Today was a devastating day for many of us, myself included. I am stoked that I did not attend the game. In watching the tape of the game, I did see some good things about what we can do. Hopefully we can build on these things going forward:
1) When we run the offense out of an "I" formation, we seem to have a different attitude. Single back sets with Webb don't seem to be working all too well, unless we have him rolling out. He does have a good release point; but, with his lack of height, we need to do a better job in getting him deep drops from play action or boots. Single and empty sets are making it tough for us to get the right blocking setup.
2) Gerald Thomas and Christian Powell need MUCH more involvement. Thomas has real speed. He jumps out at you on film with how "sudden" he moves. Powell, while young, is as advertised. He handles his business with authority. I like the way he does his thing, whether it be running or blocking.
Our talent is rising; team speed and overall athleticism are definitely getting better. We need to learn to play with more discipline. Our ball handling in the kicking game as well as from Webb are major concerns. I agree that the offensive line could have played much better. However, with the lack of superior possession with the ball, O-Line play will be largely irrelevant.
I was a huge Embree supporter. Like many of you, the quick of the candle has gotten much shorter because we should never lose to the Lamb Chops. I expect that we crush Sac State. We'll have our mettle tested on the road against Fresno and Wazzu. We NEED to be 3-1 because we will be over-matched in nearly every conference game. I suspect that we'll beat Sac State and Fresno State, but lose to Wazzu. My belief is that progress is defined by at least 1-2 more wins each successive season. I know many of you have not wanted to hear that, but given the state of our program, expecting a terrible team to suddenly go from three wins to six is tough to fathom.
It's going to be another long year.
1) When we run the offense out of an "I" formation, we seem to have a different attitude. Single back sets with Webb don't seem to be working all too well, unless we have him rolling out. He does have a good release point; but, with his lack of height, we need to do a better job in getting him deep drops from play action or boots. Single and empty sets are making it tough for us to get the right blocking setup.
2) Gerald Thomas and Christian Powell need MUCH more involvement. Thomas has real speed. He jumps out at you on film with how "sudden" he moves. Powell, while young, is as advertised. He handles his business with authority. I like the way he does his thing, whether it be running or blocking.
Our talent is rising; team speed and overall athleticism are definitely getting better. We need to learn to play with more discipline. Our ball handling in the kicking game as well as from Webb are major concerns. I agree that the offensive line could have played much better. However, with the lack of superior possession with the ball, O-Line play will be largely irrelevant.
I was a huge Embree supporter. Like many of you, the quick of the candle has gotten much shorter because we should never lose to the Lamb Chops. I expect that we crush Sac State. We'll have our mettle tested on the road against Fresno and Wazzu. We NEED to be 3-1 because we will be over-matched in nearly every conference game. I suspect that we'll beat Sac State and Fresno State, but lose to Wazzu. My belief is that progress is defined by at least 1-2 more wins each successive season. I know many of you have not wanted to hear that, but given the state of our program, expecting a terrible team to suddenly go from three wins to six is tough to fathom.
It's going to be another long year.
