In general, I don't know if the game could have turned out much better for development purposes. We have a defense now that actually walked the walk last night, for the first time in ever. That will create so much real confidence that I think they take a few more steps from here until Big Ten season.
Second, the offense wasn't great. That's great because now Kevin Wilson only has to worry about whether or not he can do his job with the offense and he doesn't have to go from here to figuring out how to score 40 points a game.
He has to be sleeping easy tonight even if his offense wasn't great week 1. And he can't be that worried because the offense still has so much potential. If Nick Westbrook becomes Simmie Cobbs last year, and we have Simmie Cobbs back, our WRs are going to be matchup nightmares. We have three 6'4, 215+ WRs. Timian continues to impress. I can see why KW was upset he couldn't give him a scholarship.
Lagow was impressive. I can't see him having very many interceptions this year because he puts so much heat on his throws that there just isn't time for a defender to break on the ball. He almost threw one INT last night where he threw cross-hash but with his arm I still don't worry about him making that throw. I see his only INTs coming from either miscommunications or tipped passes. I just can't see a CB breaking on an outroute in front of one of his passes and picking it off. He just does not give you enough time.
So the tools are there for Lagow. It seemed to me to be just a matter of him knowing the offense. If he were three years into the system, I would venture to guess he would be better than Nate. But Nate knew our offense and the game so well that he knew where he was going with the ball after a pre-snap read. I hope Lagow can get close to that level of IQ and if he does, then it's going to be a very good year for us on offense.
Devine just keeps developing. Our OL is what was expected. Nothing knew from the ground game. It's one of the tops in the Big Ten. No issues.
Defense, Marcelino Ball was burned on the second play of the game and that was about it. He didn't even look like the game was complicated for him. He looked like a veteran. On a third and four, he's playing man with the WR and the WR gets separation but can't hold onto the pass, and Ball is upset because he allowed the WR separation, regardless of whether the WR caught the ball or not. There were similar circumstances where his body language shows that he just holds himself to a very high standard, and that's special.
Surprised but Omari Stringer was getting a ton of reps and I think he held his own. He actually had a TFL. Our defensive line was impressive. It got vertical and so much penetration on some plays I had to go back to make sure it wasn't a draw play or a shuffle pass. It almost looked like the FIU offensive line was allowing the penetration and moving onto linebackers. But that's just how quickly our defensive line got penetration. FIU had 63 rushing yards, 27 of which came on the second play of the game, which was a little bit of a trick play. So Ball doesn't get sucked in on that and that's limited and we're looking at holding FIU to 36 rushing yards, or something close to that. That is very, very impressive.
And the pass rush was there. It may not have been in the sack column, but plenty of McGough passes were effected by the rush. He rarely felt comfortable in the pocket. And that rush, even if not getting to the QB, is what prevents QBs from having All American performances against us. That's all we need. We need a rush that doesn't allow their QB to check to his third or fourth read, that makes him feel pressure and that causes him to get rid of the ball quicker than he normally would, and I saw that plenty of times Thursday. Only two teams last year held him to worse performances. He definitely had a better game against us last year.
Would like to see Jayme Thompson at boundary CB, because Ball is the answer at Husky. We need an answer at boundary CB. It's not Tyler Green and Riggins has some development to go through. I did not see Thompson or Andre Brown last night so maybe I'm wrong but they must have been held out.
For all the players talking about how simplified the defense is now, it looks extremely complicated to the lay person. Tom Allen taking a defense that I am sure is very confusing to opposing QBs and making it simple for his players is a huge part of what makes his defenses great.
All in all, you can't come out of that game with very many complaints. Michigan St. just had a tough time with Furman tonight, which is a team that Va Tech beat 42-3 last year. So I think week 4 we might be surprised with how tough we hang with Michigan St.
Second, the offense wasn't great. That's great because now Kevin Wilson only has to worry about whether or not he can do his job with the offense and he doesn't have to go from here to figuring out how to score 40 points a game.
He has to be sleeping easy tonight even if his offense wasn't great week 1. And he can't be that worried because the offense still has so much potential. If Nick Westbrook becomes Simmie Cobbs last year, and we have Simmie Cobbs back, our WRs are going to be matchup nightmares. We have three 6'4, 215+ WRs. Timian continues to impress. I can see why KW was upset he couldn't give him a scholarship.
Lagow was impressive. I can't see him having very many interceptions this year because he puts so much heat on his throws that there just isn't time for a defender to break on the ball. He almost threw one INT last night where he threw cross-hash but with his arm I still don't worry about him making that throw. I see his only INTs coming from either miscommunications or tipped passes. I just can't see a CB breaking on an outroute in front of one of his passes and picking it off. He just does not give you enough time.
So the tools are there for Lagow. It seemed to me to be just a matter of him knowing the offense. If he were three years into the system, I would venture to guess he would be better than Nate. But Nate knew our offense and the game so well that he knew where he was going with the ball after a pre-snap read. I hope Lagow can get close to that level of IQ and if he does, then it's going to be a very good year for us on offense.
Devine just keeps developing. Our OL is what was expected. Nothing knew from the ground game. It's one of the tops in the Big Ten. No issues.
Defense, Marcelino Ball was burned on the second play of the game and that was about it. He didn't even look like the game was complicated for him. He looked like a veteran. On a third and four, he's playing man with the WR and the WR gets separation but can't hold onto the pass, and Ball is upset because he allowed the WR separation, regardless of whether the WR caught the ball or not. There were similar circumstances where his body language shows that he just holds himself to a very high standard, and that's special.
Surprised but Omari Stringer was getting a ton of reps and I think he held his own. He actually had a TFL. Our defensive line was impressive. It got vertical and so much penetration on some plays I had to go back to make sure it wasn't a draw play or a shuffle pass. It almost looked like the FIU offensive line was allowing the penetration and moving onto linebackers. But that's just how quickly our defensive line got penetration. FIU had 63 rushing yards, 27 of which came on the second play of the game, which was a little bit of a trick play. So Ball doesn't get sucked in on that and that's limited and we're looking at holding FIU to 36 rushing yards, or something close to that. That is very, very impressive.
And the pass rush was there. It may not have been in the sack column, but plenty of McGough passes were effected by the rush. He rarely felt comfortable in the pocket. And that rush, even if not getting to the QB, is what prevents QBs from having All American performances against us. That's all we need. We need a rush that doesn't allow their QB to check to his third or fourth read, that makes him feel pressure and that causes him to get rid of the ball quicker than he normally would, and I saw that plenty of times Thursday. Only two teams last year held him to worse performances. He definitely had a better game against us last year.
Would like to see Jayme Thompson at boundary CB, because Ball is the answer at Husky. We need an answer at boundary CB. It's not Tyler Green and Riggins has some development to go through. I did not see Thompson or Andre Brown last night so maybe I'm wrong but they must have been held out.
For all the players talking about how simplified the defense is now, it looks extremely complicated to the lay person. Tom Allen taking a defense that I am sure is very confusing to opposing QBs and making it simple for his players is a huge part of what makes his defenses great.
All in all, you can't come out of that game with very many complaints. Michigan St. just had a tough time with Furman tonight, which is a team that Va Tech beat 42-3 last year. So I think week 4 we might be surprised with how tough we hang with Michigan St.
