09-04-2020, 11:56 AM
Whew!
Nothing like a four hour football game in early September. But hey! At least we played, right? Damn right, right. We got a football game played in a year when a lot of teams won't. And who knows how many we'll get? No tailgating, no Blazerwalk, no halftime field show. Those things were noticeably missing.
That said, once it kicked off, it was all football and I was happy to see it.
Kudos to Mark Ingram for being innovative and getting this game scheduled on short notice. I know he takes his lumps on this board, and I'm fairly ambivalent myself, but his position throughout the pandemic was "we're going to play until we can't." I don't really want to debate the politics of it. I just want to talk about football.
Anywho, on to the observations.
Looking at the boxscore (and while it certainly didn't feel like it) this was a fairly dominant performance. We had 459 total yards, pretty evenly split between passing and rushing (226/233). Any game we run as a team for 200+ yards, I figure we're going to win.
People who saw the score this morning without watching the game might think our D got lit up. They are wrong. UCA managed exactly 1 touchdown on your first unit. One. Uno. They had 137 yards at the half. Finished with 293, and a lot of that was junk yards late against reserves. I am not worried about our defense.
Say this for UCA, they're some tenacious bastards, and their outside receivers are probably the best ones we'll see all year.
It was a frustrating game. I get it. We literally handed them 3 touchdowns. But in the end, we were obviously the better team and I think everyone that watched knew that.
I will say this, though. I think Clark must have peeled the paint off the walls at halftime. I barely remember UCA touching the ball in the 3rd quarter.
Two-headed monster
TJ3 and Bryson Lucero went 24/34 for 226 yards 3 TDs and 1 pick. They were both pretty sharp, Lucero especially so in limited reps. It was good to see him get meaningful snaps in a close game. That will bear fruit down the road. More on TJ3 later.
Three-headed monster
Have you been in a football game? Would you like to rack up 233 punishing yards? Might I suggest the firm of Brown, Stanley, and Brown. They accounted for all but 12 of our rushing yards. Spencer looks amazing, Stanley runs as angry as ever, and Little Brown continues to leave jock straps and broken ankles in his wake.
MM5
I told someone earlier this week with all the attention paid to Austin Watkins, Myron Mitchell might feast. 4 catches and 1 carry for 56 yards and a touchdown. Lord, when I said UCA's wideouts were the best ones we see this year, it's because we don't play us. Watkins was the beast we were expecting. 7 catches for 72 yards, and they all seemed like they were on 3rd down. Speaking of weapons...
The tight end is an eligible receiver
Every year I hear "we need to throw it to the tight end more." Well, how's this for a line item? Hayden Pittman and Garrett Prince combined for 7 catches for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Big Uglies
UCA's front 7 crumpled like the nose of an '86 Ford Tempo. We got good push all night. And our quarterbacks dropped back 34 times with exactly 0 sacks.
Living in a post-Vogeltron world
Freshman Matt Quinn hit all six PATs and the one field goal he tried. Nice work young man. Wilson Beaverstock (yes, that's his name) did a passable job on kickoffs. Fact is, we haven't had to cover a kickoff much in a while. On the subject of putting a foot on the ball, Kyle Greenwell had a nice game, averaging 45 yards on 4 punts.
My hero, Zero
How about Keondre Swoopes? Sets two NCAA records that will never be broken. The first FBS player to ever take the field wearing #0 and the first interception ever recorded by a player wearing #0.
The Good
The Defense. Really. UCA rarely was able to put together anything resembling a drive most of the game.
The Bad
3 turnovers leading to 21 UCA points. A word on each of them, if I may. the muffed punt: an anomaly, in my opinion. Myron Mitchell has shown to have some of the best hands on the team. The strip fumble: I bet that never happens to that guy again. The interception: This one bothered me. I'll have to see a replay, but from my angle it appeared just an atrocious decision by TJ3. This was the one thing I thought we most needed to get cleaned up from last year.
The Ugly
COVID-19. I tried not to let it bother me much last night, and it didn't much. But I missed tailgating with my friends, and I missed the field show, and I missed my good seats and yes I'm bitching and yes, I know how petty it sounds, but in my defense these are intended to be game day observations.
So, what does this mean, Barbara?
Who knows? We gutted out a win against a scrappy FCS team that we putzed around and let stay in the game. First game yips? Who knows? I'm not too worried about that, though. We won and Clark was clearly disappointed on the post game radio. That makes me think they're going to come out of the tunnel in Coral Gables with fire in their eyes.
I've waffled back and forth over whether or not football would get played this year, and I still don't know how it's going to play out. What I do know is my Blazers played last night, and they won, and I got to be there for it and I'm glad.
