I have the game recorded on DirecTV/Tivo, and had my first opportunity to use the great features and quality of digital recording. You can put things into slo-mo and go frame by frame with incredible quality. It is especially great for breaking down what happens in the trenches. It is amazing how different the game looks (good and bad) when you slow it down and watch the play develop.
I didn't have time to watch the second half and take notes, hopfully I can do that tonight. There were actually some good things that happened, and some very bad things. I predict those bad things didn't get corrected at halftime, and that is what led to a dissmal second half (besides the obvious turnovers). I have to watch the second half though to be sure.
Here we go with some random notes and thoughts:
1)We truly only had 2 formations, and about 4 plays in this half. We would slide a TE along the line to "mix" it up, but honestly we used only 2 formations. We actually were pretty good at these plays though. PJ managed to turn some good yards out of some busted blocking assignments.
2)PJ was lined up WAY too deep in the backfield. It took their LB's about one toss play to figure out the call and what to do. As soon as Reggie started to turn and make the toss, they could close 3 yards on the line of scrimmage before PJ ever took a full stride with the ball. Their LB's had already plugged the gaps and simply had to react to PJ. BYU did a great job of forcing PJ to stay inside. I suspect they only got better at this in the scond half. Their LB's looked really sharp.
3)There was a glaring weakness on the O-Line. If I could see it, I am sure the coaches can. I don't get into player bashing, but BYU completely controlled one of our guys and it caused some big problems. I have to trust the coach's can correct this. If not, things could get ugly.
4)Our D-line actually looked very good considering the inexperience and size. They could get a good push and open up some holes for the blitz. Unfortunately the blitz was basically ineffective.
5)Our Blitz was pointless. They ate our lunch on it for the most part. Watching it frame by frame, you think their QB is going to get creamed, but he stands in the pocket, releases the ball to a wide open man at the last second, and then takes the hit. The problem is that he kept getting right back up and doing it again and again. Give credit to their QB. He picked us apart and took the hits.
6)Our LB's were no where to be found. That underneath stuff was WIDE open. I mean there wasn't a GT player in the same time zone. On one underneath play D. Smith is running right to the sidelines, out of his zone. I am no expert, but I don't see why he did this. We had coverage right where he was running to (in fact, that GT defender was trying to catch up to the underneath guy). This didn't just happen once; it happened a little too often. When BYU used their 3 and 4 reciever sets, they would send 2 guys deep to pull the safeties. This left us undermanned with their TE released. I feel that our LB's, who should have been our playmakers, regressed.
7)Their TD in this half, was simply their guys beating our guys. They put 3 receivers out, and got man on man coverage. Their TE released immediately and burned Butler. Their QB threw a perfect strike, right before our blitz clobbered him.
8)They ran very different plays out of the same formation. They lined up 3 receivers in that triangle formation for a nice wide open pass to the flats underneath. Then, they ran an option out the same exact formation to the other side of the field.
9)As the half progressed, you could see BYU getting into their rythym and starting to exploit our weaknesses. You could see us making the same mistakes. Their QB took our best shots, and made us pay for it. The end of the half was a story of two teams headed in oppposite directions.
In summary, you have to simply give the BYU players a TON of credit. They kept their composure, and gave their offense time to get into a rythym. Their players simply flat out-played ours at times. Our guys played like a team in their first game of the season, on the road, and without a lot of experience.
I am sorely dissapointed in Tenuta. I haven't watched the second half yet, but obviously whatever adjustments he made didn't work. His last 3 games have me really worried. What was all his hype about?
The play calling was most certainly vanilla, but I don't think it really hurt us too much. We turned some busted plays into decent yards. I think the problems that it caused, was that it gave their defense confidence. They didn't have to think too much after a while. Their players got aggressive, and were ready to make plays.
It will be interesting to watch the second half to see if we really tried, or were even capable, to cover up our weaknesses. It will be interesting to see if we did make adjustments, or did the turnovers really cost us the game. The tape doesn't lie!
I didn't have time to watch the second half and take notes, hopfully I can do that tonight. There were actually some good things that happened, and some very bad things. I predict those bad things didn't get corrected at halftime, and that is what led to a dissmal second half (besides the obvious turnovers). I have to watch the second half though to be sure.
Here we go with some random notes and thoughts:
1)We truly only had 2 formations, and about 4 plays in this half. We would slide a TE along the line to "mix" it up, but honestly we used only 2 formations. We actually were pretty good at these plays though. PJ managed to turn some good yards out of some busted blocking assignments.
2)PJ was lined up WAY too deep in the backfield. It took their LB's about one toss play to figure out the call and what to do. As soon as Reggie started to turn and make the toss, they could close 3 yards on the line of scrimmage before PJ ever took a full stride with the ball. Their LB's had already plugged the gaps and simply had to react to PJ. BYU did a great job of forcing PJ to stay inside. I suspect they only got better at this in the scond half. Their LB's looked really sharp.
3)There was a glaring weakness on the O-Line. If I could see it, I am sure the coaches can. I don't get into player bashing, but BYU completely controlled one of our guys and it caused some big problems. I have to trust the coach's can correct this. If not, things could get ugly.
4)Our D-line actually looked very good considering the inexperience and size. They could get a good push and open up some holes for the blitz. Unfortunately the blitz was basically ineffective.
5)Our Blitz was pointless. They ate our lunch on it for the most part. Watching it frame by frame, you think their QB is going to get creamed, but he stands in the pocket, releases the ball to a wide open man at the last second, and then takes the hit. The problem is that he kept getting right back up and doing it again and again. Give credit to their QB. He picked us apart and took the hits.
6)Our LB's were no where to be found. That underneath stuff was WIDE open. I mean there wasn't a GT player in the same time zone. On one underneath play D. Smith is running right to the sidelines, out of his zone. I am no expert, but I don't see why he did this. We had coverage right where he was running to (in fact, that GT defender was trying to catch up to the underneath guy). This didn't just happen once; it happened a little too often. When BYU used their 3 and 4 reciever sets, they would send 2 guys deep to pull the safeties. This left us undermanned with their TE released. I feel that our LB's, who should have been our playmakers, regressed.
7)Their TD in this half, was simply their guys beating our guys. They put 3 receivers out, and got man on man coverage. Their TE released immediately and burned Butler. Their QB threw a perfect strike, right before our blitz clobbered him.
8)They ran very different plays out of the same formation. They lined up 3 receivers in that triangle formation for a nice wide open pass to the flats underneath. Then, they ran an option out the same exact formation to the other side of the field.
9)As the half progressed, you could see BYU getting into their rythym and starting to exploit our weaknesses. You could see us making the same mistakes. Their QB took our best shots, and made us pay for it. The end of the half was a story of two teams headed in oppposite directions.
In summary, you have to simply give the BYU players a TON of credit. They kept their composure, and gave their offense time to get into a rythym. Their players simply flat out-played ours at times. Our guys played like a team in their first game of the season, on the road, and without a lot of experience.
I am sorely dissapointed in Tenuta. I haven't watched the second half yet, but obviously whatever adjustments he made didn't work. His last 3 games have me really worried. What was all his hype about?
The play calling was most certainly vanilla, but I don't think it really hurt us too much. We turned some busted plays into decent yards. I think the problems that it caused, was that it gave their defense confidence. They didn't have to think too much after a while. Their players got aggressive, and were ready to make plays.
It will be interesting to watch the second half to see if we really tried, or were even capable, to cover up our weaknesses. It will be interesting to see if we did make adjustments, or did the turnovers really cost us the game. The tape doesn't lie!