CIL
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I am writing this on my iPhone in the car on the way back to Pittsburgh from Syracuse. I have two little ones screaming in the back and the Princess and the Frog movie blaring from the DVD player, so forgive me if this post is all over the place.
First off, the Dome looks absolutely fantastic. The HD screens are awesome, and the ribbon boards bring the place well into the 21st century. They also added some much needed touch up paint to the walls. The place is no longer a detriment to the program and I would even say it is now an attractive place as any to see a game. Couple that with the 88 ounces of beer I drained, I couldn't have been in a better place.
Now on to the game...as to the offense, it looks like the binder has finally been put into effect. This has been the plan all along, a "multiple" offense in the form of a no huddle approach. There have been several personnel issues over the years that have prevented this, which I will address later in this post, but alas it is finally here.
Now, Northwestern isn't exactly USC, but they are probably equivalent to pretty much any big east program on our schedule and we had our way with them. I know it is easy to say that their secondary was terrible, etc, but this is also a B10 team that has been to four straight bowl games. This isn't Tulane or Maine here. It was a quality matchup and a good test to see where we stood as a program.
This offense I saw has many more strengths than weaknesses. I know some here were a tad disappointed with the running game, but those swing passes, wr jailbreaks and swings are essentially runs in today's game.
As of now, I do like Gulley over Smith as the "featured" back. This offense can be lethal with a running back that can take advantage of the cutback lanes afforded due to the scheme. Gulley exhibited that on his touchdown carry with a nice cut and explosion through the middle. From what I can see Smith lacks the patience and vision to fully take advantage of those opportunities right now. Keep an eye out for the Morris kid over the next couple of years. He is supposedly the best of both worlds.
Love the way we attacked Northwestern through the air. When Northwestern went to four deep, we screened the hell out of them. When they tried to "cloud" (cover 2 to the strong side of the field / cover 3 to the back side) we went up top with a lot of success. When they played straight cover two we seemed them with the TE.
I have beaten on Nassib a lot over the last couple of years, but he had a great game on Saturday. He isn't quite the dual threat that this offense is lacking, but he has full command of the offense and understands the game pretty well at this point. He still struggles a bit with his deep balls and progressions (underthrew a wide open Kobena on his but the defender fell, underthrew West but the kid committed pass interference, missed a couple reads) but is really a solid collegiate qb at this point.
Thought the OL played pretty darn well. Macky had the best game I have seen him play and was really a strength of the line. He hard work in the weightroom has payed off as he extra muscle has allowed him to hold up at the point of attack much better. Sean Hickey was excellent is replacing Pugh. He has the feet and frame to play on Sundays. They weak link was probably big Lou. He was a bit shaky at times with the offsides and allowing his man to beat him outside a couple times, but he is a better player than Hay was for us and is at worst a solid depth player. I had some concerns about this unit coming into the season, but they answered a lot of my questions. When Pugh comes back, it should allow Hickey to slide over to the right side. That will help.
I like this WR corps. While there isn't a pure game breaker amongst them, they are all legitimate division 1 players. Each and everyone of them is fast enough to be a threat vertically. We aren't exactly running Rice Moss and Tim Lane out there anymore. Sure, I don't see a Spotwood or Harrison amongst them, but I do see kids that can play. One of those kids is the consummate gamer, Marcus Sales. He is just so darn smooth out there, I can understand why he drive a coach nuts. It looks like is is playing in slow motion, but he never makes a move he doesn't need. I also like the Clark kid. Good depth player, shows a lot of wiggle, and considering he is probably our 5th receiver we are decent here.
Thought the defense played pretty well. They made some mental mistakes out there like not getting enough depth on some zone drops, missing some assignments, etc. The good news is all these kids can run and have D1 size. Definitely the most athletic defense in a decade. We physically dominated Northwestern on both sides of the ball. I hope to see more of that. As I said in an earlier chat, we are going to have a lot of mental mistakes out there due to the youth, but the good news is these kids have the ability to overcome those mistakes. I saw Eskridge take a horrible angle to the ball, miss the carrier, then somehow reach out and drags the kid down. Freak play.
Think Reddish is already the best corner since Will Allen. He is the complete package. Plays the run and pass equally well. His blow up of the screen pass was a thing of beauty.
Like what MPB brings. Lots of speed of the edge and probably should have drawn a couple flags. He needs to add some pass rush moves to his repertoire as for right now he is mostly speed to the outside, although he does hold up well at the point.
I'm not going to rehash the shitty plays out there. The result flat out sucked. We were the bigger, faster, and ultimately the better team. You should not lose to a team that you are clearly better than. However, this is also a pretty young team. Mental breaks are going to happen, especially for a first time starter in his first game. I can honestly say that for the first time in probably 10 years the we have the talent to play with most programs outside the major, major powers. When Eric Crume goes from being your biggest lineman to your smallest in one year, that should say something.
We were also missing Lemon, Pugh, Flemming, Stevens, and Raymon. Think about that for a second. Think about how far we have come in 4 years. When we were down more than a possession I pretty much lost hope that we had the ability to come back. I no longer feel that way, do you?
During my earlier chat, I predicted a 6-6 season and still feel that way. This team has the talent to go 8-4, but is probably too young to get it yet. However, this team is also good enough to win the BE right now. Our wins over the last few years have come from smoke and mirrors. We had a freak defense during the 8-5 season, and stole a couple games there. Everyone points to the losing streak to miss the bowl, but the truth is we could have lost to Tulane and Toledo too.
