The fans brought it like they have not brought it in a long time, maybe ever. Wasnt sure if they would be able to do the striping since they have struggled with whiteouts in the past. Major props to them. This was the loudest and craziest game maybe ever at Spartan Stadium...and I have been to a whole slew of big ones.
Our jerseys were AWESOME (and I am not some young gun either). Better than the Ducks plain uniforms (although the Duck was cool).
I expect this past weekend to pay huge dividends in the short and long term!
I thought there were a whole lot of positives but definitely some things to work on as well (see there Rod, I did not use the word concern
)
Offensively: The offensive line was as good as they could have been. Kept Cook clean with zero sacks. Our running game would have ran over them even more than the 200+ yards we had on them if they didn't stack the box after the first series. There were 7, 8, sometimes 9 guys within five yards (maybe a little more) of the ball. This is why we werent having a dominant run game for a good part of the game.
I thought our play calling was average at best. Very few play action passes. The ones we did do worked well. Should have been much more imo. I thought we should have also had more 4-5 WR sets to spread them out and make it tough on them putting that many in the box. Didn't understand why we didn't do that either. Where were the counters for a defense that was overly aggressive? The middle of the field was wide open as well. On top of all that, we went deep once? Really? No wonder they could stack the box. Our play calling didnt threaten them.
Speaking of play calling, putting Terry in at that point is one of the worst calls ever. We had great momentum. Absolutely zero reason to take your Heisman-candidate, 5th year senior QB out of the game. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
MODS, thoughts on these concerns? (whoops, sorry Rod, there it is)
Cook had a very good game. Too many on here are over-analyzing Cook. He had about 3 throws he wanted back. Maybe 4. Other than that, he was on the money. the main ones were the overthrow to Kings who had settled nicely into a BIG hole on the defense, and the two bad throws on 3rd down late in the 4th.
Our RBs are both nfl RBs. Great one two punch.
Burbridge is stepping up BIG TIME as a senior. Kings also had a huge bounce back game. As Matt said, we need a 3rd WR to step up. I think Arnett needs more chances. I think he could be that guy. I'll lump TEs into this as well. We have three good to very good TEs.
Oregon's offense was good as usual. But, our D did a phenomenal job only allowing 3 TDs, keep everything in front of them, and tightening up in the red zone. Our D, is without a doubt, better than last year. Our DBs were fantastic in coverage. two INTs and were with every wide receiver except the one Arjen tripped on.
Cox and Copeland (and the safeties) showed how good they are. Both will be so much better as the season goes along. Our pass coverage is back!
Yes, we missed some tackles. But, they are Oregon and make everyone miss tackles. For 3/4 the game we did a very good job. Just got sloppy in the fourth, but still made plenty of plays to stop them from scoring.
Our LBs were also a big bright spot mainly because of Bullough (what a coming out party), Reschke, and Frey. All had very good games. Harris can still play better.
Our D-Line was dominant. They did a tremendous job stopping the run (freeman who?) and containing. They had pressure a decent amount but when any team only rushes 3-4 vs 6, it is always going to be tough to get constant pressure. The only schematic thing I did not like on D was not rushing 5-6 guys since our 5 DBs were great in coverage. They actually had to cover for too long as Adams got through all his reads with no one open and still had time. Rushing two more would not have broken our contain and it would have made Adams have to throw or scramble sooner.
MODS, could you explain why we didn't take this approach?
Speaking of the D-Line, omg, this is the second game in a row we constantly got mugged. Blatant holding all over the place, on every play. Last week, B10 crew didnt call it, this week P12 doesnt call it. MODS, what gives? Is this something the coaches are making the refs aware of? They have to be aware of it though. It is blatant and right in front of the refs. MODS, do other teams like Bama, and others, get this same treatment? Our D-Line is absolutely dominant anyway, but we would be even more so if they were allowed to play.
Last night, there was also blatant holding by their WRs.This had some to do with us not getting off blocks, but only half the reason, at most, imo. Harris did a very poor job in this regard and a few others as well. Not sure what the problem was. One of the main things to work on for OSU imo. Very frustrating to watch. Our D can be even better if we get this fixed.
Adams was very average. Only completed 3 or so passes more than about 12 yards. If you want to count the ones our DBs caught, then it would be 5-6. (BTW, who said RJ couldnt get over top and cover in space. And that he wasnt fast?) He aint no Mariota, that is for sure. 80%+ of the passing game were screen passes. I saw so many of those, by the end of the game I wanted to puke! Dont want to see another one all year! Cook would have been at like 90% completion percentage with those play calls.
Special teams: Hartbarger is for real. Definitely Brandon Fields. I see the comparison Mike. That one they ran back was kick inside the hashes as you mentioned would give us trouble. But, that had more to do with our coverage imo. Cronin also had a very good game. What incredible touch on those squib kicks!
Geiger will be fine. He was fine most of last year. Just started off slow.
Our coverage is the biggest concern of the team. We do a terrible job (especially the left side) of staying in our gaps on kick coverage. On punts, how the heck do you not get down there in time to be surrounding the returner with those booming kicks? MODS, please answer this. I cannot figure it out. The ball is in the air for eternity. Gotta get this fixed. Maybe Tressel needs to take special teams back over? I know it is too early for that. We just have way too good of players on those coverage teams to be having all these mistakes.
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Oregon's defense was better than last week, but we should have scored more than 31 points on them. Shot ourselves in our foot a lot out there. We were clearly the better team. Most dominant 3 point win ever.
