It is always tough to know a whole lot after the first game especially in this type of game. Trying all types of things, playing tons of players, etc. But, it was a tale of two halves obviously.
The first half went fairly well besides the two kickoff breakdowns. We scored 27 points, the d only allowed 3 points. The second half our offense scored a whopping 10 points while our D allowed 14. Overall, our D only allowed 17 which is about 7 too many.
The first half went about what I expected. 17 point margin. Second half was total opposite. Will be interesting to see what the coaches have to say about our pass d. lots of question marks for a variety of reasons.
QBs: Cook was average at best. He was, what, 50% on passes? Not going to cut it when you're supposed to be a first round pick. OTOH, Terrell was very, very good. He is going to have a big year this year. That whole offense is. Cook better pick it up next game (I suspect he will).
WRs: Let's first talk about the Broncos. Davis is most likely the best WR we will face, at least arguably. He has had 10 100+ yard games in his last 13. NFL player without a doubt. His robin is Braverman. What a great compliment. Very quick, runs very good routes, and catches the ball. This very well could be the best WR duo we face.
Our WRs were a mixed bag. Burbridge and Price were great. Arnett also had a great drive. He needs some more PT. Shelton, Troup, and Kings were largely unimpressive. Kings and Troup have to catch the ball. They are better players than that. I understand Kings is playing a new position and routes but he is way too talented to play like that. They need to bounce back.
RBs: Western's RBs didnt do much at all. Not many are. Probably Elliott.
This was a very impressive debut for this unit. London looked very good and you can see the potential oozing out of Scott. I expect those two to be 1 and 2 from here on out. Holmes was my favorite, but he was not all that impressive outside of one good drive. We didn't do a whole lot between the tackles, so that is something we definitely need to get going. So important to this offense. Although, the Broncos did play the bear front a lot and played a lot in the box. Gotta check out more and run outside or pass every time.
Olines: Western's oline got demolished as expected. Two different classes. Like Class A vs Class D.
Our oline was pretty impressive. Broke a lot of holes for the RBs and protected Cook very well. The only thing I see that they need to work on is the power run game. Didn't call too many of those plays today.
Dlines: Western's was good for a mac team. But, our oline is just too good for them to make much of an impact. The bear front and loading the box helped.
Our dline was ridiculous. I expect this all year long. And, we played a ton of guys. Not too many mistakes here. Lost contain a couple times and need to wrap up, but other than that, they gave Terrell a very rough day.
Not much else to say here. Adams and Oregon's oline will have fun next week with them. Cooper got a sack, Calhoun got a sack and caused three penalties, Evans, Heath, Malik, Knox were all beasts in the middle. Sweat seemed to have a solid outing as well.
LBS: Didnt pay a whole lot of attention to Western's LBs.
Our LBs were a mixed bag. Thought Reshcke and Frey played well. Harris played well except for the one wheel route. Bullough was a classic mixed bag. He ran the D very well. He was also great at blitzing registering 3 sacks. But, he took a couple bad angles, missed a couple tackles, and Davis put a wicked move on him. I expect Bullough to be a lot better next week. He's a quick study. I also felt like out LBs were out of place a too often in passing plays. They should also improve a lot this week. Too much talent.
DBs: Western's DBs hung tough. They are a solid MAC group. Our WRs should have caught more balls and Cook needs to be more accurate. Their DBs were solid but didn't disrupt us very much.
Our DBs are a huge mixed bag. There are A LOT of reasons for this I believe. First, we played upwards of 10 guys back there. Many were their first times. Secondly, we got lazy after we got a lead in the second. Then, MD ripped them and they played better. Third, that was a great test for us. Western's offense had a very good year last year and are poised to have a great one this year. They have all the components of a team that will score a ton of points in the mac. Terrell made big throws after big throws even while getting beat up by our dline. Davis and Braverman made many great catches. Wont see too many, if any, better duos than that. This is obviously the biggest area of concern. Too many bad angles, missed tackles, not covering well enough, getting beat, late recognition, etc. But, it was the first game. I am sure there will be a lot of improvements this week. We need more game film to know what really were the problems and why. I expect less players to play back there next week.
Special teams: Broncos had those two explosive kick returns, and once we got that fixed, they were silent. Their kicking was average as well.
Cronin finally got it going in the second half. Started kicking like a man. Was concerned in the first half.
Jake H was very good and no complaints here. Same with Geiger.
I think our coverage team fixed things after the first two kick returns. But, will get a lot of work this week.
The great news is, we wont be flying high and feeling great about ourselves headed into the Oregon game. Western was a great test especially for our back seven. Exactly what we needed before Oregon. Oregon's offense will be better in many ways, but not THAT much better. As I said above, Terrell was one of the best QBs we will face (top 3 or 4), and that was one of the best WR duos anywhere. So, dont be down on this team. Great test. Saw a lot of things we need to work on. There is nothing wrong with that. Big game next week obviously. Our pass D wasnt up to where I thought it would be, so this game has gotten tougher in my book. Hopefully we pull it out. Our program will benefit greatly if we do.
