Can someone describe the first two games?

[CelticRover20]

Living in Kentucky, neither of the first two games were broadcast here. We could't even get the games on the radio, so my wife and I are at a loss as to how the games really went. How did the offense look? Did Watson show any brillance in his play calling? What about the defense? I've read some of the threads on other topics, but it's hard to tell just how things went. What about the crowd? Were they into the game? Was there any of the loud sarcasm that was evident everytime I attended a Callahan-coached game? How was the exit from the tunnel? What's the word on the Va. tech game? Geez, it's a female dog being in the dark here in the bluegrass state. SOMEBODY HELP US!

[CENTEXHUSKER]

Being in Texas, I can't really give you any detailed info, I haven't seen any live coverage either. But here is a link that may help you listen to the games.

 

GBR

 

Link

[REDSTEEL]

The defense is in the bend and don't break mode and hope that they can get a turnover, while the offense can't run to save their life. Playing this way will get ugly once they play an opponent that can and will take advantage of these problems.

[EbylHusker]

The team is showing a lot more intensity and passion. They're flying around pretty well.

 

The first game was fairly solid. Offense looked good (nothing brilliant, just typical stuff). Lots of passing, not a whole lot of running (partly due to the other team stacking 8-9 players into the box consistently, partly due to our O-line being inconsistent with run blocking). Defense tackled pretty well but made lots of mental errors.

 

Second game was a bit shaky. The entire team just looked "off". I think it was more of an off game than anything particularly endemic to the team this season. Tackling was bad, lots of penalties, etc. They just weren't focused. Offense stalled until the 4th quarter, run blocking was worse than the first game, pass blocking wasn't even all that great. Defense made more mental errors, but the effort was still there. But in the end, people stepped up and made big plays when they were needed. They sparked the team and into the 4th quarter they started looking good again.

 

Overall, I don't think it was a bad start. 2-0 with plenty of problems to fix, but that's really where I expected us to be. We'll see next game if this last game was just a fluke, or is more how the team will actually play. But I'm willing to be it was the anomaly, not the rule.

 

Edit - Btw, that second game would have gone a whole lot different if we didn't kill ourselves with penalties and poor tackling. Those just murdered us and our momentum.

[captain obvious]

We could have some big problems once we play a team with decent corners. Everybody's stacking the line to make us pass, and while our offensive output has been limited, the passing game has been sufficient to put points up and keep the time of possession manageable for the D. I'm not looking forward to playing teams that can stop the run and play pass coverage, though.

 

The D looked like a Cosgrove unit for the first 3 quarters on Saturday, except for Suh's pick-6. Lots and lots and lots and lots of missed tackles. Players were out of position every time SJSU ran any type of misdirection. I should add that Kyle Reed was a much better QB than I think anybody anticipated facing last week. Still, they let the same sh#t go for 9-10 yards at a time, over and over again.

[SkullandBones]

Living in Kentucky, neither of the first two games were broadcast here. We could't even get the games on the radio, so my wife and I are at a loss as to how the games really went. How did the offense look? Did Watson show any brillance in his play calling? What about the defense? I've read some of the threads on other topics, but it's hard to tell just how things went. What about the crowd? Were they into the game? Was there any of the loud sarcasm that was evident everytime I attended a Callahan-coached game? How was the exit from the tunnel? What's the word on the Va. tech game? Geez, it's a female dog being in the dark here in the bluegrass state. SOMEBODY HELP US!

 

The running game is the biggest concern to me. The O line is missing some assignments for sure, but overall the zone run blocking is there, problem is the past two teams stacked the box, simply more defenders than blockers. Fine. Let teams do that. Then we stretch the line with options, naked boots, quick slants etc. and make em pay for putting all their eggs in one basket right? But were not doing that. We just keep running traps, counters and dives right into the mis-matches, untill it's third and long and our hand is forced, I don't get it. Bo is probably holding back some, why give the conference's D coords something to prepare for, and the vanilla we've seen for the first two games HAS been enough to win, nothing more. I sincerely hope this is the case, because if all of our cards are on the table now we're in trouble.

 

Defensively, tackling is simply awful. Not anywhere near good enough to be competitive in the Big 12. The schemes being run by Carl are, for the most part, right on the money...but the execution to this point has sucked. Yeah, our guys get 'happy feet' on occasion and abandon their lanes leaving huge chunks of field out there for the taking, but overall the D plan looks fairly solid. We just need to execute. Also, pressure has been fairly good. We were able to knock out SJS starter late in the game with a mild concussion, and I don't think it was from one big hit, he was knocked around pretty consistently in the second half.

 

So, Rover, the way I see it overall is this: We have some work to do, no doubt, but as near as I can tell these are coachable problems, not talent - there's plenty of talent. Also, there has been no quit out there. The fourth quarter against SJS was as good as I've seen for a while: pressure, gang tackling, knock downs, very reassuring. The coaching staff just needs to get their player's heads in the game from quarter one and play the way they are capable of. Va. Tech and the big twelve are just around the corner. I am a big believer in Bo and his staff, but the time for all the rah rah sh!t is over, we need to make some statements on the field, sooner rather than later.

 

That concludes my rant, please go about your business as usual.

[Pedro Guerrero]

Ok first game, crappy second game. I think that pretty much covers it.