I apologize for the delay on this. My company observes the federal holidays so with today being Columbus Day, I took the kids to daycare then came back and slept like I was back in college. And man was it good.
Onto the "show" we put on this past Saturday.
Ugly. Just ugly. You know, awful may even be a better term. Let's take a look Swede's plan to win.
Play Great Defense - I think defense had another stellar night. Not perfect by any means but showed again that they're something we can depend on. We held Kentucky to 157 total yards on Saturday. My brain keeps having to control-alt-delete itself to try to wrap around how we lost that game given that stat. Kentucky averaged 2.6 yards per carry. Defense balled out again on Saturday. They deserve what little credit we have to give.
Score in the Redzone - Given the fact that we didn't even score a TD or a FG, obviously this is a big fat F. We were in the redzone 3 times. We did not score any of those times. We've got to capitalize when we are in the redzone.
Play Great Special Teams - I have high standards for us when it comes to special teams. Not sure if it's because I'm still salty from Saturday or not but this is an F. Reason being is that we had 2 touchbacks from punting. Not an overly huge deal but pinning them deep both of those times could have really helped us in the field position battle. We averaged 55 yards per punt which is great and all, but you guys know me well enough to know that I don't think distance is everything. I view our kickers and punters like snipers. When they're name is called, they take the shoot and take care of business. They make the field goal. They put that ball on the 5 with guys waiting for it. I know Ruiz had a long field goal he left short. The reason we attempted it is because he's made them in practice (I guarantee you). So point being, if you're going to make them in practice, make them in them in the game. (We talking 'bout practice man)
Win the Turnover Battle -I harped on a lot of things above but let's all not kid ourselves, this is the reason we lost the game. 6 interceptions. No one is going to win throwing 6 picks. My question is how are we going to coach our QB's and WR's to protect the ball better? If we're going to do the Air Raid, we have got to protect the ball.
Misc Thoughts:
In closing, I still think we're in a better spot with Leach. We may have some growing pains this year. We may also have some discipline issues on the team that Moorhead left. That's something we don't really see so it's hard to say but it can certainly derail a good team. I wonder if that's what Leach was alluding to in his post game press conference.
The joys of being a State fan right?
P.S. hopefully next year when COVID subsides, I'll let you chaps know when I'm coming to a home game. Would love to meet some of you and have a beer. And maybe share some fun stories that aren't appropriate on here.
Hail State. On to the fighting Jimbo's.
Onto the "show" we put on this past Saturday.
Ugly. Just ugly. You know, awful may even be a better term. Let's take a look Swede's plan to win.
Play Great Defense - I think defense had another stellar night. Not perfect by any means but showed again that they're something we can depend on. We held Kentucky to 157 total yards on Saturday. My brain keeps having to control-alt-delete itself to try to wrap around how we lost that game given that stat. Kentucky averaged 2.6 yards per carry. Defense balled out again on Saturday. They deserve what little credit we have to give.
Score in the Redzone - Given the fact that we didn't even score a TD or a FG, obviously this is a big fat F. We were in the redzone 3 times. We did not score any of those times. We've got to capitalize when we are in the redzone.
Play Great Special Teams - I have high standards for us when it comes to special teams. Not sure if it's because I'm still salty from Saturday or not but this is an F. Reason being is that we had 2 touchbacks from punting. Not an overly huge deal but pinning them deep both of those times could have really helped us in the field position battle. We averaged 55 yards per punt which is great and all, but you guys know me well enough to know that I don't think distance is everything. I view our kickers and punters like snipers. When they're name is called, they take the shoot and take care of business. They make the field goal. They put that ball on the 5 with guys waiting for it. I know Ruiz had a long field goal he left short. The reason we attempted it is because he's made them in practice (I guarantee you). So point being, if you're going to make them in practice, make them in them in the game. (We talking 'bout practice man)
Win the Turnover Battle -I harped on a lot of things above but let's all not kid ourselves, this is the reason we lost the game. 6 interceptions. No one is going to win throwing 6 picks. My question is how are we going to coach our QB's and WR's to protect the ball better? If we're going to do the Air Raid, we have got to protect the ball.
Misc Thoughts:
- Seems like when we get down on the scoreboard, we always have to scramble and figure something out. If we're going to play a system where we go for the jugular, we have got to take a page out of the Art of War and attack first and with a vengeance. Our first drive should be 7 points every single time. We've got to put the other team on their heels. Reason I say this is because when the other team starts dominating the time of possession battle, it puts us in a bad spot to where we have to start taking chances.
- Costello - he's got to start taking what the defense gives him. I'll be surprised if we don't see anything else but rushing 3 and dropping 8 the rest of the year. This isn't new to Leach. I believe his offense works within this type of look. Costello may also be battling some mental demons. He balled out against LSU and now all of the sudden he may think he needs to drop 600 on everybody. It's an easy trap to fall into. It's hard to coach that type of thing out of a player's mind.
- I'm on the fence as to whether we should be playing Rogers or even Schrader at the QB position. There's great points on both sides. Right now, I'm of the opinion that if Costello starts taking what the defense gives him, we'll be alright. The question is if that happens. Regardless, I'm not going to be opposed of putting Rogers in there. Rogers showed some real promise on Saturday.
In closing, I still think we're in a better spot with Leach. We may have some growing pains this year. We may also have some discipline issues on the team that Moorhead left. That's something we don't really see so it's hard to say but it can certainly derail a good team. I wonder if that's what Leach was alluding to in his post game press conference.
The joys of being a State fan right?
P.S. hopefully next year when COVID subsides, I'll let you chaps know when I'm coming to a home game. Would love to meet some of you and have a beer. And maybe share some fun stories that aren't appropriate on here.
Hail State. On to the fighting Jimbo's.