The first half went fairly well besides the two kickoff breakdowns. We scored 27 points, the d only allowed 3 points. The second half our offense scored a whopping 10 points while our D allowed 14. Overall, our D only allowed 17 which is about 7 too many.
The first half went about what I expected. 17 point margin. Second half was total opposite. Will be interesting to see what the coaches have to say about our pass d. lots of question marks for a variety of reasons.
QBs: Cook was average at best. He was, what, 50% on passes? Not going to cut it when you're supposed to be a first round pick. OTOH, Terrell was very, very good. He is going to have a big year this year. That whole offense is. Cook better pick it up next game (I suspect he will).
WRs: Let's first talk about the Broncos. Davis is most likely the best WR we will face, at least arguably. He has had 10 100+ yard games in his last 13. NFL player without a doubt. His robin is Braverman. What a great compliment. Very quick, runs very good routes, and catches the ball. This very well could be the best WR duo we face.
Our WRs were a mixed bag. Burbridge and Price were great. Arnett also had a great drive. He needs some more PT. Shelton, Troup, and Kings were largely unimpressive. Kings and Troup have to catch the ball. They are better players than that. I understand Kings is playing a new position and routes but he is way too talented to play like that. They need to bounce back.
RBs: Western's RBs didnt do much at all. Not many are. Probably Elliott.
This was a very impressive debut for this unit. London looked very good and you can see the potential oozing out of Scott. I expect those two to be 1 and 2 from here on out. Holmes was my favorite, but he was not all that impressive outside of one good drive. We didn't do a whole lot between the tackles, so that is something we definitely need to get going. So important to this offense. Although, the Broncos did play the bear front a lot and played a lot in the box. Gotta check out more and run outside or pass every time.
Olines: Western's oline got demolished as expected. Two different classes. Like Class A vs Class D.
Our oline was pretty impressive. Broke a lot of holes for the RBs and protected Cook very well. The only thing I see that they need to work on is the power run game. Didn't call too many of those plays today.
Dlines: Western's was good for a mac team. But, our oline is just too good for them to make much of an impact. The bear front and loading the box helped.
Our dline was ridiculous. I expect this all year long. And, we played a ton of guys. Not too many mistakes here. Lost contain a couple times and need to wrap up, but other than that, they gave Terrell a very rough day.
Not much else to say here. Adams and Oregon's oline will have fun next week with them. Cooper got a sack, Calhoun got a sack and caused three penalties, Evans, Heath, Malik, Knox were all beasts in the middle. Sweat seemed to have a solid outing as well.
LBS: Didnt pay a whole lot of attention to Western's LBs.
Our LBs were a mixed bag. Thought Reshcke and Frey played well. Harris played well except for the one wheel route. Bullough was a classic mixed bag. He ran the D very well. He was also great at blitzing registering 3 sacks. But, he took a couple bad angles, missed a couple tackles, and Davis put a wicked move on him. I expect Bullough to be a lot better next week. He's a quick study. I also felt like out LBs were out of place a too often in passing plays. They should also improve a lot this week. Too much talent.
DBs: Western's DBs hung tough. They are a solid MAC group. Our WRs should have caught more balls and Cook needs to be more accurate. Their DBs were solid but didn't disrupt us very much.
Our DBs are a huge mixed bag. There are A LOT of reasons for this I believe. First, we played upwards of 10 guys back there. Many were their first times. Secondly, we got lazy after we got a lead in the second. Then, MD ripped them and they played better. Third, that was a great test for us. Western's offense had a very good year last year and are poised to have a great one this year. They have all the components of a team that will score a ton of points in the mac. Terrell made big throws after big throws even while getting beat up by our dline. Davis and Braverman made many great catches. Wont see too many, if any, better duos than that. This is obviously the biggest area of concern. Too many bad angles, missed tackles, not covering well enough, getting beat, late recognition, etc. But, it was the first game. I am sure there will be a lot of improvements this week. We need more game film to know what really were the problems and why. I expect less players to play back there next week.
Special teams: Broncos had those two explosive kick returns, and once we got that fixed, they were silent. Their kicking was average as well.
Cronin finally got it going in the second half. Started kicking like a man. Was concerned in the first half.
Jake H was very good and no complaints here. Same with Geiger.
I think our coverage team fixed things after the first two kick returns. But, will get a lot of work this week.
The great news is, we wont be flying high and feeling great about ourselves headed into the Oregon game. Western was a great test especially for our back seven. Exactly what we needed before Oregon. Oregon's offense will be better in many ways, but not THAT much better. As I said above, Terrell was one of the best QBs we will face (top 3 or 4), and that was one of the best WR duos anywhere. So, dont be down on this team. Great test. Saw a lot of things we need to work on. There is nothing wrong with that. Big game next week obviously. Our pass D wasnt up to where I thought it would be, so this game has gotten tougher in my book. Hopefully we pull it out. Our program will benefit greatly if we do.
