Well someone is going to make a big mistake come Draft Day

From ESPN: “The big winner Sunday was Florida wide receiver Chad Jackson, who ran a blistering 4.32 40-yard dash and solidified a first-round grade. Jackson is a big receiver who had 88 catches last season and has the breakaway speed teams are looking for.”

I sure never saw it.

Do you honestly remember any game were he took over and you thought afterwards “Man, Chad really dominated that game?” Name me a game that he blew up: Vandy? Tennessee? LA Tech? I’m not saying he's a bad WR, just not an NFL #1. Probably a later second round value. I still think if Caldwell hadn't gotten hurt, he would have been our best offensive player.

Then again he'll hopefully have a better QB throwing to him in the pros.

Outback Bowl - Iowa

I bet some of you thought I would not send do a write-up of the Outback Bowl. However I did indeed go down and since I next to none of you went I couldn’t let down my fans, the biggest of whom I was surprised to recently learn is Heather’s dad.

Allow to start with my extraneous information as I often do. Raymond James Stadium was not a bad place, the pirate ship is neat and it turns out they have a little faux pirate village right behind there that you never see on TV. Without the boat it would not have much personality, not that football stadiums usually do. I was in the second to last row, but since this is a modern stadium I could still see the field. This was my first post-season game ever and since I didn’t go to Jacksonville it was also my first neutral site game as well. The student section was much more subdued than normal, perhaps because we were filled with older people who flinched their kids’ tickets, perhaps because people aren’t as drunk at eleven in the morning (although they were selling beer and some were – including the annoying girls behind me thrown out for dumping beers over the side of the stadium onto others), or maybe because some of us realized hollering doesn’t cause the opposition offense if you are only half the crowds (some of us did not seem to get that, and I hollered a bit myself try and get into the atmosphere more – but this was the first game I left with a voice). Iowa fans turned out in impressive numbers, I also saw them walking around in their yellow shirts Tuesday over in St. Petersburg. I would take any excuse to get out of Iowa too. Iowa fans also seem proud to be rednecks, a number wore shirts saying “cornfed.” Anyway…

QB: This is becoming a pretty standard day in the office for the Leakster. Several one hoppers, a few overthrows, one dropped picked, and stats that look better than they really are. He did do well leading us to that touchdown right at the end of the first half, that was key to momentum at that time (Iowa had just scored their first points). Overall he did well leading the offense, although he seems to have lost the ability to stay on his feet. There were more designed quarterback runs than normal. I don’t know why, they must have thought they saw something in the game because they did not start with them. I’ll give some credit to Meyer for giving that up once it was clear it was not working, he is getting a little better at that.
GRADE: B+/B

RB: Boy I sure look smart for saying Moore was the back of the future now don’t I? (as an aside: Maury, stopping questioning me). This was easily our best running effort of the season, which surprised me as you would not think it would come against a Big Ten team (of course you also think they would run the ball well too…but I am getting ahead of myself). I don’t know where Wynn was in the first half, maybe he pissed Urban off again, maybe Urban was trying to send him a message that if a true freshman runs better than you do you should be giving up those ideas of heading to the draft. I’m not sure how would have run if when we needed to kill the clock because we kept passing (I am getting ahead of myself again), but those early breakouts really set the tone.
GRADE: A (hey we actually had a rushing attack for once)

WR: Easily Dallas Baker’s best game, having a month to heal helps. If he could be that way consistently that would be great because Chad Jackson is reportedly leaving. He’s nuts, he might have led the SEC but no one is going to be impressed with a 10 yard average and he has that anti-UF receiver bias to contend with too. He did have a few nice drive sustaining catches in his last college game. Otherwise no one else did anything. Where was Cornelius!?
GRADE: B+

TE: The Tatebomb had one sizable pickup, I did not notice him otherwise. This guy is 6-6, looks to have some speed, and is from the town “Friday Night Lights” was about: I don’t get it.
GRADE: B (He’s a tight end, one big play is all you really have a right to expect)

OL: Their best game. If we had our best game running and Leak rarely had serious pressure you have to give them credit. Being so high up I couldn’t really see them that well to see how they were doing as individuals.
GRADE: A- (not truly dominating)

DL: Playing without McDonald they did not get much passrush. Given that they were behind and throwing this is especially alarming. I guess Moss is still a work in progress. However they totally snuffed out the running game. That guy is no slouch either: 1,300 yards (more than twice our leading guy) and a 5.4 yard average is nothing to sneeze at in the Big Ten, he was the #4 back in the conference.
GRADE: B+

LB: I am sure they were one the field. Okay, that is not nice if we stuffed the Hawkeyes’ running game they showed up, but I don’t remember them making any plays good or bad. Do you?
GRADE: B- (you are supposed to make plays)

DB: Of course other than Vernell Brown you could say that about the whole defense. That pick should have been a deal sealer. They started out well but gave up an awful lot of yards as they game went along. However those were not big plays so much as nickels and dimes, truth is we got complacent and went prevent, which is the coaches’ fault. However the late touchdown in the first half was their fault, although even that was more a good play by them, our guys were not wildly out of position.
GRADE: B
And oh yeah, Webb heard he is a first or second round pick so he is going pro. I’m currently offering bets that he doesn’t go in the first.

