I can find the full game. Was browsing some of the highlights just to look at personnel. Watch the second clip on the link I posted. How in the world is that not holding on the right tackle?
I felt the OL started a little slow. Until early in the second quarter the lanes weren't there for the backs. When they pulled some of the starting skill players out of the game the starting OL stayed in. They wanted to get that group more work. In the end the Lindenwood DL wore down and the better unit took control. I think that's one area the OL will have to improve next week against Illinois. I haven't got deep into the front four on Illinois but we all know they will be much better than Lindenwood.
When Neal and Hishaw run like they did, and you have commit enough defenders to the box, this offense is going to be hard to defend. I know Grimes and Leipold said before the game they would not hold anything back. Trust me, they held a lot back. This was a vanilla plan and Grimes didn't show any of his tricks. This was as plain of a scheme that they could use and it was by design. You wanted to get out of the game with Daniels staying healthy and they did. There were no designed runs and I don't think Daniels left the pocket and I can't remember a "true" rushing attempt he had.
That is going to change next week. Illinois hammered Eastern Illinois who is a better team than Lindenwood. They both play in the same conference. We didn't get a look at the whole offense. I mean Arnold and Skinner were only targeted three times. I'm looking forward to next week because I think we will get a better picture of what the offense is.
I liked the way the defense moved and ran to the ball. Even against teams like Lindenwood they will still find a way to get yards and move the ball in week one. But the defense shut them down and I thought Lindenwood started waving the white flag late in the second and the third quarter. On third and longs they ran the ball or went back to the screen. I mean you can only run a screen so many times in a game. I think they just wanted to get on the bus with everyone healthy. There were some situations I thought they would go on fourth down but they punted. They just wanted to use clock and make KU have a longer field no matter the score.
Couldn't tell much from special teams. Greaves had the easiest job of the night. Allen missed the XP but I can't read too much into that. There was one returned kick that didn't do much either way.
I think this was a typical and good first game. The better team wore down the opponent and ended up dominating the game.
I plan to watch Illinois if I can find the full game. Was browsing some of the highlights just to look at personnel. Watch the second clip on the link I posted. How in the world is that not holding on the right tackle?
