Recruiting Forum Football Talk V

[MoCo_Vol]

I'm just here for Milton's heisman celebration

I'm kidding o course but it's ball state so let's not get ahead of ourselves.I did like his leadership and how the team seemed not to miss a beat when he came out.Do I think he can do it against an Sec defense??Why hell no ball state and Bama are 2 different animals.I saw some minor improvements so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now at least.

I disagree with this...last year against Bowling Green Milton looked bad in the passing game. He was 11 of 23 for 139 yards and 1 TD. 8 of 9 is his 2nd best completion % of his career. His best was 1 of 1 against Florida.

So I'm taking it for a positive that he's gotten more comfortable in the offense and the full off-season has given him back some confidence.

 

[BigSteve09]

I for one enjoyed last night's beat down. I know some people are being critical of the lack of sacks, but I'll take TOs > Sacks every day and we generated 3.

Basically stopped running first team towards the end of the 2nd quarter. Saw a lot of players get to play, pretty sure every QB on roster got a snap as did every OL.

Big positives from the game for me.

Defense:
3 TOs, 2 TFL, 5 PD, & 7 QB hurries held Ball State to 343 total yard and 10 points, held them under 3 ypc rushing and didn't give up any points in 1st half when starters were playing

Aaron Beasley - 8 total tackles and 1 QB hurry, he was getting after the ball a lot faster than last year
Kamal Hadden - ended up with 3 tackles and 1 INT, he is a baller and I expect him to just get better as the season goes on

I'll also say Christian Charles and Warren Burrell had pretty solid games playing CB. Both ended up with 8 total tackles and neither got many penalties or gave any real big plays. I think Burrell gets left on an island more than any other CB on our team, so obviously the staff sees something in him. I just don't know if he's ever going to be a big time turnover creator. More like a CB who is going to be on your hip and (hopefully) makes the tackle.

Offense:
So much to like as a team 27/35 (77%) 351 passing yards, 3 TDs 0 INTs Milton had a great showing 8/9 for 113 and a TD and that throw to Holiday was perfection. Hooker came out a bit juiced and threw high early but calmed down he also made some great reads to get in the endzone with his legs

Bru McCoy = real deal
Ramel Keyton = could he be this year's Tillman? was happy to see him play so well and hope that's something he continues to do
Tillman = quiet night, but still lead the team in catches and yards
Holiday = FINALLY got to show off that speed, he looks so much more confident at WR this season
Hyatt = would have been a pretty impressive catch since an uncalled PI happened to disturb concentration but other than that "drop" he looked pretty good. Didn't get a ton of snaps, but got in the endzone
Dylan Sampson = dude is going to be something, that lone reception where he broke the guys ankles on the sideline was beautiful. He was also running behind the 2nd/3rd stringer OL...I think when he starts getting more snaps with 1st team you'll see him flash even more in the running game

big fan of this post! all great points

 

[Nash_Vol97]

That TE had about a 1” vertical jump on the pass as well. Sure he was turned around, but he didn’t help matters.

Splitting hairs on Milton’s only incompletion, but that one is shared responsibility.

Come to think of it, this discussion is worlds better than it was a year ago when Milton threw it into the river.

Milton last year throws that pass and hits the back of the wall behind the endzone because he threw a bullet. This year it’s within the catch radius. It’s an improvement

The TE (who was it? I can’t even remember) definitely didn’t help matters but that’s not an easy catch when the pass doesn’t have enough touch to it. Essentially, neither him or Milton helped the situation. Both can shoulder some blame.

 

[Orange.]

Perhaps we should get our future QB more reps in trash time?

How would you know? You were so interested you had already turned off the game.

 

[butchna]

I commented.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I don't have the video or stat sheet, but I know he missed a wide open TE for a TD, and I don't remember there being an interference call on that one. Milton looked pretty good. If he can figure out a way to get some touch in place of velocity on some of his throws, he'll be a problem for a lot of teams.

See this is what I hate. In the NFL hitting a TE directly in the hands isn't "missing" the throw. And that ball went right through the TE's hands, Milton could have taken something off it and made it an easier catch, but the TE also drifted inside on what was basically a go route so he made it a more difficult catch for himself too.

Milton had probably the best showing he could have and yet STILL somehow we got fans with something negative to say. Go rewatch some of his work from last season, Bowling Green and Pitt. THOSE are missing receivers. What happened last night was about as perfect of a game as Joe will ever have.

 

[Leeleesteeth]

Just read several posts in the FF. We did win last night didn't we? That's a scary place.

 

[Nuctech777]

Milton last year throws that pass and hits the back of the wall behind the endzone because he threw a bullet. This year it’s within the catch radius. It’s an improvement

The TE (who was it? I can’t even remember) definitely didn’t help matters but that’s not an easy catch when the pass doesn’t have enough touch to it. Essentially, neither him or Milton helped the situation. Both can shoulder some blame.

