I know we are squarely in moral victory territory here, but the approach I have been taking so far this year is to look for things I think the team can build off of after each game. After both of the SDSU and Memphis games, I felt like there were some things that we could build off of...I didn't have that same feeling after the Rutgers game. It felt like a lot of the things we could build off of went sour in this game...
There was some bright spots. Tyler Patrick's play really has me excited about his future. Back-to-back solid games for him. Cozart is still making the right reads. In a quarter and a half, Deondre Ford threw into more double teams than Cozart has all year so far (really only remember Cozart throwing into a double team once yesterday and that was a completion to Parmalee). I still worry about his accuracy, but this is a very encouraging sign to me - if they can teach Cozart to make the right reads as quickly as they did, I think this means they can do that easily with other QBs going forward.
But then there were some things that just really bothered me. Up to this point, I thought the OL had been a pretty solid unit...well they weren't yesterday. Every single one of the OL got dominated at one point in time. In particular, I was disappointed with JSS - I know he has only been an OL for a year so things like this are expected, but we really need him to be solid every week. Also would start putting Bryan Peters and Keyon Haughton on notice - another performance like this past week and I would replace them with younger guys.
Special teams really let me down this week. Between hesitating on returning a kickoff then returning it for little gain, almost not recovering another kickoff, almost missing an extra point, and pretty poor job on punts and punt protection...it felt like the unit as a whole took a step back this week on what has been a pretty solid performing unit so far this year.
Defensive ends might be where I am most disappointed. I will give Ben Goodman some props as that kid has been playing his tail off, even though he did make a mistake. But too many times this past game the DEs didn't have outside contain - maybe that was by design, but when I see a DE shoot inside, the OL just lets him go and pushes him with the flow, and the RB runs outside for a big gain (which happened at least 5 times yesterday) - that's not good. All of Mosby, Olobia, and Semke need to really step up.
The thing that bothered me the most that I started to come to realization with is that while I see a foundation being built with offense, I don't see that with defense. Think about kids that aren't seniors or juniors contributing right now - you have Daniel Wise (I think this kid is a year away, which makes sense as he was a DE last year, but he shows sparks of being really good), Joe Dineen (first year at LB, making some good plays but also having some learning moments), Tyrone Miller (I know some are concerned with his coverage skills, but I have been pretty encouraged and think he moves to safety eventually), and Dorance Armstrong (primarily on pass rushing plays). That's really it. Now there are some young guys like Ogbebor, DJ Williams, Josh Ehambe, Kyron Watson and Kendall Duckworth who I think can be good down the line...but the truth of the matter is most of our future foundation for defense isn't on campus yet. I do like some of the guys we have coming in in this year's class, but the reality is offense is going to have to carry us for the next few years...
So going forward, I think the upcoming week is a big wake up weekend for everyone on the roster. The next game against Iowa State is likely the team's best opportunity to be competitive. That should scare a lot of upperclassmen. So far, I would say that only Ben Goodman and Tre Parmalee are the only seniors out there "earning it." If other upperclassmen on the roster don't step up, then the staff should start putting in younger guys to get them experience for next year. There is an opportunity both ways on this, it's just a matter of someone taking that opportunity and running with it...
There was some bright spots. Tyler Patrick's play really has me excited about his future. Back-to-back solid games for him. Cozart is still making the right reads. In a quarter and a half, Deondre Ford threw into more double teams than Cozart has all year so far (really only remember Cozart throwing into a double team once yesterday and that was a completion to Parmalee). I still worry about his accuracy, but this is a very encouraging sign to me - if they can teach Cozart to make the right reads as quickly as they did, I think this means they can do that easily with other QBs going forward.
But then there were some things that just really bothered me. Up to this point, I thought the OL had been a pretty solid unit...well they weren't yesterday. Every single one of the OL got dominated at one point in time. In particular, I was disappointed with JSS - I know he has only been an OL for a year so things like this are expected, but we really need him to be solid every week. Also would start putting Bryan Peters and Keyon Haughton on notice - another performance like this past week and I would replace them with younger guys.
Special teams really let me down this week. Between hesitating on returning a kickoff then returning it for little gain, almost not recovering another kickoff, almost missing an extra point, and pretty poor job on punts and punt protection...it felt like the unit as a whole took a step back this week on what has been a pretty solid performing unit so far this year.
Defensive ends might be where I am most disappointed. I will give Ben Goodman some props as that kid has been playing his tail off, even though he did make a mistake. But too many times this past game the DEs didn't have outside contain - maybe that was by design, but when I see a DE shoot inside, the OL just lets him go and pushes him with the flow, and the RB runs outside for a big gain (which happened at least 5 times yesterday) - that's not good. All of Mosby, Olobia, and Semke need to really step up.
The thing that bothered me the most that I started to come to realization with is that while I see a foundation being built with offense, I don't see that with defense. Think about kids that aren't seniors or juniors contributing right now - you have Daniel Wise (I think this kid is a year away, which makes sense as he was a DE last year, but he shows sparks of being really good), Joe Dineen (first year at LB, making some good plays but also having some learning moments), Tyrone Miller (I know some are concerned with his coverage skills, but I have been pretty encouraged and think he moves to safety eventually), and Dorance Armstrong (primarily on pass rushing plays). That's really it. Now there are some young guys like Ogbebor, DJ Williams, Josh Ehambe, Kyron Watson and Kendall Duckworth who I think can be good down the line...but the truth of the matter is most of our future foundation for defense isn't on campus yet. I do like some of the guys we have coming in in this year's class, but the reality is offense is going to have to carry us for the next few years...
So going forward, I think the upcoming week is a big wake up weekend for everyone on the roster. The next game against Iowa State is likely the team's best opportunity to be competitive. That should scare a lot of upperclassmen. So far, I would say that only Ben Goodman and Tre Parmalee are the only seniors out there "earning it." If other upperclassmen on the roster don't step up, then the staff should start putting in younger guys to get them experience for next year. There is an opportunity both ways on this, it's just a matter of someone taking that opportunity and running with it...