From what I have seen, those days are gone.
First off, the Dome looks absolutely fantastic. The HD screens are awesome, and the ribbon boards bring the place well into the 21st century. They also added some much needed touch up paint to the walls. The place is no longer a detriment to the program and I would even say it is now an attractive place as any to see a game. Couple that with the 88 ounces of beer I drained, I couldn't have been in a better place.
Now on to the game...as to the offense, it looks like the binder has finally been put into effect. This has been the plan all along, a "multiple" offense in the form of a no huddle approach. There have been several personnel issues over the years that have prevented this, which I will address later in this post, but alas it is finally here.
Now, Northwestern isn't exactly USC, but they are probably equivalent to pretty much any big east program on our schedule and we had our way with them. I know it is easy to say that their secondary was terrible, etc, but this is also a B10 team that has been to four straight bowl games. This isn't Tulane or Maine here. It was a quality matchup and a good test to see where we stood as a program.
This offense I saw has many more strengths than weaknesses. I know some here were a tad disappointed with the running game, but those swing passes, wr jailbreaks and swings are essentially runs in today's game.
As of now, I do like Gulley over Smith as the "featured" back. This offense can be lethal with a running back that can take advantage of the cutback lanes afforded due to the scheme. Gulley exhibited that on his touchdown carry with a nice cut and explosion through the middle. From what I can see Smith lacks the patience and vision to fully take advantage of those opportunities right now. Keep an eye out for the Morris kid over the next couple of years. He is supposedly the best of both worlds.
Love the way we attacked Northwestern through the air. When Northwestern went to four deep, we screened the hell out of them. When they tried to "cloud" (cover 2 to the strong side of the field / cover 3 to the back side) we went up top with a lot of success. When they played straight cover two we seemed them with the TE.
I have beaten on Nassib a lot over the last couple of years, but he had a great game on Saturday. He isn't quite the dual threat that this offense is lacking, but he has full command of the offense and understands the game pretty well at this point. He still struggles a bit with his deep balls and progressions (underthrew a wide open Kobena on his but the defender fell, underthrew West but the kid committed pass interference, missed a couple reads) but is really a solid collegiate qb at this point.
Thought the OL played pretty darn well. Macky had the best game I have seen him play and was really a strength of the line. He hard work in the weightroom has payed off as he extra muscle has allowed him to hold up at the point of attack much better. Sean Hickey was excellent is replacing Pugh. He has the feet and frame to play on Sundays. They weak link was probably big Lou. He was a bit shaky at times with the offsides and allowing his man to beat him outside a couple times, but he is a better player than Hay was for us and is at worst a solid depth player. I had some concerns about this unit coming into the season, but they answered a lot of my questions. When Pugh comes back, it should allow Hickey to slide over to the right side. That will help.
I like this WR corps. While there isn't a pure game breaker amongst them, they are all legitimate division 1 players. Each and everyone of them is fast enough to be a threat vertically. We aren't exactly running Rice Moss and Tim Lane out there anymore. Sure, I don't see a Spotwood or Harrison amongst them, but I do see kids that can play. One of those kids is the consummate gamer, Marcus Sales. He is just so darn smooth out there, I can understand why he drive a coach nuts. It looks like is is playing in slow motion, but he never makes a move he doesn't need. I also like the Clark kid. Good depth player, shows a lot of wiggle, and considering he is probably our 5th receiver we are decent here.
Thought the defense played pretty well. They made some mental mistakes out there like not getting enough depth on some zone drops, missing some assignments, etc. The good news is all these kids can run and have D1 size. Definitely the most athletic defense in a decade. We physically dominated Northwestern on both sides of the ball. I hope to see more of that. As I said in an earlier chat, we are going to have a lot of mental mistakes out there due to the youth, but the good news is these kids have the ability to overcome those mistakes. I saw Eskridge take a horrible angle to the ball, miss the carrier, then somehow reach out and drags the kid down. Freak play.
Think Reddish is already the best corner since Will Allen. He is the complete package. Plays the run and pass equally well. His blow up of the screen pass was a thing of beauty.
Like what MPB brings. Lots of speed of the edge and probably should have drawn a couple flags. He needs to add some pass rush moves to his repertoire as for right now he is mostly speed to the outside, although he does hold up well at the point.
I'm not going to rehash the shitty plays out there. The result flat out sucked. We were the bigger, faster, and ultimately the better team. You should not lose to a team that you are clearly better than. However, this is also a pretty young team. Mental breaks are going to happen, especially for a first time starter in his first game. I can honestly say that for the first time in probably 10 years the we have the talent to play with most programs outside the major, major powers. When Eric Crume goes from being your biggest lineman to your smallest in one year, that should say something.
We were also missing Lemon, Pugh, Flemming, Stevens, and Raymon. Think about that for a second. Think about how far we have come in 4 years. When we were down more than a possession I pretty much lost hope that we had the ability to come back. I no longer feel that way, do you?
During my earlier chat, I predicted a 6-6 season and still feel that way. This team has the talent to go 8-4, but is probably too young to get it yet. However, this team is also good enough to win the BE right now. Our wins over the last few years have come from smoke and mirrors. We had a freak defense during the 8-5 season, and stole a couple games there. Everyone points to the losing streak to miss the bowl, but the truth is we could have lost to Tulane and Toledo too.
From what I have seen, those days are gone.
