I next to never post. I am a long time lurker. These are my Monday Morning observations on the game. I have to wait until Monday to calm down and try not to look through gold colored glasses.
Offence
Running Game - What can I say? Tony Hollings put up another stellar performance. I was amazed at how he accelerates once he is past the line of scrimmage. We are going to need someone to step up big time to fill his shoes. I hope Tony battles back to make a full recovery. Tony seems to be a big team leader. It is this leadership that may be the toughest to replace. I can't help but think how a previous team seemed to lose its spark after Charles Wiley went out with a knee injury.
Passing Game - First things first. Receivers need to catch the ball when it hits them in the hands. Second, Tech needs to disguise the passing game. Most every passing play is telegraphed by the out formation. I will get into the coaching later. Lastly, the QB did not look off a receiver all game. From the time the ball was snapped everyone in the stadium know where the pass was going to be thrown. I think this is mostly coaching but I will get into this later in the post.
Defense
I think our defense played great considering the amount of time they spent on the field. They made stops when it was necessary. I couldn't believe we gave up those 4th down conversions but we made stops when it was needed. Cory Collins was outstanding! He was always around the ball making plays. This is also true of Rueben Houston. It was good to see plenty of stunts to put pressure on the QB. We didn't actually sac him that much but there was enough pressure to make him rush passes.
Special teams - I thought special teams played ok. Luke put all kicks into the end zone. Punt coverage looked good. I thought we were mugged when the ref ruled that one punt a touch back.
Coaching
I thought the defensive coaching was dead on target. We were able to stop a very explosive offense. The defense generated turnovers and forced BYU to change their game plan.
The offense needs quite a bit of work. The things that really bother me about our offense are (1) The QB does not sell the fake on play action schemes (2) Not disguising our plays with multiple formations (3) The QB does not look off of receivers. I attribute these three items to lack of coaching or lack of preparation by the coaching staff. BYU was over pursuing all game but we didn't see any delays or counters. I do not seeing BOB setting up the players for success.
I generally do not comment on the officials. They are human and don't have the luxury of instant replay. However, How in the world does someone not see the two blatant face masking violations? The BYU offensive line must have thought they were at a wrestling match with as many takedowns as they performed. Our D-Line was held all day long. If I can spot it from the Upper East how the $^$##&% can a ref not see it? Don't get me started on the ref playing outside contain on the Watkins reverse.
Anyway these are just my Monday morning observations.
PM Gold
