Well, I was very busy this weekend and just did not get to watch as much college football as I would have liked to on Saturday. I spent my time getting ready for a youth soccer game that got canceled and then doing some work for my family. However, I did get most of that in before 1PM, so I did get to see some stuff. Here are some thoughts I had.
- In regards to what we saw against OSU, I will use an analogy a coaching friend said to me: Don't get too excited about what you see in a blowout because it is like seeing guys come into a boxing match and fighting the opponent after they have gone 5 rounds with the starters. So it is basically like I have always said, its not as good as we thought or as bad as we thought. This rule applies here and even last week really.
- When I see backups get into a blowout, what I look for is if they can make fundamental plays. For instance, Tate got in the game and looked great. What I loved was he is a young QB who didn't force things. He took the short passes when they were there, which moves the chains. He threw well on the roll outs getting square and hitting his guys where it needed to be thrown. He took off when it was there, not just after his first read wasn't open. Those are the things you look for, not if they are whipping a beaten opponent.
- That LT for Rutgers proves that you do NOT say a single thing about the opponent other than how great they are and how you are going to have to play well against them. Just shut up instead of giving material to motivate them. That kid knew it after he got whipped for the 10th time and I hope he learns from it. You can be arrogant, cocky, or confident. Just don't say it to the media.
- Boas is just fantastic. He is so good you don't notice that Jones, Landers, and Young are really, really good. Now, I did like that Rutgers doubled Bosa a few times and even put him on his butt on a nice chip block. He needed that. If I were playing against OSU, I would run right at Bosa, make him buckle down and be physical. If you don't, they he moves around and you can't touch him. Also, no team should EVER go on a one snap count against OSU because Landers will be in the backfield all game.
- The linebackers were MUCH better this week. I liked their angles a lot more and how they set on the runs. I thought they blitzed them too much against Oregon State and this time made them play football more. With that DL, you don't need to blitz anyways. No one stood out on the stat sheet and that is fine. You don't want someone with 20 tackles because it means your defense was on the field too much.
- The football people who decide on the rules are idiots. There are so many rules that you see implemented that we all know are stupid. For instance, when a kid gets ejected for coming off the sideline to celebrate a play while another kid has a late his and stays in the game. Just stupid. To me, neither should have been ejected and the red should have just told Young to stay back and tell a coach to put him on the bench or something. Instead, they eject him. Just stupid all around. I saw two ejections this weekend, one was Young and the other was the Bengals safety who made a dumb illegal hit. Those two things were NOT the same. Yet, the result was the same. Stupid.
- Did anyone stay up and watch MSU against ASU? As I did, I was thinking, "So these are the guys that the B1G network guys think will win the conference? I just didn't see it. I like their defense, but man their offense is lacking. They could NOT run the ball, which was shocking. ASU controlled the LOS when on defense and that is the key to beating MSU. The MSU QB has 72 pass attempts in just two games. Talk about not following your identity.
- Trace McSorely's adjusted QB rating is 14 points below what it was last year in his two games. He hasn't impressed me yet. I think he is good, don't get me wrong. I think he has a lot of athletic talent. However, as a passing QB, he is average. He hasn't really run much either, so that part of his game is in neutral. When you blow a team like Pitt away, I expect you to be able to complete at least half of your passes. He didn't do that. What I did like for PSU was their defense. They took Pitt's soul away, making them look really bad. I know the Pitt kid got over 100 yards rushing, but it was a little used 100.
- I don't know if the scUM offense is improved or not. After all, WMU gave up 55 the week before to Syracuse. So getting those points on a terrible defense didn't tell me much. I do think Patterson is good. However, I am not sure about the rest of the offense. Just like with PSU, I like their defense though.
- Northwestern showed us you really have to wait a few games before really knowing what a team is like. I liked them in their win over Purdue. Then, the next week they look terrible against Duke and Purdue shows us they couldn't win the MAC. So that was disappointing on both sides. I don't understand why Purdue is going with the two QB thing either. Green's QB rating is 26. Does he really deserve 18 pass attempts?
- Does college football want Nebraska to be good or what? All day during their game, they showed highlights of Nebraska yet they were losing. The B1G and ESPeeing was doing it. They would show Martinez scoring and then the score would be in favor of Colorado. Then it ended and the Buffalos won it. Frost has had a ROUGH start between rain and then injuries. He has Troy this week, so hopefully they get healthy.
- Maryland is 2-0. That is simply amazing considering how toxic things were there.
- Illinois is 2-0. I don't think they are very good, but they are 2-0 so I am using this time to say something positive about them. Also, Lovie's beard is incredible.
- Clemson vs A&M was exciting. I couldn't tell if Clemson was really good or not because they had to hang on against an unranked opponent who has a new coach. I do know they have dudes out there who can just make plays. However, right now Bama is #1 and Clemson and OSU and trying to catch up. That is just the way it is. Its a long season though.
- Will Muschamp is 44-33 as a head coach. He is 25-24 in SEC games. That is all.
- By the way, can UF blame their loss to UK this weekend on Urban still? What is the statute of limitations on that one?
