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.
