Long post ahead, but I feel there needs to be some positivity brought in here after a game where it's easy to see a lot of negatives.
First off, hats off to App State. For being one-dimensional, their coaches called a great game, and they threw everything plus the kitchen sink and the foundation the house was built on at us.
Now on to some positive draws after a quick rewatch.
1. Although our playcalling and offensive gameplan was clearly as vanilla as it gets for this system, Preston Williams turned heads before getting nicked up (not confirming any injury news, but his limp was clear and noticeable [although it doesn't seem too serious, he played all game]). He will be a weapon down the stretch as the playbook opens up.
2. Josh Malone has grown up. You can see it all on his TD catch. The ball was always going to his back shoulder, but Malone baited the corner by cheating to his right and tracking the ball over his right shoulder. Then, at the last second, he turned the other way, putting his body between him and the corner to prevent a pass breakup, and followed all the way through the catch. All of his efforts pre-catch caused the defender to not only be out of position to make a play on the ball, but also caused him to overshoot Malone for an easy broken tackle and a leisurely jog into the endzone. That's a play that gets you playing time on Sundays.
3. This defense is going to cause problems for any team that tries to throw the ball, and if this offense opens up like it has in the past, teams are going to HAVE to throw the ball to beat us, and quite frankly, they are going to have their work cut out for them. The ends ate the tackles up all night, even to our detriment as they beat them so quickly that they became a non factor after the ball was handed off. Coverage by the secondary was top notch, with (IIRC) no completions made over 20 yards down the field, with the few attempts ending in either pass break ups or an interception.
4. This team is resilient, poised, and determined. Although it is easy to see that we were not mentally prepared initially for the game App State came to play, the defense adjusted in the second half and smothered the App State offense. When they decided that not one more point would be allowed, they made sure it happened. On the offensive side, although severely hamstrung by the conservative approach taken for this game, when it mattered most this offense made it happen. Overall, this team clearly had no doubt of the outcome of the game, from the players to the coaches, and were ready when the moments came to take the game.
5. No serious injuries, and conditioning was fantastic.
6. Kicking game was solid, Daniel averaged 50 a punt and Medley was 2/2 with a crucial 39-yarder to bring the game back to 7.
Overall, I think there is still just as much reason to be optimistic as there was before. Although it pisses me off that we clearly were not taking this game seriously, there are still plenty of bright spots to see. The OL needs to wake up, for they were the clearest offenders when it comes to not taking things seriously. They half assed the whole game, and that is the only explanation for it. We already know that these guys can do the job at a SEC level, they did it last season, so maybe they need to get the f off the OLPShadows page and start getting mean. 10 days til the BoB, and I think that's when we are really going to see what we have with this team. Enjoy the win, guys, the sky hasn't fallen yet.