Early Keys to Beating ND
Defense
1) Play 60 minutes. The defense was awesome in the first half, and not bad in the second half. My concern, however, is that we don't have the depth to exchange blows with a tougher opponent for 60 minutes.
2) Continue to excel in one-on-one situations. Aside from Warren losing his cool towards the end of the game, I thought that both he and Cissoko (i.e. Floyd Simmons) did an excellent job of covering receivers. Moreover, I noticed that even Stevie Brown was hanging with receives he was assigned to cover. And, to top if off, they all tackled well. This positive trend needs to continue against ND.
3) Better blitz packages. Against WMU,I think we generated most of our pressure because our DL was superior to their OL and by bringing an extra line backer. It worked, but I'd like to see some more complex blitz packages against Jimmy Claussen, who will probably be better prepared than Hiller was. I think GERG was holding back, but let's see what he's got for us next week.
Offense
1) Personnel: MINOR RAGE and 'Lace. Ok, this key is really made up of two points. First, Props to Brown and Shaw for picking up nice yardage, but neither of them possess Minor's ability to rack up yards after contact. Not even close. Even though yesterday's numbers were good, MINOR RAGE is a significant upgrade and will really help us against ND.
Second, I think its clear that DRob needs to get on the field even when Tate is running the offense, and also that DRob needs to do more than just run the QB draw.
2) OLine improvement. I didn't think the OL played well enough to control the line of scrimmage against a top DL. Not sure how good ND's DL is, but the OL needs some work.
3) Offensive rhythem and play calling: We need to see if our offense can put together the long drives. Also, I think RichRod was holding back on the play calling, as we didn't see much yesterday. Do people agree with that?
Finally, I want to point out the obvious, so... Tate will be critical the our success. I likes his accuracy and patients, and he even looked good with his back to the play on the play action TD to Koger. Two unanswered questions: Is he tough enough to run against better athletes? Second, I don't think he was seriously pressured at all yesterday - he was able to run away from the little pressure that WMU got on him. What happens when Tenuta dials up a big boy blitz?
September 6th, 2009 at 11:42 AM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 3:47 PM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 12:38 AM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 12:04 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 3:03 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 6:22 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 12:18 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 12:20 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 12:54 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 4:02 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 12:59 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 1:33 PM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 11:38 AM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 1:14 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 2:14 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 3:12 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 3:13 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 4:05 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 4:11 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 6:47 PM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 12:07 AM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 6:43 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 8:07 PM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 8:14 PM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 12:19 AM ^
September 6th, 2009 at 8:30 PM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 12:29 AM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 12:56 AM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 1:46 AM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 3:00 AM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 3:36 AM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 9:52 AM ^
September 8th, 2009 at 4:00 AM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 12:44 PM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 11:18 PM ^
September 7th, 2009 at 11:16 PM ^
Comments