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?).
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?).
posted by El Breto @ 11:22 AM
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