Catamount power
What is the point of that? Make no mistake that game was all about money. We get our $2 million for having a home game, Western Carolina gets $425,000 but I feel bad for their players, they have to go out there and get their asses kicked for the school to cash in. They looked dejected long before the game was over – I hope WCU gives them a nice party for doing that to them.
Anyway I naturally had great seats for that meaningless game. It was a good crowd, but very lowkey. I barely screamed and we weren’t really even doing high-fives when we scored. At least it was a nice day.
I’m not going to do full analysis of this game, I just don’t feel like it – the Orange-Blue game was more competitive. I’ll just hit the highlights.
Player of the game: Jeremy Foley. Unless playing a I-AA dog kills our strength of schedule. Ironic given how our schedule looked at the start of the season isn’t it?
Play of the game: DeShawn Wynn (RB-21) hurdling some guy while running for our first touchdown. It is the only memorable play I saw.
QB: The future may be bright, but it will be slow in getting here. I was in the endzone and from behind the line it was clear that Tebow (15) is not yet proficient at reading defenses. Most of the time he either just making a fake and turning and firing to a spot, only being asked to read half the field (often on a roll out), or (worst of all) is just staring down one guy. He has all the physical skills, but needs to be coached up during the offseason.
RB: That Mon Williams (27) guy looks pretty good – I know he was running against a tired I-AA team, but he is a true freshman.
WR: Who is this Tim Higgins (37) guy? Our answer to Rudy (45?) I gathered. Everyone was awfully pumped for a guy I had never heard of, but then I’m always out of the loop.
DL: We had one measly sack, and little to no pressure all game. I know they were not passing much (their QB was 5 for 12) and going quick when they did, but that alarmed me. As did the fact we got no turnovers – which I might as well mention here. Jarvis Moss (94) better keep away from the doobies as evidently with Marcus Thomas gone he is the new glue to our pass rush.
LB: Brandon Spikes (51) started for Brandon Siler (40), but my guy didn’t do much.
ST: Amazingly we still managed to get a PAT blocked in this dog game. And we had several penalties on returns (and in general – oddly in this game everyone could keep track of all the stats in this game. Big Red and I knew how many completions and first downs WCU had, another guy knew how many penalties we had committed).
GRADE: F
Football 101: We a quarterback “reads the defense” he looks at how the defensive backs (and linebackers) are playing (both before and after the start of the play) and figures out what type of coverage (how they are defending the pass – zone (and what type) or man to man) the defense is running. With that information he thinks about what routes his receivers are running and which one is most likely to be open (not covered) for a catch. Football 102: this is called going through “reads.” On every passing play the offense calls before the snap there is one receiver the play is supposed to go to, but other receivers (“secondary receivers” on the play) also run routes so if the primary guy is covered the quarterback goes through his “progression” to his second read (the receiver the ball is supposed to go to if the primary guy is covered), third read, and so on until he throws it. Reading the defense is the most important thing for an NFL quarterback (college QBs can get away with not being able to, see Vick, Michael). There are some all-pro quarterbacks with average physical skills who succeed because they are smart players. Conversely quarterbacks who can’t read defenses usually end up playing for the Oakland Raiders.
Bottom Line. Well Michigan kept it very close so they may still end up playing for the national championship (although I’m never seen a “great” run defense give up two killer runs that way). If not we are still behind USC (although they – and Rutgers – are losing as I write this) and Notre Dame might pass us too. With so many teams out there our chances of getting there are still slim, and we’d probably get smushed by OSU (congrats to Gerrit), but I’d still like that shot (again “any given Sunday”).
The Future: Before the game they introduced our seniors for their last home game. Here is a list of starters we are losing.
QB Chris Leak, RB DeShawn Wynn, WR Dallas Baker, WR Jemalle Cornelius, C Steve Rissler (eh), DT Joe Cohen, DT/DE Ray McDonald, LB Earl Everett, LB Brian Crum (good), CB Reggie Lewis.
Other valuable players graduating include
FB Billy Latsko, WR Kenneth Tookes (good procession guy even if we rarely use him), DT Steve Harris, CB Tremaine McCollum (our nickelback), K Chris Hetland (ha ha), P Eric Wilbur.
