Post by BearDownMU on Sept 1, 2017 12:06:41 GMT -5
I've only seen half the game (had a funeral last night) and will watch the full replay when I get home. I reserve the right to alter/add commentary after I see it all the way through. But based on the 2nd half and looking at the numbers, here are some initial observations.
- QB was a huge question mark with the loss of John Russ, but I was really pleased with what I saw from Kaelan Riley last night. 1) Sure, 5 TDs accounted for is pretty big, but aside from that, it seemed like he was very accurate passing the football and made good decisions. That's really important. 2) He involved a lot of different people. I also really like that. 3) He is a big dude. 4) I think he's pretty fast. Hard to tell because he's so tall and runs like a deer, but I thought his speed was better than I anticipated. 4) Seems like he made good running decisions in RPO situations. This was one of John Russ's strengths: good read decisions. 5) Finally, he seemed really poised. Not that it was a game that had the pressure of a conference game, but he looked under control. I'll take that no matter the opponent in the first start for a R-Fr.
- Only one concern on the QB side so far. I hope he doesn't just default to running when things break down. Don't think I saw that much, but I'd rather him not get hit more often than he has to.
- I was surprised at our running effectiveness. YPC was lower than I anticipated. Alex looked great, but no one else really stood out on that front. Riley averaged 5.4 TPC and Lakes averaged 9.0 YPC. Everyone else? 2.1 YPC. Now, thanks to some observations from talking to FUBeAR, we were rotating like crazy on the Oline, so maybe they are just finding their way and getting settled, and the RB effectiveness will increase as that unit solidifies. I also wouldn't necessarily expect to see a ton of rotation next week. Also was a little surprised to see Tee Mitchell not get going a bit. But, he has been off for a full year, so maybe he is just getting his bearings. I expect he will be fine.
- Sam Walker is going to be an absolute handful for everyone we play this year.
- Defense looked really good. And LeMarkus Bailey was all over the field last night. I know it wasn't the same Option we will see next week against Wofford, but I thought assignment football was really good and we were disciplined defending. Almost pitching a shutout in college football is always a good day.
- From what I say, kick coverage looked good as well. Didn't see a lot of missed tackles and we caused a fumble. Seemed like we were tackling them inside the 20 on kickoffs a lot.
- Granted it was a 52 yarder, but I was surprised to see the FG attempt from Fisher come up short. He kicked some bombs last year. Sample size on this is obviously very small (1 kick) but just thought that was interesting. Only two punts last night, so not sure I have any comments yet on our Freshman punter Goupil.
- QB was a huge question mark with the loss of John Russ, but I was really pleased with what I saw from Kaelan Riley last night. 1) Sure, 5 TDs accounted for is pretty big, but aside from that, it seemed like he was very accurate passing the football and made good decisions. That's really important. 2) He involved a lot of different people. I also really like that. 3) He is a big dude. 4) I think he's pretty fast. Hard to tell because he's so tall and runs like a deer, but I thought his speed was better than I anticipated. 4) Seems like he made good running decisions in RPO situations. This was one of John Russ's strengths: good read decisions. 5) Finally, he seemed really poised. Not that it was a game that had the pressure of a conference game, but he looked under control. I'll take that no matter the opponent in the first start for a R-Fr.
- Only one concern on the QB side so far. I hope he doesn't just default to running when things break down. Don't think I saw that much, but I'd rather him not get hit more often than he has to.
- I was surprised at our running effectiveness. YPC was lower than I anticipated. Alex looked great, but no one else really stood out on that front. Riley averaged 5.4 TPC and Lakes averaged 9.0 YPC. Everyone else? 2.1 YPC. Now, thanks to some observations from talking to FUBeAR, we were rotating like crazy on the Oline, so maybe they are just finding their way and getting settled, and the RB effectiveness will increase as that unit solidifies. I also wouldn't necessarily expect to see a ton of rotation next week. Also was a little surprised to see Tee Mitchell not get going a bit. But, he has been off for a full year, so maybe he is just getting his bearings. I expect he will be fine.
- Sam Walker is going to be an absolute handful for everyone we play this year.
- Defense looked really good. And LeMarkus Bailey was all over the field last night. I know it wasn't the same Option we will see next week against Wofford, but I thought assignment football was really good and we were disciplined defending. Almost pitching a shutout in college football is always a good day.
- From what I say, kick coverage looked good as well. Didn't see a lot of missed tackles and we caused a fumble. Seemed like we were tackling them inside the 20 on kickoffs a lot.
- Granted it was a 52 yarder, but I was surprised to see the FG attempt from Fisher come up short. He kicked some bombs last year. Sample size on this is obviously very small (1 kick) but just thought that was interesting. Only two punts last night, so not sure I have any comments yet on our Freshman punter Goupil.
