So looking back over the fall practices, the staff said exactly where we were and how we looked. I drank too much kook-aid and made excuses for the statements.
When Riley made the comment after one practice that "it sometimes looked like football" he meant it. Evidenced by the errant throws and 14 penalties.......
When Riley said the D has given up too many big plays he meant it. Initially I was worried, but the kook-aid was strong and I reasoned that TA was that much improved he lit our D up..... What Riley was saying was that our DB's, on an Island, needed improving.
When Riley said our run game needed to be more consistent he meant it. Again, I thought it meant our DL was that dominant...... It really meant what he "said". Our OL needs some serious work in order to block and get our backs open. Hence the screens and sweeps...
When TA, Ganz and beat writers talked about the large amount of passing in practice, I bought into "we were working on an area of weakness". What it really was is that we are are going to pass. A Lot.
When Langs told TA he wouldn't be a RB who threw the ball, the kook-aid made me believe and "improved QB" who would run. Nope. Langs meant you won't be running as much....
These are just a few. Doesn't change yesterday, but at least with the band-aid ripped off it is what it is. BYU was good, but not that good or even borderline great. NU is just average right now. At least for the system that Riley and Co want.
In practice we had issues with big plays, no OL push, pass first, penalties etc..... Riley is too professional to say this. It was alluded to, but I didn't listen.......
There will be more growing pains and bumps than I expected. I didn't want to believe that this year would again see us struggle in so many areas. Injuries will really hurt now.
On a positive, the tackling was much better. Staff was calm. Kids were calm and I don't see us regressing next week......
When Riley made the comment after one practice that "it sometimes looked like football" he meant it. Evidenced by the errant throws and 14 penalties.......
When Riley said the D has given up too many big plays he meant it. Initially I was worried, but the kook-aid was strong and I reasoned that TA was that much improved he lit our D up..... What Riley was saying was that our DB's, on an Island, needed improving.
When Riley said our run game needed to be more consistent he meant it. Again, I thought it meant our DL was that dominant...... It really meant what he "said". Our OL needs some serious work in order to block and get our backs open. Hence the screens and sweeps...
When TA, Ganz and beat writers talked about the large amount of passing in practice, I bought into "we were working on an area of weakness". What it really was is that we are are going to pass. A Lot.
When Langs told TA he wouldn't be a RB who threw the ball, the kook-aid made me believe and "improved QB" who would run. Nope. Langs meant you won't be running as much....
These are just a few. Doesn't change yesterday, but at least with the band-aid ripped off it is what it is. BYU was good, but not that good or even borderline great. NU is just average right now. At least for the system that Riley and Co want.
In practice we had issues with big plays, no OL push, pass first, penalties etc..... Riley is too professional to say this. It was alluded to, but I didn't listen.......
There will be more growing pains and bumps than I expected. I didn't want to believe that this year would again see us struggle in so many areas. Injuries will really hurt now.
On a positive, the tackling was much better. Staff was calm. Kids were calm and I don't see us regressing next week......
