1. Defense travels. Not enough great things to say about this defense and Brent Venables. So many guys stood out last night - Boulware, Kearse, Tankersly, Dodd, Lawson, Wilkins, Greene etc. Heck, that whole dang unit stood out. These guys play with such great discipline and fire. Those are the two things that stand out. How many times did you see our guys do the basic things well like setting the edge. Whether it was Lawson, Dodd, Kearse, etc. Time and time again our guys just understand football fundamentals and execute. Thats how you play run defense and that starting secondary is outstanding.
2. We miss Mike Williams and I think it showed most on those 3rd down plays. We were horrible on those last night. We didnt have a go to guy or play we were comfortable with. I also think Williams absence plays a huge part in how uncomfortable Watson has looked in these last two games. As a QB, you need that go to guy in certain situations. That guy that you have supreme confidence in and know can make a play for you in tough situations. Scott is one of those guys, but his role is different than Williams. Deshaun is missing that consistency from that outside receiving position Mike plays. Last week you saw the INT when Peake ran a lazy post route and gave poor effort to get his hands on the ball that was intercepted. Then again last night, you saw inconsistency from Peake when he dropped an easy ball on a key drive. Sure, Peake came back both weeks and made a couple of great catches, but its the inconsistency and trust that Deshaun had in Mike that he misses. Also, no one on our roster makes plays on the ball and turns incompletions into catches like Mike. There is a comfort level a QB has when you have that. Our passing to the middle of the field on those intermediate crossing and post routes has disappeared the last two weeks. That's where Mike was so good. We need someone to emerge.
3. Congrats to Greg Huegel for two solid FGs. I was worried to death that this game would come down to a FG and that he would miss. My confidence level in him was not high just because he is a freshmen and we have all seen Lakip and Cat Man in their first years starting miss kicks just like those in big games on the road. You could tell Dabo was not confident either and he almost elected to go formit on the first attempt. After he decided to kick, he couldnt even bring himself to look. But the guy whose name nobody knew just a few weeks ago came through in the clutch. Big kudos to that kid.
4. We all knew that kickoff coverage was going to be a problem after seeing wofford and App St almost bust kickoffs for TDs. And, ofcourse, it did come back to haunt us last night. We have to fix it or it will cost us a game. I wish I had confidence we would get it fixed. We seen the issues now for straight weeks.
5. Wayne Gallman. I hate to say I told you so, but this guy just gets better every single week. You could see it happening last year and it continues this year. And the great thing is he is still developing. They guy is just tough, explosive, has great vision and lateral quickness. He is a difference maker. He made chicken salad out of chicken $##t last night time and time again. Honestly, our running game was all on Gallman as our OL was poor last night. It was his vision and ability bounce to just the right spot and then power through tackles. His speed is also underrated. We need another back to emerge not named Davidson. I like what I saw from Brooks early in the season in his few carries and would give him a shot at that #2 shot. You could see Gallman start to lose his legs late last night after pushing piles time and time again and we need another back to emerge without resulting in such a huge drop off.
6. Very disappointed in the OL. Especially inside. McClain needs to step up. He has not impressed at all. For a former 4 star TE he just does not move well and we have no power game with him pulling and he does a poor job releasing on LBs because he is not moving well. I honestly think Falcienelli or Morris could push him there if given more reps. I like what I have seen from them from an athleticism standpoint, even though I know mentally they arent thére yet. Also, Crowder and Guillermo need to pick it up as well.
Overall, this is a solid win. We did not look sharp on offense, but I expected that, maybe not to the degree that we saw Watson struggle, but I expected some hiccups. A road game on Thursday after a home game Saturday is tough enough, but Louisville was a dangerous team, we were playing a lot of inexperienced guys, and it was our first real contest of the year and a drastic departure from what we saw the first two weeks from a competition standpoint. Bottom line is we survived what was a huge trap on our schedule. We will get better because of this game. We faced adversity time and time again and kept coming. We battled from start to finish. Glad to have this win.
2. We miss Mike Williams and I think it showed most on those 3rd down plays. We were horrible on those last night. We didnt have a go to guy or play we were comfortable with. I also think Williams absence plays a huge part in how uncomfortable Watson has looked in these last two games. As a QB, you need that go to guy in certain situations. That guy that you have supreme confidence in and know can make a play for you in tough situations. Scott is one of those guys, but his role is different than Williams. Deshaun is missing that consistency from that outside receiving position Mike plays. Last week you saw the INT when Peake ran a lazy post route and gave poor effort to get his hands on the ball that was intercepted. Then again last night, you saw inconsistency from Peake when he dropped an easy ball on a key drive. Sure, Peake came back both weeks and made a couple of great catches, but its the inconsistency and trust that Deshaun had in Mike that he misses. Also, no one on our roster makes plays on the ball and turns incompletions into catches like Mike. There is a comfort level a QB has when you have that. Our passing to the middle of the field on those intermediate crossing and post routes has disappeared the last two weeks. That's where Mike was so good. We need someone to emerge.
3. Congrats to Greg Huegel for two solid FGs. I was worried to death that this game would come down to a FG and that he would miss. My confidence level in him was not high just because he is a freshmen and we have all seen Lakip and Cat Man in their first years starting miss kicks just like those in big games on the road. You could tell Dabo was not confident either and he almost elected to go formit on the first attempt. After he decided to kick, he couldnt even bring himself to look. But the guy whose name nobody knew just a few weeks ago came through in the clutch. Big kudos to that kid.
4. We all knew that kickoff coverage was going to be a problem after seeing wofford and App St almost bust kickoffs for TDs. And, ofcourse, it did come back to haunt us last night. We have to fix it or it will cost us a game. I wish I had confidence we would get it fixed. We seen the issues now for straight weeks.
5. Wayne Gallman. I hate to say I told you so, but this guy just gets better every single week. You could see it happening last year and it continues this year. And the great thing is he is still developing. They guy is just tough, explosive, has great vision and lateral quickness. He is a difference maker. He made chicken salad out of chicken $##t last night time and time again. Honestly, our running game was all on Gallman as our OL was poor last night. It was his vision and ability bounce to just the right spot and then power through tackles. His speed is also underrated. We need another back to emerge not named Davidson. I like what I saw from Brooks early in the season in his few carries and would give him a shot at that #2 shot. You could see Gallman start to lose his legs late last night after pushing piles time and time again and we need another back to emerge without resulting in such a huge drop off.
6. Very disappointed in the OL. Especially inside. McClain needs to step up. He has not impressed at all. For a former 4 star TE he just does not move well and we have no power game with him pulling and he does a poor job releasing on LBs because he is not moving well. I honestly think Falcienelli or Morris could push him there if given more reps. I like what I have seen from them from an athleticism standpoint, even though I know mentally they arent thére yet. Also, Crowder and Guillermo need to pick it up as well.
Overall, this is a solid win. We did not look sharp on offense, but I expected that, maybe not to the degree that we saw Watson struggle, but I expected some hiccups. A road game on Thursday after a home game Saturday is tough enough, but Louisville was a dangerous team, we were playing a lot of inexperienced guys, and it was our first real contest of the year and a drastic departure from what we saw the first two weeks from a competition standpoint. Bottom line is we survived what was a huge trap on our schedule. We will get better because of this game. We faced adversity time and time again and kept coming. We battled from start to finish. Glad to have this win.