That’s a bunch of talent: 5 offensive starters (6 if you count Latsko), 5 on defense (6, including 3 linemen, if you count Thomas). And that doesn’t count juniors who could potentially go pro. I bet Brandon Siler and Reggie Nelson (remember, he played two years in JUCO too) both go for the money. Caldwell and Moss are probably seen as damaged goods and won’t go, but people have been know to make stupid decisions before (there is always someone who thinks way too much of themselves – my prediction for this year is Ryan Smith).
So how will next year’s team look? Tebow will be handing off to Moore or Williams – our fullback will be Eric Rutledge, who doesn’t look bad. Harvin, Caldwell and Fayson or Ingram will be catching his passes – that’s pretty strong. Four guys from the OL will be back and with a year playing together hopefully they will hopefully be better – best bet for the new starter is Mo Hurt, a true freshman who was frequently hurt. That doesn’t look so bad, most of these guys are Meyer’s signs too, so maybe his offense will run smoother, but coach needs to be more consistent and stop loving those damn trick plays so much. Especially since we won’t be able to rely on our defense. Moss and Harvey are back, but they have both looked much better in spot duty off the bench than getting beat up by bigger tackles every down. There is no depth besides a redshirted freshman named Lawrence Marsh who was a hot recruit. The interior players are a bunch of unknowns and/or unprovens - Clint McMillan (who I think is hurt), Brandon Antwine (who Meyer loves, but blew out his knee), Javier Estopinan, and Vernon Shelton (61 – I had never heard of him, but he played a bunch today, not that he did much). At linebacker one of the three new starters will be Brandon Spikes, who has been streaky. Some guy named Dustin Doe (32) started today. He was average, but otherwise I have no idea and I noticed Crum in the same situation last year and got that one right. The secondary will not be so bad unless Smith goes. Markihe Anderson (37) has looked okay at corner in stop duty. If Smith goes the Haitian Wondy Pierre-Louis (4) might be the other guy, he’s looked pretty fast on special teams. At safety I’ll guess Kyle Jackson will become a starter again – replacing Nelson, who replaced him last year. Maybe we’ll find a few freshman starters or transfers.
Anyway I naturally had great seats for that meaningless game. It was a good crowd, but very lowkey. I barely screamed and we weren’t really even doing high-fives when we scored. At least it was a nice day.
I’m not going to do full analysis of this game, I just don’t feel like it – the Orange-Blue game was more competitive. I’ll just hit the highlights.
Player of the game: Jeremy Foley. Unless playing a I-AA dog kills our strength of schedule. Ironic given how our schedule looked at the start of the season isn’t it?
Play of the game: DeShawn Wynn (RB-21) hurdling some guy while running for our first touchdown. It is the only memorable play I saw.
QB: The future may be bright, but it will be slow in getting here. I was in the endzone and from behind the line it was clear that Tebow (15) is not yet proficient at reading defenses. Most of the time he either just making a fake and turning and firing to a spot, only being asked to read half the field (often on a roll out), or (worst of all) is just staring down one guy. He has all the physical skills, but needs to be coached up during the offseason.
RB: That Mon Williams (27) guy looks pretty good – I know he was running against a tired I-AA team, but he is a true freshman.
WR: Who is this Tim Higgins (37) guy? Our answer to Rudy (45?) I gathered. Everyone was awfully pumped for a guy I had never heard of, but then I’m always out of the loop.
DL: We had one measly sack, and little to no pressure all game. I know they were not passing much (their QB was 5 for 12) and going quick when they did, but that alarmed me. As did the fact we got no turnovers – which I might as well mention here. Jarvis Moss (94) better keep away from the doobies as evidently with Marcus Thomas gone he is the new glue to our pass rush.
LB: Brandon Spikes (51) started for Brandon Siler (40), but my guy didn’t do much.
ST: Amazingly we still managed to get a PAT blocked in this dog game. And we had several penalties on returns (and in general – oddly in this game everyone could keep track of all the stats in this game. Big Red and I knew how many completions and first downs WCU had, another guy knew how many penalties we had committed).
