- Sep 8, 2014
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Some good stuff here:
https://coachingsearch.com/article?a=The-Inside-Zone--22-takeaways-from-Week-8
Safe to say Gus Malzahn has turned things around? Most shocking performance of the night goes to Auburn, who demolished Arkansas with 543 rushing yards in a 56-3 win.
Malzahn’s reaction when told the final numbers: “Wow, did we? Wow. That’s really something. Our offensive line’s getting better. We’re starting to gel. I thought the off-week was good. We’re a downhill running team, and we were able to do that tonight.”
Those 543 rushing yards are the most ever in an SEC regular season game. They averaged 9.5 yards per rush. Auburn has now won four straight, and the SEC West is more interesting.
“We were clicking. (Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee) really had it going, him and (offensive line coach Herb Hand) had a good plan, and we got the tempo going. When we get that going downhill, we’re at our best.”
Nothing went right for Bret Bielema’s team, but he knows the biggest defensive problem: They kept getting beat on the edge.
“When we don’t have an edge, we don’t have a defense,” he said. “We have to look at the personnel, look at the call, look at the scheme, it was similar to the Alabama (game). We need to get it fixed.”
Ohio State’s inconsistency finally caught up with them.
The Buckeyes struggled to pass the ball against Indiana two weeks ago, and although they won at Wisconsin last week, there were issues. They were in position for an ugly win at Penn State, until special teams blunders led to a PSU comeback win.
Penn State blocked a punt and returned a blocked field goal for a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes, as part of a 17-0 fourth quarter.
Think about this: Penn State went 8-for-23 passing, 2-for-13 on third down and averaged 3.3 yards per rush and still beat the No. 2 team in the country. It ends Urban Meyer's 20-0 start in true road games at Ohio State.
Charlie Strong is not in a good position after a 24-21 loss at Kansas State that featured the same problems.
They couldn’t get stops — K-State held the ball for 38 minutes and Jesse Ertz went 20-for-27 passing. The Longhorns turned 3 K-State turnovers into 0 points. They missed a 35-yard field goal that proved to be the difference.
“So many missed opportunities,” Strong said. The Longhorns are 3-4 for the third year in a row. That hadn’t happened since 1997. Athletic director Mike Perrin declined comment after the game.
Ed Orgeron is 3-0 as LSU’s head coach, and next up is Alabama in two weeks.
The Tigers beat Ole Miss 38-21, and Leonard Fournette had 284 rushing yards on 16 carries (17.8 per carry)
LSU has scored at least 38 points in all three games. ESPN’s Chris Low reported a few weeks back that Orgeron could get the permanent LSU job if he beats Alabama. We’ll see in two weeks.
It’s been a month to forget for Houston, as the Cougars lost 38-16 at SMU.
Chad Morris’ team had put together good halves through his 1.5 years as head coach, but it was a complete effort on Saturday, holding Houston to 1.8 yards per rush and forcing two turnovers.
As for Houston, the Playoff is gone, a New Year’s Six game is gone, and they’re now in a big hole in their division. This comes after the Big 12 opted not to expand. The shine on the program is fading right now.
“They played better than us, prepared better than us, executed better than us, coached better than us,” Tom Herman said as SMU’s locker room celebration happened in the background. “They came out ready to play, and we didn’t do a good job of withstanding the first wave and responding.”
Alabama AGAIN scored a defensive touchdown, and it completely changed the game, en route to a 33-14 win over Texas A&M.
With A&M facing 3rd-and-26 and trailing 20-14, Keith Ford fumbled a handoff, and Alabama returned it 30 yards for a TD. Then A&M went three-and-out, Alabama scored a 37-yard TD, and the game was all but over.
That’s 10 straight games with a non-offensive touchdown TD for Alabama, and the 13th such TD this year.
“It was a huge play in the game,” Nick Saban said. “We hadn’t really stopped them the first drive of the second half. It was a long-yardage situation, we’ve got guys coming off the edge and they’ve got a counter boot. We had good edges, knocked the ball out. That was the real turning point in the game and changed the momentum. Those plays are always huge, but that one was especially huge.”
Kevin Sumlin knew how big it was. You can’t flinch against Alabama. The Aggies did. It was essentially a give-up play, and they still messed it up.
“That was our discussion in there,” he said. “We’re going to be in some situations like that from here on out, and hopefully we learn from it. In a tight ballgame against a team like that, you can’t flinch. We did. That stretch of five minutes dictated who won the game.”
First-year coaches Nick Rolovich (Hawaii), Seth Littrell (North Texas) and Scott Frost (UCF) each won their fourth games of the season.
Hawaii went 3-10 last year but is now 4-4 after beating Air Force in double OT.
North Texas went 1-11 last year, but is now 4-3 after beating Army 35-18.
UCF went 0-12, but is 4-3 after beating UConn 24-16.
Could Kentucky get to a bowl game? The Wildcats are 4-3 after being Mississippi State 40-38 on a 51-yard field goal as time expired.