FOOTBALL 101: This is a new segment were use the skills I learned in becoming a good historian and define my terminology. Today’s word kids is “The Prevent Defense.” The prevent defense is when a team that is ahead in game and has been pushing the other team’s offense around all day decides to let them back into the game by having secondary fall back 20 yards down field to prevent quick scores and let the other team do whatever it wants short. You might ask why you would want to change your defense if it had been working all game but this just shows you are some stupid fan and not a coach and should sit down. Coaches also love to “tweak” there systems once they get into the playoffs to show how smart they are rather than stick with what worked well enough to get time into the playoffs in the first place (this is similar to letting yourself go after you marry). Smart gamblers (pay attention I’m giving you a big hint) know the more a coach says this the more money they should bet on the other team. All good football fans hate it when their team goes conservative (never good to be conservative) and employees the prevent defense. Now it is based on a legitimate theory and you don’t realize the team is doing it when it works and your team gets a pick to seal the victory, however it far to often results in the other team driving right down the field to be used as much as it is (especially if you have personal for a high-tempo defense with DBs not used to running around chasing receivers for forever and a day). Some coaches have started to figure this out (I guess hearing “the prevent prevents you from winning” a million times eventually sinks in) and you see it less than you did ten years ago, at least more teams will rush four guys now rather than let the QB sit back their all day under a three man rush (my father taught me to hate that, you may as well just rush one guy). However fans of all generations still hate it out of cultural memory, the same way you know not to whip a horse that can’t pull an overloaded wagon even though I’m the only person you know likely to have driven from Pennsylvania to Virginia in a horse and buddy (wow are my metaphors all over the place today).

D/ST: The special teams giveth, the special teams taketh away. I was so high up I thought the punt was blocked by Cornelius (actually Jarvis Herring – never heard of the guy who returned it – Tremaine McCollum?). Truth be told it was not that great of a play: Iowa’s center blocked left and let Herring go untouched. Meanwhile we allowed a big kickoff return to set up their TD at the end of the first when we had all the momentum in the world, and started their comeback off when Jackson muffed a punt. Once again we botched onside kick defense: everyone went for the ball, no one whacked their guys. And after seeing it on TV, they were not offsides. Not that it means they tie the game (any more than Vandy was sure to make that 2-point conversion), everyone seems to have forgotten Iowa’s last drive ended in a long field go on fourth and ten, we might have held. Hetland also missed another chipshot fieldgoal. We did convert a fake punt.
GRADE: D

Coaching: For the second time this season we let an inferior team we were handling back into the game. Good teams keep their foot on your throat and don’t get complacent. And why weren’t we running to burn the clock we were ahead? Urban likes the pass to much. You all probably can guess by now what I thought of us going to the prevent. I thought about the fake punt right before they ran it and while worked I didn’t like it: the risk/reward ratio was off (we were pretty deep in our own end and up by two scores). Also on fourth and two don’t have your receivers run one yard routes. To Meyer’s credit I would rather have a coach who knows you have to take risks sometimes than one who never does. Also given him credit for going for it rather than sitting on it at the end of the first half, even if that running into the kicker penalty was bogus (yes, the officals were bad. And the ref needs to get his voice box changed, I never understood a single call he made: I felt I was a student in Peanuts).
GRADE: C+

Bottom Line: We have a lot of work to do come next year. I will say that West Virginia reportedly runs the same offense that Meyer is so in love with and the Mountaineers sure whooped up on the Bullpuppies didn’t they Jen? But we sure don’t have a QB or RB who can run that way.

Florida State

Before I begin I’d like to philosophize a little about football.

As I imagine most, if not all, of you know I’m from Maine. This week I went home and, as I often do, attended the 94th Thanksgiving Day Game between the two high schools in Portland; Portland High and Deering. My father and I bundled up before leaving because it was 27 degrees and snowing. To a Maineiac that really isn’t that bad, but there was wind, oh boy was there some wind. It was so windy before the game started everyone was huddled around the snack shop to use it as wind break. Once we settled in started to warm up a bit, which was worse because it turned the snow to sleet soaking us in our winter gear (we didn’t have rain gear with us because weathermen are idiots), I had four layers on and my body was wet. Eventually it turned to a downpour (a horizontal downpour thanks to the wind). It was the most miserable weather I’ve ever seen a game in. There were roughly as many players on the field as fans in the stand. The cheerleaders only gave one or two anemic cheers and spent most of their time huddling together. I’m being literal – they hugged and half squatted as a group. They left at the half and didn’t come back, well a handful did late in the fourth. I guess the others chose to quit the squad rather than face the weather. Now I love going to the games down here and “y’all’ do some impressive tailgating (it’s hard to party in -10) and I admit the game lacked artistry (the winning QB was 0 for 1 with a pick), but until you go to a game such as this you don’t know the heart of football. Words will not do it justice, you have to go through a game such as this to understand. In the stands there is a camaraderie between the few fans in recognition that we are all going through this. On the sideline guys where sharing jackets trying to stay warm, when the waterboy ran out on the field NO ONE took water because they didn’t want a cold drink. Yet when it came time to play the guys who rush out onto the field jumping and pumping their teammates up – notice I didn’t say put their helmets on because it was so awful none of them took their helmets off in a futile attempt to protect their heads. When they made a big play, celebrated the same as they would any other time (and then ran to the sideline and curled up in the fetal position, but hey).