- As for the NFL, I did get to see a lot of that. The Bengals came back and won, which I will take any win on the road for them. I also was cheering so hard for the Browns to win. It was frustrating, but I do think they are headed in the right direction for now.
Thats all.
- In regards to what we saw against OSU, I will use an analogy a coaching friend said to me: Don't get too excited about what you see in a blowout because it is like seeing guys come into a boxing match and fighting the opponent after they have gone 5 rounds with the starters. So it is basically like I have always said, its not as good as we thought or as bad as we thought. This rule applies here and even last week really.
- When I see backups get into a blowout, what I look for is if they can make fundamental plays. For instance, Tate got in the game and looked great. What I loved was he is a young QB who didn't force things. He took the short passes when they were there, which moves the chains. He threw well on the roll outs getting square and hitting his guys where it needed to be thrown. He took off when it was there, not just after his first read wasn't open. Those are the things you look for, not if they are whipping a beaten opponent.
- That LT for Rutgers proves that you do NOT say a single thing about the opponent other than how great they are and how you are going to have to play well against them. Just shut up instead of giving material to motivate them. That kid knew it after he got whipped for the 10th time and I hope he learns from it. You can be arrogant, cocky, or confident. Just don't say it to the media.
- Boas is just fantastic. He is so good you don't notice that Jones, Landers, and Young are really, really good. Now, I did like that Rutgers doubled Bosa a few times and even put him on his butt on a nice chip block. He needed that. If I were playing against OSU, I would run right at Bosa, make him buckle down and be physical. If you don't, they he moves around and you can't touch him. Also, no team should EVER go on a one snap count against OSU because Landers will be in the backfield all game.
- The linebackers were MUCH better this week. I liked their angles a lot more and how they set on the runs. I thought they blitzed them too much against Oregon State and this time made them play football more. With that DL, you don't need to blitz anyways. No one stood out on the stat sheet and that is fine. You don't want someone with 20 tackles because it means your defense was on the field too much.
- The football people who decide on the rules are idiots. There are so many rules that you see implemented that we all know are stupid. For instance, when a kid gets ejected for coming off the sideline to celebrate a play while another kid has a late his and stays in the game. Just stupid. To me, neither should have been ejected and the red should have just told Young to stay back and tell a coach to put him on the bench or something. Instead, they eject him. Just stupid all around. I saw two ejections this weekend, one was Young and the other was the Bengals safety who made a dumb illegal hit. Those two things were NOT the same. Yet, the result was the same. Stupid.
- Did anyone stay up and watch MSU against ASU? As I did, I was thinking, "So these are the guys that the B1G network guys think will win the conference? I just didn't see it. I like their defense, but man their offense is lacking. They could NOT run the ball, which was shocking. ASU controlled the LOS when on defense and that is the key to beating MSU. The MSU QB has 72 pass attempts in just two games. Talk about not following your identity.
- Trace McSorely's adjusted QB rating is 14 points below what it was last year in his two games. He hasn't impressed me yet. I think he is good, don't get me wrong. I think he has a lot of athletic talent. However, as a passing QB, he is average. He hasn't really run much either, so that part of his game is in neutral. When you blow a team like Pitt away, I expect you to be able to complete at least half of your passes. He didn't do that. What I did like for PSU was their defense. They took Pitt's soul away, making them look really bad. I know the Pitt kid got over 100 yards rushing, but it was a little used 100.
- I don't know if the scUM offense is improved or not. After all, WMU gave up 55 the week before to Syracuse. So getting those points on a terrible defense didn't tell me much. I do think Patterson is good. However, I am not sure about the rest of the offense. Just like with PSU, I like their defense though.
- Northwestern showed us you really have to wait a few games before really knowing what a team is like. I liked them in their win over Purdue. Then, the next week they look terrible against Duke and Purdue shows us they couldn't win the MAC. So that was disappointing on both sides. I don't understand why Purdue is going with the two QB thing either. Green's QB rating is 26. Does he really deserve 18 pass attempts?
- Does college football want Nebraska to be good or what? All day during their game, they showed highlights of Nebraska yet they were losing. The B1G and ESPeeing was doing it. They would show Martinez scoring and then the score would be in favor of Colorado. Then it ended and the Buffalos won it. Frost has had a ROUGH start between rain and then injuries. He has Troy this week, so hopefully they get healthy.
- Maryland is 2-0. That is simply amazing considering how toxic things were there.
- Illinois is 2-0. I don't think they are very good, but they are 2-0 so I am using this time to say something positive about them. Also, Lovie's beard is incredible.
- Clemson vs A&M was exciting. I couldn't tell if Clemson was really good or not because they had to hang on against an unranked opponent who has a new coach. I do know they have dudes out there who can just make plays. However, right now Bama is #1 and Clemson and OSU and trying to catch up. That is just the way it is. Its a long season though.
- Will Muschamp is 44-33 as a head coach. He is 25-24 in SEC games. That is all.
- By the way, can UF blame their loss to UK this weekend on Urban still? What is the statute of limitations on that one?
- As for the NFL, I did get to see a lot of that. The Bengals came back and won, which I will take any win on the road for them. I also was cheering so hard for the Browns to win. It was frustrating, but I do think they are headed in the right direction for now.
Thats all.
