Yaaawn
Who lets these guys into the SEC? They were so bad even though it was a night game we were a very quiet crowd. It was the quietest night game I have ever been too, and everyone split quickly, the roads were shockingly clear afterwards.
NOTE: I did do a quick and dirty Georgia writeup, but not until Friday, so I did not send it. You can see it here: http://gatorknowledge.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-know-im-late-but-i-want-you-to-know.html
I’m also considering going to a high school playoff game Nov. 20 if there is any interest. I know you don’t care.
QB: The Savior was pretty efficient for him, but made no spectacular plays. He did better in vacating the pocket when it started to break down.
GRADE: B-
RB: I was pleased to see Chris Rainey was healthy enough to play, not that he did much. Moody got a little more time than usual and ran fairly strong. Demps did pretty well too, but on his big TD run it was just a blown defense (or someone got completely blocked out of the play – but I think it was just a screw-up). He caught the pitch on a basic option and when he caught it he was right in front of me and there was NO ONE there.
GRADE: A- (as a corps, including Brandon James, they had 21 carries for 121 yards)
WR: Brandon James and David Nelson actually made a few plays, but let’s not get too excited about beating up on Vandy. Deonte Thompson continues to be MIA, which is a major disappoint, and really hurts as he was suppose to be the big play guy. Riley Cooper had one short grab, although made a good block on a special teams return. On the deflected TD he was the one who did not make the catch – and, while it was a cool play, it was TERRIBLE route combo. The reason that Nelson was there for the rebound was because he and Cooper we running the same route, Cooper to the goalline, Nelson five yards deeper. Actually he was open because the DB on him jumped towards Cooper because the play was right in front of him (as he should have). Hammond and Hines were again briefly on the field (with the starters).
GRADE: C
TE: The 64 yarder was great to watch, but it came after the game was over against a tired defense just waiting for the gun to sound. Still he had 6 catches for 56 yards before that, which isn’t too bad. He did not make any great plays, but made the routine plays keep our defense off the field.
GRADE: A (he led the team in catches, put up solid numbers for a TE (if not perhaps his standards), and you can’t deny he looked great bouncing off half a dozen tacklers).
OL: Before Matt Patchan (71) blew out his knee, he and Carl Johnson (57) alternated at left tackle, with Johnson the guard when Patchan was tackle and James Wilson (66) was guard. But how when Johnson the entrenched RT, Mo Hurt (74) plays right guard (Mike Pouncey has flopped to the right). When Carl Johnson briefly got hurt, Mr. Hurt moved to RT and Wilson came in. We don’t have much depth besides Wilson – freshman center Sam Robey has gotten press, but barely played. Also on one play Tebow got blown up by a blindside rusher, and when that happened I realized how good the blindside protection has been for most of the year so I want to give props to our RT Marcus Gilbert (76), who has been quiet all year – and a quiet OT is a damn good OT. Even before the season started I remember saying he looked good and I was not worried about that tackle spot. He’s a junior, so he’ll flip next year and protect Brantley’s back so that will help his development. However while Gilbert has been consistently solid, the OL did not do anything special this game – and it was Vandy.
GRADE: C+ (did average 4 yards a carry)
DL: Limited passrush without the blitz, their halfback averaged 5.4 yards a carry – many of those yards coming right up the middle. Trattou (94) played at little without much affect, Marsh (90) did not. Carlos Dunlap deflected two passes, on one smartly realizing the play as to a back in the flat and falling back into the passing lane.
GRADE: C+
LB: With Spikes out Stamper (41) moved inside and Doe (32) started outside. I had missed this, but Brandon Hicks (40) was out with a hammy. Doe was out there even with the scrubs. Stamper had a great interception (the game’s only turnover unless you count the punter dropping his need to catch a bad snap). He is a smart player, so that he was in position was no shock (he undercut a short route to the outside) but he displaced some great hands – it was a beautiful, receiver quality, catch. AJ Jones had a least one good blitz to force an early throw.
GRADE: B+ (you need more big plays if you want an “A” vs Vandy)
DB: Our reputation evidently preceded us, because they never challenged our corners. They had just two – 2!!! – pass attempts over 15 yards, and both were about 20 yards. One each at the end of each half when they were in their own end and time was winding down so they had to try unless they just wanted totally give up. They average 3.4 yards a pass – why not just run every play? Pretty pathetic. It wasn’t because of our swarming passrush (of course all the quick dumpoffs made it harder for our DL too), they never even tried. Their game plan involved lots of screens and work for their tight end. Jenkins jumped for a chance at what would have been an amazing catch but was not really close.
GRADE: Incomplete vs. Captain Checkdown
**As an aside for those who have given me grief for saying Jenkins is better than Haden check out this article talking about how Jenkins as true freshman last year helped teach Haden (as highschool QB) how to play corner. http://alligator.org/sports/football/article_6973c8e6-ca6e-11de-9cc1-001cc4c002e0.html
ST: Punter Chaz Henry (17) remains a weapon. Teams continue to work to not give Brandon James any opportunities, but he almost broke one. They have a hot returner to, who we shut down pretty well. I was in the endzone again and noticed instead of Jenkins it was Haden crossing to the left on kickoffs.
