DiderotsGhost
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Here are my takeaways from the Bowling Green game. Realize that I am merely one of hundreds offering up my thoughts, but I enjoy doing this, so read if you like and TL;DR if you dont.
Dont Read Too Much Into The Game. There are many takeaways from the game. Yet for all the good, the bad, and the ugly, Id say dont read too much into it. This was the first game of the season and it was against a very unique opponent. We did learn a lot from this game, but some of the issues we saw against BG will be remedied in a couple of weeks (or may not be issues against other teams.) More importantly, I think well see new issues pop up over time in areas where BG failed to exploit our weaknesses.
Bowling Green is Unique. There arent too many teams on our schedule that will look much like Bowling Green. Think of the next 11 teams we play. How many of them are fast-paced passing-oriented offenses with extremely talented wide receivers? Conversely, how many teams that we play will struggle that much on defense? South Carolina is probably the most comparable team on our schedule, but the vast majority of our opponents will look nothing like BG.
Dino Babers is a Great Coach. While its easy to focus on what we did wrong, Ive got to say I was immensely impressed with Bowling Green. Dino Babers, BGs head coach, made a huge leap from Year 1 to Year 2 in his previous job at I-AA Eastern Illinois. He finished his first year 7-5 with a couple of tough losses. His second season, he went 12-2 and beat one I-A team (San Diego St) and came a hair within beating a second (Northern Illinois). Mind you, Northern Illinois went 12-2, so they were no pushover. Dino is in his 2nd year at BG and I dont think its implausible that this team was much better than the BG team of 2014 that finished 8-6. So while I was frustrated by some parts of our game, I would be careful to remember that BG might actually be a very good mid-major team this year.
Our Special Teams Play was Spectacular. Holy crap! This is the best I can ever remember our special teams playing in my entire life. Even during the Fulmer years, special teams were often a weakness. OK, so Medley had two rough FG tries, but otherwise, our special teams played darn near perfect. Medleys misses are nothing to panic about, either, as they were both over 50 yards and in less than ideal weather conditions.
Hurd + Kamara Lived Up to Hype. I really hope both of these guys stay healthy this year, because this is one of the best 1-2 combos in all of college football. Its difficult to say anything bad about either of these guys performances, because they both played outstanding. The other pleasant surprise: it's starting to look like we have more depth at RB than expected, as John Kelly played well, too.
O-line Played Better, but Will Be Tested. The O-line had a few failures this game, but overall, held up pretty well during the BG game. Certainly, it looked like an improvement over last years O-line. BGs defensive front is likely one of the weaker fronts well see this year, so its difficult to know how much we can take away from this. That said, the O-line looked very impressive in the running game and if I had to extrapolate, I think were much better in that regard this year. It struggled a bit more in pass protection, but still much better than last year. On a preliminary basis, Id say O-line looks like its improved from a 3 (out of 10) in 2014 to maybe a 6 out of 10 in 2015. Well learn a lot more next week when we play Oklahoma. If we can get a good push against teams like Oklahoma and Florida, I think that will be a good sign for the season.
Jauan Jennings is a Stud. How many true Freshmen wide receivers can you think of that immediately made an impact in Game #1? And how many true Freshman WRs can you think of that did that after only converting to WR about a month before the season started? It seems insane to say it, but Jennings may be our best WR! Sure, he made the one bad block, but for a guy who has been playing WR for all of one month, he did extraordinarily well. Now, lets just get the kid some more practice blocking!
Questions in the Secondary. I rated the secondary as one of our biggest strengths heading into the season, but we struggled in coverage against BG big-time. Injuries to McNeil and Gaulden almost certainly hurt us; we needed depth badly. Emmanuel Moseley and Micah Abernathy also struggled quite a bit. If theres good news, I think most of our problems can be solved by better scheming, coaching, and experience. The bad news is that we dont have too long to get these issues figured out with Oklahoma coming up next week. If we continue struggling with coverage, were going to have major issues with defending teams like Alabama and South Carolina.
On the Flipside. Even if our secondary struggled, we might be fortunate that it happened in Week 1 against an otherwise inferior opponent. Of the 12 teams on our schedule, its likely that Bowling Green will end up being one of the three most difficult passing attacks well see all year. BG did not test us defensively and their running game never got much momentum, but their passing game is amongst the best in the nation.
