Tulsa watched 2nd time

[nocsious3]

A lot of positives after watching the second time through. We've got some athletes out there.

A lot of guys saw action, especially on both lines. I didn't think Omoile, Lichtenberg, or Tuftee looked that great. Burton looks great some plays but occasionally whiffs. Dagel looks real good for the future. If Ben Loth was a little faster pulling he would have broke Wimberly for some really long runs.

Sam should have never taken that hit on the touchdown to Jarvis West. Shame on you James White.

It looks like they took Bundrage away from us and that opened the door for Ecby and others.


The 2-back stuff with Woody as a lead blocker was nice to see and kept #55 from making those tackles at linebacker. I would have liked to see more of that. We ran the same play for nice gains twice in a row. Mess went back to that formation later, but instead passed to the perimeter. Those plays worked better than our usual quick stuff to the receivers as the Tulsa linebackers stayed home expecting more run.

Sam generally made the right read when Tulsa came after him. He missed Coleman in the flat for a first down when the threw to Bundrage on the slant where the flag came out for pass interference (picked up the flag). Even the near pick six looked like the right read at first. The corner actually came on a blitz that play and the outside linebacker was cheating and slid over to take away the flat. Sam never saw the linebacker but quickly identified the corner blitz and went to what appeared to be the open man. He will learn from that play. The bootleg where he got sacked was really just an excellent play by the Tulsa defensive end. Woody played initial protection and then let him through to set himself for a pass. Sam probably should have got the pass off to Woody for a decent gain.

All 4 defensive line positions had their moments and got good push. Both Irving and Coe may end up darn good. Morrissey and Kron are making strides as well. We'll see how this group progresses.

Brackens isn't good in coverage and Tulsa did an excellent job isolating him on the their best receiver for the touchdown. You saw Charlie Rodgers out there after that when Tulsa had to pass.

We really dominated in the trenches. How much of that was improvement and how much was a bad Tulsa team?

 

[Tri4Cy]

I think a lot of that was a bad Tulsa team but it was a confidence booster for sure. All I wanted to see this year was improvement from game to game and I think we are seeing that. These guys are learning from their mistakes. I don't expect to see a lot of "w's" this year but I do expect to see a young talented team mature and put up a good fight with 2014/2015 being more of the breakout type seasons.

 

[CyCloned]

The bootleg where he got sacked was really just an excellent play by the Tulsa defensive end. Woody played initial protection and then let him through to set himself for a pass. Sam probably should have got the pass off to Woody for a decent gain. QUOTE]

Woody should have chip blocked the DE on that play to slow him down, before going out for the pass. Not really try to stop him, just slow him down a little bit.

Have not had a chance to rewatch the game, but there were a lot of positives offensively out there. Granted Tulsa is not very good, but there were no where near as many poorly executed plays as the first two games.

Really like the fact that the motion guy coming across the formation actually could have gotten the ball if Sam gave it to him. The first two games the ball was snapped when he was 5 yards either side of the QB.

 

[twojman]

Irving is becoming a monster and I think this guy is going to thrive in the middle. Even without a tackle/sack/pass block on a play he can disrupt things. With his long reach he will be able to tackle/slow down guys so that tackles are made along the LOS. the dude has only played 3 games at the position and I can see improvement each week.

I think SR has accuracy issues. Shontrelle was open out of the backfield, SR was rolling to his right. the floater he threw to Shontrelle was awful. There were several catches, including near the LOS, where receivers were having to use extra efforts for catches. Had these been throw by a more accurate QB, the 38 points would have come easier and we would have seen Rohach in the 4th quarter because the game could have been 48-14 early in the 4th. SR almost threw a bounce pass on the 4th down conversion. Did he have some other good throws? Yes. I am not expecting Peyton Manning but the offense could be helped out a lot, even Mess's offense, with some better placement of the throws.

Wimberly, feed him! There were a couple of times where the hole was not big but he attacked and went straight through, no messing around. He ended up with decent gains on those. There were other times I saw the OL open up MASSIVE holes but they closed up quick. A question on that, was that because of the LB for Tulsa? Man, that guy is good. He has a nose for the football.