GRADE: A-
Coaching: Pretty uninspired vs. a two win team. The defense only let the Commodores cross the 50 twice and had a mere one play over 20 yards. Our offense did not play nearly as well, with just two drives longer than 45 yards against going three and out a trio of times. As I said, the Georgia mauling was misleading, our offensive troubles are not solved. We were 4 of 13 on third down (Vandy was a surprising 7 of 16, given they had just 200 yards of offense.
GRADE: B (it was a 24 point win)
Play of the game: We went against type for one play, rolling both our corners to one side of the field when they doubled their receivers over there. Vandy had a good call, running a screen to the back side. It looked bad, the back had a lineman in front him with just safety Will Hill between him and the endzone. The lineman locked on Hill and I was screaming at him to get to the outside to force the RB back into the defense and give up a big gain, but not six. Instead Hill, again a defensive back, stood up the OFFENSIVE LINEMAN, twisted back and forth on him to watch the back, shed the block, and MADE THE TACKLE!!! Vandy got just 12 yards on the paly. Now I have another reason (besides Hill being better in coverage) I would rather he start over Major Wright (21). He actually did “start” (as did Emanuel Moody at RB) in that he was on the field for the first defensive play from scrimmage, but the truth is he and Wright split time (as do the backs).
The Bottom Line: South Carolina continues to make me look foolish as they got dropped 33-16 at Arkansas. Although FSU got rocked blowing a fourth quarter lead to end up losing by 16 as they fell to 4-5.
More importantly three-quarters of the way through the season this is the team we have, we are not going to suddenly wake up on offense. We are a defensive team. That is okay – it is how we won in 2006 and defensive teams win more often. But it will make for two tight games if we are going to repeat as champions. My bigger concern is actually our health on the defensive line. I have been waiting all season for DT Lawrence Marsh (90) to get healthy, and we may have to face the reality that he is never going to be fully healthy this season. He is our best defensive lineman and the lynchpin to our rush defense. Without him healthy teams have been able to run up the gut on us. We know as fact now we are playing Bama in Atlanta (thanks for nothing Jordan Jefferson) and have watching them comeback against LSU I’m not worried about their quarterback or our offense being able to get SOME points on them. But Ingram can run hard and that game will be decided by if he can run inside on us. Ironically if we win that Marsh will have a month to rest up for Texas (they have remaining schedule that is as easy as ours) – who doesn’t run well and we match up better with. I would like to see Marsh rested for the next two games and then get just a little time vs. FSU to avoid getting rusty.
NOTE: I did do a quick and dirty Georgia writeup, but not until Friday, so I did not send it. You can see it here: http://gatorknowledge.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-know-im-late-but-i-want-you-to-know.html
I’m also considering going to a high school playoff game Nov. 20 if there is any interest. I know you don’t care.
QB: The Savior was pretty efficient for him, but made no spectacular plays. He did better in vacating the pocket when it started to break down.
GRADE: B-
RB: I was pleased to see Chris Rainey was healthy enough to play, not that he did much. Moody got a little more time than usual and ran fairly strong. Demps did pretty well too, but on his big TD run it was just a blown defense (or someone got completely blocked out of the play – but I think it was just a screw-up). He caught the pitch on a basic option and when he caught it he was right in front of me and there was NO ONE there.
GRADE: A- (as a corps, including Brandon James, they had 21 carries for 121 yards)
WR: Brandon James and David Nelson actually made a few plays, but let’s not get too excited about beating up on Vandy. Deonte Thompson continues to be MIA, which is a major disappoint, and really hurts as he was suppose to be the big play guy. Riley Cooper had one short grab, although made a good block on a special teams return. On the deflected TD he was the one who did not make the catch – and, while it was a cool play, it was TERRIBLE route combo. The reason that Nelson was there for the rebound was because he and Cooper we running the same route, Cooper to the goalline, Nelson five yards deeper. Actually he was open because the DB on him jumped towards Cooper because the play was right in front of him (as he should have). Hammond and Hines were again briefly on the field (with the starters).
GRADE: C
TE: The 64 yarder was great to watch, but it came after the game was over against a tired defense just waiting for the gun to sound. Still he had 6 catches for 56 yards before that, which isn’t too bad. He did not make any great plays, but made the routine plays keep our defense off the field.
GRADE: A (he led the team in catches, put up solid numbers for a TE (if not perhaps his standards), and you can’t deny he looked great bouncing off half a dozen tacklers).
OL: Before Matt Patchan (71) blew out his knee, he and Carl Johnson (57) alternated at left tackle, with Johnson the guard when Patchan was tackle and James Wilson (66) was guard. But how when Johnson the entrenched RT, Mo Hurt (74) plays right guard (Mike Pouncey has flopped to the right). When Carl Johnson briefly got hurt, Mr. Hurt moved to RT and Wilson came in. We don’t have much depth besides Wilson – freshman center Sam Robey has gotten press, but barely played. Also on one play Tebow got blown up by a blindside rusher, and when that happened I realized how good the blindside protection has been for most of the year so I want to give props to our RT Marcus Gilbert (76), who has been quiet all year – and a quiet OT is a damn good OT. Even before the season started I remember saying he looked good and I was not worried about that tackle spot. He’s a junior, so he’ll flip next year and protect Brantley’s back so that will help his development. However while Gilbert has been consistently solid, the OL did not do anything special this game – and it was Vandy.
