good postAfter sleeping on it, and I know I am in a minority here, I think the game plan was strategically correct. Both sides of the ball. The defense gave up 24 points to a good KSU offense. By in large they kept a good mobile QB in check. The D gave up 160 yards on the ground but almost half of that was on two plays so KSU never really got much going on the ground. Waters had a decent but not prolific day throwing the ball. While the 3 man rush and dropping eight can be painfully frustrating to watch it largely accomplished what was intended. Net results we gave up 3 touchdowns and a field goal. Going into this game I think most people would say we should be able to win at home against KSU giving up 24 points. On the minus side, our LB play just isn't very good. No wrap up tackling. I don't know how many yards of LBs were drug down the field after impact. We miss Frank Shannon.
The offense for the most part started to look like we thought they could. The game plan seemed more tailored to Knight's abilities and we moved the ball pretty well both air and ground. I was a little disappointed that our O line wasn't able to dominate a smallish KSU D line. My takeaway from this performance is that we really do not have many big play impact players on offense. The kind of guys the defense is always worried about taking it to the house from anywhere on the field. Shepard has the franchise in that department but I think of Shepard more as a really good receiver capable of making big plays. I would hate to think what this offense would look like without Shepard. Thought maybe Quick was going to get some work but he was soon forgotten. It's clear to me now why the coaching staff keeps trying to get Ross more involved and find situations for him to succeed even though from scrimmage the results are mixed.
The game plan was sound strategically but execution wise not so much. This game was turned just like the Texas game last week on low probability events. It worked in our favor last week. This week no. There isn't any way to game plan for a missed PAT or your All American FG kicker missing two relatively easy FGs. While the offense didn't make many mistakes the two they made were really big ones.
When I look at this team it seems like a talented bunch yet somehow underachieving their talent level. It's like the total is less than the sum of the parts. When we play a traditional type offense we limit our mistakes but have trouble moving the ball. When we open up a little, like yesterday, We move the ball but committed costly mental errors, both players and coaches. Our staff goes through timeouts like cheap bubble gum. No excuse for having so much confusion about coverage, having the correct number of players on the field or being unable to get a play in on a timely basis. Maybe this gets corrected and we win out but it seemed like this team could have been much better.