Anyway moving on...

QB: Ah Chris, when will you learn? I was once again in the endzone, on the other side this time, row eleven (you know I’ve had great seats, I’ve been in the endzone a bunch, but always in the first tier). If you were there and saw one section repeated try to start the wave that was me (yes, I was stuck with the face-painters). Being that close up again allowed me to see what Leak sees, and I’m right: he is just inaccurate (the other feature was to allow my companion for the game, the raging rebel redneck from South Carolina, to suggest we rush the field). The first pick that bounced of Wynn’s hands was high, the pick FSU dropped was wide, the deep bomb to Chad Jackson they broke up was short, he was way behind Baker on another attempt. To his credit he did hit a few big passes and the Gators moved the ball when they could barely run.
GRADE: B+
FUTURE: Short of bringing in a new guy (we are rumored to be after that running QB Tennessee had last year before they went with Ainge), we have to go with Leak next year (it’s not as though he is going pro). With a year’s experience hopefully Meyer will know how to use him better. I haven’t see anything from Josh Portis to make me think he is ready. Just as an aside ESPN said in an article he’s shown “glimpses” (of what? Fumbleitis?) which just proves there is no substitute for actually being there. I know a certain wise man who thinks he knows more about football than he does (and has the lost bets to me to prove it) who last year blasted Zook for not winning with a team talented enough that ESPN said it would be a contender next (that is this) year. The moral of the story is don’t believe the hype; believe me (Leak for the Heisman, come on).

RB: They were awful. Nothing worked, the few ones they broke were surprises. Early on I was going nuts because we kept trying to go wide and their fast defense ran us down, but we weren’t getting much up the middle either. Not entirely their fault, holes were few, but any time your best running option is Leak that is not pretty. They didn’t do much for us in the passing game either.
GRADE: C-
FUTURE: Everyone, even Latsko the fullback, is coming back. Wynn is the best of the bunch and figures to be the starter. Manson has looked better lately and is the fastest, but in my eyes he is more of a change of pace guy rather than starter. He needs to work on his moves. The guy with the most upside to me is Moore (good mix of skills), but that is just potential for the moment and I don’t see him as ready to start next August.

WR: The reason I felt pretty good going into this game was that their secondary is terrible and I thought our guys would be able to beat them all over the place. We did get some plays, but not as many as I expected. Jackson and Baker made some moves with the ball in their hands. Where was Cornelius? Did someone shoot him and I missed it? Baker may have run the wrong route in the redzone on a third down incompletion.
GRADE: B (have to consider the competition)
FUTURE: Everyone is back, even Baker who the NCAA has in its infinite wisdom decided to allow play for a SIXTH year even though he played in ever game this year. Boateng will be a year older (and he may count as redshirted this year), so there is some talent in the pipe. Everyone, including the returning Caldwell and Tookes, who I see as the fifth receiver, will be a senior next year. This is also another reason to play Leak over Portis.

TE: I bet you know who he is now. Way to go Buckaroo.
GRADE: D+
FUTURE: The Tater is a sophomore so he has two more years to try to make an impression. There may be other tight ends on the roster too.

OL: Easily their best game of the year. Leak had all day for the most part. Maybe the running lanes weren’t there but they dominated in the passing game and at this point I’ll take that and be happy.
GRADE: A-
FUTURE: Boy is this ugly. Four starters, including both tackles and heart of the line Degory are matriculating. Considering that no one from the bench was put in all year despite the struggles we had I am not too sanguine about the depth (Hey! There’s another reason to play Leak!).

DL: Their best game of the year, first time we got consistent pressure all season and that late hit on Weatherford in the first quarter was hysterical. Even with a few guys getting dinged the line played well. FSU was able to break some runs, but not on a regular basis. I was pretty confident once we had a little lead because I knew they weren’t to come back with the pressure we were getting.
GRADE: A
FUTURE: Only Mincey is gone. That is a loss, but with a healthy McDonald again and Moss recovering and growing all off-season the line will all but certainly be better next year. Cohen got plenty of experience this year so he will be a great rotation guy (help keep Moss fresh).

LB: Made some plays, not many, but some. And did not miss any plays.
GRADE: B+
FUTURE: McCullough is gone, but he as the least of the three. Siler will have another year of experience, and he really seemed to grow into his roll late. When he was temporarily knocked out #13, who in internet tells me is Brian Crum, came in so I’ll assume he is the starter. He was not in long enough for me to get a read on him. Looked big...long arms.