 

[Rural]

We've gotten incrementally better each week, just keep in mind we started at "worst thing you've ever seen".

 

[scyclonekid]

We have improved each week and our defense looked faster. Farinoik playing more is just huge for oline, but I like the experience others are getting. As for some saying sam has accuracy issues, his ankle is not heeled up yet which affects the accuracy and velocity on the ball. Could it be a blessing in disguise that bundrage being covered well, that others stepped up to get off blocks get open and catch the ball? I think so now we have more than one guy to throw to, which opens up the run game.

 

[enisthemenace]

- Wimberly is a stud. Love that he hits the hole and doesn't make a move until he's past the first level. Not a single negative play from him all day. Definitely a weapon out of the back field and in the slot. Also, thought he blocked well.

- Woody as the lead blocker. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

- Farniok was a beast when he pulled on those front-side reads to AW. More often than not, he took care of that first giy, which usually was Jackson. That play worked for us all night.

- Saw some good things from the WRs. They took Bundrage away, but Ecby and PJ Harris looked good. Jarvis ran some NASTY toutes. I laughed on his TD at the end of the 1st half. He almost broke that poor DB in half.

- Felt good for Bibbs after a couple early drops. Had a great catch to set up a TD and ran a really nice route on his own TD

- Boesen played well too. Good blocker.

- Irving is on his way to being a beast up front. Not only is he much taller than a typical DT, but he has some goodel quickness. Strong as an ox too. Love what I see from him as he progresses

- Coe did some good things, but has a little further to go IMO. He keeps getting snaps, and he will, I can see him getting to the QB

- Kron and Morrisey looked good. Both just know where to be

- LBs were OK. George had a good game, Luke was solid...needs more weight on his frame, but he does know where to be, Brackens had a tough go

- Thought Watson proved he is our best cover corner. He'll come down with those INTs. Nive to see Tribune in there. Happy for Rogers with the pick

- I thought Broomfield played well against the run. Looked pretty bad on Tulsa's late TD (think that was him anyway)

- Washington was okay. Nothing flashy though. He just needs to make sure that young D is lined up right

 

[AWOL2000]

All in all better performance. I don't think the play calling was horrible (much better than the first two games) but I still think we could have done better. With the lead late in the third we threw the ball way too much. The way AW was getting chunks of yards on the ground I would have liked to see him with keep getting fed. Should have had about 30 pass attempts instead of 40.

 

[State43]

Yeah, seems like the offense is still figuring things out. As long as the online continues to improve giving Sam a chance, that will only get better. Wimberly has to be the feature back. He was getting 5 yards out of plays I thought had nothing. Just solid.

 

[Cyclonz]

I sound like a cub fan, but the future for this defense looks very bright.

 

[State43]

I sound like a cub fan, but the future for this defense looks very bright.

Though we need a lot of promising DL recruits because after next year, we lose a ton of talent. (Irving, Coe, Morrisey, etc)

 

[nocsious3]

Consistency in the 0-line is the biggest factor to future success. It really does all start up front. Loth really isn't bad it's just that Farniok is that much better. We still whiff on blocks far too often.

I'm a bit surprised by the vast substitutions up front. For an offense looking for consistency, you didn't find it with personnel against Tulsa. I'm sure health played a factor in the number of linemen we played.

I'm concerned we'll max out soon if we don't continue to get better on the 0-line.

 

[ArgentCy]

One simple thing that I think we really need to work on is the ball fake. Often our RB is a yard away from Sam and when we bring the slot across their timing and position is still off. This doesn't include the couple of times where they turned or went to the wrong side. Cleaning this up is simple but makes the offense more effective.

 

[MJ271]

All in all better performance. I don't think the play calling was horrible (much better than the first two games) but I still think we could have done better. With the lead late in the third we threw the ball way too much. The way AW was getting chunks of yards on the ground I would have liked to see him with keep getting fed. Should have had about 30 pass attempts instead of 40.

