Late posting this...busy day. This won't be long...I got my mind on that big red elephant in the room... Here is what I saw (and confirmed this week, as I begrudgingly watched the tape [red elephants were a big distraction] of the game today).
QB - Dart is on track to have a stellar, possibly record-breaking year; if we could JUST block/protect a little better and get some TE and WRs healthy! I liked the designed QB draws and QB sweeps. He looks much more comfortable in the pocket this year.
RBs - I am going to probably tick some folks off here when I say this, but Judkins hasn't looked right all year. Has he gained weight? Is the injury worse than we know? Do the offensive linemen not like him (are they jealous of his salary?)? He LOOKS a half step slower. He just doesn't seem to have the burst he had last year. Bentley, who could barely sniff the field last year, looked better and more explosive (has all season, if I am being honest). Sophomore jinx? I hope not. Judkins has to be in the Heisman conversation for us to have the special year we all have lived our entire lives (53 years in my case) waiting for. Not sure why Griffin hasn't gotten more time. Jones looked like a beast in his lone carry against GT backups. Bottom line, Judkins has to get right.
WRs - Jordan Watkins has been a steady performer since he arrived last season. He seems to have a little more burst this year than last. Wade played a steady game. We get every bit of potential he has every game. Need Harris back. BAD. Williams is improving...but he is just a freshman. Tough to make the jump to the SEC from high school.
TE - Trigg had the big TD drop. I wonder if it has dawned on him how much future money he is costing himself by playing so far below his ceiling? He should be a matchup nightmare for opposing D coordinators, but he is not there as of now. Heath got most of the TE reps, but didn't play noticeably better, which is telling. He wiffed on a couple of blocks that would have possibly sprung runners for big chunks. Hopefully, Prieskorn (and Wolfe) will provide help here when he returns. Maybe the staff should let Pegues give a class on TE blocking!
OL - Quincy McGee seems to have solidified himself as a starter. He played every snap. Not sure why all the snaps for Pettus. He is a mountain with unlimited potential, but he missed several assignments, had a couple of penalties, and lost his composure when he got pulled from the game. Don't need those in-game distractions. Williams and Acker got double-digit snaps this week. Not sure if that is good for them or bad for the guys they replaced, or both. Glass half full: It was good to see several plays with lead action from a backside guard to B and C. Glass half empty: The backside guy missed his block and/or just ran with the play and didn't engage anyone (looked like some of my high school guards on film, look pretty getting in the picture, uniform stayed clean though) on several of those plays. Bottom line; We have to win more one-on-one matchups if we want to win in the SEC. PERIOD!
Overall - The play-calling was good. I thought we had a good script (we always do) and we kept them off balance for the most part.
DL - I thought Akelo Stone played well. I really like Ukwu, he is long and looks the part. Ivey was solid and Cedric Johnson had his best game of the season. We need him to continue to improve. JJ (and several others) were too high on most plays and did not do a particularly good job of staying in their pursuit lanes on the outside zone. We got too far upfield several times and this created running lanes for GT. Got to work on our discipline in that area.
LBs - Ahsanti Sistrunk, who I have been a fan of in this weekly spot for a couple of seasons now, played fairly well again this week. He knows what to do and plays hard, making 5 tackles this week. He is, unfortunately, a half-step slow. Jean-Baptiste had his best game in an Ole Miss uniform, recording 8 stops. He seemed more sure and played faster than the previous 2 games. Hopeful this trend continues. Khari Coleman had a solid game. Perkins has stud written all over him. He was noticeably better this week. The future is bright for him (and us, hopefully).
DBs - Trey Washington led the team in tackles with 10. Not sure how good that is for our team defense for a safety to top this stat, but good for him nonetheless. Hope Walton is not seriously hurt. We aren't very deep at CB, and Walton has played well all year. Prince was solid as usual. Isheem Young made the most of his 30 snaps, recording 6 tackles. Saunders was solid. Glad to see Ladarius Tennison get back on the field. He is undersized, but he is a disrupter and will strike you.
Overall - We gave up too many 3rd downs and couldn't get off the field. GT had over 80 snaps. That stat will not hunt this week. We didn't rush the passer particularly well. I have already addressed the pursuit lane issue. Also, our LBs did not seem to maintain eye discipline and run fits. We got faked out several times and took poor angles. Finally, credit to GT's QB, who had a good game against us, but we have to do a better job of making the big play in the secondary. We allowed too many timely completions to extend drives for them.
SP - Caden Davis was solid. The blocked kick looked to be a protection issue.
Next week - If you read this post and/or know anything about my post history, you know how I feel about this week's opponent. Honestly, I would rather beat them than anyone else on our schedule. They look beatable. I am sure the talking heads (i.e. Finebaum) will do all they can to stir them up (i.e. rat poison) to give their best effort this week against us, just like they did two years ago when we went over there. Hopefully, CLK won't overcoach like he did last year (no junior high trick plays) and we don't have a bunch of mistakes to give them unearned points. This is our best shot in years over there (we should have won at home last year, if I am being honest), so let's all get focused this week and get ready to GATA. That is all.
