August 30th, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
I like Nussmeier.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
Fire Borges
August 30th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
It was good.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
Blocking was still suspect, I am tempering my satisfaction until we get a few more games under our belt.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^
Pass blocking wasn't awful, and the run blocking could best be described as "unsteady"
August 30th, 2014 at 3:53 PM ^
26 carries for 350. App state and all, but I don't think we had those #s against cupcakes last year.
Best thing was - they got better as the game went on. If we see that every week, good things will happen.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:12 PM ^
We didn't do that to tomato cans Akron & Connecticut last year.
What we didn't see (struggling vs a cupcake) is indicative of better coaching.
Obviously, this doesn't show how we'll perform against Top 25-type competition, but I think we have very strong reason to believe that we'll play up to our talent level this year.
While intangible, that is a very positive development.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^
Two 100+ yard rushers doesn't speak unsteady to me. Granted its a weaker App State team but it's also the first game of the season.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
My assessment as well. Tempered with the reality (a) it was App State and (b) App State returned all of 2 of their front 7. The OL did what it should have done versus an overmatched team. We'll have much better data in 7 days.
Only qualm outside of that is I'd have liked Devin to spread the ball around more to his 2nd options. Looking solely at his first option was a major issue last year and good teams took advantage of it. Jury out there. Otherwise Devin looked calm. And shockingly few runs from a running QBs - which was great. No need for them today.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
At first I also thought Gardner was too focused on Funchess. But then again, Funchess was always open, so I guess it doesn't really tell us too much.
August 30th, 2014 at 9:41 PM ^
...you know, when the first option is open, you throw it to him. I mean, only the Megatron impersonation was a throw into tight coverage, and I don't see how one can complain about the decision to throw it up to the #1 clad, 6'6" vice-handed skywalker in the end zone.
August 31st, 2014 at 12:03 AM ^
"Vice-handed"? Are you saying he has sticky fingers?
August 30th, 2014 at 6:47 PM ^
I thought the right side of the OL had a pretty solid game the whole way. The left side struggled early on but seemed to find a groove.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
But it WAS encouraging to see successful blocking at times. Caveats about Opponent apply obviously, but that sort of blocking was nonexistent last year. It was a breath of fresh air.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:08 PM ^
Pass protection was consistently good, and after the O line settled in a little it did a good job of opening holes. Kalis had a solid game, and so did Cole except for the one missed block that allowed Gardner to get sacked relatively early in the game. After that, Cole seemed solid, and the middle of the line seemed to do a good job, as well.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
a few too many missed assignments on the OLine but there were definitely some holes and the 2 headed monsters seemed to run hard
August 30th, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
Justice Hayes brought back the Vincent Smith finger guns. That's all that matters.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
Nussmeier >>>> Borges
August 30th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
Hail
August 30th, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^
But I do have to think about it. I am quite sure that
Nussmeier > Al Borges + any running back currently in high school
August 30th, 2014 at 4:44 PM ^
I think you are confused. Many coaches would struggle with a high school back. I think what you meant was:
Nuss + any high school back > Borges + Barry sanders
This would convey how you think much more highly of Nuss compared to Borges. You're welcome
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August 30th, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^
it was a reference to Damien Harris. but thanks anyways; I agree with all of your permutations too
August 30th, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
Green started off shaky but got it together. Smith is a beast! Funchess needs no words.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
It's resuscitated.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
Oline had it's moments. Going to be a roller coaster for awhile. Passing game looked great. I love how Nuss worked the field from screens to short/intermediate/deep targets.
To my untrained eye, Green just seems half a step slow or something. Smith just seems to hit the he harder. I thought last year maybe Green was hesitant as a freshman. I'm thinking now that's just how he runs.
There is promise here, but it's hard to measure vs App State.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:36 PM ^
I don't know how much of it was App State and how much of it was Nuss, but there was never really a moment where I was like "what the hell kinda call was that??" Which given the last three years...was odd. Seemed like anytime the offense was having trouble, they went to a strength and something that was easy to execute. Incredibly refreshing to see.