Not sure I agree with this. There have been times before where we have ran the ball to try to run out the clock, but instead, we just get stuffed, and have a lot of 3 and outs. The only reason that the running game was as effective as it was, was because Tulsa was forced to respect the passing game. Wimberly wasn't getting 4-5 yards every carry. Instead, he usually had 2-3 yard carries, and would break out a bigger one every few carries.

 

[JUKEBOX]

Tulsa game isn't up yet, but here is a good resource to see replays...

Iowa State vs Oklahoma State Replay - Big 12 Conference - Official Athletic Site

 

[Aclone]

I think SR has accuracy issues. Shontrelle was open out of the backfield, SR was rolling to his right. the floater he threw to Shontrelle was awful. There were several catches, including near the LOS, where receivers were having to use extra efforts for catches. Had these been throw by a more accurate QB, the 38 points would have come easier and we would have seen Rohach in the 4th quarter because the game could have been 48-14 early in the 4th. SR almost threw a bounce pass on the 4th down conversion. Did he have some other good throws? Yes. I am not expecting Peyton Manning but the offense could be helped out a lot, even Mess's offense, with some better placement of the throws.

As mentioned above, I think that a lot of SR's accuracy issues have to do with the injured ankle.

Though we need a lot of promising DL recruits because after next year, we lose a ton of talent. (Irving, Coe, Morrisey, etc)

I admit that I like Aka, Cousin (played Thursday), Meyers, Trent and Garcia--but there's always room for more. Would be nice to see Devin Lemke get it together. :biggrin:

Consistency in the 0-line is the biggest factor to future success. It really does all start up front. Loth really isn't bad it's just that Farniok is that much better. We still whiff on blocks far too often.

I'm a bit surprised by the vast substitutions up front. For an offense looking for consistency, you didn't find it with personnel against Tulsa. I'm sure health played a factor in the number of linemen we played.

I'm concerned we'll max out soon if we don't continue to get better on the 0-line.

I think you're right about health. Plus, Lalk will be back before too long. And there are a whole bunch of younger guys working their way into playing time.

 

[Cycsk]

I sound like a cub fan, but the future for this defense looks very bright.

I can relate. I still have my "Next Year is Here" t-shirt . . . from 1984! :twitcy:

 

[AWOL2000]

Not sure I agree with this. There have been times before where we have ran the ball to try to run out the clock, but instead, we just get stuffed, and have a lot of 3 and outs. The only reason that the running game was as effective as it was, was because Tulsa was forced to respect the passing game. Wimberly wasn't getting 4-5 yards every carry. Instead, he usually had 2-3 yard carries, and would break out a bigger one every few carries.

i can buy this line of thought as well but I'd rather have seen 2-3 yard runs over 2-3 yard passes (bubbles). I just think it's the safer bet for the same reward because I have more faith in AW breaking one in that game than our receivers getting any YAC.

 

[Steve]

Not sure I agree with this. There have been times before where we have ran the ball to try to run out the clock, but instead, we just get stuffed, and have a lot of 3 and outs. The only reason that the running game was as effective as it was, was because Tulsa was forced to respect the passing game. Wimberly wasn't getting 4-5 yards every carry. Instead, he usually had 2-3 yard carries, and would break out a bigger one every few carries.

I agree with your points and would like to add a few more. The offense scored on 2 of their final 4 possessions which led to maintaining a comfortable margin of victory. Wimberly did end up with 7 carries in the 4th quarter which is close to what should be his upper limit. He doesn't have the frame to carry the load for 25 plus carries a game every week. He will continue to be more effective if his workload is managed properly.

If anything, with a lead, it was probably a better idea to use the opportunity to work on developing the passing game given how little experience our QB and young WR's have together in live game action.

 

[Aclone]

All in all better performance. I don't think the play calling was horrible (much better than the first two games) but I still think we could have done better. With the lead late in the third we threw the ball way too much. The way AW was getting chunks of yards on the ground I would have liked to see him with keep getting fed. Should have had about 30 pass attempts instead of 40.

I read this, and I couldn't help but think about how many times fans have complained about CPR (or McCarney) "playing not to lose", rather than "playing to win". Frankly, I was kinda pleased that they kept on attacking, rather than playing it safe. Seeing them put it into the end zone at the end was good, too.