Grades - Southern Miss

tschu

tschu

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Report Card time...

Quarterback: A+

I'm not sure what I can say here to elaborate on what we saw. I'm just disappointed that everyone at the bar I was at still spent the whole game hating on and criticizing Taylor. If he didn't win you over with that performance, you're hopeless.

Running Backs: A-

And I only mark them down for an injured Rex really. Ameer showed why he's solidly the #2 guy...flashes of brilliance and a ton of athletic explosiveness. He's more of a Helu than a Burkhead, and he'll have two awesome years when Rex is gone. We used our fullbacks a couple of times! It wasn't entirely successful, but cool to see Marrow get a carry. And holy crap, Cross is HUGE. I get the feeling that he'll really come in handy in Big Ten play.

Tight Ends and Receivers: A

Holy crap, what a day for these guys. Their routes looked awesome, they caught everything that was thrown their way. Stephen Osborne made a couple huge grabs. Jamal looked like the Jamal that we need him to be. All-in-all, very impressive. And how about Jake Long getting an opportunity and playing well? We really want Cotton back for his blocking ability though.

Offensive Line: B+

Not bad fellas! There were still a few plays that were utterly blown up, but overall I was impressed actually. Again, we'll see how they fare next week and in Big Ten play against more physical D-lines.

Defensive Line: C-

Ehhhhh...not good. They got pushed around a ton up front. They were the main unit that I had my attention on and I wasn't impressed at all. Thad Randle looked outmatched. Camstache doesn't look much improved and looked a little slow. Ankrah got injured. I watched Chase Rome just totally give up on a play not once, but twice! And as a whole they looked pushed-around and out of position. But it's not hopeless, I'll give Kaz some time to get things fixed.

Linebackers: C+

We miss David badly. Compton didn't play awful by any stretch of the imagination, in fact I thought he played quite well, but he doesn't have the same speed as David did. They were out of position (at least it looked like it to me) several times. Tackling was subpar. Whaley looked terrible.

Secondary: B

Not bad as a whole I thought. Green and Evans got beat a couple times, but I thought coverage was pretty darn good for a unit that doesn't have any big names on it. They swarmed well when the LBs screwed up too.

Special Teams: D+

A kick return showed that our kick coverage, a problem for the last couple of years, is still a major issue. And Maher, who was so consistent last year, had two really bad kicks. Hopefully this game is just a fluke...our special teams should be a strong unit for us.

 
If you get a chance look at our backup offensive line while we were closing out the game with Cross. That is what an offensive line is supposed to look like. Total dominance. Of course, Southern Miss was dog tired and/or had their backups in as well. Still, it's preferable to our backups being ineffective in that situation. Makes me feel a lot better about the depth going forward. Depth on the offensive line will be crucial, especially at the pace we run our offense.

Big day for those guys, can't say Taylor and the Running Backs get an A without the line getting one too.

 
QB: A+

Taylor... Nuff said

RB: B+

Rex got hurt, but we saw a lot of good things from all 3 of the backups, as well as Marrow.

WR: A+

As far as I can remember, these guys caught every ball they had a chance to catch. I especially loved the catch by Osborne at the end of the 1st half.

TE: B+

Cotton got hurt, but Reed showed up big in the passing game, and Long caught a TD pass, so not bad.

OL: A

The big guys played fairly well, opened up some holes, and stayed healthy as far as I know. I'm not sure how good the So Miss defense was, but we pushed them around. Hopefully they continue to get better throughout the year.

DL: D

Ankrah looked decent but other than that, they picked up where they left off last year. It's embarrassing to see them get shoved around constantly and never get off of a block, ever.

LB: B-

Whaley looked decent, and Compton should be solid this season. We will miss LaVonte, but I think we will be just fine.

DB: B

Lots of missed tackles in the back end, but coverage looked decent.

Special Teams: F

Allowed a returned kickoff for a TD, 2 missed FGs, 1 kickoff that was kicked out of bounds. Just a sad day for Maher & Co.