We Made Good Adjustments. We had a horrible 2nd Quarter, but our coaches made the right adjustments after BG started picking apart our secondary. At the worst of it, the score was 21-20. After our coaches started adjusting, we outscored BG 38-10. Its very impressive that we kept one of the best offenses in the nation under 10 points in the 2nd half. So dont push the panic button on the secondary just yet. Also remember that BG tested our depth at secondary more than any other team on the schedule might.
Dobbs is Good, but Lets Slow Down the Hype. I love Dobbs. Hes a good QB and probably the most intelligent QB weve ever had. The Dobbs hype train has gotten a bit out of hand, though (with some even calling him a Heisman candidate). Dobbs is a versatile QB that frustrates defense with his legs, but hes still got to work on his field vision and the passing game in general. He chose to run in some spots where he had open receivers. We might have put up 59 points, but felt like there were plenty of missed opportunities in the passing game. It also became very clear in this game that our running game is the true strength. I think Dobbs will continue to improve as the seasons progresses, but I wouldnt put him in the same category as Dak Prescott just yet.
Offense Looked Boring. Debord? More like Deboring! Just kidding. I did think our offense looked boring, but that was likely by design. We had very little difficulty running all over BG, so we didnt really need to get fancy. It will be interesting to see how we change our style against tougher defenses, though. I actually dont know how much we learned about our offense this game, because it wasnt tested.
Few Turnovers. The most surprising thing about the game to me was that there was only one turnover. We only created one turnover, which I found disappointing. On the plus side, we had zero turnovers. Even against an inferior defense, not bad for Game #1. But I do feel like our D needs to create more turnovers to be elite this season.
Overall We looked dominant through most of this game, but showed some major weaknesses in the 2nd Quarter. We made excellent adjustments, but I do worry that our increasing depth issues at secondary could be an issue. Nevertheless, Id rather have our coaches find the weaknesses now than against Georgia or Alabama several weeks from now.
Our offense ran all over BG, but don't know whether this will hold true with tougher opponents. Certainly our rushing game looked great, but my biggest concern is that good defenses will stack the box against us, and we won't be able to make plays in the passing game. I have a feeling we'll get a lot more answers though in Week #2.
Dont Read Too Much Into The Game. There are many takeaways from the game. Yet for all the good, the bad, and the ugly, Id say dont read too much into it. This was the first game of the season and it was against a very unique opponent. We did learn a lot from this game, but some of the issues we saw against BG will be remedied in a couple of weeks (or may not be issues against other teams.) More importantly, I think well see new issues pop up over time in areas where BG failed to exploit our weaknesses.
Bowling Green is Unique. There arent too many teams on our schedule that will look much like Bowling Green. Think of the next 11 teams we play. How many of them are fast-paced passing-oriented offenses with extremely talented wide receivers? Conversely, how many teams that we play will struggle that much on defense? South Carolina is probably the most comparable team on our schedule, but the vast majority of our opponents will look nothing like BG.
Dino Babers is a Great Coach. While its easy to focus on what we did wrong, Ive got to say I was immensely impressed with Bowling Green. Dino Babers, BGs head coach, made a huge leap from Year 1 to Year 2 in his previous job at I-AA Eastern Illinois. He finished his first year 7-5 with a couple of tough losses. His second season, he went 12-2 and beat one I-A team (San Diego St) and came a hair within beating a second (Northern Illinois). Mind you, Northern Illinois went 12-2, so they were no pushover. Dino is in his 2nd year at BG and I dont think its implausible that this team was much better than the BG team of 2014 that finished 8-6. So while I was frustrated by some parts of our game, I would be careful to remember that BG might actually be a very good mid-major team this year.
Our Special Teams Play was Spectacular. Holy crap! This is the best I can ever remember our special teams playing in my entire life. Even during the Fulmer years, special teams were often a weakness. OK, so Medley had two rough FG tries, but otherwise, our special teams played darn near perfect. Medleys misses are nothing to panic about, either, as they were both over 50 yards and in less than ideal weather conditions.
Hurd + Kamara Lived Up to Hype. I really hope both of these guys stay healthy this year, because this is one of the best 1-2 combos in all of college football. Its difficult to say anything bad about either of these guys performances, because they both played outstanding. The other pleasant surprise: it's starting to look like we have more depth at RB than expected, as John Kelly played well, too.
