Sweet Georgia Brown, what a game!
Let's get the usual caveats out of the way. This is one game. Against a team who hadn't really seen this team before. Who was breaking in a new quarterback.
Can a program really get turned around so fast? I don't know.
Are we going bowling? I don't know.
Contend for the conference? I don't know.
What I do know is it's a lot more fun to bandy about those sorts of questions this morning than, say, "Oh, Lord. Will we win 3 games?"
Okay, where was I?
Oh, if that was a statement game, it certainly was a emphatic one.
The Observations
1. What a steam bath. Ugh. I bet we all lost weight yesterday. And is anybody else as sunburned as I am?
2. Number 1 was of course mitigated by a great tailgate with good friends, and an Old Testament beatdown of Troy.
3. If you didn't say, either to yourself or out loud, "Oh, Lord. Here we go." when Troy took a minute and a half to score on the opening drive, I'm calling you out for the damn liar you are.
4. Yesterday was Little Smaug's birthday. I asked her what she wanted. She said, "Victory". Well, happy birthday, kiddo.
The Good
1. Line play. Both sides of the ball. We manhandled them up front, and that was where the game was won. Diaheem Watkins was a man possessed. Six tackles and two sacks from the end position. I'll take it.
2. Speaking of, that was as dominant a defensive performance as I've seen us lay on an FBS opponent since Pat Donahoe got pulled over with pot in his car.
3. Jordan. Freaking. Howard. 9.6 yards a carry. What a beast. Dude is always running down hill.
4. Cody Clements. Managed the game well in his first start in a new city, in a new system, with new teammates. A pretty pedestrian outing, but with our D and run game, he wasn't asked to be a hero. I expect him to get better and ultimately be fine.
5. Special teams. Ty Long (let's start the conversation on whether he's our best kicker ever) boomed his kickoffs, and drilled a long field goal coup de grace. All Hunter Mullins did was hold for kicks and crush two punts for a 49 yard average. That's half the field. Troy only returned two kickoffs all day. And we kicked off a lot. And they averaged 5.5 yards on their punt returns.
6. Coaching. We had a game plan. We adjusted it on the fly. The adjustments worked. Clark said he figured we'd have to throw a lot to win yesterday, but saw how well we were running and decided to ride that horse. See, McGee? It really isn't that complicated.
The Bad
1. In the interest of of brevity, I spoke in pretty broad terms mosty for "the Good", but I could have gone on and on.
2. We let a receiver get lost in the middle of the field a couple of times, but it ultimately didn't hurt us and is pretty fixable.
3. Clements' pick was a duck. This was mitigated by our D bailing him out. And on JJ's fumble on the previous possession. Read that again. D bailed him out. I think I'll type it again, because it's so awesome. The D bailed him out.
The Ugly
1. I mentioned the sunburn, right?
2. Troy. I think some of their fans thought they'd plug-and-play a new QB after record-setter Corey Robinson. Maybe they will, but yesterday proves it is rarely seamless. They had no answer. In any phase of the game. I hope they regroup and do well (mostly because it makes this win look that much better)
Best prediction
Ran into dpickren at Fan Day and told him I hope we wallop the **** out of Troy. He replied, "We're going to. This is a different team".
Where'd THAT guy come from?
1. DJ Vinson. Excellent counter punch to Howard. 22 carries for 106 yard and a TD. He's a guy I had just about written off as a contributor, but he looked beefed up and he ran angry yesterday. It was good to see, and I hope he can end his Blazer career with a flourish. If yesterday was an indicator...
2. Kalen Jackson. Shows up out of nowhere, starts at MLB, and recovers a BIG fumble on Troy's second drive. Welcome to the south side, young man! You look great in green.
The Best Revenge is Living Well
Kennard Backman's ejection was a turning point in the game last year. This year: 4 catches. 43 yards. 2 TDs. And uncounted cleat prints on Troy safeties.
The Sack of Troy
We got after 'em yesterday. Put him on the ground 4 times. 4 times. 4 times. 4 times. Had him running scared and throwing it away more times than I can count.
Telling Stat of the Day
Troy 3rd down efficiency: 5 of 16. This is where the game was won. D got off the field on 3rd down.
UAB 3rd down efficiency: 9 of 14. This is where the game was won. We wore them down and it started to show in the 3rd friggin' quarter.
Best Smack of the Day
Mrs. Smaug, "Troy thought they'd have a cake walk. Looks like they got the whole bakery."
So, what does this mean, Barbara?
Look, you guys know me. I'm a shameless sunshine-pumper. There's a little slice of me that's got us playing on New Years Day. I realize that that's pure foolishness in August, but you'd have to be a pretty big curmudgeon to not be pretty jacked up about what you saw yesterday. We've got Moo U next week, and I'm not going to suggest for a minute that we'll beat them.
But wouldn't it be great if we did?
That's all I've got. For now. I think.
/
Smaug's $0.02
