I suppose that the only consolation after that game is that it wasn't as painful as last year's bowl (but it was close). Worst effort of the year by a large margin. Here's my summary:
Offense: Grade: F If this was rehearsal for Salem as OC he should voluntarily withdraw his name from consideration. Horrible performance against a Navy defense that is really not very good. We scored 14 points....14! by our offense. That's total crap.
QB Grade F- If there were a lower grade then F Peterman earned it. He looked like a true freshman making his first start. 3 picks??? If I'm Boyd I leave for the NFL just so I don't have to watch this guy throw lollipop passes any longer.
RB Grade D The only reason that the RB's didn't get an F was because at Ollison at least put the ball in the end zone twice. Besides that, they were a complete non-factor in a game they should have dominated.
Oline: Grade C- The Oline pass protected OK. Run blocking was poor.
WR's & TE's Grade D+ The receiving corp did very little. Holtz dropped a key third down conversion. Boyd was really a non-factor as a receiver. Ford was OK. Everyone else was invisible.
Defense: Grade F Absolutely a hideous performance. No where near enough penetration to stop the option. Horrible tackling, blown coverages. 44 points by Navy says it all. The bad news is that most of these guys are coming back next year.
Dline: Grade D No where near enough penetration from the Dline. Furthermore, they didn't tie up the offensive linemen enough to keep the LB's clean. Zero sacks and only a few pressures.
LB's Grade F I don't have enough bad adjectives in my vocabulary to describe how poorly the LBs played. If you're going to slow down the option, your LB's have to run and have to get off of blocks. Ours did neither. We made their running backs look like the second coming of Sam Cunningham and Barry Sanders.
DB's Grade F Whitehead made some good tackles but he also blew some big coverages. Pitts and Maddox were not good. For gods sake, Pitts was 12 yards off his guy with 3rd and 15. Thank god he graduates. Mitchell whiffed on a bunch of tackles.
Specials Teams: Grade C The one and only "bright" spot in a horrific performance. Henderson's TD to open the game should have set the tone. It didn't. While our returns were good, once again Blewitt blew it. Honestly, if this new kicker coming in is any good, send Blewitt to the sidelines forever. That missed chip shot field goal really took any momentum we had away. I simply can't watch us miss chip shot after chip shot, particularly when the offense is struggling.
Summary: That was one miserable performance. I seriously hope that next year Narduzzi heads into camp with an attitude that every single position is an open competition. The team made progress this year, but games like this one and Miami demonstrate that we still have a long way to go before we're really ready to challenge top teams.
Cruzer
Offense: Grade: F If this was rehearsal for Salem as OC he should voluntarily withdraw his name from consideration. Horrible performance against a Navy defense that is really not very good. We scored 14 points....14! by our offense. That's total crap.
QB Grade F- If there were a lower grade then F Peterman earned it. He looked like a true freshman making his first start. 3 picks??? If I'm Boyd I leave for the NFL just so I don't have to watch this guy throw lollipop passes any longer.
RB Grade D The only reason that the RB's didn't get an F was because at Ollison at least put the ball in the end zone twice. Besides that, they were a complete non-factor in a game they should have dominated.
Oline: Grade C- The Oline pass protected OK. Run blocking was poor.
WR's & TE's Grade D+ The receiving corp did very little. Holtz dropped a key third down conversion. Boyd was really a non-factor as a receiver. Ford was OK. Everyone else was invisible.
Defense: Grade F Absolutely a hideous performance. No where near enough penetration to stop the option. Horrible tackling, blown coverages. 44 points by Navy says it all. The bad news is that most of these guys are coming back next year.
Dline: Grade D No where near enough penetration from the Dline. Furthermore, they didn't tie up the offensive linemen enough to keep the LB's clean. Zero sacks and only a few pressures.
LB's Grade F I don't have enough bad adjectives in my vocabulary to describe how poorly the LBs played. If you're going to slow down the option, your LB's have to run and have to get off of blocks. Ours did neither. We made their running backs look like the second coming of Sam Cunningham and Barry Sanders.
DB's Grade F Whitehead made some good tackles but he also blew some big coverages. Pitts and Maddox were not good. For gods sake, Pitts was 12 yards off his guy with 3rd and 15. Thank god he graduates. Mitchell whiffed on a bunch of tackles.
Specials Teams: Grade C The one and only "bright" spot in a horrific performance. Henderson's TD to open the game should have set the tone. It didn't. While our returns were good, once again Blewitt blew it. Honestly, if this new kicker coming in is any good, send Blewitt to the sidelines forever. That missed chip shot field goal really took any momentum we had away. I simply can't watch us miss chip shot after chip shot, particularly when the offense is struggling.
Summary: That was one miserable performance. I seriously hope that next year Narduzzi heads into camp with an attitude that every single position is an open competition. The team made progress this year, but games like this one and Miami demonstrate that we still have a long way to go before we're really ready to challenge top teams.
Cruzer