 
We weren't sure what QB they were going to play and we had no film on their new offense. That there spells a recipe for DL and LBs being out of position. In the second half we made adjustments and held them to 3 points and 108 yards.

 
QB: A+ ..... Idc what Martinez's numbers were (obviously impressive), he stepped into his throws, made better decisions, and didn't fumble the ball. Damn impressive.

RB: A+ .....I know Rex was hurt, but we have so much talent in the backfield. Abdullah, Heard, and Cross OH MY!

WR: A .....This young talented group is starting to show. Lots of playmakers in Bell, Turner, and Enunwa. Not to mention a great catch by Osborne.

TE: A .... Reed and Long with TD receptions. Hopefully Cotton is OK cause we'll need his blocking.

OL: B+ .... Besides Collins their D line was mediocre to say the lease. Overall liked what I seen though.

DL: D+ ....Got bullied most of the game. Just don't see much talent with this unit. Hopefully Kaz proves me wrong.

LB: C .... Compton played well. Whaley was in the right place most of the time just needs to learn how to tackle. Would have liked to see more LBs yesterday.

DB: B .... Weren't tested much. I think our safeties will be solid this year, but the corners might be a question mark.

Special Team: F ....Couldn't have played much worse.

Overall I truly liked what I seen from Tim Beck. Seemed less conservative, spread the ball around, and the pace fits these guys perfect. The defense was so so , and we will see where they are at next week.

After week 1 this is where we stand in the nation.

PASSING YARDS

354.0 10th Overall

RUSHING YARDS

278.0 18th Overall

POINTS FORCED

49.0 14th Overall

POINTS AGAINST

20.0 51st Overall

 
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Yeah the defense did look better in the second half, I agree with that much EZ-E. I still think we need to upgrade our defensive line talent in a bad way. We'll see what Kaz can get out of these guys. I'm more so looking forward to see what the hyped up true freshmen can bring to the table.

 
Quarterback--A+

The big question for Taylor heading into his first game since putting in all that work in the off-season was, is he going to use all of that work and not revert back to his old mechanics? While there were occasions where he did use his old mechanics, there were many, many times where he didn't. His decision making was near perfect--granted he actually had the time to make those decisions--but when he didn't have the time, he made plays with his feet which allowed him to either scramble or throw the ball to a now open receiver. If this is the new permanent Taylor, then I'm very very pleased with where we are at the QB position.

Running Backs--A+

Even without Rex, our running backs looked very solid. Ameer is bigger, faster, stronger, and even shiftier. Braylon is flat out fast. Cross is a man. Consider me not worried if we don't have Rex for the UCLA game.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends--A+

No drops from easy to catch passes. 10 different players caught the ball.Steven Osborne made a ridiculous catch, but made possible through an accurate pass from Taylor. Still though, awesome day from the WR and TE.

Offensive Line--A

This was the biggest question I had coming into today. Was our offensive line going to make mistakes all over, or would they be sound? And while they weren't perfect, there were still plays where they allowed the pressure get right through, they committed no penalties and still allowed Taylor the time he needed. Very impressed with their play yesterday.

Defensive Line--C

Average day by those guys, didn't do anything too great. Got more pressure than last year, though. Hopefully they can make some improvements over the next few weeks.

Linebackers--C-

Inexperience was noticeable. That's really all I can say.

Secondary--B+

75 yards passing means that on the 19 pass attempts they weren't very successful. All in all a good day for them. Looks like the D will be like '10. Won't be passed on, could be ran on. But just one week in, so we'll see where it goes.

 
QB - A+

RB - A-

WR/TE - A+

Oline - A-

Dline - D-

LB - C+

Secondary B-

Special teams - F

 
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NUandOU said:
No droppies - check

No fumbles - check

No meaningless penalties - check

No dumb picks - check
Click to expand...
Ya that ^^^^! This is bigger on my report card then any grade given to any position. This is what I was looking for and for a "first game" ... I was pleased. It's a start.

 
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