My jumbled reaction to the weekend
Michigan-related thoughts:
The Defense looked good, but I don't think we can take too much away from this game. Vandy's QB played like an idiot - not throwing the ball away led to at least 2 sacks. But I was happy to see the D-Line get some pressure, whether they were helped by some QB mistakes or not.
My friend Jake said that the DBs probably deserve a grade of incomplete, and I agree. Too much pressure from the DL and a few drops from Vandy receivers meant little work for the DBs. Charles Stewart was the culprit on the Vandy trick play TD. He was overly aggresive and left his man when he saw the lateral. His mistake likely cost him his starting position on this week's depth chart, but I'm sure he'll still play a lot.
Henne looked a bit off, and the WRs and TEs had too many drops. Not attempting enough downfield passes surely didn't help. We are probably "saving" stuff for the Notre Dame game... but what good has that done us in the past? I say throw some post routes in there and get Henne some practice on the deep throws.
I have only watched the game tape once, but the OL looked average. Typical first game stuff. Pass protection broke down at times, sometimes due to the TE missing an assignment. I think zone blocking is good for a player like Hart (duh), but it's going to take some time to "perfect." At least RG Alex Mitchell got to the "second level" and blocked an LB on Kevin Grady's opening drive TD run. So, there's hope.
Special teams: Rivas makes a career-long, gets a makeable kick blocked, and an extra-point tipped. Not surprising. Zoltan Mesko had one nice punt, but got the benefit of the bounce on another one. Ross Ryan had one touchback, but didn't get nearly enough hang time on his returnable kicks. Kick coverage could be a problem as a result, which I wasn't expecting after last year (despite the lower kicking tees). Breaston needs to wake up.
Overall, this was similar to what I expected. We won't know much until the Notre Dame game.
Thoughts on other games/teams:
Notre Dame looked beatable, which means that Michigan won't beat them. Against Georgia Tech, ND took the lead after a questionable personal foul call on a 3rd down play (which didn't produce a 1st down). Otherwise, a tie (and overtime) would have been likely.
Miami-FSU looked like an exact replica of last year's game. Maybe having that game to open the season isn't such a great thing, because both OLs looked horrible. Most coaches say that the Defense is usually ahead of the Offense early on, and it showed. For the National Title race, fans of all teams should be happy that Miami lost, because although their Offense is mediocre, their Defense is pretty darn good and their schedule is pretty darn weak from here on out (especially now that Louisville RB Michael Bush is done for the season).
Maybe the ACC isn't all that: Virginia loses to Pitt, North Carolina loses to Rutgers. Conversely, maybe the Big East is all that. Or not.
Speaking of poop: Montana State 19, Colorado 10. Rod Gilmore picked them to win the Big 12 North. And now we know why nobody listens to Rod Gilmore.
Speaking of bad picks: Kirk Herbstreit picked Miami in the BCS Title Game. Lee Corso picked Cal. Corso's logic? Cal doesn't have to play in a Conference Championship Game (and thus he picked West Virginia as their opponent). Way to think that one through, bro.
The Defense looked good, but I don't think we can take too much away from this game. Vandy's QB played like an idiot - not throwing the ball away led to at least 2 sacks. But I was happy to see the D-Line get some pressure, whether they were helped by some QB mistakes or not.
My friend Jake said that the DBs probably deserve a grade of incomplete, and I agree. Too much pressure from the DL and a few drops from Vandy receivers meant little work for the DBs. Charles Stewart was the culprit on the Vandy trick play TD. He was overly aggresive and left his man when he saw the lateral. His mistake likely cost him his starting position on this week's depth chart, but I'm sure he'll still play a lot.
Henne looked a bit off, and the WRs and TEs had too many drops. Not attempting enough downfield passes surely didn't help. We are probably "saving" stuff for the Notre Dame game... but what good has that done us in the past? I say throw some post routes in there and get Henne some practice on the deep throws.
I have only watched the game tape once, but the OL looked average. Typical first game stuff. Pass protection broke down at times, sometimes due to the TE missing an assignment. I think zone blocking is good for a player like Hart (duh), but it's going to take some time to "perfect." At least RG Alex Mitchell got to the "second level" and blocked an LB on Kevin Grady's opening drive TD run. So, there's hope.
Special teams: Rivas makes a career-long, gets a makeable kick blocked, and an extra-point tipped. Not surprising. Zoltan Mesko had one nice punt, but got the benefit of the bounce on another one. Ross Ryan had one touchback, but didn't get nearly enough hang time on his returnable kicks. Kick coverage could be a problem as a result, which I wasn't expecting after last year (despite the lower kicking tees). Breaston needs to wake up.
Overall, this was similar to what I expected. We won't know much until the Notre Dame game.
Thoughts on other games/teams:
Notre Dame looked beatable, which means that Michigan won't beat them. Against Georgia Tech, ND took the lead after a questionable personal foul call on a 3rd down play (which didn't produce a 1st down). Otherwise, a tie (and overtime) would have been likely.
Miami-FSU looked like an exact replica of last year's game. Maybe having that game to open the season isn't such a great thing, because both OLs looked horrible. Most coaches say that the Defense is usually ahead of the Offense early on, and it showed. For the National Title race, fans of all teams should be happy that Miami lost, because although their Offense is mediocre, their Defense is pretty darn good and their schedule is pretty darn weak from here on out (especially now that Louisville RB Michael Bush is done for the season).
Maybe the ACC isn't all that: Virginia loses to Pitt, North Carolina loses to Rutgers. Conversely, maybe the Big East is all that. Or not.
Speaking of poop: Montana State 19, Colorado 10. Rod Gilmore picked them to win the Big 12 North. And now we know why nobody listens to Rod Gilmore.
Speaking of bad picks: Kirk Herbstreit picked Miami in the BCS Title Game. Lee Corso picked Cal. Corso's logic? Cal doesn't have to play in a Conference Championship Game (and thus he picked West Virginia as their opponent). Way to think that one through, bro.
Permanent Link Here - posted by Nick at 3:51 PM
1 Comments:
Hi -- I couldn't find a way to email you, so I'll leave my invitation here:
I'd like to invite you to submit a post for the inaugural edition of the Carnival of College Football. Hopefully, the Carnival will run on a weekly basis with submissions due at 8 pm Central every Wednesday night. More details about what the Carnival will (hopefully) turn out to be are here: http://badgersportsfan.blogspot.com/2006/08/introducing-carnival-of-college.html
The theme for this week's Carnival is "The Kickoff: Introduce Yourself and Your Writing." Briefly, just submit the post that best represents you as a blogger: your funniest work, your most profound, your most controversial piece, or one that you feel you "just got right." It can be a month old, a year old, whatever ... you can even compose a piece specifically for the Carnival. More on this week's theme can be found here: http://badgersportsfan.blogspot.com/2006/09/carnival-of-college-football-week-1.html
If you're so moved, the submission form can be found here: http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_488.html -- and that's the preferred way to submit. However, if you like, you can simply email me back at badgertracker@gmail.com
As a voter in the Blogpoll, I have access to a large list of college football bloggers. However, I want the scope of this effort to be broader, so if you know of any CFB bloggers who should be receiving more press than they are, please spread the word about this Carnival!
Thanks very much, and if you don't have anything to submit this week, hopefully we'll hear from you on the 13th!
All the best,
BT
Post a Comment
<< Home