Highlander27
Well-Known Member
1. Still hate how Webb rolls into the rush, creating sacks on offense. I appreciate his moxy though. You can tell the guy cares. He's better than Tyler Hansen, just needs to work on some little things.
2. Blocking by our backs on pass plays is a huge problem. Take a guy like Jones... we need his speed and playmaking capability on the field. We don't have many guys with burst like him. Maybe only Gerald Thomas offers that type of explosiveness. This would be a huge benefit for Webb to have on 3rd down, dumping off the ball on high percentage throws. The fact is, Jones is completely unreliable in the pass blocking game. When counted on to step up and fill a hole, we are lucky if he picks the right hole, let alone handles the guy who may be coming through it. I haven't seen enough of Powell and Ford to say they can do a better job, but until Jones gets this under wraps, it's going to limit our units because we can't count on him to fulfill every part of the job requirements. The guy is just terrible here, yet we see how important he is to keep defenses honest against the run game. It seemed like EB just said F' it at the end of the game and kept him in there. Hope to god some film room study improves his game or he's going to get our QB smoked. In fact, the play that almost knocked Webb out of the game in the 4th, was Tony Jones missing the key block on a delayed blitz by WSU from the MLB spot. The next play highlights the problem posed to EB... Jones took the off-tackle handoff 90 yds for a TD.
3. It appeared that the interior line blocking got a lot better with Handler being out of the lineup. Actually, I thought the OL did a lot better this game but specifically Daniel Munyer, from the plays that I saw, had a GREAT game. The guy looked quick, agile, and did a great job getting to the 2nd level. Watch the final drive down the stretch on our game winning drive and the guy was lightning in a bottle. He was pulling, and cutting the **** out of the 2nd level defenders for WSU. They kept running it off his hip on the final drive... play after play. Was fun to watch as a former OL. That 2nd level presence is CRUCIAL in the West Coast Offense. You have to get guys on the ground quickly and open up running lanes. I think if we can find the right mix of guys on the front line who can get a push and get guys on the ground, we may have some things brewing in our running game. If it was me... I would have Bahk at LT, Lewis at LG (still iffy on him), Munyer at C. Harris at RG, and I would play with Nembot at RT. Nembot's raw but you gotta get that guy on the field. Dannewitz played the final two drives at RT for the record. It's going to be exciting if we can get this group settled down on five starters and let these guys mature over the next two years.
4. Looks like the defense switched to a 3-3-5 in the 2nd half and it gave WSU fits. It's surprising that Leach didn't attack more on the run, as that's where the weakness should have been along with keeping the clock running. He just kept throwing into the teeth of what we were trying to do. 3-3-5 opened up some interested possibilities and highlighted a potential strength of this team... there are numerous hybrid players between our LB's and DB's and I would anticipate we see it more. It allowed us to attack, yet mix up coverages and protect our young DB's, specifically Crawley and Mosely. Both of those guys played night and day better in the 2nd half because of this. Seems like it cut down on their reads and they could just move to the ball and their job.
5. The wildcards on our defensive resurgence was #13, #32, #20, and #57. Man it was nice to see Henderson out on the field. What can you say about that guy? He's better than we ever imagined. Look at what kind of growing pains Crawley and Yuri Wright are going through as true freshmen and these guys were blue-chips... then you think back to Henderson being in the same position last year, yet never giving up big plays. The guy was rock solid. Having him back had a calming affect on the defense, and they played so much better fundamental football. It almost locks down one side of the field. Vigo on the other hand played the game of his life yesterday. The 3-3-5 defense opened up some hybrid opportunities for our unit and Brown located Vigo and Washington onto the field to fill that spot. Both have been moved to LB from the DB position so it really created a diversity on defense with athletic ability that we haven't seen in awhile and it disguised if guys were in coverage or coming on the blitz. On another note, #13 was all over the field. I know people talk crap about Parker Orms but the guy has so much talent in his little body and he's a leader on the field IMO. He reminds me of Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin back in the day. You want that energizer bunny on the field for you. He had big impacts against the run and pass.
6. LOVED the young defensive line playing. These guys gave WSU fits in the last period and maybe the reason Leach didn't run more, specifically Justin Solis was taking a majority of the snaps at NT in the 3-3-5. Bonsu was rotating in with him but Justin looked SO much better considering his age. He was getting doubled, eating blocks, and still holding ground and penetrating. Also, Samson Kafovalu was logging some minutes in the 4th quarter, rotating with Poston. Both guys have sand in their pants and really anchored well against the run... the big thing here is that we went with a slight defensive front in terms of numbers, but these guys held their ground, ate blocks, and let the back 8 FLY to the ball, and they did. It is demoralizing for an offense to see 3 defensive linemen and they can't move them off the ball. They held their ground, especially in the run game. I think we have potential here long term. It's going to be tough for teams to run on us. Solis in particular impressed me. He played the 0 technique, over the center, got doubled a crapload and hardly gave an inch, often separating and beating the blocks on those double teams. It was a very impressive showing by our front line guys.
7. By the end of the game, Nembot and Tupou had been yanked in favor of Dannewitz and Solis. Does this mean anything long term? Probably not. The heat of the battle necessitated that we go to guys who could produce. Both Nembot and Tupou are YOUNG in their football careers. I'm excited from a few things I saw from them in the game and will be big players for us down the road.
8. We need to get the ball into Gerald Thomas' hands in the worst way. He and Tony Jones provide the only home run type hitters we have on the field for our offense. If it was me, I would have 10-12 designed plays for Gerald Thomas, whether it be designed motion handoffs, screens, deep routes, or special teams plays. Gotta get the ball in that guys hands. I felt the same way watching Paul Richardson as a freshmen.
