Post by HoyaFan on Sept 13, 2004 8:22:16 GMT -5
I attended the Lafayette game on Saturday and came away with mixed feelings. I thought that the defense played extremely well over-all. They hit hard, moved to the ball and put pressure on the QB. I thought that Ononibaku played great and I was also impressed with a young secondary; even though they were not really tested downfield, except three times. I think any time you have three interceptions and two fumble recoveries your defense has done a great job. I also thought the linebackers did well (especially Hassan and Paulus) as did the DL. The new addition (Cordisco) made some nice plays on the Def line in the short time he was in there. On the special teams side, the punt return teams need some work; as one punt was fielded at about the five yard line (mistake) and another was dropped.
As for the offense, the only good thing I can say is that the kicking games (both punting and field goals) were improved and respectable. Whenever a team has a total of eight first downs, 61 yds total rushing, and 71 yds total passing (total 132 yds) it is hard to say anything positive. I was extremely disappointed in the play selection and the execution. I did not think we ran the ball well (a little over 1.5 yds per carry) and I don't think we ever even used a FB. We ran the same play between the tackles (with Sarin) over and over again, and after the first two running playes of the game I think we probably had about 40 yds rushing on 38 carries. I can only remember about two options to the outside, and neither yielded much. We never threw the ball downfield once (I think 12 yards was the longest), and never even gave ourselves a chance to make a big play. Also, it was extremely easy to figure out where the play was going from the way we lined up and the lack of deception in the hand-offs. I was very surprised to see that Marcus Slayton never even got in the game, even after Sarin had carried for 20+ times without a lot of success. After his first two carries for about 20 yards, he was limited to about 58 yds on his next 25 carries (2.4 yds per carry). My recollection was that the bigger backs did reasonable well against this team last year.
In summary, I felt that the defense did quite well, especially considering the amount of time they were on the field. I agree with one of the other respondents that the offense looked anemic. Like someone said, we need to open it up more. We need to be able to throw downfield at least five or six or more times a game. And we need a QB who can complete passes downfield. Maybe this is Allan, maybe it is Cangelosi, maybe it is Crawford, or maybe one of the other QB's. If we are committed to the option style offense then we need to get some people who can pull and block downfield, as well as be able to pass effectively from the run as well as from the shotgun/drop-back. Looking at the stats for the first two games against not the stronest of opponents, I see a total of 171 yds passing. Against the better teams in the PL it will be hard for us to win if we don't have an effective passing game. We can have an offense that is committed to the option style, and this is fine, but the better teams in the Pl have consistently been teams that can pass for yardage.
I know converting over to the option style offense is a big one, and one that you should not expect immediate results from, so maybe some of my comments are inappropriate at this time. I know that our new offensive co-ordinator needs time to have his players understand his new scheme, and also to find the right players to implement it; and I hope that he has success in doing so.
As for the offense, the only good thing I can say is that the kicking games (both punting and field goals) were improved and respectable. Whenever a team has a total of eight first downs, 61 yds total rushing, and 71 yds total passing (total 132 yds) it is hard to say anything positive. I was extremely disappointed in the play selection and the execution. I did not think we ran the ball well (a little over 1.5 yds per carry) and I don't think we ever even used a FB. We ran the same play between the tackles (with Sarin) over and over again, and after the first two running playes of the game I think we probably had about 40 yds rushing on 38 carries. I can only remember about two options to the outside, and neither yielded much. We never threw the ball downfield once (I think 12 yards was the longest), and never even gave ourselves a chance to make a big play. Also, it was extremely easy to figure out where the play was going from the way we lined up and the lack of deception in the hand-offs. I was very surprised to see that Marcus Slayton never even got in the game, even after Sarin had carried for 20+ times without a lot of success. After his first two carries for about 20 yards, he was limited to about 58 yds on his next 25 carries (2.4 yds per carry). My recollection was that the bigger backs did reasonable well against this team last year.
In summary, I felt that the defense did quite well, especially considering the amount of time they were on the field. I agree with one of the other respondents that the offense looked anemic. Like someone said, we need to open it up more. We need to be able to throw downfield at least five or six or more times a game. And we need a QB who can complete passes downfield. Maybe this is Allan, maybe it is Cangelosi, maybe it is Crawford, or maybe one of the other QB's. If we are committed to the option style offense then we need to get some people who can pull and block downfield, as well as be able to pass effectively from the run as well as from the shotgun/drop-back. Looking at the stats for the first two games against not the stronest of opponents, I see a total of 171 yds passing. Against the better teams in the PL it will be hard for us to win if we don't have an effective passing game. We can have an offense that is committed to the option style, and this is fine, but the better teams in the Pl have consistently been teams that can pass for yardage.
I know converting over to the option style offense is a big one, and one that you should not expect immediate results from, so maybe some of my comments are inappropriate at this time. I know that our new offensive co-ordinator needs time to have his players understand his new scheme, and also to find the right players to implement it; and I hope that he has success in doing so.