Mark Stoops has won two in a row, despite his radio show callers asking for a new coach. The Wildcats travel to Missouri next week and also play Georgia, Tennessee, Austin Peay and Louisville.
https://coachingsearch.com/article?a=The-Inside-Zone--22-takeaways-from-Week-8
Safe to say Gus Malzahn has turned things around? Most shocking performance of the night goes to Auburn, who demolished Arkansas with 543 rushing yards in a 56-3 win.
Malzahn’s reaction when told the final numbers: “Wow, did we? Wow. That’s really something. Our offensive line’s getting better. We’re starting to gel. I thought the off-week was good. We’re a downhill running team, and we were able to do that tonight.”
Those 543 rushing yards are the most ever in an SEC regular season game. They averaged 9.5 yards per rush. Auburn has now won four straight, and the SEC West is more interesting.
“We were clicking. (Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee) really had it going, him and (offensive line coach Herb Hand) had a good plan, and we got the tempo going. When we get that going downhill, we’re at our best.”
Nothing went right for Bret Bielema’s team, but he knows the biggest defensive problem: They kept getting beat on the edge.
“When we don’t have an edge, we don’t have a defense,” he said. “We have to look at the personnel, look at the call, look at the scheme, it was similar to the Alabama (game). We need to get it fixed.”
Ohio State’s inconsistency finally caught up with them.
The Buckeyes struggled to pass the ball against Indiana two weeks ago, and although they won at Wisconsin last week, there were issues. They were in position for an ugly win at Penn State, until special teams blunders led to a PSU comeback win.
Penn State blocked a punt and returned a blocked field goal for a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes, as part of a 17-0 fourth quarter.
Think about this: Penn State went 8-for-23 passing, 2-for-13 on third down and averaged 3.3 yards per rush and still beat the No. 2 team in the country. It ends Urban Meyer's 20-0 start in true road games at Ohio State.
Charlie Strong is not in a good position after a 24-21 loss at Kansas State that featured the same problems.
They couldn’t get stops — K-State held the ball for 38 minutes and Jesse Ertz went 20-for-27 passing. The Longhorns turned 3 K-State turnovers into 0 points. They missed a 35-yard field goal that proved to be the difference.
“So many missed opportunities,” Strong said. The Longhorns are 3-4 for the third year in a row. That hadn’t happened since 1997. Athletic director Mike Perrin declined comment after the game.
Ed Orgeron is 3-0 as LSU’s head coach, and next up is Alabama in two weeks.
The Tigers beat Ole Miss 38-21, and Leonard Fournette had 284 rushing yards on 16 carries (17.8 per carry)
LSU has scored at least 38 points in all three games. ESPN’s Chris Low reported a few weeks back that Orgeron could get the permanent LSU job if he beats Alabama. We’ll see in two weeks.
It’s been a month to forget for Houston, as the Cougars lost 38-16 at SMU.
Chad Morris’ team had put together good halves through his 1.5 years as head coach, but it was a complete effort on Saturday, holding Houston to 1.8 yards per rush and forcing two turnovers.
As for Houston, the Playoff is gone, a New Year’s Six game is gone, and they’re now in a big hole in their division. This comes after the Big 12 opted not to expand. The shine on the program is fading right now.
“They played better than us, prepared better than us, executed better than us, coached better than us,” Tom Herman said as SMU’s locker room celebration happened in the background. “They came out ready to play, and we didn’t do a good job of withstanding the first wave and responding.”
Alabama AGAIN scored a defensive touchdown, and it completely changed the game, en route to a 33-14 win over Texas A&M.
With A&M facing 3rd-and-26 and trailing 20-14, Keith Ford fumbled a handoff, and Alabama returned it 30 yards for a TD. Then A&M went three-and-out, Alabama scored a 37-yard TD, and the game was all but over.
That’s 10 straight games with a non-offensive touchdown TD for Alabama, and the 13th such TD this year.
“It was a huge play in the game,” Nick Saban said. “We hadn’t really stopped them the first drive of the second half. It was a long-yardage situation, we’ve got guys coming off the edge and they’ve got a counter boot. We had good edges, knocked the ball out. That was the real turning point in the game and changed the momentum. Those plays are always huge, but that one was especially huge.”
Kevin Sumlin knew how big it was. You can’t flinch against Alabama. The Aggies did. It was essentially a give-up play, and they still messed it up.
“That was our discussion in there,” he said. “We’re going to be in some situations like that from here on out, and hopefully we learn from it. In a tight ballgame against a team like that, you can’t flinch. We did. That stretch of five minutes dictated who won the game.”
First-year coaches Nick Rolovich (Hawaii), Seth Littrell (North Texas) and Scott Frost (UCF) each won their fourth games of the season.
Hawaii went 3-10 last year but is now 4-4 after beating Air Force in double OT.
North Texas went 1-11 last year, but is now 4-3 after beating Army 35-18.
UCF went 0-12, but is 4-3 after beating UConn 24-16.
Could Kentucky get to a bowl game? The Wildcats are 4-3 after being Mississippi State 40-38 on a 51-yard field goal as time expired.
Mark Stoops has won two in a row, despite his radio show callers asking for a new coach. The Wildcats travel to Missouri next week and also play Georgia, Tennessee, Austin Peay and Louisville.