GRADE: F
Football 101: We a quarterback “reads the defense” he looks at how the defensive backs (and linebackers) are playing (both before and after the start of the play) and figures out what type of coverage (how they are defending the pass – zone (and what type) or man to man) the defense is running. With that information he thinks about what routes his receivers are running and which one is most likely to be open (not covered) for a catch. Football 102: this is called going through “reads.” On every passing play the offense calls before the snap there is one receiver the play is supposed to go to, but other receivers (“secondary receivers” on the play) also run routes so if the primary guy is covered the quarterback goes through his “progression” to his second read (the receiver the ball is supposed to go to if the primary guy is covered), third read, and so on until he throws it. Reading the defense is the most important thing for an NFL quarterback (college QBs can get away with not being able to, see Vick, Michael). There are some all-pro quarterbacks with average physical skills who succeed because they are smart players. Conversely quarterbacks who can’t read defenses usually end up playing for the Oakland Raiders.
Bottom Line. Well Michigan kept it very close so they may still end up playing for the national championship (although I’m never seen a “great” run defense give up two killer runs that way). If not we are still behind USC (although they – and Rutgers – are losing as I write this) and Notre Dame might pass us too. With so many teams out there our chances of getting there are still slim, and we’d probably get smushed by OSU (congrats to Gerrit), but I’d still like that shot (again “any given Sunday”).
The Future: Before the game they introduced our seniors for their last home game. Here is a list of starters we are losing.
QB Chris Leak, RB DeShawn Wynn, WR Dallas Baker, WR Jemalle Cornelius, C Steve Rissler (eh), DT Joe Cohen, DT/DE Ray McDonald, LB Earl Everett, LB Brian Crum (good), CB Reggie Lewis.
Other valuable players graduating include
FB Billy Latsko, WR Kenneth Tookes (good procession guy even if we rarely use him), DT Steve Harris, CB Tremaine McCollum (our nickelback), K Chris Hetland (ha ha), P Eric Wilbur.
That’s a bunch of talent: 5 offensive starters (6 if you count Latsko), 5 on defense (6, including 3 linemen, if you count Thomas). And that doesn’t count juniors who could potentially go pro. I bet Brandon Siler and Reggie Nelson (remember, he played two years in JUCO too) both go for the money. Caldwell and Moss are probably seen as damaged goods and won’t go, but people have been know to make stupid decisions before (there is always someone who thinks way too much of themselves – my prediction for this year is Ryan Smith).
So how will next year’s team look? Tebow will be handing off to Moore or Williams – our fullback will be Eric Rutledge, who doesn’t look bad. Harvin, Caldwell and Fayson or Ingram will be catching his passes – that’s pretty strong. Four guys from the OL will be back and with a year playing together hopefully they will hopefully be better – best bet for the new starter is Mo Hurt, a true freshman who was frequently hurt. That doesn’t look so bad, most of these guys are Meyer’s signs too, so maybe his offense will run smoother, but coach needs to be more consistent and stop loving those damn trick plays so much. Especially since we won’t be able to rely on our defense. Moss and Harvey are back, but they have both looked much better in spot duty off the bench than getting beat up by bigger tackles every down. There is no depth besides a redshirted freshman named Lawrence Marsh who was a hot recruit. The interior players are a bunch of unknowns and/or unprovens - Clint McMillan (who I think is hurt), Brandon Antwine (who Meyer loves, but blew out his knee), Javier Estopinan, and Vernon Shelton (61 – I had never heard of him, but he played a bunch today, not that he did much). At linebacker one of the three new starters will be Brandon Spikes, who has been streaky. Some guy named Dustin Doe (32) started today. He was average, but otherwise I have no idea and I noticed Crum in the same situation last year and got that one right. The secondary will not be so bad unless Smith goes. Markihe Anderson (37) has looked okay at corner in stop duty. If Smith goes the Haitian Wondy Pierre-Louis (4) might be the other guy, he’s looked pretty fast on special teams. At safety I’ll guess Kyle Jackson will become a starter again – replacing Nelson, who replaced him last year. Maybe we’ll find a few freshman starters or transfers.
posted by El Breto @ 11:07 PM
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