The future looks bright. (Freshmen Play)
We were hearing all week that more freshmen were going to play in this game. We will learn more about how they did when Brian does his UFR, but I was pleased with what I saw out of them.
Countess got the start for the first time. We pretty much already knew what to expect with him after the last few games, but he certainly didn't dissapoint. He just always seems to be in the right place. Dare I say he is the best corner back out there for us right now? Not sure if they are just going away from him, but teams seem to be picking on Floyd more.
Not sure how much of this is Purdue's Offensive Line, but Frank Clark looked like an absolute beast out there today. He seemed to be in the back field on every play and he appeared to be taking great angles to not let the QB outside.
Desmond Morgan also impressed me. He too seemed to keep contain better then previous players at his position and at least appeared to be more aggressive at attacking the ball.
I saw Brennen Beyer out there quite a bit, but I didn't "feel" him to quote a term from Hoke. Cant say rather he did well or poorly.
These were all just observations I had with limited angles from the TV broadcast, I look forward to seeing Brian's UFR to see how well they all actually did.
What do you think? Did anyone see anything differently, or were there any players I missed?
Go Blue!!!
October 29th, 2011 at 7:32 PM ^
We can assume solid improvement for the next year and years to come.
October 29th, 2011 at 7:37 PM ^
Even though it is Purdue, it's still a bunch of our freshmen playing well against a lot of upperclassmen. Ryan, Taylor, Blake, Beyer, Frank, all looked good against upperclassmen. I don't care it was Purdue, it's still impressive.
October 29th, 2011 at 7:51 PM ^
It seemed like everytime (which seemed like a lot) he got to the quarterback, he couldn't finish the sack. The one rollout (I think it was a third down around midfield in the 4th quarter) he really got juked out bad by the purdue quarterback. And it's not like the guy he was playing Denard Robinson or Jarrod Wilson. Just needs to finish.
Desmond Morgan was the one who I thought turned a corner. He really looked like he belonged out there. Even made a real nice hit on special teams too. Me and my buddy have kept saying how he might be something special in two years. After today, I think it might be earlier than expected.
October 29th, 2011 at 8:24 PM ^
Why is our safety commit that's still in high school playing quarterback in college?
October 29th, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^
Hearing Hoke not have any reservations about playing Freshmen in the Presser made me remember the RichRod mantra from last year that it's all about an inexperienced secondary and defense that was the problem all along. I can't remember how many times he blamed the lack of experience on the inability to stop anyone. Sure is a liability for Countess huh...
It's nice to see that disproven - if you let all the kids compete and teach them you'll have the right kids rise to the top regardless of age.
Go blue!
October 29th, 2011 at 8:59 PM ^
I don't know if you can go that far to say it wasn't an impact. I'm sure it was a mix of coaching and inexperience; however, using Countess as an example is not the way to go. Countess is and was an elite talent. Something that we didn't really have in a freshman during the RR years, aside from Justine Turner, who got fat.
October 29th, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^
Well, it's little different when you get to plug one freshman into an experienced secondary as a spot start, as opposed to having and entire secondary of Freshman, Sophomores and walk ons.
The safety play is so much better this year than last year it's not even funny. A lot of credit for that should go to Mattison, but all of those reps for Kovacs and Gordon last year definitely helped.
[sorry - should be a reply to Mparadox]
October 29th, 2011 at 9:12 PM ^
I think Frank Clark is going to be a beast. I want more Glennville kids!!!
October 29th, 2011 at 9:56 PM ^
I was at the game and I think the play that got me off my feat faster than any other play was Jake Ryan shooting into the backfield like a missile and diving right through their running back's legs for a loss. The future is bright.
October 29th, 2011 at 9:58 PM ^
First I've seen Ash all year. Is he a legit 300 lber? I have feeling the staff cooled their jets on recruiting DTs because they see exponential improvement (they better) in Ash and Washington. Between growing Wormely into a redwood; stuffing Godin with Pizza Bobs and Pipkins, I guess they feel like they have a future rotation once Will Campbell becomes Warren Sapp. I still fret...