GRADE: C+ (did average 4 yards a carry)
DL: Limited passrush without the blitz, their halfback averaged 5.4 yards a carry – many of those yards coming right up the middle. Trattou (94) played at little without much affect, Marsh (90) did not. Carlos Dunlap deflected two passes, on one smartly realizing the play as to a back in the flat and falling back into the passing lane.
GRADE: C+
LB: With Spikes out Stamper (41) moved inside and Doe (32) started outside. I had missed this, but Brandon Hicks (40) was out with a hammy. Doe was out there even with the scrubs. Stamper had a great interception (the game’s only turnover unless you count the punter dropping his need to catch a bad snap). He is a smart player, so that he was in position was no shock (he undercut a short route to the outside) but he displaced some great hands – it was a beautiful, receiver quality, catch. AJ Jones had a least one good blitz to force an early throw.
GRADE: B+ (you need more big plays if you want an “A” vs Vandy)
DB: Our reputation evidently preceded us, because they never challenged our corners. They had just two – 2!!! – pass attempts over 15 yards, and both were about 20 yards. One each at the end of each half when they were in their own end and time was winding down so they had to try unless they just wanted totally give up. They average 3.4 yards a pass – why not just run every play? Pretty pathetic. It wasn’t because of our swarming passrush (of course all the quick dumpoffs made it harder for our DL too), they never even tried. Their game plan involved lots of screens and work for their tight end. Jenkins jumped for a chance at what would have been an amazing catch but was not really close.
GRADE: Incomplete vs. Captain Checkdown
**As an aside for those who have given me grief for saying Jenkins is better than Haden check out this article talking about how Jenkins as true freshman last year helped teach Haden (as highschool QB) how to play corner. http://alligator.org/sports/football/article_6973c8e6-ca6e-11de-9cc1-001cc4c002e0.html
ST: Punter Chaz Henry (17) remains a weapon. Teams continue to work to not give Brandon James any opportunities, but he almost broke one. They have a hot returner to, who we shut down pretty well. I was in the endzone again and noticed instead of Jenkins it was Haden crossing to the left on kickoffs.
GRADE: A-
Coaching: Pretty uninspired vs. a two win team. The defense only let the Commodores cross the 50 twice and had a mere one play over 20 yards. Our offense did not play nearly as well, with just two drives longer than 45 yards against going three and out a trio of times. As I said, the Georgia mauling was misleading, our offensive troubles are not solved. We were 4 of 13 on third down (Vandy was a surprising 7 of 16, given they had just 200 yards of offense.
GRADE: B (it was a 24 point win)
Play of the game: We went against type for one play, rolling both our corners to one side of the field when they doubled their receivers over there. Vandy had a good call, running a screen to the back side. It looked bad, the back had a lineman in front him with just safety Will Hill between him and the endzone. The lineman locked on Hill and I was screaming at him to get to the outside to force the RB back into the defense and give up a big gain, but not six. Instead Hill, again a defensive back, stood up the OFFENSIVE LINEMAN, twisted back and forth on him to watch the back, shed the block, and MADE THE TACKLE!!! Vandy got just 12 yards on the paly. Now I have another reason (besides Hill being better in coverage) I would rather he start over Major Wright (21). He actually did “start” (as did Emanuel Moody at RB) in that he was on the field for the first defensive play from scrimmage, but the truth is he and Wright split time (as do the backs).
The Bottom Line: South Carolina continues to make me look foolish as they got dropped 33-16 at Arkansas. Although FSU got rocked blowing a fourth quarter lead to end up losing by 16 as they fell to 4-5.
More importantly three-quarters of the way through the season this is the team we have, we are not going to suddenly wake up on offense. We are a defensive team. That is okay – it is how we won in 2006 and defensive teams win more often. But it will make for two tight games if we are going to repeat as champions. My bigger concern is actually our health on the defensive line. I have been waiting all season for DT Lawrence Marsh (90) to get healthy, and we may have to face the reality that he is never going to be fully healthy this season. He is our best defensive lineman and the lynchpin to our rush defense. Without him healthy teams have been able to run up the gut on us. We know as fact now we are playing Bama in Atlanta (thanks for nothing Jordan Jefferson) and have watching them comeback against LSU I’m not worried about their quarterback or our offense being able to get SOME points on them. But Ingram can run hard and that game will be decided by if he can run inside on us. Ironically if we win that Marsh will have a month to rest up for Texas (they have remaining schedule that is as easy as ours) – who doesn’t run well and we match up better with. I would like to see Marsh rested for the next two games and then get just a little time vs. FSU to avoid getting rusty.
posted by El Breto @ 4:08 PM
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