O-line Played Better, but Will Be Tested. The O-line had a few failures this game, but overall, held up pretty well during the BG game. Certainly, it looked like an improvement over last years O-line. BGs defensive front is likely one of the weaker fronts well see this year, so its difficult to know how much we can take away from this. That said, the O-line looked very impressive in the running game and if I had to extrapolate, I think were much better in that regard this year. It struggled a bit more in pass protection, but still much better than last year. On a preliminary basis, Id say O-line looks like its improved from a 3 (out of 10) in 2014 to maybe a 6 out of 10 in 2015. Well learn a lot more next week when we play Oklahoma. If we can get a good push against teams like Oklahoma and Florida, I think that will be a good sign for the season.
Jauan Jennings is a Stud. How many true Freshmen wide receivers can you think of that immediately made an impact in Game #1? And how many true Freshman WRs can you think of that did that after only converting to WR about a month before the season started? It seems insane to say it, but Jennings may be our best WR! Sure, he made the one bad block, but for a guy who has been playing WR for all of one month, he did extraordinarily well. Now, lets just get the kid some more practice blocking!
Questions in the Secondary. I rated the secondary as one of our biggest strengths heading into the season, but we struggled in coverage against BG big-time. Injuries to McNeil and Gaulden almost certainly hurt us; we needed depth badly. Emmanuel Moseley and Micah Abernathy also struggled quite a bit. If theres good news, I think most of our problems can be solved by better scheming, coaching, and experience. The bad news is that we dont have too long to get these issues figured out with Oklahoma coming up next week. If we continue struggling with coverage, were going to have major issues with defending teams like Alabama and South Carolina.
On the Flipside. Even if our secondary struggled, we might be fortunate that it happened in Week 1 against an otherwise inferior opponent. Of the 12 teams on our schedule, its likely that Bowling Green will end up being one of the three most difficult passing attacks well see all year. BG did not test us defensively and their running game never got much momentum, but their passing game is amongst the best in the nation.
We Made Good Adjustments. We had a horrible 2nd Quarter, but our coaches made the right adjustments after BG started picking apart our secondary. At the worst of it, the score was 21-20. After our coaches started adjusting, we outscored BG 38-10. Its very impressive that we kept one of the best offenses in the nation under 10 points in the 2nd half. So dont push the panic button on the secondary just yet. Also remember that BG tested our depth at secondary more than any other team on the schedule might.
Dobbs is Good, but Lets Slow Down the Hype. I love Dobbs. Hes a good QB and probably the most intelligent QB weve ever had. The Dobbs hype train has gotten a bit out of hand, though (with some even calling him a Heisman candidate). Dobbs is a versatile QB that frustrates defense with his legs, but hes still got to work on his field vision and the passing game in general. He chose to run in some spots where he had open receivers. We might have put up 59 points, but felt like there were plenty of missed opportunities in the passing game. It also became very clear in this game that our running game is the true strength. I think Dobbs will continue to improve as the seasons progresses, but I wouldnt put him in the same category as Dak Prescott just yet.
Offense Looked Boring. Debord? More like Deboring! Just kidding. I did think our offense looked boring, but that was likely by design. We had very little difficulty running all over BG, so we didnt really need to get fancy. It will be interesting to see how we change our style against tougher defenses, though. I actually dont know how much we learned about our offense this game, because it wasnt tested.
Few Turnovers. The most surprising thing about the game to me was that there was only one turnover. We only created one turnover, which I found disappointing. On the plus side, we had zero turnovers. Even against an inferior defense, not bad for Game #1. But I do feel like our D needs to create more turnovers to be elite this season.
Overall We looked dominant through most of this game, but showed some major weaknesses in the 2nd Quarter. We made excellent adjustments, but I do worry that our increasing depth issues at secondary could be an issue. Nevertheless, Id rather have our coaches find the weaknesses now than against Georgia or Alabama several weeks from now.
Our offense ran all over BG, but don't know whether this will hold true with tougher opponents. Certainly our rushing game looked great, but my biggest concern is that good defenses will stack the box against us, and we won't be able to make plays in the passing game. I have a feeling we'll get a lot more answers though in Week #2.
