- Jun 10, 2014
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Founding Member
Death, taxes, and Florida beating Tennessee.
While I prefer doing write ups after games I've been to in person since I can see more of the field and what's going on, I can still give my two cents after watching us embarass a rival on TV.
I've seen some people disappointed both last week and this week, and I just don't get it. Sure, we were playing crap teams and we killed them. Sure, our offense had some slow spots and didn't put up huge numbers because they didn't run that many plays. Sure, we were gifted some plays by the other team. But wouldn't you rather we end up blowing a bad team out than squeaking by? All I know is, this is the first season since 2009 that we've scored 40+ points in 3 of the first 4 games, and I'm thrilled with that.
Offensively, we continue to be a feast or famine unit. Like the CSU game, our scoring drives were quick, and we didn't sustain too many long drives. When you're given the field position we were given last night, that's going to happen. We had that rough stretch of 3 & outs in the 3rd quarter, which was really the only time of the game the offense looked bad. I still think Mullen is trying to figure out how he wants to call games with this hodgepodge offense we have, and it's leading to some disjointed possessions. I'd love to see Grimes, Toney, and Jefferson worked back into the fold, but it was also nice seeing Stephens make a couple catches last night, as well as Cleveland and Swain (again) making fantastic individual plays for touchdowns.
Franks was his usual self, all over the place. His extension of the play on the TD to Swain was a textbook scramble drill, and the laser he fired to Cleveland to put the game on ice was beautiful. He had a couple inaccurate throws in there (which is going to happen to every QB), but as far as I can remember, he didn't have any throws that were in danger of being picked off. And I know the QB running is part of Mullen's playbook, but he needs to put Franks in more situations where he's guaranteed some yards. He's not the type of runner who can make his own way when the blocks aren't there. Give him some draws or more of those designed sweeps like he scored on, but he doesn't need to be running options that often. He has the ability to pick up yards with his feet, but it's obviously not his strength. Let our RBs handle the dirty work. Bottom line is, while he hasn't been spectacular by any stretch, he has 12 TD passes and only 2 INT, and with our OL being as sloppy as they are, he's only taken 5 sacks. He's never going to be a high completion % guy, but if he can keep putting the ball in the end zone as opposed to the other team's hands, he'll be just fine.
Scarlett finally looked like himself last night, running angry and picking up the tough yards. He's still missing some holes here and there, but by and large he's been our best back. He also picked up a blitz and gave Franks lots of time to throw on the TD to Cleveland, which is the real reason he's seeing more playing time than the other backs. I know everyone is quick to jump on the Pierce train, but just pump the brakes. He's had a couple of long runs against the backups of some bad teams. He's not the second coming of Emmitt Smith just yet, but I love his energy and enthusiasm, and I think he'll be a special player by the time he's done here. Perine had the unfortunate fumble, but it's hard to blame him when the play got blown up before he was even finished taking the handoff.
Defensively, it's obvious Reese's return made a HUGE difference. He had his nose in there all night and was wreaking havoc on those guys. It was also the second straight juggernaut performance from our DL with regard to stuffing the run and harassing the QB. Guantanamo and the backup are taking ice baths today, for sure. I still say CJ Henderson is our best defensive player, and his hustle on the busted play to force the fumble shows it. In past years, that kid waltzes into the end zone, but it's clear that Mullen has these guys believing 100% in the "relentless effort" mantra. Plays like that change games, and it completely crushed UT's spirit last night. Also, that pick by Stewart??
So now we head to Starkville, in what's sure to be as intense a game as we'll play all year. They want to stick it to Mullen, and our guys are going to want to make sure that doesn't happen. They're coming off a stunningly bad performance against UK (sound familiar?) and they'll have the home crowd on their side. This is going to come down to our defense doing a much better job stopping the mobile QB Fitzgerald than they did against UK. Force him to throw it. It's not his forte at all, so don't let him get in a rhythm running the ball.
All in all, being 3-1 is a good start, and if we can come back home 4-1 after back to back road wins, I think that will have exceeded a lot of our expectations coming into the season. Great win last night!
