The best win five hundred thousand dollars can buy
I refuse to grace this game with a full writeup. In fact it shall barely receive one at all. Most of the hype was about John Brantley (12), but all he did was reconfirm he can throw the ball against mediocre teams after Tebow has softened them up. We won't really know about him until next year - I honestly have seen nothing to give me a firm feeling in either direction. It was amusing to see him run up the sideline for a dozen yards.
Most of my focus was on the offensive line. Maurkice Pouncey (56) sat this one out so Mike (55) slide over to center, but the really point of focus was our new left tackle true freshman Xavier Nixon (73). I was surprised that he got the start in South Carolina because Carl Johnson (57) had not been terrible. Nixon did not look that great against FIU, getting beat several times, setting a little to deep in pass blocking, and not punching well. In theory you want your best five lineman on the field and given the way he played against lowly FIU I am a little worried - but he was not chronically abused in Columbia. He hasn't looked better that Johnson, but maybe the coaches think the Johnson is better at guard (or the OL as a unit is better with him there). Or maybe Nixon has looked good in practice and they think with a little experience he will be the best option. Johnson does make the interior better, maybe the plan it is just better to have a weak LT an make the rest of the line the best it can be (which is not standard practice, but not irrational either). I'm hoping he will get better quickly, I will keep an eye on him vs FSU. When the starting OL was pulled because it was a blowout he stayed on the field to get more time.
DT Lawrence Marsh (90) played, which I was happy about because it means he was *relatively* healthy, but at the same time not happy about because there is no way he should have been playing in a meaningless game - especially not with our other starting DT Terron Sanders (92) out with a nasty back injury. If Bama beats us it will be by running right at the center of our defense. Justin Trattou (94) was briefly on the field as well.
Caleb Sturgis (19) is slowly invalidating himself as a weapon because while he can nail them from deep his accuracy limits how frequently I would be willing to go with him. I know he supposedly hasn't been great in practice, but Jonathan Phillips (38) only missed one all last year (and just one in '09) so why not use him if we are close? Admittedly Chris Hetland (39) had an 81% accuracy percentage in 2005 (which I bet you forgot), but you can just tell looking at Sturgis that his confidence has been shaken. How much do you trust him in a big moment against the Crimson Tide?
Football 101: When an offensive lineman "punches" he basically does just that: throws out both his hands to hit the passrusher (this is not a run-blocking move) in the torso. A good hit will break a defensive lineman's stride, giving you an extra precious second to pass. Punching also helps prevent the d-lineman from putting on a move, changing direction, or getting close to the o-lineman where it is much easier to slip past him (better to have him out a few steps so you can keep an eye on him). Lineman do need to be careful when they punch not to put too much interia forward or they will overextend, becoming off balance and an off-balance lineman is easy for a passrusher to put a move on and get by.
Most of my focus was on the offensive line. Maurkice Pouncey (56) sat this one out so Mike (55) slide over to center, but the really point of focus was our new left tackle true freshman Xavier Nixon (73). I was surprised that he got the start in South Carolina because Carl Johnson (57) had not been terrible. Nixon did not look that great against FIU, getting beat several times, setting a little to deep in pass blocking, and not punching well. In theory you want your best five lineman on the field and given the way he played against lowly FIU I am a little worried - but he was not chronically abused in Columbia. He hasn't looked better that Johnson, but maybe the coaches think the Johnson is better at guard (or the OL as a unit is better with him there). Or maybe Nixon has looked good in practice and they think with a little experience he will be the best option. Johnson does make the interior better, maybe the plan it is just better to have a weak LT an make the rest of the line the best it can be (which is not standard practice, but not irrational either). I'm hoping he will get better quickly, I will keep an eye on him vs FSU. When the starting OL was pulled because it was a blowout he stayed on the field to get more time.
DT Lawrence Marsh (90) played, which I was happy about because it means he was *relatively* healthy, but at the same time not happy about because there is no way he should have been playing in a meaningless game - especially not with our other starting DT Terron Sanders (92) out with a nasty back injury. If Bama beats us it will be by running right at the center of our defense. Justin Trattou (94) was briefly on the field as well.
Caleb Sturgis (19) is slowly invalidating himself as a weapon because while he can nail them from deep his accuracy limits how frequently I would be willing to go with him. I know he supposedly hasn't been great in practice, but Jonathan Phillips (38) only missed one all last year (and just one in '09) so why not use him if we are close? Admittedly Chris Hetland (39) had an 81% accuracy percentage in 2005 (which I bet you forgot), but you can just tell looking at Sturgis that his confidence has been shaken. How much do you trust him in a big moment against the Crimson Tide?
Football 101: When an offensive lineman "punches" he basically does just that: throws out both his hands to hit the passrusher (this is not a run-blocking move) in the torso. A good hit will break a defensive lineman's stride, giving you an extra precious second to pass. Punching also helps prevent the d-lineman from putting on a move, changing direction, or getting close to the o-lineman where it is much easier to slip past him (better to have him out a few steps so you can keep an eye on him). Lineman do need to be careful when they punch not to put too much interia forward or they will overextend, becoming off balance and an off-balance lineman is easy for a passrusher to put a move on and get by.
posted by El Breto @ 5:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home