Here is what I saw Saturday in Nashville, and verified after looking at the tape Sunday.
Offense
1. Nick Broeker lost money on Saturday. He got beat several times in the 1st half. I bragged about him a couple of weeks ago. When he is good, he is good. When he is bad...woof (whiff). Eli Acker seems to have matriculated to the 2nd unit. Not sure about that. I have not seen anything negative about his play other than he is not good at snapping as the backup center. The emergence of Pettus and Williams has allowed James to slide down to OG. We are going to need depth on the OL with the stretch of games we have coming up. 8 OL who can rotate would be ideal. We seem to have 7 at this point, with no real depth at all at Center. Hopefully, the level of competition improving will encourage more to step up and join the rotation.
2. Dart hit some big plays for us on Saturday. He throws a really pretty ball. He made 2 really bad decisions, and both were picked off. Again, I am not sure about his field of vision. The 1st INT, he threw it straight to the guy when he should have taken off and run. Overall, his stats weren't bad; 25/32 for 448 with 3 TDs and 2 INTs. Got to clean up the INT issue. He is still a teenager, so hopefully that will come with growth and maturity.
3. The running game did not get going like it should have against Vandy. I did really like the TD run by Evans to open the 3rd. Beautiful job of misdirection/influence blocking. Maybe that was intentional on some level to put things on film to "plant the seed" with Auburn (and others). Equal snaps for both, Evans had 13 touches and Judkins 12. As I said in #1, we had some blocking issues early. It wasn't just Broeker either. We had several plays where multiple OL lost one-on-ones and whiffed on their gap responsibility. We need both RB's to be at 100% Saturday against Auburn.
4. Mingo, what a game. Hard to believe that he broke the single-game receiving record Saturday. That is rarified air considering the talented players we have had at the WR position the last several years. The 1st TD, Mingo lined up tight to short side and we ran a wheel behind him. He did a great job of selling run block first. Jordan Watkins is emerging as a solid inside guy. I really liked the route concept on his long touchdown. Again, putting some things on film that will keep opposing DC's up late at night. Trigg made a tremendous catch on the play he got hurt. His injury looked to either be a severe A/C joint sprain (separation) or a broken collarbone. Either way, he is most likely out for a while. I am no doctor, but I do have 28 years of coaching experience.
Defense
1. Our DL has got to play better than they did in the 1st half Saturday. We had too many tackles being made by DBs (Finley had 13 tackles). We looked out of sorts and missed several assignments. For example, on the 4th down touchdown play, the DT and the LB both went A gap, even though the DT was in B gap. Maybe they were supposed to stunt and the LB messed up, but based on what everyone else did, it looked like the DT messed up. Tavius and Cedric played a lot of snaps. Hopefully they are getting their legs back today. KD played fairly well. Need Clowney to get back and get in the rotation.
2. It was good to see Khari Coleman back on the field, even in a limited capacity. He just brings it when he is out there. Troy Brown is just solid. He made money again Saturday. Sistrunk did ok. Would like to see him get about 10-15 more snaps per game to even the "wear and tear" up some with the starters. Austin Keys has really emerged as a player.
3. Davison Igbinosun got faked out of his jock on the 1st touchdown Vandy scored. It is STILL lying out there on the field. He broke a cardinal rule, he let the WR get to the outside. Funnel the WR back inside to your help. Use the sideline as an extra tackler that never misses. Vandy made a concerted effort to throw his way on Saturday, and other than the aforementioned play, Davision held his own fairly well. Prince played really well. Finley had 13 stops, which is good for him, but not necessarily for our defense. Reese better step it up a little this week in practice, as Washington played pretty good again this week. Miles Battle has really fallen off the radar. Wonder what happened there? Isheem Young is a stud.
ETA: Laddarius Tennison played a solid game too. Very heady play to go jump on the ball there. Make the official make a call, and it went our way. He seems to be settling into the scheme. That will benefit us down the stretch.
Overall, we didn't tackle very well at all again. Maybe the competition is just better, but we haven't tackled particularly well since the Georgia Tech game. This must change this week against Auburn.
Special Teams
1. The kicker found the end zone again on kickoffs, thank goodness. Cruz has really been a big get this year for us. We didn't punt, so that is good.
