The Men of Troy
Having seen my first full UF game of the year it is time to lay down a little analysis of the new kids. Naturally after having good seats for Western Kentucky I was stranded in the 73 third row. I was accompanied by Beeker, which was convenient because I had forgotten she was a Michigan fan and by Wednesday when I remembered it was a little too late sing the Appalachian State fight song, but as it turned out Mr. Scoreboard told us that Oregon went into Ann Arbor and dropped a 39-7 bomb so I was able to be the first guy making comments this week. Tough game for Beeker. And by the way who has Tennessee tickets? None of my normal compatriots have tickets.
QB: The important thing to remember is this was only The Savior’s second start. I have made no secret of my concern he will struggle as a starter, but I recognize in college guys get better quickly year to year and if he grows this year to be star next year I’ll call 07 a sucess. And honestly he did get better as the game went along. For the first time he looked off a receiver and found the second guy on a few plays. Meyer is still not asking him to read a lot of defenses, many of his passes were of the dropback, turn, and throw immediately variety. Next on the agenda: hitting guys in stride. Thankfully The Savior has learned to run out bounds rather than take extra hits. Unfortunately he may have been a little overcoached because there were several times that protection broke down and rather than scrambling with open field in front of him (resulting in sacks or poorly thrown incompletions). He is running quarterback in a spread offense, embrace it. And get him off the field once the game is sew up!! For the second week in a row he was long after the game was over. Do we really want to face Tennessee with Mr. Weird Throwing Motio- excuse me…true freshmen Cameron Newton (13) under center? How many times do you want to see frustrated defenders taking cheap shots against the key to our season?
GRADE: B+ (I almost gave him a B, but I like to see improvement and he took care of the ball).
RB: The only guy who saw the field before garbage time was Kestahn Moore (33). Moore remains a back whose skill set includes many talents (receiving is one of them, not that you could tell given how little they have thrown at him), but isn’t a stud at anything. Speed may be his weakest point, but he is a good back. Also ironically now that we have a running quarterback for our spread offense for the first time ever under Meyer we went to power formations (putting one fullback in front of The Savior last year doesn’t count) bring in two thick TEs for short yardage – numbers 80 and 81 who the internet claims are Trent Pupello and Aaron Hernandez, but Pupello is supposed to be a DE. We had limited success with this formation, but it is still nice to know we have.
GRADE: A- (Moore did everything he was asked and played well, just because we haven’t had a great back since C4 left early doesn’t mean he can’t have a good game – Fason is out of the league by the way)
WR: Tough night for Bubba Caldwell (5) with a drop and a fumble. He did have a nice crackback. I am unable to shake the feeling that the corps is starting to pass him by. This is a young growing team and he is the guy on his way out who won’t be around when this team is a contender next year. Otherwise the guy who stood out was not one of last year’s hotshot kids (although Percy Harvin (1 now, not 8) still had a good game, albeit more by running. Jarred Fayson (11) was quieter), but junior Lois Murphy (9) who I kept hearing about during previous offseasons (as I have Riley Cooper (86) – who I think is still a year away). Murphy got several WR screens. Truth be told most of our passes were of that simple variety - not many complex routes yet. The one that they went to most often was running everyone deep and then dragging Cornelius Ingram (7) underneath. That worked often against Sunbelt champ Troy, but against an SEC team that will only work sometimes and get Ingram killed others. [I know Ingram is listed as TE, but he is a WR lining up on the line to get mismatches – I understand this is a classic Madden strategy]
GRADE: B (Given how outmatched Troy was talent-wise they did not do much special)
TE: Tater Salad (number 84 in your program, number 1 in your heart) did actually make it on the field for a play – I saw him, until then I was not sure if he had suited up. He was in to block (because Ingram, A WIDE RECEIVER, is not able to maul on the line). And there were those 80 and 81 guys. Our fullback Eric Rutledge (29) line up here more often than in the backfield. He’s a solid blocker.
GRADE: Incomplete
OL: This is largely the same line we had last year, which was better at run blocking than stopping the rush. Our supposed best player (who I saw get pushed around quite a bit last year) – LT Phil Trautwein (75) - was out hurt (possibly for the year). Maybe he is better than I realized because Troy got a bunch of pressure. Admittedly some of that was in the second half when the game was over and we started sleepwalking.
GRADE: C+
DL: On the other line we did not get as much pressure as I would like. In part that was due to Troy running a lot of quick hitters. And our defensive ends made a great adjust and knocked down 2 passes and intercepted a third (props to freshman Justin Trattou 94). Nothing makes me happier than a good ingame adjustment. On the other hand their runners were constantly able to slice past our line. We are waiting for someone to step up at DT. I have two other quick observations: A when Troy’s OL lined up in spread stance we followed suit, spreading out our DL rather than rushing the gaps. It is a risky move (less so against a visiting dog), but a few hits to their QB and they make some adjustments. B Their OL dove at out linemen’s legs in pass blocking, and were able to push them back long enough for a quick pass. Our interior line was especially neutralized by this. Remember the name Torrey Davis (95) a freshman DT, who I predict will put some weight on and be a stellar runstuffer in a few years.
