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This tid bit: https://middletennessee.forums.rivals.co...k-4.17310/

No. 2: UAB losing to Rice - UAB clearly had more talent but Rice's D line just shut down the run and forced UAB to beat them in the air which they just could not do. Rice is much improved and UAB has weaknesses that MT can expose. We could bounce back. We shall see which team shows up. UTSA gave out a nice blueprint on how to beat our D.

Shut down the run? Did they even watch the game?

It's pretty simple. If you stuff our run game, we are very inept. I will admit that Hopkins and the pass game did look better against Rice, but can we count on the players or the coaching staff to not do something stupid to ruin it - aka putting in Zeno at a dumb time, 12 penalties, etc?

(10-03-2022 09:03 AM)jcduncan13 Wrote:  Shut down the run? Did they even watch the game?

We only had 122 rushing yards. For how often we run the ball, that is not very good.

(10-03-2022 09:05 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 09:03 AM)jcduncan13 Wrote:  Shut down the run? Did they even watch the game?

We only had 122 rushing yards. For how often we run the ball, that is not very good.

Fair. Those last few sacks factor in as well as the holding calls (not saying they weren’t holds).

Look at Middle’s losses at James Madison and UTSA both were able to get their run game going. Middle’s wins at Miami and Colorado State they did a great job stopping the run.

(10-03-2022 09:08 AM)jcduncan13 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 09:05 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 09:03 AM)jcduncan13 Wrote:  Shut down the run? Did they even watch the game?

We only had 122 rushing yards. For how often we run the ball, that is not very good.

Fair. Those last few sacks factor in as well as the holding calls (not saying they weren’t holds).

Look at Middle’s losses at James Madison and UTSA both were able to get their run game going. Middle’s wins at Miami and Colorado State they did a great job stopping the run.

Hopefully our run game will get going. That's the only path to success I see for us right now.

We’ll talk about other things on the podcast tonight but man their offense is super impressive and explosive. This Saturday should be a good game between two good teams.

I don't think our run game has flopped, we just have a one dimensional offense. If we were capable of balancing it out a little, I think our run game would thrive. The numbers are still decent considering everyone in the building knows we are going to run 80 percent of the time.

27 for 121 and a td is flopping? He was facing 8 in the box most of the night, and had several big runs called back due to the fact we can’t play cleanly. We need to throw the ball occasionally if we want to give Debo a fair chance.

When your RB1 leads the nation in rushing per game, your run game hasn’t “flopped”… c’mon now. There is reasonable criticism and then there is hyperbole.

What has happened is teams load the box and do a lot of stunts in the 2nd half and we run into it the teeth of it anyway instead of making them pay for that choice. We are not wearing teams down when we do this, we are putting our D back on the field. Do we even have any hot read or quick slant pass plays that don’t take 6 seconds to develop? Or that maybe don’t go freakin’ backwards? Or that maybe we call before it is 3rd and 9?

A big problem Saturday night was our OL. Penalties to start but also pass protection. Hopkins is not good when pressured and he is too slow in making decisions. Also, we can't seem to run the ball without help from 1 or 2 TE's helping to block so then we become very predictable.

If you guys are like me you watch a lot of football on weeknights and Saturdays. From what I've seen I don't think our QB's are in the top half of C-USA. We have a talent gap there compared to a lot of the G5. At best Hopkins and Zeno are adequate. IF they have plenty of time to throw and IF the receiver is well open, they can make the play but those are some big ifs.

UAB is last in C-USA in passing offense. Hopkins is last among starters in passing yards and TD's.

(10-03-2022 09:42 AM)BlazinBham Wrote:  When it’s expected to carry us and win games, and it isn’t doing so. Yes, I’d say it’s flopping. Everything getting called back for a hold. That’s not a dig at Debo. He isn’t the issue outside of fumbles and that dumb*** unsportsmanlike penalty. y’all say we want to impose our will on the ground, regardless of how poor we are in the pass game. That simply ain’t happening.

I said before the game last week, that both teams lines were evenly matched. I remember some trying to reassure me that we were fine at WR, QB, Playcalling prior to the season. Had hope you all were right, but….

Is tony Franklin still at MTSU?

Unrelated: I watched Minor play over the weekend. UAB alum Adrian Abrams is the HC. They ran a spread offense. 4 WR set the whole game.

I don't want us to impose our will on the ground. I've never wanted that, and I don't understand why we don't get away from it. What I want is a balanced offense that gives Debo a hole every time he runs, and allows him to pick up tons of chunk plays. We cannot change that this season most likely, so I don't keep harping on it.

What we can fix is finding some sort of quick pass that takes pressure off of the QB and Debo. We can stop having 100+ yards in penalties. We can stop turning the ball over. These are all fixable problems, and I expect them all to be addressed immediately. Do I have faith they will? Not at all.

It's unfortunate, because our defense is so good, and our running backs are great. I figured 7-5 was our floor this year, and I still believe it is. I won't be shocked if we beat MTSU, and I won't be shocked when we lost another game in this fashion. Vincent isn't the answer, that's a given now, so I just hope we make a great hire in the offseason.

how on earth are we 9 point favorites?

(10-03-2022 10:38 AM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  A big problem Saturday night was our OL. Penalties to start but also pass protection. Hopkins is not good when pressured and he is too slow in making decisions. Also, we can't seem to run the ball without help from 1 or 2 TE's helping to block so then we become very predictable.

If you guys are like me you watch a lot of football on weeknights and Saturdays. From what I've seen I don't think our QB's are in the top half of C-USA. We have a talent gap there compared to a lot of the G5. At best Hopkins and Zeno are adequate. IF they have plenty of time to throw and IF the receiver is well open, they can make the play but those are some big ifs.

UAB is last in C-USA in passing offense. Hopkins is last among starters in passing yards and TD's.

Wow. According to those states WKU is 1st in Scoring Offense and 2nd in Scoring Defense. Maybe we should see if Tyson Helton wants to come back to UAB and coach in the AAC...