QB - Dart is on track to have a stellar, possibly record-breaking year; if we could JUST block/protect a little better and get some TE and WRs healthy! I liked the designed QB draws and QB sweeps. He looks much more comfortable in the pocket this year.
RBs - I am going to probably tick some folks off here when I say this, but Judkins hasn't looked right all year. Has he gained weight? Is the injury worse than we know? Do the offensive linemen not like him (are they jealous of his salary?)? He LOOKS a half step slower. He just doesn't seem to have the burst he had last year. Bentley, who could barely sniff the field last year, looked better and more explosive (has all season, if I am being honest). Sophomore jinx? I hope not. Judkins has to be in the Heisman conversation for us to have the special year we all have lived our entire lives (53 years in my case) waiting for. Not sure why Griffin hasn't gotten more time. Jones looked like a beast in his lone carry against GT backups. Bottom line, Judkins has to get right.
WRs - Jordan Watkins has been a steady performer since he arrived last season. He seems to have a little more burst this year than last. Wade played a steady game. We get every bit of potential he has every game. Need Harris back. BAD. Williams is improving...but he is just a freshman. Tough to make the jump to the SEC from high school.
TE - Trigg had the big TD drop. I wonder if it has dawned on him how much future money he is costing himself by playing so far below his ceiling? He should be a matchup nightmare for opposing D coordinators, but he is not there as of now. Heath got most of the TE reps, but didn't play noticeably better, which is telling. He wiffed on a couple of blocks that would have possibly sprung runners for big chunks. Hopefully, Prieskorn (and Wolfe) will provide help here when he returns. Maybe the staff should let Pegues give a class on TE blocking!
OL - Quincy McGee seems to have solidified himself as a starter. He played every snap. Not sure why all the snaps for Pettus. He is a mountain with unlimited potential, but he missed several assignments, had a couple of penalties, and lost his composure when he got pulled from the game. Don't need those in-game distractions. Williams and Acker got double-digit snaps this week. Not sure if that is good for them or bad for the guys they replaced, or both. Glass half full: It was good to see several plays with lead action from a backside guard to B and C. Glass half empty: The backside guy missed his block and/or just ran with the play and didn't engage anyone (looked like some of my high school guards on film, look pretty getting in the picture, uniform stayed clean though) on several of those plays. Bottom line; We have to win more one-on-one matchups if we want to win in the SEC. PERIOD!
Overall - The play-calling was good. I thought we had a good script (we always do) and we kept them off balance for the most part.
DL - I thought Akelo Stone played well. I really like Ukwu, he is long and looks the part. Ivey was solid and Cedric Johnson had his best game of the season. We need him to continue to improve. JJ (and several others) were too high on most plays and did not do a particularly good job of staying in their pursuit lanes on the outside zone. We got too far upfield several times and this created running lanes for GT. Got to work on our discipline in that area.
LBs - Ahsanti Sistrunk, who I have been a fan of in this weekly spot for a couple of seasons now, played fairly well again this week. He knows what to do and plays hard, making 5 tackles this week. He is, unfortunately, a half-step slow. Jean-Baptiste had his best game in an Ole Miss uniform, recording 8 stops. He seemed more sure and played faster than the previous 2 games. Hopeful this trend continues. Khari Coleman had a solid game. Perkins has stud written all over him. He was noticeably better this week. The future is bright for him (and us, hopefully).
DBs - Trey Washington led the team in tackles with 10. Not sure how good that is for our team defense for a safety to top this stat, but good for him nonetheless. Hope Walton is not seriously hurt. We aren't very deep at CB, and Walton has played well all year. Prince was solid as usual. Isheem Young made the most of his 30 snaps, recording 6 tackles. Saunders was solid. Glad to see Ladarius Tennison get back on the field. He is undersized, but he is a disrupter and will strike you.
Overall - We gave up too many 3rd downs and couldn't get off the field. GT had over 80 snaps. That stat will not hunt this week. We didn't rush the passer particularly well. I have already addressed the pursuit lane issue. Also, our LBs did not seem to maintain eye discipline and run fits. We got faked out several times and took poor angles. Finally, credit to GT's QB, who had a good game against us, but we have to do a better job of making the big play in the secondary. We allowed too many timely completions to extend drives for them.
SP - Caden Davis was solid. The blocked kick looked to be a protection issue.
Next week - If you read this post and/or know anything about my post history, you know how I feel about this week's opponent. Honestly, I would rather beat them than anyone else on our schedule. They look beatable. I am sure the talking heads (i.e. Finebaum) will do all they can to stir them up (i.e. rat poison) to give their best effort this week against us, just like they did two years ago when we went over there. Hopefully, CLK won't overcoach like he did last year (no junior high trick plays) and we don't have a bunch of mistakes to give them unearned points. This is our best shot in years over there (we should have won at home last year, if I am being honest), so let's all get focused this week and get ready to GATA. That is all.