GRADE: B
LB: Brandon Spikes (51) is still good, although I was surprised he was not used in coverage much. Dustin Doe (32) was also as good as advertised. The third starter, freshman (Spikes and Doe are sophs) A.J. Jones (16) also showed up well. All three of them made a least one noticeable play – blowing up a run, tackling someone short of the sticks, getting a sack.
GRADE: A- (so far a surprising strength)
DB: Our best CB, Markihe Anderson (14, you may remember him as 37 last year) is still out, so we went with #12 (which the internet says is QB John Brantley) and Wondy Pierre-Louis (4) neither of whom made a noticeable impact good or bad. Troy had one play they were open deep, but they dropped it. Strong safety Tony Joiner (19) remains our steady, but underappreciated key – staying a home, lining other guys up - linebackers too (no one is perfect), not just the secondary. Meyer went with Kyle Jackson (3) over Dorian Munroe (was 34, now 20 – I hate this). Jackson has never stuck me as anything special, while Munroe looked good in his only extended action replacing an injured Joiner in the SEC title game last year. Munroe is on the field a fair amount, maybe he will move into the starters role, the same way Reggie Nelson knocked Jackson (yes, the same one) to the bench two years ago.
GRADE: B+ (No big plays)
ST: Troy used the same stupid punt formation we did last year and you saw it cost them two blocked punts. We’ve adjusted to having only two guys standing stock still behind the line waiting for rushers to smash into them. We continue only cover from the sidelines to the hashmarks on kickoffs – but I am still waiting for someone to exploit that two years later so what do I know. We got several big returns out of Brady James (25) and since has not been a fumbler in the past we will just accept that those things happen. We also blew up a few of their returners. And number 98, Joey Ijjas, made all his kicks, made them well, and got his kickoffs deep. It is nice to be able to relax on extra points.
GRADE: A- (they played well, but I still think those tactics we use are unwise)
Coaching: I don’t mind giving up a garbage TD after being up 49-7 at the half, but I do giving up 24 points. We got sleepy and just made boneheaded play after boneheaded play. And he kept The Savior on the field for way to long. We didn’t have a great game plan (other than just bringing in an inferior opponent). On one goalline defense when Troy went five wide we put four guys on the line and then put seven men right (at least one was a LB – Dustin Doe) on the goalline. It looked odd, but it worked for that play.
GRADE: B
Bottom line: Maybe I am little harsh in my grades – lord knows my undergrads sure feel that way – but I see some concerns. We will learn everything about this team and its quarterback next week when the Volunteers come to town.
QB: The important thing to remember is this was only The Savior’s second start. I have made no secret of my concern he will struggle as a starter, but I recognize in college guys get better quickly year to year and if he grows this year to be star next year I’ll call 07 a sucess. And honestly he did get better as the game went along. For the first time he looked off a receiver and found the second guy on a few plays. Meyer is still not asking him to read a lot of defenses, many of his passes were of the dropback, turn, and throw immediately variety. Next on the agenda: hitting guys in stride. Thankfully The Savior has learned to run out bounds rather than take extra hits. Unfortunately he may have been a little overcoached because there were several times that protection broke down and rather than scrambling with open field in front of him (resulting in sacks or poorly thrown incompletions). He is running quarterback in a spread offense, embrace it. And get him off the field once the game is sew up!! For the second week in a row he was long after the game was over. Do we really want to face Tennessee with Mr. Weird Throwing Motio- excuse me…true freshmen Cameron Newton (13) under center? How many times do you want to see frustrated defenders taking cheap shots against the key to our season?
GRADE: B+ (I almost gave him a B, but I like to see improvement and he took care of the ball).
RB: The only guy who saw the field before garbage time was Kestahn Moore (33). Moore remains a back whose skill set includes many talents (receiving is one of them, not that you could tell given how little they have thrown at him), but isn’t a stud at anything. Speed may be his weakest point, but he is a good back. Also ironically now that we have a running quarterback for our spread offense for the first time ever under Meyer we went to power formations (putting one fullback in front of The Savior last year doesn’t count) bring in two thick TEs for short yardage – numbers 80 and 81 who the internet claims are Trent Pupello and Aaron Hernandez, but Pupello is supposed to be a DE. We had limited success with this formation, but it is still nice to know we have.