If I think of any other thoughts I forgot about I will add them here.
Our jerseys were AWESOME (and I am not some young gun either). Better than the Ducks plain uniforms (although the Duck was cool).
I expect this past weekend to pay huge dividends in the short and long term!
I thought there were a whole lot of positives but definitely some things to work on as well (see there Rod, I did not use the word concern
)Offensively: The offensive line was as good as they could have been. Kept Cook clean with zero sacks. Our running game would have ran over them even more than the 200+ yards we had on them if they didn't stack the box after the first series. There were 7, 8, sometimes 9 guys within five yards (maybe a little more) of the ball. This is why we werent having a dominant run game for a good part of the game.
I thought our play calling was average at best. Very few play action passes. The ones we did do worked well. Should have been much more imo. I thought we should have also had more 4-5 WR sets to spread them out and make it tough on them putting that many in the box. Didn't understand why we didn't do that either. Where were the counters for a defense that was overly aggressive? The middle of the field was wide open as well. On top of all that, we went deep once? Really? No wonder they could stack the box. Our play calling didnt threaten them.
Speaking of play calling, putting Terry in at that point is one of the worst calls ever. We had great momentum. Absolutely zero reason to take your Heisman-candidate, 5th year senior QB out of the game. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
MODS, thoughts on these concerns? (whoops, sorry Rod, there it is)
Cook had a very good game. Too many on here are over-analyzing Cook. He had about 3 throws he wanted back. Maybe 4. Other than that, he was on the money. the main ones were the overthrow to Kings who had settled nicely into a BIG hole on the defense, and the two bad throws on 3rd down late in the 4th.
Our RBs are both nfl RBs. Great one two punch.
Burbridge is stepping up BIG TIME as a senior. Kings also had a huge bounce back game. As Matt said, we need a 3rd WR to step up. I think Arnett needs more chances. I think he could be that guy. I'll lump TEs into this as well. We have three good to very good TEs.
Oregon's offense was good as usual. But, our D did a phenomenal job only allowing 3 TDs, keep everything in front of them, and tightening up in the red zone. Our D, is without a doubt, better than last year. Our DBs were fantastic in coverage. two INTs and were with every wide receiver except the one Arjen tripped on.
Cox and Copeland (and the safeties) showed how good they are. Both will be so much better as the season goes along. Our pass coverage is back!
Yes, we missed some tackles. But, they are Oregon and make everyone miss tackles. For 3/4 the game we did a very good job. Just got sloppy in the fourth, but still made plenty of plays to stop them from scoring.
Our LBs were also a big bright spot mainly because of Bullough (what a coming out party), Reschke, and Frey. All had very good games. Harris can still play better.
Our D-Line was dominant. They did a tremendous job stopping the run (freeman who?) and containing. They had pressure a decent amount but when any team only rushes 3-4 vs 6, it is always going to be tough to get constant pressure. The only schematic thing I did not like on D was not rushing 5-6 guys since our 5 DBs were great in coverage. They actually had to cover for too long as Adams got through all his reads with no one open and still had time. Rushing two more would not have broken our contain and it would have made Adams have to throw or scramble sooner.
MODS, could you explain why we didn't take this approach?
Speaking of the D-Line, omg, this is the second game in a row we constantly got mugged. Blatant holding all over the place, on every play. Last week, B10 crew didnt call it, this week P12 doesnt call it. MODS, what gives? Is this something the coaches are making the refs aware of? They have to be aware of it though. It is blatant and right in front of the refs. MODS, do other teams like Bama, and others, get this same treatment? Our D-Line is absolutely dominant anyway, but we would be even more so if they were allowed to play.
Last night, there was also blatant holding by their WRs.This had some to do with us not getting off blocks, but only half the reason, at most, imo. Harris did a very poor job in this regard and a few others as well. Not sure what the problem was. One of the main things to work on for OSU imo. Very frustrating to watch. Our D can be even better if we get this fixed.
Adams was very average. Only completed 3 or so passes more than about 12 yards. If you want to count the ones our DBs caught, then it would be 5-6
. (BTW, who said RJ couldnt get over top and cover in space. And that he wasnt fast?) He aint no Mariota, that is for sure. 80%+ of the passing game were screen passes. I saw so many of those, by the end of the game I wanted to puke! Dont want to see another one all year! Cook would have been at like 90% completion percentage with those play calls. Special teams: Hartbarger is for real. Definitely Brandon Fields. I see the comparison Mike. That one they ran back was kick inside the hashes as you mentioned would give us trouble. But, that had more to do with our coverage imo. Cronin also had a very good game. What incredible touch on those squib kicks!
Geiger will be fine. He was fine most of last year. Just started off slow.
Our coverage is the biggest concern of the team. We do a terrible job (especially the left side) of staying in our gaps on kick coverage. On punts, how the heck do you not get down there in time to be surrounding the returner with those booming kicks? MODS, please answer this. I cannot figure it out. The ball is in the air for eternity. Gotta get this fixed. Maybe Tressel needs to take special teams back over? I know it is too early for that. We just have way too good of players on those coverage teams to be having all these mistakes.
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Oregon's defense was better than last week, but we should have scored more than 31 points on them. Shot ourselves in our foot a lot out there. We were clearly the better team. Most dominant 3 point win ever.
If I think of any other thoughts I forgot about I will add them here.