The TE had just been held and a PI was called. Had he not been held, he may have had a chance to pull it in, even though it was coming in hot.

 

[Jackcrevol]

How would you know? You were so interested you had already turned off the game.

Did you read the remainder of my discussion with @MoCo_Vol ?

Since you're so interested in reading my posts...

I sware certain of you would argue with anyone, just for sport.

 

[Nuctech777]

See this is what I hate. In the NFL hitting a TE directly in the hands isn't "missing" the throw. And that ball went right through the TE's hands, Milton could have taken something off it and made it an easier catch, but the TE also drifted inside on what was basically a go route so he made it a more difficult catch for himself too.

Milton had probably the best showing he could have and yet STILL somehow we got fans with something negative to say. Go rewatch some of his work from last season, Bowling Green and Pitt. THOSE are missing receivers. What happened last night was about as perfect of a game as Joe will ever have.

My immediate thought on that play was, that’s a catch in the NFL. The TE might have even caught it if he hadn’t been held.

 

[Nuctech777]

I for one enjoyed last night's beat down. I know some people are being critical of the lack of sacks, but I'll take TOs > Sacks every day and we generated 3.

Basically stopped running first team towards the end of the 2nd quarter. Saw a lot of players get to play, pretty sure every QB on roster got a snap as did every OL.

Big positives from the game for me.

Defense:
3 TOs, 2 TFL, 5 PD, & 7 QB hurries held Ball State to 343 total yard and 10 points, held them under 3 ypc rushing and didn't give up any points in 1st half when starters were playing

Aaron Beasley - 8 total tackles and 1 QB hurry, he was getting after the ball a lot faster than last year
Kamal Hadden - ended up with 3 tackles and 1 INT, he is a baller and I expect him to just get better as the season goes on

I'll also say Christian Charles and Warren Burrell had pretty solid games playing CB. Both ended up with 8 total tackles and neither got many penalties or gave any real big plays. I think Burrell gets left on an island more than any other CB on our team, so obviously the staff sees something in him. I just don't know if he's ever going to be a big time turnover creator. More like a CB who is going to be on your hip and (hopefully) makes the tackle.

Offense:
So much to like as a team 27/35 (77%) 351 passing yards, 3 TDs 0 INTs Milton had a great showing 8/9 for 113 and a TD and that throw to Holiday was perfection. Hooker came out a bit juiced and threw high early but calmed down he also made some great reads to get in the endzone with his legs

Bru McCoy = real deal
Ramel Keyton = could he be this year's Tillman? was happy to see him play so well and hope that's something he continues to do
Tillman = quiet night, but still lead the team in catches and yards
Holiday = FINALLY got to show off that speed, he looks so much more confident at WR this season
Hyatt = would have been a pretty impressive catch since an uncalled PI happened to disturb concentration but other than that "drop" he looked pretty good. Didn't get a ton of snaps, but got in the endzone
Dylan Sampson = dude is going to be something, that lone reception where he broke the guys ankles on the sideline was beautiful. He was also running behind the 2nd/3rd stringer OL...I think when he starts getting more snaps with 1st team you'll see him flash even more in the running game

It might be too early, but I don’t think Burrell will be a starter for much longer.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

The TE had just been held and a PI was called. Had he not been held, he may have had a chance to pull it in, even though it was coming in hot.

False...



The one incompletion was the pass in question to Hunter Salmon. The PI happened on Holiday cutting inside for a perfect slant (where had he not been held he would have caught it).

 

[BigSteve09]

After a night to sleep on it…

Our first team offense is elite/borderline elite. Pleased with the tackles. We have depth at some positions like WR but at others we need another year or two of recruits so we have little drop off. This is the main difference between Georgia/Bama and everyone else on both sides of the ball.

Milton, if (and that’s a huge if) he can be consistent, has a chance to throw a ton of touchdowns next year. He does things that Hendon cannot when he’s really on his game. That touchdown pass might be the best thrown ball I have seen. With Milton’s deep threat in particular, I would love to see what he and Squirrel do.

I’m not sold on our starting defense, and concerned about 2nd team. To be honest, I expected more after coaches talking up how much more depth we had. While it was not a bad game from them, it also had a few glaring holes that were present from last year. Both pass rush and DB play *cough*Burrell*cough* again were… well… mediocre at times. Hadden was a bright spot here. Yes, we played vanilla, but I thought we could generate heat without a blitz against a mac opponent.

I’d also like to mention that we played incredibly clean and fundamental outside of the botched exchange between Tayven Jackson and Justin-Williams Thomas. I’m pleased with the discipline and focus on both sides of the ball - I don’t remember us having more than two penalties.

