All right sports fans, just how underwhelmed were you with this opener? More questions than answers maybe? Well, it was a first game and we didn't join the parade of SEC losers on opening day, so I guess that was good. Not a lot to jump up and down about, but we'll talk about the things that were noteworthy and not so much. Here goes:
*Del Rio probably looked more serviceable than assassin to many. Truth is, he wasn't that bad. He won't wow anybody with his arm strength, but he's pretty accurate for the most part. SOS remarked that he wasn't sure how good the guys around him were, which is a fair point at this juncture. I'd add "yet" to his comment. I thought he was good on his check downs and seems to know the offense well enough with regard to where the receivers are. He had a lull in the middle, but finished above 50% in completions. Hurt by some drops but didn't fall out like some and this speaks to his maturity, which a guy who is at his third school may be suspect at. Should show improvement as the season wears on, obviously, but with his arm strength and as a pocket guy, I wonder how high that ceiling will be? Stay tuned.
*The shutout that wasn't...thanks to 35 yards in foolish penalties on UMass' lone TD drive. Actually, too many penalties altogether. Count was at 80 yards early in the 4th quarter. Kids cause them, but Collins is the guy that has to eat them. This often gets written off as a trait of an "aggressive" defense, which is code for "we're kind of undisciplined." If the D coaches do it right, we should see a marked improvement from Game 1 to 2.
*DBEwwww? Not really, but we saw a few holes. Losing Dawson was big, as the guy was lightin' 'em up out there. But we gave up three or four big plays that we shouldn't have. Some of that can be pinned on freshmen (Putu, et al), but one play in particular showed the UMass guy come off a rub to the middle with no one on him and our safety made the read about 10 seconds later and held him to a long gain. Tabor ought to buy his mates dinner after this one. We should have held them to about 10 yards passing. Some work to do for this group, but they get better next week, barring Frazier/Ali IV.
*Front 7 wasn't bad. Pass rush was pretty good, save a couple of whiffs. Zuniga looked good and maybe is going to live up to the praises garnered in the preseason. LBs were decent. Anzalone looked good and made some big plays, but we all held our breath when he was injured. Thank goodness it was just a cut, but I'm holding my breath he doesn't get MERSA as a result with his luck. A lot to look forward to if they stay healthy.
*OL still developing. Kind of been the byline for about a decade it seems. Really, they did some good things. Opened some holes for the backs, as evidenced by several good runs. Pass pro was a little shakey at times. Fred Johnson had a few tough plays that were shown on replay, for example. I thought the analysts made a good point that we looked much stronger on the left side than the right, though Ivey had a couple of "look outs." Still, I get the sense that they are developing. Wondering about the depth?
*Offensive Player of the Game? Eddie P, of course! I know it's only one game, but when's the last time we've felt this good about the place kicker? Loved his enthusiasm. Stay salty young man and don't wake up and realize that you never did this before tonight.
*Probably was the right thing to do, but I've never been a fan of taking points off the board, especially that early in the game. Wonder if Mac would rethink if given the opportunity? Just trying to get the offense some confidence, I suppose.
*How 'bout Scarlett? Kid looks better directed this year, ran hard and with authority. Kronkrite and Thompson looked good, but Scarlett was the guy. Wonder how many yards after contact he got? Seemed like a ton. He looks like he took the lead. Best thing is that 3 good ones should help with the wear and tear of the season.
*Rookie Lowlight...Powell's catch and TD run was even more spectacular when you consider Freddie Swain's loaf and no block on the play. Welcome to college ball, young man. When you aren't catching it, there's still a job to be done. Kid did make a couple of nice catches, though.
The old saying that a team shows their greatest improvement between Game 1 and 2. Let's hope so. Biggest group will likely be the receivers and whether they get past the first game growing pains (maybe a stretch) and get in greater sync with LDR. Defense? Clean up the penalties and get Tabor back. Hopefully Dawson isn't serious. Been typing and haven't heard of an update. They'll have to be better. This team will be exciting, but maybe not always in the best ways early on. Trick is how much they decrease the gap between goofs and consistency. Really looking forward to keeping the UK streak going. Anybody hear from Catmania lately? Is he a Chatter member? Hope so. He'll have a lot of sh!t to talk after our performance. We're 1-0 and that's better than 0-1 going into the UK matchup. Game just became that much more important in my mind. Questions to be answered. Looking forward to your thoughts. Go Gators
*Edit - Forgot to add how great it was seeing and hearing the Ol' Ball Coach in the Swamp again. Might have been the games' biggest highlight!
the first game but Im not
either. Mostly Im just happy I had a gator game to watch and saw some improvement over what Ive seen since TT left.