DB: I know Weatherford is suspect, but boy did they ever shut their passing game down. Two picks and a solid effort all around.
GRADE: A
FUTURE: Potentially very, very bad. Brown and Herring graduate. The real question is Webb who, while I admit has been beaten a few times, is good enough to go pro. He might very well do so, costing us one of our best. This is not just me talking: Profootball Weekly dropped his name as a potential guy because the senior class of corners is thin. With the money the NFL is throwing at even halfway decent covermen lately I am worried. Don’t get me wrong, he won’t be a first rounder and could use some more seasoning, but don’t be shocked if he leaves – it is hard to turn down that type of money for another year of living in this sorry city (would you turn down several hundred thousand dollars?). If he goes, the only returning guy is the still pretty green (and erratic) Reggie Nelson. Next to him is either Jackson, who lost his job to Nelson or maybe #19 Tony Joiner, who I have noticed making plays on special teams several times. To me if Webb comes back you go with him, if Webb walks then you should start out the year (if not end) with guy who has some experience. Reggie Lewis is a starter at one CB position next year no matter what, not bad as a number two opposite Webb, but shaky as a number one paired with Avery Atkins, or as I like to call him: “Who’s that number four guy?” (at least he has made some plays – including a pick tonight). Let me know if you see a trend yet.

D/ST: We didn’t do much on returns (their punter is laughably terrible by the way), but otherwise it was a great game. That blocked fieldgoal was right in front of me (all our touchdowns were the other end). Props to our best run defender, Marcus Thomas, for getting airborn. Hetland’s 44 yarder ended up not meaning much, but it was big at the time, putting us up three scores in what was a tight game into to fourth quarter. Good rebound off of the 48 yard duck he had shortly before the half.
GRADE: A-
FUTURE: We are losing our kickoff kicker, which is notable only because Hetland’s were so short he lost that job.

Coaching: Oh good lord we will please please please give up on the damn shovel pass! What is it about Meyer and shovel passes? How many times does it need to not work in game before he gives it up? Otherwise I did not notice any bad moves on his part (a blowout will do that for you), nor any genius ones. Judicious use of timeouts.
GRADE: A-/B+ (a big win is a big win)
FUTURE: I’m not overwhelmed with this guy(as you may have guessed), but everyone deserves time to adjust. Next year the hype won’t be there so if the pressure was bothering him that is lessened. He’ll have a years experience in the SEC. The real question is will he try to force his offense on guys not suited for it as he did for most of this year (or will he start benching some of our familiar faces)?

BOTTOM LINE: While we do end the season on a big win, with so few games this weekend (and fewer upsets) and some bad loses behind us we probably don’t climb that high in the rankings – at best we crack the top 15. That doesn’t give us a New Year’s Day game, but hopefully a New Year’s Eve Day bowl. However I’ve heard Spurrier’s boys are the higher profile for bowls, so we may end up on December 30th. At least we avoid the GalleryFurniture.com Bowl (yes boys and girls, that is a real bowl). Merry Christmas. If the bowl is relatively close and relatively cheap I may get together with some people I relatively like and go see it. Hopefully we will play someone relatively weak and end on a relative high note with a relatively nice win.

Later Gator.

Vanderbilt

I’m 27. I expect to be 27 tomorrow too, but feel free to ask me to confirm.

QB: First of all I was sitting in row two in the endzone, so for half of the game I was right behind Leak, seeing what he saw. This confirmed for me what I have been saying since the first game I saw him last year: Leak is pretty good at all aspects of being a quarterback, save he is inaccurate. Watching behind him it was clear he was throwing to the right spots, but the ball was not going where he wanted (he could be more consistent with his mechanics). Still he did pretty well, going 32 of 41 without those shovel passes to pad his stats now that they have altered the offense – I know these stats belie my comment, but look at the film: for example several times Lasko (the fullback) was wide open, but had to go to his knees to pick the ball off the ground. He did not seem to be forcing the ball into coverage the way he had been the last couple of games. He did not go deep much (those 32 completions netted just 257 yards), which I feel you need to a few times a game (even if that is when he is least accurate). He started running rather than taking sacks. This was his best game all year and he also showed great agency.
GRADE: A-

RB: Someone other than Wynn finally made some plays. Although in all honesty this may be a comment on Vandy’s D. They did not look particularly special at all. Still Manson made some plays and found some holes. Wynn looked better before he disappeared. When Moore scored that TD in the second quarter he put forth some great effort (and was pushed the final yard by some O-linemen).
GRADE: B

WR: They did not dominate, but made the plays they had to when it mattered. With Baker out number 9, who on the roster I looked up online is listed as Kenneth Tookes Jr. (we have 21 receivers listed by the way – and five kickers), really stepped up and made a couple of key grabs. Jackson’s first OT catch was huge. Cornelius’s was no more than ten yards away from me. I don’t know what the TV angles showed, but he was clearly in from my sight line (of course I thought we made the field goal at the end of the first half).
GRADE: B+

TE: Seeing him up close showed Tate to be a better blocker than I had realized. He also went up into the air in traffic exposing himself in a vain attempt to get an errant Leak throw – that counts with me.
GRADE: B

OL: Again Vandy’s D did not seem to be anything special, and I think Leak vacating the pocket was the reason he was not sack a few times, however this much maligned group did have one of their better games. At least once I caught our left tackle (74 - Randy Hand) blow one on one block on a WR toss back which caught Vandy and should have gone for yardage.
GRADE: B

