HateTheWhorns
9/7/2010, 04:16 PM
1) Gary Andersen is an excellent coach. It is no fluke that USU is developing a solid defense after he led Utah to becoming one of the top ranked defenses in the country during his last 2-3 years there.
2) USU's overall talent level is much better than most expected. With all of the JUCO talent they have recruited along with good coaching, it is no surprise to me that they competed well.
3) USU finished 13th in the nation last year in total offense. With most everyone back (including QB), it is not a shock to me that they exposed a defense with 7 new starters (Washington, Wilson, Wort, Jefferson, Fleming, Hurst, McFarland).
4) USU got about every break they can expect in a game (except for the illegal lineman down field on the fake FG). They caught just about every challenged pass, benefited from timely OU penalties, and escaped numerous sack attempts.
5) OU's game plan was pretty vanilla. Landy still has trouble making the easy throws and makes incredible throws on his deep routes and roll-outs. This area still concerns me.
6) OU started three new DBs. Jefferson was a pleasant surprise; Hurst was sporadic; and Fleming was generally in the right place, but did not make plays. Except for Fleming, I feel good about our Secondary and its ability to make significant strides.
I think we will look back at season's end and realize that we played a pretty good team on Saturday. No, the score shouldn't have been as close as it was, but it should not have been a 35 pt blow-out either.
Don't panic as we will get better throughout the season. Let's just hope it occurs sooner than later.
Your Thoughts?
Cheers,
HTW
2) USU's overall talent level is much better than most expected. With all of the JUCO talent they have recruited along with good coaching, it is no surprise to me that they competed well.
3) USU finished 13th in the nation last year in total offense. With most everyone back (including QB), it is not a shock to me that they exposed a defense with 7 new starters (Washington, Wilson, Wort, Jefferson, Fleming, Hurst, McFarland).
4) USU got about every break they can expect in a game (except for the illegal lineman down field on the fake FG). They caught just about every challenged pass, benefited from timely OU penalties, and escaped numerous sack attempts.
5) OU's game plan was pretty vanilla. Landy still has trouble making the easy throws and makes incredible throws on his deep routes and roll-outs. This area still concerns me.
6) OU started three new DBs. Jefferson was a pleasant surprise; Hurst was sporadic; and Fleming was generally in the right place, but did not make plays. Except for Fleming, I feel good about our Secondary and its ability to make significant strides.
I think we will look back at season's end and realize that we played a pretty good team on Saturday. No, the score shouldn't have been as close as it was, but it should not have been a 35 pt blow-out either.
Don't panic as we will get better throughout the season. Let's just hope it occurs sooner than later.
Your Thoughts?
Cheers,
HTW