And yeah, if we could someone combine Green and Smith into one back, we'd have something really good.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
I don't like the designed runs for Devin. There weren't many, but I prefer 0
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August 30th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
Let the debate begin: Gardner or Morris?
Srsly: I liked Smith more than Green- Green had holes the size of a small moon, Smith can take a hit and keep going. Green still goes down on 1st contact. I liked the cuts smith made more, but Green did have a solid opening series in teh 2nd half.
OL was encouraging, IMO a few major mistakes but they controlled the LOS. The M D is OUTSTANDING.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:56 PM ^
Always thought Smith was the better back. Maybe a lower ceiling, but vision and balance and the extra yard ability I always saw more of in Smith.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^
I think Smith was CLEARLY better than Green even though Green had great numbers. Green has balance issues and slow feet (compared to Smith) IMO. Smith cuts quicker and stays on his feet better. Ignoring injury concerns, I bet Smith will end up being our lead back this year.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
When we cared, that offense was pretty awesome to watch. Really loved the use of quick screens to make space for our RBs
August 30th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
Oline was/is still a question mark, I think both rb's are equal, green has more explosiveness, less power, smith is slow, but powerful. Oline must get better every week.
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August 30th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
OL started slow, but then had some really really nice plays. Competition caveats apply, but I haven't seen 5-6 guys all play their assignments perfectly on a given play like we did today in a long long time. Definitely something to build off of.
Pass pro was adequate. Cole got beat clean once, I think there was one other against another linemen, but pretty good. Nuss is scheming around it so as long as the ball comes out when it should we should be ok.
Gardner looked awesome. Funchess is just not fair, the RBs started slow with some bad vision, but overall found the correct holes when they were there (yay, holes!)
August 30th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^
Gardner got sacked (OL sucks), they scored 14 points, and Shane threw an INT. When will things ever go well for us? 2/10
August 30th, 2014 at 3:31 PM ^
Dude. Chill the fuck out. We looked how we were supposed to look against a shitty team. The line had its moments and looked better than it did last year against Akron or UConn. We won by a lot and looked pretty good. Take the win and be happy
August 30th, 2014 at 3:36 PM ^
I think your sarcasm meter is broken?
August 30th, 2014 at 3:51 PM ^
Am I being double sarcasm'd? If so, you got me.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:35 PM ^
You forgot to put in the /sarcasm tag at the end of your post.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^
please remove this troll/clown
August 30th, 2014 at 4:06 PM ^
Honestly wasn't trying to troll. Just a joke (apparently a bad one).
August 30th, 2014 at 8:08 PM ^
the sarcasm has developed to a razor-sharp level of dryness and subtlety beyond my level of comprehension this year, or a tendency toward naive literalism has abolished sensitivity to sarcasm from the comment section.
Just in case, I'm keeping my smart remarks in the quiver until we see how this year's comment sections shake out.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:27 PM ^
I'm completely fine with a Green/Smith two-headed monster attack.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
I think we can say it has improved. App State cant be worse than UCONN last year, and look how bad the offense played against them. But we wont know how much it has imoroved until next week and late October
August 30th, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
First and foremost, let me say that setting up the Snowflake threads while being within the vicinity of a heavily-used connection ner the stadium is NOT recommended.
Second, a few people - myself among them - were discussing this on Twitter just a moment ago, and it is nothing more than trivia really, but last year we had 1,569 yards of rushing on the season, and just today we gained 350 yards on the ground. In other words, in one game, we gained about 22% of last year's total. Tougher opponents will slow that down and we still have some issues blocking, I think, but it is encouraging so far (insert strength of conclusion qualifier as it is one game).
August 30th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^
simplifies the passing game much better than Borges. I like the repetition with the inside runs and WR screens.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:40 PM ^
We snapped the ball with fewer than 5 seconds on the clock a lot today. Not as much of a tempo difference as I would have liked to have seen.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:44 PM ^
Noticed that too. Substitutions seemed really slow, getting plays in and out of the huddle itself seemed ok. Definitely more pointing and talking from Gardner at the line though, Definitely a different approach to what responsibilities the QBs have under Nuss than under Borges.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
see different next week.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:53 PM ^
But it didn't feel like they were playing slow. They were at the line consistently with lots of time on the clock.