DL: Moss has rather quickly become our best lineman, even more than McDonald was before the injury (not that Ray is a world beater). He is our best pass rusher and stout against the run. I like that they rotate him with Cohen though given his lack of size. We do need to learn to wrap up QBs. I don’t believe their QB was anything special on the ground (in the air is a different manner) – when he tried to run on designed plays it looked as though he had been up until 3:30 the night before drinking in Atlanta. All this applause aside we really struggled to get pressure, even when we brought a linebacker. This is what was killing us at the end of the game. We kept bringing extra rushers and still not getting any push, which left passing lanes open. We would have been better dropping our linebackers or throwing in an occasion zoneblitz to confuse them. I was really aggrieved with the coaching staff’s play calling. It seemed we kept running the same defense over and over again (at least it wasn’t prevent – I was counting pass rushers). I will say it was nice to see our guys totally shut down a rushing attack for the first time all year.
GRADE: B-

LB: Brandon Siler was absolutely our best linebacker this day. He blew up several runs and was very active around the line of scrimmage. The corps as a whole was less helpful in coverage. I remember Everett tipping one pass late in the game and that was it. And someone wasn’t covering that fullback coming out in the flat.
GRADE: B-

DB: So Vernell Brown was the glue…who knew? I want to begin by saying that being that close showed how small our DBs are (Leak is no monster either). Webb had one go over his head (I still say he is out best defensive player – maybe best overall, and certainly my favorite). I was surprised how much Reggie Lewis struggled (because he had been playing fairly well as the nickel) and that the coaches did not give him more help. Hopefully they can work with him before heading into Columbia. Pulling Jackson for Nelson at safety (a game or two ago, not mid-game) was the right move, Nelson is much more active. All in all a pretty poor showing by the strength of our defense.
GRADE: C

Special Teams: Horrible. Lost in all the excitement was that if Hetland makes a chipshot at the end of the first half we are three scores up later in the game and Vandy doesn’t have the time to get three scores to force overtime. Furthermore when we got up 35-21 with 4:11 and everyone waved their keys (which I am still not sure if I think is neat or stupid yet – even though I have done it) I thought to myself it was a little early but probably we win (and I’ll pat myself on the back for not reaching into my pocket). The ensuing kickoff was short, setting them up. After they score and come out in onside format our guys looking confused. The hands team was not out there – how is that possible!?! It is not a mortal lock you onside in that situation, but you have to be ready for it. That is just flat out bad coaching. Then when they were ready for kick we blew it as our guys rushed the ball and muffed it - the first line should hit their guys and let the second line recover. Instead someone (51?) took a bad angle (cutting off the guy next to him who was also rushing the ball, but at least head on rather from the side as our would-be hero was) and bounced it to Vandy. Our special teams kept them in the game.
GRADE: D

Coaching: Early on we were doing pretty well with a more standard offense, Meyer finally conceding that something had not been right before. When he threw some misdirection plays in they worked because the defense was not expecting them. However he could not help himself and went back to his old ways and as the game wore on we started running more and more of them so Vandy started staying put and shutting those plays down. I will say I supported the two times he went for it on fourth down. However when you add in the lack of variation on defense and being caught by surprise by the onside kick it was not a very good showing. And I am still sore they had not gameplanned for what to do if they were blitzed when running five-wide during the LSU game.
GRADE: D+

Bottom line: The celebration penalty was in the other endzone - 110 yards away - so I did not see it. I’ve heard it was egregious, but we’ve had bad calls against us so I am not apologizing; refs are a part of the game (one of many reasons instant replay is a bad idea). I’ll give their coach credit for planning to go for 2, but I am surprised that everyone assumes they would have hit it. Yes they were plowing through our defense, but they were far from hitting every play. If they had four downs, they would have scored, but for one play we might have held. Anyway this was easily the most exciting game I have ever personally attended. Even if Vandy should not have been in the game, winning a nail bitter can pump a team’s spirits the rest of the season (or leave them drained). I think we win in South Carolina and I take Joe’s money. NC State proved my claim that FSU was overrated I think we take them too – we match up well with them. Thus if Auburn can beat Georgia this weekend in Athens (which I regard as a 50-50 proposition) we go the SEC title game (even if we lose to FSU), where LSU smacks us (I’m predicting they beat Alabama – who we would at least have a chance against, ditto Auburn). I’d still considering going to Atlanta depending on ticket price if anyone is interested. We have a bunch of injuries, if they keep rolling up and we don’t get some guys back all bets are off (I cover all my bases don’t I?).

Mississippi State

First of all whose idea was it to have this game at noon? I was, stuck right behind the band with no cover (not a great angle to see the game either) and broiled. Nor was I alone, we were an anemic crowd today. There were also five fatalities in the band.