That's all I got. For now. I think.
Nothing like a four hour football game in early September. But hey! At least we played, right? Damn right, right. We got a football game played in a year when a lot of teams won't. And who knows how many we'll get? No tailgating, no Blazerwalk, no halftime field show. Those things were noticeably missing.
That said, once it kicked off, it was all football and I was happy to see it.
Kudos to Mark Ingram for being innovative and getting this game scheduled on short notice. I know he takes his lumps on this board, and I'm fairly ambivalent myself, but his position throughout the pandemic was "we're going to play until we can't." I don't really want to debate the politics of it. I just want to talk about football.
Anywho, on to the observations.
Looking at the boxscore (and while it certainly didn't feel like it) this was a fairly dominant performance. We had 459 total yards, pretty evenly split between passing and rushing (226/233). Any game we run as a team for 200+ yards, I figure we're going to win.
People who saw the score this morning without watching the game might think our D got lit up. They are wrong. UCA managed exactly 1 touchdown on your first unit. One. Uno. They had 137 yards at the half. Finished with 293, and a lot of that was junk yards late against reserves. I am not worried about our defense.
Say this for UCA, they're some tenacious bastards, and their outside receivers are probably the best ones we'll see all year.
It was a frustrating game. I get it. We literally handed them 3 touchdowns. But in the end, we were obviously the better team and I think everyone that watched knew that.
I will say this, though. I think Clark must have peeled the paint off the walls at halftime. I barely remember UCA touching the ball in the 3rd quarter.
Two-headed monster
TJ3 and Bryson Lucero went 24/34 for 226 yards 3 TDs and 1 pick. They were both pretty sharp, Lucero especially so in limited reps. It was good to see him get meaningful snaps in a close game. That will bear fruit down the road. More on TJ3 later.
Three-headed monster
Have you been in a football game? Would you like to rack up 233 punishing yards? Might I suggest the firm of Brown, Stanley, and Brown. They accounted for all but 12 of our rushing yards. Spencer looks amazing, Stanley runs as angry as ever, and Little Brown continues to leave jock straps and broken ankles in his wake.
MM5
I told someone earlier this week with all the attention paid to Austin Watkins, Myron Mitchell might feast. 4 catches and 1 carry for 56 yards and a touchdown. Lord, when I said UCA's wideouts were the best ones we see this year, it's because we don't play us. Watkins was the beast we were expecting. 7 catches for 72 yards, and they all seemed like they were on 3rd down. Speaking of weapons...
The tight end is an eligible receiver
Every year I hear "we need to throw it to the tight end more." Well, how's this for a line item? Hayden Pittman and Garrett Prince combined for 7 catches for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Big Uglies
UCA's front 7 crumpled like the nose of an '86 Ford Tempo. We got good push all night. And our quarterbacks dropped back 34 times with exactly 0 sacks.
Living in a post-Vogeltron world
Freshman Matt Quinn hit all six PATs and the one field goal he tried. Nice work young man. Wilson Beaverstock (yes, that's his name) did a passable job on kickoffs. Fact is, we haven't had to cover a kickoff much in a while. On the subject of putting a foot on the ball, Kyle Greenwell had a nice game, averaging 45 yards on 4 punts.
My hero, Zero
How about Keondre Swoopes? Sets two NCAA records that will never be broken. The first FBS player to ever take the field wearing #0 and the first interception ever recorded by a player wearing #0.
The Good
The Defense. Really. UCA rarely was able to put together anything resembling a drive most of the game.
The Bad
3 turnovers leading to 21 UCA points. A word on each of them, if I may. the muffed punt: an anomaly, in my opinion. Myron Mitchell has shown to have some of the best hands on the team. The strip fumble: I bet that never happens to that guy again. The interception: This one bothered me. I'll have to see a replay, but from my angle it appeared just an atrocious decision by TJ3. This was the one thing I thought we most needed to get cleaned up from last year.
The Ugly
COVID-19. I tried not to let it bother me much last night, and it didn't much. But I missed tailgating with my friends, and I missed the field show, and I missed my good seats and yes I'm bitching and yes, I know how petty it sounds, but in my defense these are intended to be game day observations.
So, what does this mean, Barbara?
Who knows? We gutted out a win against a scrappy FCS team that we putzed around and let stay in the game. First game yips? Who knows? I'm not too worried about that, though. We won and Clark was clearly disappointed on the post game radio. That makes me think they're going to come out of the tunnel in Coral Gables with fire in their eyes.
I've waffled back and forth over whether or not football would get played this year, and I still don't know how it's going to play out. What I do know is my Blazers played last night, and they won, and I got to be there for it and I'm glad.
That's all I got. For now. I think.