While I prefer doing write ups after games I've been to in person since I can see more of the field and what's going on, I can still give my two cents after watching us embarass a rival on TV.
I've seen some people disappointed both last week and this week, and I just don't get it. Sure, we were playing crap teams and we killed them. Sure, our offense had some slow spots and didn't put up huge numbers because they didn't run that many plays. Sure, we were gifted some plays by the other team. But wouldn't you rather we end up blowing a bad team out than squeaking by? All I know is, this is the first season since 2009 that we've scored 40+ points in 3 of the first 4 games, and I'm thrilled with that.
Offensively, we continue to be a feast or famine unit. Like the CSU game, our scoring drives were quick, and we didn't sustain too many long drives. When you're given the field position we were given last night, that's going to happen. We had that rough stretch of 3 & outs in the 3rd quarter, which was really the only time of the game the offense looked bad. I still think Mullen is trying to figure out how he wants to call games with this hodgepodge offense we have, and it's leading to some disjointed possessions. I'd love to see Grimes, Toney, and Jefferson worked back into the fold, but it was also nice seeing Stephens make a couple catches last night, as well as Cleveland and Swain (again) making fantastic individual plays for touchdowns.
Franks was his usual self, all over the place. His extension of the play on the TD to Swain was a textbook scramble drill, and the laser he fired to Cleveland to put the game on ice was beautiful. He had a couple inaccurate throws in there (which is going to happen to every QB), but as far as I can remember, he didn't have any throws that were in danger of being picked off. And I know the QB running is part of Mullen's playbook, but he needs to put Franks in more situations where he's guaranteed some yards. He's not the type of runner who can make his own way when the blocks aren't there. Give him some draws or more of those designed sweeps like he scored on, but he doesn't need to be running options that often. He has the ability to pick up yards with his feet, but it's obviously not his strength. Let our RBs handle the dirty work. Bottom line is, while he hasn't been spectacular by any stretch, he has 12 TD passes and only 2 INT, and with our OL being as sloppy as they are, he's only taken 5 sacks. He's never going to be a high completion % guy, but if he can keep putting the ball in the end zone as opposed to the other team's hands, he'll be just fine.
Scarlett finally looked like himself last night, running angry and picking up the tough yards. He's still missing some holes here and there, but by and large he's been our best back. He also picked up a blitz and gave Franks lots of time to throw on the TD to Cleveland, which is the real reason he's seeing more playing time than the other backs. I know everyone is quick to jump on the Pierce train, but just pump the brakes. He's had a couple of long runs against the backups of some bad teams. He's not the second coming of Emmitt Smith just yet, but I love his energy and enthusiasm, and I think he'll be a special player by the time he's done here. Perine had the unfortunate fumble, but it's hard to blame him when the play got blown up before he was even finished taking the handoff.
Defensively, it's obvious Reese's return made a HUGE difference. He had his nose in there all night and was wreaking havoc on those guys. It was also the second straight juggernaut performance from our DL with regard to stuffing the run and harassing the QB. Guantanamo and the backup are taking ice baths today, for sure. I still say CJ Henderson is our best defensive player, and his hustle on the busted play to force the fumble shows it. In past years, that kid waltzes into the end zone, but it's clear that Mullen has these guys believing 100% in the "relentless effort" mantra. Plays like that change games, and it completely crushed UT's spirit last night. Also, that pick by Stewart??
So now we head to Starkville, in what's sure to be as intense a game as we'll play all year. They want to stick it to Mullen, and our guys are going to want to make sure that doesn't happen. They're coming off a stunningly bad performance against UK (sound familiar?) and they'll have the home crowd on their side. This is going to come down to our defense doing a much better job stopping the mobile QB Fitzgerald than they did against UK. Force him to throw it. It's not his forte at all, so don't let him get in a rhythm running the ball.
All in all, being 3-1 is a good start, and if we can come back home 4-1 after back to back road wins, I think that will have exceeded a lot of our expectations coming into the season. Great win last night!