QB: When Leak got knocked out early on and Portis came in and reminded everyone why you don’t play true freshmen, I found myself missing Leak. Then he came back in a promptly overthrew open receivers half a dozen times before giving up attempting to throw deep at all. At least he showed he will play in pain.
GRADE: C

RB: Word is Meyer doesn’t like Wynn who he feels in not a hard worker. That’s nice, the truth remains he is the only one of the four halfbacks we have who has done anything all year. He’s not the perfect answer, but he is the best we have (as well as the best receiver out of the back field). That said even he didn’t do all the much today.
GRADE: C+

WR: Dallas Baker made a few plays on the sideline. Both he and Jackson made some plays with the ball in his hands. Of course there was also the boneheaded fumble while going for the TD. You have to know the situation you are in; there was no reason at that point. That was their only breakdown; I’m not blaming them for not Leak not being able to get them the ball. Also remember the name Nyan Boateng (number 80). He’s a freshman who has shown some ability, enough that they might want to think about using him more often. Especially since now Cornelius is hurt too (he did not play).
GRADE: B+

TE: Yeah, right, whatever.

OL: Mississippi State’s DL is hardly first class, but the line did okay. They did not dominate and there was some pressure on Leak, but they made a few holes too.
GRADE: B-

DL: Cohen was either benched or hurt so 94 (Jarvis Moss who was once a hot prospect before he had medical issues) started in McDonald’s place. Similar to Cohen this improves the run defense but we continue to have no pass rush with McDonald down. Mincey generated a little and did not shoot too far upfield on runs as he had been. The line as a whole is doing better at avoiding being fooled by screens. I also now have a name for defensive tackle 44 (the best runstopper we have): Jarvis Moss. Not a name you really need to know, he’s just the best of an undersized bunch. Good teams can run on us.
GRADE: B-

LB: Probably their best game as a group. Siler made several big plays, helped out on the pass rush, and blew up a screen.
GRADE:B+

DB: Admittedly it was the backup quarterback on a bad team, but they did not complete a pass in the second half until 11:08 in the fourth quarter. It was great coverage that gave us what pass rush we did have, when we got sacks (and safeties) it was because the QB had nowhere to go with the ball. Still I was not impressed by the helping push one of our guys gave their WR on that bomb at the end of the first half.
GRADE: A-

Special Teams: Probably the most improved aspect of the team since the start of the year. We pinned them deep several times on punts. The one that set up the safety was huge: those 2 points put life into what had been a sleep walking team and dead crowd. We appeared to kinda, sorta, maybe, think about blocking on punt returns, which is nice. The punt block was nice too. I still don’t like the punt blocking scheme or kickoff coverage.
GRADE: B+

Coaching: We still have too many sloppy penalties. We run way to many shovel passes (one as almost picked late) and cutesy misdirection plays. Those work occasionally when the defense is not ready for them, but that will never be the case if we do them twenty times a game. The crowd half booed a few times after those plays got stuffed. The sheen is clearly off Meyer now thanks to the Crimson Tide. I did not see any shirts and there were no Ur-Ban Mey-Er chants. Good. He did start using Wynn a little more as the game went on and it was clear no one else was doing anything.
GRADE: B-

Bottom Line: It took us a while to put away a bad team; the offense looked especially subpar. Not only am I pretty sure we are losing next week in Baton Rouge (I don’t care how numb their coach is), I’m now getting worried we are going to drop a third game somewhere and not end up with the Eastern crown. The offense isn’t working; it is time to modify it some to better match the talents we have right now and try it again next year with Meyer’s recruits. The defense has to carry us and the run defense is not good enough for them to be able to do that all year.

If anyone was curious (yeah right), I don’t do writeups on games I watch on TV because the TV shots are so tight I can’t see what is going on as well.

Tennessee

Sorry I was late, but you get what you pay for.

QB: eh. Leak needs to get a better sense of when to vacate the pocket, a couple of times he could have run for yardage but was looking down field to pass instead. You want that, but there are times you should run. He remains inaccurate on occasion (which means he really should be running more and he is not great throwing on the move). He also threw two passes that Tennessee easily could have picked (credit Cornelius for making a great play to break one up in the redzone on the TD drive). Leak did not do a great job managing the game, but he did do enough to keep drives alive by hitting some long passes on third down; keeping our D off the field and tiring out theirs. Maybe it was not the prettiest game ever, you never like settling for so many field goals, but the competition was stiff. Still there are some basic aspects to football he seems not to grasp; case in point when were trying to run the clock out at the end he was leaving anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds on the play clock when he snapped; where was Meyer to say something?
GRADE: B

RB: Wynn is clearly the best back on the team. I give credit to Meyer for figuring out pretty quickly we could not run wide and working up the middle for most of the game. Even more so for running repeatedly even if we were not getting chucks of yardage most of the time. Our commitment to run was big in helping us hold on to that lead. I still think we should use our fullback more.
GRADE: B+

WR: Losing Caldwell hurt, but Dallas Baker deserves note for stepping up after that happened and making some plays. No one had an outstanding game, but they made big plays on third and long when we needed them.
GRADE: B

TE: He is number 84, keep an eye out for him. If you see him, let me know.
GRADE: NA

OL: Leak was not constantly under constant pressure despite how much we went five wide; although there was clearly some. There was at least some running room against a pretty good (and large) defensive line.
GRADE: B (B+ in comparison to what I expected given how they had played so far: this is probably the part of the team that has improved the most.).