GRADE: A- (Moore did everything he was asked and played well, just because we haven’t had a great back since C4 left early doesn’t mean he can’t have a good game – Fason is out of the league by the way)
WR: Tough night for Bubba Caldwell (5) with a drop and a fumble. He did have a nice crackback. I am unable to shake the feeling that the corps is starting to pass him by. This is a young growing team and he is the guy on his way out who won’t be around when this team is a contender next year. Otherwise the guy who stood out was not one of last year’s hotshot kids (although Percy Harvin (1 now, not 8) still had a good game, albeit more by running. Jarred Fayson (11) was quieter), but junior Lois Murphy (9) who I kept hearing about during previous offseasons (as I have Riley Cooper (86) – who I think is still a year away). Murphy got several WR screens. Truth be told most of our passes were of that simple variety - not many complex routes yet. The one that they went to most often was running everyone deep and then dragging Cornelius Ingram (7) underneath. That worked often against Sunbelt champ Troy, but against an SEC team that will only work sometimes and get Ingram killed others. [I know Ingram is listed as TE, but he is a WR lining up on the line to get mismatches – I understand this is a classic Madden strategy]
GRADE: B (Given how outmatched Troy was talent-wise they did not do much special)
TE: Tater Salad (number 84 in your program, number 1 in your heart) did actually make it on the field for a play – I saw him, until then I was not sure if he had suited up. He was in to block (because Ingram, A WIDE RECEIVER, is not able to maul on the line). And there were those 80 and 81 guys. Our fullback Eric Rutledge (29) line up here more often than in the backfield. He’s a solid blocker.
GRADE: Incomplete
OL: This is largely the same line we had last year, which was better at run blocking than stopping the rush. Our supposed best player (who I saw get pushed around quite a bit last year) – LT Phil Trautwein (75) - was out hurt (possibly for the year). Maybe he is better than I realized because Troy got a bunch of pressure. Admittedly some of that was in the second half when the game was over and we started sleepwalking.
GRADE: C+
DL: On the other line we did not get as much pressure as I would like. In part that was due to Troy running a lot of quick hitters. And our defensive ends made a great adjust and knocked down 2 passes and intercepted a third (props to freshman Justin Trattou 94). Nothing makes me happier than a good ingame adjustment. On the other hand their runners were constantly able to slice past our line. We are waiting for someone to step up at DT. I have two other quick observations: A when Troy’s OL lined up in spread stance we followed suit, spreading out our DL rather than rushing the gaps. It is a risky move (less so against a visiting dog), but a few hits to their QB and they make some adjustments. B Their OL dove at out linemen’s legs in pass blocking, and were able to push them back long enough for a quick pass. Our interior line was especially neutralized by this. Remember the name Torrey Davis (95) a freshman DT, who I predict will put some weight on and be a stellar runstuffer in a few years.
GRADE: B
LB: Brandon Spikes (51) is still good, although I was surprised he was not used in coverage much. Dustin Doe (32) was also as good as advertised. The third starter, freshman (Spikes and Doe are sophs) A.J. Jones (16) also showed up well. All three of them made a least one noticeable play – blowing up a run, tackling someone short of the sticks, getting a sack.
GRADE: A- (so far a surprising strength)
DB: Our best CB, Markihe Anderson (14, you may remember him as 37 last year) is still out, so we went with #12 (which the internet says is QB John Brantley) and Wondy Pierre-Louis (4) neither of whom made a noticeable impact good or bad. Troy had one play they were open deep, but they dropped it. Strong safety Tony Joiner (19) remains our steady, but underappreciated key – staying a home, lining other guys up - linebackers too (no one is perfect), not just the secondary. Meyer went with Kyle Jackson (3) over Dorian Munroe (was 34, now 20 – I hate this). Jackson has never stuck me as anything special, while Munroe looked good in his only extended action replacing an injured Joiner in the SEC title game last year. Munroe is on the field a fair amount, maybe he will move into the starters role, the same way Reggie Nelson knocked Jackson (yes, the same one) to the bench two years ago.
GRADE: B+ (No big plays)
ST: Troy used the same stupid punt formation we did last year and you saw it cost them two blocked punts. We’ve adjusted to having only two guys standing stock still behind the line waiting for rushers to smash into them. We continue only cover from the sidelines to the hashmarks on kickoffs – but I am still waiting for someone to exploit that two years later so what do I know. We got several big returns out of Brady James (25) and since has not been a fumbler in the past we will just accept that those things happen. We also blew up a few of their returners. And number 98, Joey Ijjas, made all his kicks, made them well, and got his kickoffs deep. It is nice to be able to relax on extra points.
GRADE: A- (they played well, but I still think those tactics we use are unwise)
Coaching: I don’t mind giving up a garbage TD after being up 49-7 at the half, but I do giving up 24 points. We got sleepy and just made boneheaded play after boneheaded play. And he kept The Savior on the field for way to long. We didn’t have a great game plan (other than just bringing in an inferior opponent). On one goalline defense when Troy went five wide we put four guys on the line and then put seven men right (at least one was a LB – Dustin Doe) on the goalline. It looked odd, but it worked for that play.
GRADE: B
Bottom line: Maybe I am little harsh in my grades – lord knows my undergrads sure feel that way – but I see some concerns. We will learn everything about this team and its quarterback next week when the Volunteers come to town.
posted by El Breto @ 1:45 PM
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