Offense
1. Nick Broeker lost money on Saturday. He got beat several times in the 1st half. I bragged about him a couple of weeks ago. When he is good, he is good. When he is bad...woof (whiff). Eli Acker seems to have matriculated to the 2nd unit. Not sure about that. I have not seen anything negative about his play other than he is not good at snapping as the backup center. The emergence of Pettus and Williams has allowed James to slide down to OG. We are going to need depth on the OL with the stretch of games we have coming up. 8 OL who can rotate would be ideal. We seem to have 7 at this point, with no real depth at all at Center. Hopefully, the level of competition improving will encourage more to step up and join the rotation.
2. Dart hit some big plays for us on Saturday. He throws a really pretty ball. He made 2 really bad decisions, and both were picked off. Again, I am not sure about his field of vision. The 1st INT, he threw it straight to the guy when he should have taken off and run. Overall, his stats weren't bad; 25/32 for 448 with 3 TDs and 2 INTs. Got to clean up the INT issue. He is still a teenager, so hopefully that will come with growth and maturity.
3. The running game did not get going like it should have against Vandy. I did really like the TD run by Evans to open the 3rd. Beautiful job of misdirection/influence blocking. Maybe that was intentional on some level to put things on film to "plant the seed" with Auburn (and others). Equal snaps for both, Evans had 13 touches and Judkins 12. As I said in #1, we had some blocking issues early. It wasn't just Broeker either. We had several plays where multiple OL lost one-on-ones and whiffed on their gap responsibility. We need both RB's to be at 100% Saturday against Auburn.
4. Mingo, what a game. Hard to believe that he broke the single-game receiving record Saturday. That is rarified air considering the talented players we have had at the WR position the last several years. The 1st TD, Mingo lined up tight to short side and we ran a wheel behind him. He did a great job of selling run block first. Jordan Watkins is emerging as a solid inside guy. I really liked the route concept on his long touchdown. Again, putting some things on film that will keep opposing DC's up late at night. Trigg made a tremendous catch on the play he got hurt. His injury looked to either be a severe A/C joint sprain (separation) or a broken collarbone. Either way, he is most likely out for a while. I am no doctor, but I do have 28 years of coaching experience.
Defense
1. Our DL has got to play better than they did in the 1st half Saturday. We had too many tackles being made by DBs (Finley had 13 tackles). We looked out of sorts and missed several assignments. For example, on the 4th down touchdown play, the DT and the LB both went A gap, even though the DT was in B gap. Maybe they were supposed to stunt and the LB messed up, but based on what everyone else did, it looked like the DT messed up. Tavius and Cedric played a lot of snaps. Hopefully they are getting their legs back today. KD played fairly well. Need Clowney to get back and get in the rotation.
2. It was good to see Khari Coleman back on the field, even in a limited capacity. He just brings it when he is out there. Troy Brown is just solid. He made money again Saturday. Sistrunk did ok. Would like to see him get about 10-15 more snaps per game to even the "wear and tear" up some with the starters. Austin Keys has really emerged as a player.
3. Davison Igbinosun got faked out of his jock on the 1st touchdown Vandy scored. It is STILL lying out there on the field. He broke a cardinal rule, he let the WR get to the outside. Funnel the WR back inside to your help. Use the sideline as an extra tackler that never misses. Vandy made a concerted effort to throw his way on Saturday, and other than the aforementioned play, Davision held his own fairly well. Prince played really well. Finley had 13 stops, which is good for him, but not necessarily for our defense. Reese better step it up a little this week in practice, as Washington played pretty good again this week. Miles Battle has really fallen off the radar. Wonder what happened there? Isheem Young is a stud.
ETA: Laddarius Tennison played a solid game too. Very heady play to go jump on the ball there. Make the official make a call, and it went our way. He seems to be settling into the scheme. That will benefit us down the stretch.
Overall, we didn't tackle very well at all again. Maybe the competition is just better, but we haven't tackled particularly well since the Georgia Tech game. This must change this week against Auburn.
Special Teams
1. The kicker found the end zone again on kickoffs, thank goodness. Cruz has really been a big get this year for us. We didn't punt, so that is good.
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