Next week we find out what this team is really capable of. It will be anything but vanilla. We will need to be creative in how we attack Pitt. However they gave up some yards on the ground so I suspect we attack them up the gut early and often. Their pass rush will be crucial to pick up as well, need to be locked in on the edges. Slovis is no Pickett but he is also not a slouch. We cannot let him have time in the pocket or we will be picked apart. Expecting a high stress fun game next Saturday.

GBO

I agree. I was hoping to see more from our edge guys especially. It is worth noting that Ball State returned 7 of their 10 OL that saw playing time last year.

 

[SouthKnoxVOL]

Milton looked good last night....the TE should have caught that ball...wasn't Milton's fault.

 

[KptVFL]

we blitz two versus Pitt or esp Florida and we will pay. Gotta get to the QB.

Hoping what we saw with that last night was us just doing what we had to do and not showing our hand to Pitt.

 

[ChattaTNVol]

 

[Smyrna ATL Vol]

Fun game last night. Offense is legit. Wide receivers look even better than last years. Running backs pretty much ran three running plays all night and still got yards.

Defense: held when we needed to. They looked more comfortable in the scheme especially in zone defense. Played pretty vanilla and basic though. Do not understand the love the coaches have for Burrell or Tank. The younger guys looked more athletic and better to me. And Garland (linebacker) should be playing more.

Next game should really show us who we are. But this style of play is so much more fun than Cornbreads crap.

 

[BigSteve09]

Seeing negativity towards our DL. I'll counter that.

• Balls Tate's OL was no slouch and considered a strength of the team. Averages around 6'4", 310lbs+
• They had a game plan to neutralize a pass rush. Quick passes, offsetting running attack, and occasional cut blocking
• The first interception was a direct result of DL pressure
• Loved seeing Josephs and Big O getting a hand (or forearm) on a pass. More of that please.
• Vanilla defensive game plan. We played a bend, don't break approach. Look at 3rd down efficiency. Balls Tate was 5/14 on 3rd down and 0/2 on 4th down. Kept everything in front of us and it worked.
• Starting D held them scoreless. How can you get much better than that?

I don't see how anyone can come up with negativity. Be neutral at worst.

They returned 7 of 10 OL that played snaps last year too. They are an experienced group.

 

[So.ProVOL]

Milton looked good last night....the TE should have caught that ball...wasn't Milton's fault.

Agree 100%

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Something about CB starters to remember is that'll also be dictated a bit by Banks and his style of play calling.

Ainge pointed this out prior to the game that he noticed Banks likes to run a lot of zone in the secondary even when sending pressure. Which adds the space for WRs to make catches, now if you have the speed this becomes a "vulture" style of coverage...but if you don't have great speed (which I don't think Burrell has) then you always seem to show up a step or two late to making a bigger play.

Taylor isn't a great man coverage CB, but he was excellent in this style of zone coverage. Because he's a 4.3 guy and could break on the ball and get there. So we may continue to see Burrell play a lot at CB because he may not have the speed to make the interceptions or PD, but he always seems to at least be in position to make the tackle. If that's what Banks expects/wants from his CBs then may just be what it is until someone else can earn that spot.

I think our best pure coverage CBs are Hadden and Charles, but if we're mostly playing zone coverage are we hindering them or helping them? Not sure, not a secondary coach. I do know that I'm damn excited to see so much depth in the secondary and overall seemed like more guys were in position to make tackles than last year. So the team speed in the secondary has improved too.

 

[csprig9]

On twitter last night. I saw announced attendance was a little over 92k

Hyams will say 60000

 

[Jackcrevol]

Hoping what we saw with that last night was us just doing what we had to do and not showing our hand to Pitt.

Im sure its a bit of both.

 

[jacobyvoln27]

I commented.

He Just mad that Candace left and sorry butt for another woman

 

[Nash_Vol97]

The TE had just been held and a PI was called. Had he not been held, he may have had a chance to pull it in, even though it was coming in hot.

There was no PI on that play, I just went back and watched it.

 

[BigSteve09]

I said this last week, but we might have seen some of this last night.

We might just have to get used to seeing our defense play soft between the 20's. Play aggressive when the opponent is pinned deep to force a mistake, otherwise play soft/deep to not get burned. Keep it in front of us and then lock down or play hyper aggressive inside our 30/20.

It worked for Ole Miss last year. A lot of teams do this. With the way football is now, weighted towards the offense, you're better off playing redzone roulette sometimes.

Not saying it's my favorite defense, but sometimes you have to work with the team that you have. If we can't win 1v1 matchups at various positions, we just have to play a style of ball where we know our offense will score more times than not, so put pressure on the opponent's offense to keep up with us. How many offenses on our schedule can do that?

@MoCo_Vol pointed it out in a post as well. We weren't getting to the QB but we were forcing turnovers. If that's the style of defense we have to play this year then so be it.