DL: Riggs gashed us for some big runs early and once again we could only get pressure via the blitz. Losing McDonald hurt, but honestly we seemed better against the run once he was out (although it killed the pass rush); does Ray has a tendency to run upfield and overshoot the play? (Seriously, I have never noticed it myself). Whatever halftime adjustments were made worked very well as we really shut them down after that. They probably should have kept trying, but there was not much to be had. Last week I commented we telegraphed our blitzes, well this week I caught them repeatedly feigning corner blitzes and bailing on them. It seemed to work some; I definitely saw UT changing their blocking schemes a few times. We got sucked into one screen early, after falling for it a half dozen times against LA Tech, but never again.
GRADE: B+

LB: Continue to be workmanlike. The only big play they made was the pass deflected in the redzone on the failed fieldgoal drive, but there were no breakdowns. You have to appreciate that.
GRADE: B

DB: No picks (Webb dropped a possibility). Yes; they gave up some long (as in 10 yards for a first down) passes, but they adjusted to that. They beat Vernell Brown (the other starting CB; the local kid) on three (I think it was three) up and outs, but he adjusted after a while and drove on them to break up a couple so they gave that up. [It is possible that might have been coaching; maybe they told him he had a safety up top so he could go for it]. The main point is they never let Tennessee get any type of rhythm in the passing game.
GRADE: A

Special Teams: Surprisingly good. Ignoring the three big plays, there were no screwups of the type we had seen in the first two games. Coverage was pretty good even if returns were not. Getting blocked field goal was a huge momentum boost. On the muffed punt our cover guy played that perfectly: after the muff he realized the return man was in a better position to cover the ball so he did not go for it and instead killed the Volunteer so he could not get it. On the failed fake punt that was a botch by us: we did not cover one of the gunners; their punter saw the opportunity and made the right move (it was apparently not a called fake I learned after the game). Thankfully he is a punter, not a QB so his throw had no zip on and Tony Joiner (that is right Tony Joiner, not Dee Webb who the scoreboard credited. He is number 19. No, I had never heard of him before either. Webb was the one who blocked the field goal though) made a great individual play.
GRADE: A-

Coaching: That gimmicky offense is not working. I do not know if it is because SEC defenses are just that much better than what Meyer has faced before, or the players have not grasped it, but it did not work. Meyer did slowly figure out to use less and less of those shovel passes. I will give him props for the first touchdown. That misdirection to Caldwell was done off a play they had run ad nauseum in the first two games. I guarantee Tennessee though it was a play they recognized (I sure did) and that was why they over pursued. I have mentioned the adjustments they made during the game already, but there are two calls I want to talk about. Going for it on 4th and one in your own territory: an absolutely awful call. Despite its popularity with the drunk undergrads surrounding me (including one truly annoying girl who explained her “philosophy” was to yell we are on defense, but not on offense: thanks honey) a smart coach would never make that move. It was a tie game in the second quarter, Tennessee had just driven 83 yards for a TD and you are risking giving them a short field. Even if it works, you are still in your own end. Had replay not overturned the catch and they score it is a totally different game. You can say you should be able to get 6 inches all you want, it was a stupid move. It was also stupid to go for the endzone rather than punt late in the game on 4th down. It probably did not seem big to anyone else at the time, but after a clock burning drive we could have putted and pinned them inside the ten, instead we left them with space. Nine times out of ten it is meaningless (as it was), but a great coach is thorough coach and would have done that knowing that you play the percentages and make sure you win because you never know what might happen. Ask the Cowboys.
GRADE: B- (I really credit homefield and the deafening cheers as a part of this win)

Final Verdict: We put together two scoring drives to their one. We played better and deserved to win (regardless of how many quarterbacks they were using). We are still not a national championship contender. However after a big win moves us to fifth in the nation it is good idea to look ahead: Next week we are at Kentucky; no problem. After that we are at Alabama, a team that is better than generally recognized (unless their QB gets hurt again) and could upset us. I do hope the give us a tough game because the week after that we are at LSU. Right now I do not think we can do it, but we shall have had two more games to sharpen up that offense (and get used to playing without Caldwell and McDonald; we can not take many more loses). If we win at LSU, we have a bye week to prep for an overrated UGA (sorry Jen, but if Alabama can kill South Carolina at home why did the Dawgs struggle?). If that is still five versus six, I am probably paying out my money to go (should anyone wish to carpool). After that it is smooth sailing, I do not believe the Gamecocks have enough to beat us (unless we are overconfident) and Vandy will not win here. FSU might be getting better, but beating BC is a far cry from winning on the road in the Swamp. Either way we are probably in the SEC playoffs, and have a chance to win those to go onto a BCS bowl. SEC champ plays in the Sugar Bowl, but thanks to Katrina there is talk it may be in Atlanta (someone remind me to kiss up to Taylor).

Eagles 42, 49ers 3: I know what I am talking about.