2. Blocking by our backs on pass plays is a huge problem. Take a guy like Jones... we need his speed and playmaking capability on the field. We don't have many guys with burst like him. Maybe only Gerald Thomas offers that type of explosiveness. This would be a huge benefit for Webb to have on 3rd down, dumping off the ball on high percentage throws. The fact is, Jones is completely unreliable in the pass blocking game. When counted on to step up and fill a hole, we are lucky if he picks the right hole, let alone handles the guy who may be coming through it. I haven't seen enough of Powell and Ford to say they can do a better job, but until Jones gets this under wraps, it's going to limit our units because we can't count on him to fulfill every part of the job requirements. The guy is just terrible here, yet we see how important he is to keep defenses honest against the run game. It seemed like EB just said F' it at the end of the game and kept him in there. Hope to god some film room study improves his game or he's going to get our QB smoked. In fact, the play that almost knocked Webb out of the game in the 4th, was Tony Jones missing the key block on a delayed blitz by WSU from the MLB spot. The next play highlights the problem posed to EB... Jones took the off-tackle handoff 90 yds for a TD.
3. It appeared that the interior line blocking got a lot better with Handler being out of the lineup. Actually, I thought the OL did a lot better this game but specifically Daniel Munyer, from the plays that I saw, had a GREAT game. The guy looked quick, agile, and did a great job getting to the 2nd level. Watch the final drive down the stretch on our game winning drive and the guy was lightning in a bottle. He was pulling, and cutting the **** out of the 2nd level defenders for WSU. They kept running it off his hip on the final drive... play after play. Was fun to watch as a former OL. That 2nd level presence is CRUCIAL in the West Coast Offense. You have to get guys on the ground quickly and open up running lanes. I think if we can find the right mix of guys on the front line who can get a push and get guys on the ground, we may have some things brewing in our running game. If it was me... I would have Bahk at LT, Lewis at LG (still iffy on him), Munyer at C. Harris at RG, and I would play with Nembot at RT. Nembot's raw but you gotta get that guy on the field. Dannewitz played the final two drives at RT for the record. It's going to be exciting if we can get this group settled down on five starters and let these guys mature over the next two years.
4. Looks like the defense switched to a 3-3-5 in the 2nd half and it gave WSU fits. It's surprising that Leach didn't attack more on the run, as that's where the weakness should have been along with keeping the clock running. He just kept throwing into the teeth of what we were trying to do. 3-3-5 opened up some interested possibilities and highlighted a potential strength of this team... there are numerous hybrid players between our LB's and DB's and I would anticipate we see it more. It allowed us to attack, yet mix up coverages and protect our young DB's, specifically Crawley and Mosely. Both of those guys played night and day better in the 2nd half because of this. Seems like it cut down on their reads and they could just move to the ball and their job.
5. The wildcards on our defensive resurgence was #13, #32, #20, and #57. Man it was nice to see Henderson out on the field. What can you say about that guy? He's better than we ever imagined. Look at what kind of growing pains Crawley and Yuri Wright are going through as true freshmen and these guys were blue-chips... then you think back to Henderson being in the same position last year, yet never giving up big plays. The guy was rock solid. Having him back had a calming affect on the defense, and they played so much better fundamental football. It almost locks down one side of the field. Vigo on the other hand played the game of his life yesterday. The 3-3-5 defense opened up some hybrid opportunities for our unit and Brown located Vigo and Washington onto the field to fill that spot. Both have been moved to LB from the DB position so it really created a diversity on defense with athletic ability that we haven't seen in awhile and it disguised if guys were in coverage or coming on the blitz. On another note, #13 was all over the field. I know people talk crap about Parker Orms but the guy has so much talent in his little body and he's a leader on the field IMO. He reminds me of Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin back in the day. You want that energizer bunny on the field for you. He had big impacts against the run and pass.
6. LOVED the young defensive line playing. These guys gave WSU fits in the last period and maybe the reason Leach didn't run more, specifically Justin Solis was taking a majority of the snaps at NT in the 3-3-5. Bonsu was rotating in with him but Justin looked SO much better considering his age. He was getting doubled, eating blocks, and still holding ground and penetrating. Also, Samson Kafovalu was logging some minutes in the 4th quarter, rotating with Poston. Both guys have sand in their pants and really anchored well against the run... the big thing here is that we went with a slight defensive front in terms of numbers, but these guys held their ground, ate blocks, and let the back 8 FLY to the ball, and they did. It is demoralizing for an offense to see 3 defensive linemen and they can't move them off the ball. They held their ground, especially in the run game. I think we have potential here long term. It's going to be tough for teams to run on us. Solis in particular impressed me. He played the 0 technique, over the center, got doubled a crapload and hardly gave an inch, often separating and beating the blocks on those double teams. It was a very impressive showing by our front line guys.
7. By the end of the game, Nembot and Tupou had been yanked in favor of Dannewitz and Solis. Does this mean anything long term? Probably not. The heat of the battle necessitated that we go to guys who could produce. Both Nembot and Tupou are YOUNG in their football careers. I'm excited from a few things I saw from them in the game and will be big players for us down the road.
8. We need to get the ball into Gerald Thomas' hands in the worst way. He and Tony Jones provide the only home run type hitters we have on the field for our offense. If it was me, I would have 10-12 designed plays for Gerald Thomas, whether it be designed motion handoffs, screens, deep routes, or special teams plays. Gotta get the ball in that guys hands. I felt the same way watching Paul Richardson as a freshmen.
