LawOwl said

A win is a win. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come

Posted On: Sep 3rd 2016, 9:46 PM #358296

There were shining moments (student section, Driskel had a solid outing, Buddy's runs, QB sacks) but yeah there's plenty to be concerned about here… 530 yards and 30 points to an FCS team. That's an ominous sign.

Doc..318 years in the first half alone. My guess is there may be a difference between tackling a dummy on the practice field and tackling a human that is trying not to get tackled. Lets move forward and think about next week. Still want to learn about injuries. Anything serious?

I'm a little worried at this point. The defense should be the strength of the team, and it didn't show. Hopefully it was just getting the first game kinks worked out.

Also, found it very interesting that white played a lot more than Warren. Driskell I thought played awful in the first half, but played a much better second half.

 I really want to see the next two games to be competitive, and have a chance still in the 4th quarter. 

UM games does NOT look good but Kansas State is a possibility, their O not very good. O played without WR Terry and OL Woods. Will only get better. D has almost nowhere to go nut better - SIU has a good O and I knew would score on us but 1st half was a bad unprepared D!

I am still looking at 7 wins but as of now not WKU. Beating FIU and Rice away.

GeorgiaOwl said

UM games does NOT look good but Kansas State is a possibility, their O not very good. O played without WR Terry and OL Woods. Will only get better. D has almost nowhere to go nut better - SIU has a good O and I knew would score on us but 1st half was a bad unprepared D!

I am still looking at 7 wins but as of now not WKU. Beating FIU and Rice away.

Posted On: Sep 4th 2016, 9:32 AM #358309

That's the one thing that still has me interested. Our conference schedule seems pretty soft so hopefully the D can get their act together. SIU has historically been one of the better FCS teams as evidenced by last year's one point loss at Indiana and their wins against IU and Northern Illinois in 06, 07 respectively. I don't think this team was as bad as advertised. Not to mention, getting this W meant way more to them than it did to us. We still have a very real shot at being 4-2 (2-0) at the bye week so I'm just hoping the D gets their act together and play how they're supposed. They are way too talented to be giving up that many points and yards to at best, an equal opponent.

There were bright spots as mentioned in the previous posts.

One thing I thought was important is they seemed to make great halftime adjustments.  They were one lucky play away (tipped TD in late 4th) from shutting them out in the second half.

6 or 7 wins is incredibly realistic this year, but I think this team is definitely moving in the right direction.

Agree KingTut. Moving in the right direction. Must keep moving though.

You get one chance each season to be 1-0.  Mission accomplished.  Would you rather be analyzing these perceived (may be perceived may be real, we don't know yet) problems 0-1 or 1-0.

Bright spots from yesterday:  Students attendance was amazing!  Is the class of 2020 going to be the class that makes the football games the place to be?  Don't know yet, but the team needs to give them more to cheer about, game had some dull moments.  Second half adjustments, they came back and were really crisp.  QB efficiency (over 70% completion, with a couple fortunate deflections) and showing good ability when to hold the ball or throw it away.

I wonder how much of the offense was held back yesterday?  Kind of risky, but if it was I would expect some new wrinkles to be unveiled against Miami.  Also, I think the tackling will improve.  The way teams practice today with little hitting just doesn't get the players ready.  Its happening in the NFL to.  I don't expect a win next week, I just want to survive with no injuries.

OC Irritant said

You get one chance each season to be 1-0.  Mission accomplished.  Would you rather be analyzing these perceived (may be perceived may be real, we don't know yet) problems 0-1 or 1-0.

Bright spots from yesterday:  Students attendance was amazing!  Is the class of 2020 going to be the class that makes the football games the place to be?  Don't know yet, but the team needs to give them more to cheer about, game had some dull moments.  Second half adjustments, they came back and were really crisp.  QB efficiency (over 70% completion, with a couple fortunate deflections) and showing good ability when to hold the ball or throw it away.

I wonder how much of the offense was held back yesterday?  Kind of risky, but if it was I would expect some new wrinkles to be unveiled against Miami.  Also, I think the tackling will improve.  The way teams practice today with little hitting just doesn't get the players ready.  Its happening in the NFL to.  I don't expect a win next week, I just want to survive with no injuries.

Posted On: Sep 4th 2016, 11:53 AM #358320

We saw a lot of that shotgun/zone read with the hand off throughout the game.  I'd expect they will build the season around that play with several wrinkles.  

Their pace was excellent.  I think it'll come down to getting comfortable with a lot of new pieces.  Lucky is a huge loss, obviously.  The talent is there, hopefully they build this year!

There were at least two or three games last year they SHOULD have won.  If they can turn at least those games around, it can be a great year.  

After sleeping on it I'm not as worried because i feel the first half was just sloppy play.
The first long play SIU has was to guys just trying hit stick the guy to the ground and not wrapping up.

The Dline was getting to the QB and they got lucky dumping the ball off a couple times for big gains.

A lot of that stuff can be cleaned up.

My bigger concern is the online who other than the two big runs were not opening holes or giving Driskel time at all.

I also notice a lot more rotating among the lb's and db's it seems at times it seemed Ocie was off the field for long periods of time with Juste and Rashad Smith (who made some nice plays)getting some time. Maybe it a couple guys got banged up or they wanted to get some guys some work, but you have to wonder if its a close game vs WKU would Ocie or Al be getting that much rest time?