Louisiana Tech

QB: Leak threw much less, and could not pad his states with shovel passes this game. He still has accuracy problems and has developed a new bad habit – forcing the ball into coverage. He really only did this in the second half; maybe he figured the game was over and it was time to up his season numbers to improve his Heisman credentials, or he just lacked respect for La Tech. Portis came in and showed he is a freshman.
GRADE: C

RB: Better – Wynn is clearly the best back on the team, and is a receiving threat out of the backfield. However, do not believe the hype that the running game is set: they were never able to sustain a drive – it was all big plays (just three first downs in the first half). And it took them four tries to get in from the seven. They have the same fullback they had last year, and the same as last year he looks good, but never plays.
GRADE: B

WR: Good balance, Baker made some plays, yet no receiver was dominant. I had bad seats, so I am not sure about this (I did not notice it last week), but it when they go five-wide it does not look as though they are running particularly complex routes. How about running a drag underneath?
GRADE: B

TE: I saw him this week. When he is in they split him out wide. He was one for no more than a dozen plays and managed to pick up a holding call and drop a TD.
GRADE: C-

OL: Better, not great, but better. Leak was not really under much pressure despite the three sacks.
GRADE: B

DL: They are definitely weak against the run. La Tech is not good enough to bust out with some of the runs they hit. Nor are they getting consistent pressure. The co-defensive coordinators are good a picking when to call blitzes, but the players need to focus on not telegraphing them.
GRADE: B-

LB: Much better. They did not give anything up (same as last week), and actually made some positive plays, not just the pick by McCullough - he made a least one big play saving tackle I saw. McCullough looks the best, but Siler showed up too. .
GRADE: B+

DB: The strength of the team. Its not just talent, but depth too.
GRADE: A+

Special Teams: How about blocking on punt returns? Yet another muffed snap, this time on a punt. And a missed PAT. This kickoff strategy is going to kill us (if you have not seen it yet they kick off to one side of the field and only have players covering the sideline to the numbers, not covering the far side of the field). There was one big return when their guy ran across – I am still waiting for a lateral. Added bonus: two kickoffs went out of bounds, and a third would have save a bulldog stupidly caught it. I am not a fan of the punt blocking either (again if you have not seen, they have three guys lineup five yards back behind the line) which may let a quick guy get to the punter, the blockers will be standing still while the rusher is moving full speed.
GRADE: D

Coaching: Clearly they wanted to work out the running game. I have suspicion Meyer is not showing the whole play book; we have run a grand total of zero screens so far. I support the move of going for it on fourth when it was 0-0. La Tech was not going to win; it was a good time to pump the team. Still the team did not look outstanding.
GRADE: B+

Overall: They were better than the Wyoming game, but there are still some real problems. The Tennessee game will answer all the questions. We are at home, I like out odds.

Finally I would like to take a moment to point out that the 49ers are alone in first in the NFC West. I have to do this now, because I will not be able to say it again this season.

Wyoming

QB: Leak still does everything well, except he’s not an accurate passer. I was in the endzone, so I don’t know if it is his mechanics or not (I don’t remember thinking that last year). Don’t believe his completion percentage - half of those were shovel passes.
GRADE: B+

RB: Tough to say because we ran so little. No back was in long enough to establish any type of rhythm. No one looks half as good as C-4.
GRADE: TBA

WR: Jackson’s one hander was beautiful; Caldwell made some impressive jukes with the ball in his hands; they are a very good duo. Dallas Baker seems to have just given up and accepted being number three. Cornelius didn’t do much this game, but he proved himself last year.
GRADE: A

TE: I think there was one the field at some point.

OL: Couldn’t open any holes and let Wyoming get to Leak way too many times. Four botched snaps is atrocious - only one was Leak’s fault, the rest were bad shotgun snaps.
GRADE: D

DL: Moving McDonald outside does allowed them to get more pressure than last year (no shock he was the best rusher on the team as DT in 2004). I’m still worried they are soft to the run the same as last year, against a big OL there might be trouble
GRADE: B

LB: Didn’t make any big plays, didn’t blow anything either
GRADE: C+

DB: The corners were very good. Too bad they can’t catch - by my tally they dropped four balls that hit them in the chest.
GRADE: A-

Special Teams: Brown is a high effort, high energy guy as a punt returner - which is good because no one seemed too concerned about blocking for him. Nor do I like this kickoff strategy of kicking off to one side and leaving the far side of the field (outside the numbers) uncovered. It will only take one lateral to make us give that up. I know special teams are always rough in the first few games of the year, but there is no excuse for two botched extra point snaps.
GRADE: C

Coaching: Two of my criticisms I mentioned above. One was they did not run enough, even when they were ahead. It’s good to get in the habit of doing this in case you need to run out the clock against and FSU or another serious team. The high number of shovel passes go my larger point, this offense seems kinda cutesy. I didn’t see Utah last year, but the constant 5 wides and then have a running back motion into the backfield requires the OL to play better than it did Saturday. I know gimmick offenses can work in college ball, but I can’t shake the suspicion that this won’t work every week. The defense may end up carrying this team. I will say at one point (I think after a turnover) I said they should go deep to the endzone to end the game, and Meyer did just that. Good to see a coach who understands how to manage a game. And they had almost no penalties. In the end they won the game. Wyoming played tough, and got a lot out of their limited talent. Maybe they didn’t pound an inferior opponent as much as they could have, but the game was never in doubt. Still Wyoming players said after that Utah seemed faster - not good.
GRADE: B

Bottom line: This team in no national championship contender, we’ll loose somewhere (at LSU?). Might slip into a BCS bowl if we knock of Tennessee and win the SEC; but that is far from a lock.