First of all. It was a GAME. I didn't play in it. You didn't play in it. My kids didn't play or coach. Had the ball been caught on the goal line, trash still goes out on Tuesday.. Oh wait.. this week it might not b/c of Labor day.
Some observations...
IU has a very good quarterback and better receivers than I expected. Jones was good, Cobbs improved and the tight ends showed promise. Neither Cooper nor Corsaro had not been featured previously. Cooper made a nice catch, and instead of juking and dancing and looking to break it for 50, he turned straight up the field and maximized yardage and split the tackle for a first down. I suspect Fuchs is being held under wraps till later. Jones is a true home run threat. The freshmen showed promise.
Howard is a quality chain mover and can provide IU with yet another quality back. He lacks Coleman's "whoosh" but will get a first down when Tevin is looking to break it. Look for he and Redding to give IU a quality secondary pass option later.
The offensive line looked pretty good. Pass protection was pretty good and other than a couple of breakdowns vs blitzes, the running game was effective.
The lack of a great running threat at QB hamstrings the offense from it's true potential but Nate has a great arm and makes all the throws. He also has a bit of panache.
Defense. Without Latham and Green, IU featured a lot of guys who hadn't played much. Mangieri and Rayner were helped out by Hoff, Robinson, Heffern, and Daugherty. Not much penetration. SIU's offense was geared more to misdirection than power. IU seems set up to play power running of OSU, PSU, MSU, Iowa, Purdue than the slight of hand of SIU. Mobile QB's have given IU fits for years. The linebackers didn't seem to recognize quickly. A couple of times they were flat footed or took the wrong gap. But that's football.
The secondary, other than one time where Walton was caught flat footed and had to catch up to Ianotti, he tackled well and recovered a fumble. The freshmen safties are athletic and long and..... very young. but show potential. SIU's offense didn't feature a lot of the same offense IU is geared for. The corners generally kept containment. They didn't get roasted again and again like last years. But there were two incredible blown coverages against the tight end. Once as an H back and the other... Well, I don't remember.
Tackling on the screen pass looked like vintage 2000-2014.
Special teams. Great kicking by Oakes... the punt block was a total whiff. IU has always treated punting as a secondary thing. It shows.
As for the suspensions. Kudos to the coach for not being Les Miles. I don't know what the transgressions were and don't need to. It could have been alcohol, it could've been a positive drug test. Griffith and Green are undoubtedly related to their issues this summer. Wilson isn't Crean. And the players have to understand that they are truly a team; a unit, a squad. Players leadership must step up if guys get out of line.
And given that they had the suspensions and still won.. Kudos to them. Doubtless much work needs to be done for the next game. But I'd rather play it after I didn't play well and the opponent won a big game it didn't expect to..... Than the other way around. See Mizzou last yr.
Lastly, Coach Wilson's time management at the end of the game. Several yrs ago the 49ers and Saints played a great playoff game in SF. With time running down and a couple minutes left, SF needed a field goal to win. On 4th down the QB scrambles all the way for a TD. The prudent play would have been to drop down inside the five and kill the clock for the game winning FG. As it was the QB sprinted into the end zone with time left, N.O. went the length of the field to retake the lead and it took a miracle pass to the TE for SF to win the game. It made people believe Harbaugh was a great coach.
In a similar situation, IU goes for the TD and scores. One one hand it's a bad play. On the other, with a rookie long snapper, maybe they wanted the lead for sure and play defense for a minute. Regardless...
A crummy "what the hell" pass interference call set up the end. IU caught a break at the end.
Cautiously optimistic for the future but realize the future is now. I'd like to see Nate and the sr get a break.
Some observations...
IU has a very good quarterback and better receivers than I expected. Jones was good, Cobbs improved and the tight ends showed promise. Neither Cooper nor Corsaro had not been featured previously. Cooper made a nice catch, and instead of juking and dancing and looking to break it for 50, he turned straight up the field and maximized yardage and split the tackle for a first down. I suspect Fuchs is being held under wraps till later. Jones is a true home run threat. The freshmen showed promise.
Howard is a quality chain mover and can provide IU with yet another quality back. He lacks Coleman's "whoosh" but will get a first down when Tevin is looking to break it. Look for he and Redding to give IU a quality secondary pass option later.
The offensive line looked pretty good. Pass protection was pretty good and other than a couple of breakdowns vs blitzes, the running game was effective.
The lack of a great running threat at QB hamstrings the offense from it's true potential but Nate has a great arm and makes all the throws. He also has a bit of panache.
Defense. Without Latham and Green, IU featured a lot of guys who hadn't played much. Mangieri and Rayner were helped out by Hoff, Robinson, Heffern, and Daugherty. Not much penetration. SIU's offense was geared more to misdirection than power. IU seems set up to play power running of OSU, PSU, MSU, Iowa, Purdue than the slight of hand of SIU. Mobile QB's have given IU fits for years. The linebackers didn't seem to recognize quickly. A couple of times they were flat footed or took the wrong gap. But that's football.
The secondary, other than one time where Walton was caught flat footed and had to catch up to Ianotti, he tackled well and recovered a fumble. The freshmen safties are athletic and long and..... very young. but show potential. SIU's offense didn't feature a lot of the same offense IU is geared for. The corners generally kept containment. They didn't get roasted again and again like last years. But there were two incredible blown coverages against the tight end. Once as an H back and the other... Well, I don't remember.
Tackling on the screen pass looked like vintage 2000-2014.
Special teams. Great kicking by Oakes... the punt block was a total whiff. IU has always treated punting as a secondary thing. It shows.
As for the suspensions. Kudos to the coach for not being Les Miles. I don't know what the transgressions were and don't need to. It could have been alcohol, it could've been a positive drug test. Griffith and Green are undoubtedly related to their issues this summer. Wilson isn't Crean. And the players have to understand that they are truly a team; a unit, a squad. Players leadership must step up if guys get out of line.
And given that they had the suspensions and still won.. Kudos to them. Doubtless much work needs to be done for the next game. But I'd rather play it after I didn't play well and the opponent won a big game it didn't expect to..... Than the other way around. See Mizzou last yr.
Lastly, Coach Wilson's time management at the end of the game. Several yrs ago the 49ers and Saints played a great playoff game in SF. With time running down and a couple minutes left, SF needed a field goal to win. On 4th down the QB scrambles all the way for a TD. The prudent play would have been to drop down inside the five and kill the clock for the game winning FG. As it was the QB sprinted into the end zone with time left, N.O. went the length of the field to retake the lead and it took a miracle pass to the TE for SF to win the game. It made people believe Harbaugh was a great coach.
In a similar situation, IU goes for the TD and scores. One one hand it's a bad play. On the other, with a rookie long snapper, maybe they wanted the lead for sure and play defense for a minute. Regardless...
A crummy "what the hell" pass interference call set up the end. IU caught a break at the end.
Cautiously optimistic for the future but realize the future is now. I'd like to see Nate and the sr get a break.
