What I saw in loss

[Saboteur]

1. Many here griped about our Dbacks. I think they are much improved. It's our backers who sell out to the run that imperil our D. Yesterday was Exhibit B. Torched 3 times with a TE and Barkley for TD's.

2. Max did exactly what he could not do. He threw key picks. He's not mobile so he has two options...throw it away or risk a pick.

3. Our RBs ran hard...harder than I ever expected.

4. Our o line was roller coaster like. Pass protection bad.

5. Can we make a catch? Clark was soft, WEAH average when we needed him to be superior.

6. We did win the kicking game, but Henderson was both ineffective and lacked confidence. Best first move is upfield. The fair catch at the 4 was a stupid mistake.

7. DiNucci is mobile, but only that skill separates him from Max. He is too excitable...this isn't PR v CCHS.

8. Matthews played a football game.

9. Zeiss played well.

10. Barkley is legit, but he isn't the game changer he is made up to be....but he is damn good. Give him space and he rolls, but he can't create his own space.

11. PSU might win BTEN East. Ohio State offense is stuck in stone ages. They simply can't force anyone to defend the field.

12. McSorley did not impress me. Maybe he was just average yesterday. But he is still better than we have...

13. The difference in the game yesterday was the play of the backers and the QB. PSUs backers were superb in coverage. Ours were quite bad.

14. The game plan to beat Pitt is to iso our backers. One thing for certain, we have teaching moments in abundance over the first two games.

15. I start Ben. He gives the offense more options.

16. Good to see our kicker hit two and kick the ball deep.

17. We tackled well.

18. I watched OSU get toyed with by Oklahoma. The half score was a fluke.

19. We will get better. I hope that translates into wins.

20. I get tired of the same guys whining about the same things...I would hate to wake up everyday waiting for something bad to happen just to say I was right. Bad things happen every day. Losers wake up expecting to lose. That's why they are losers. I like our team and love our staff...they aren't losers.

 

[Delpanther]

WE better figure out what we want in the way of an offense...at the moment it's such a complete mishmash we will struggle to score points every week. No passing and a plodding running attack.

 

[Sarge25]

Only complaint about the DB's was that Garner was scared to come up and stick Gesicki on the 2nd td. He could have had him out at the 3, but stayed back and looked stupid. Sad, because I really like him as a player. Whitehead in for Briggs makes a huge difference come ACC play.

The LB's stink and stink bad. I have a feeling i'm gonna be bitching about Pugh to DE for the next 4 years. I'd rather see Pugh in the middle, Brightwell on one side and whomever on the other. What a stupid decision.

Browne stinks. No pocket awareness, doesn't step up with outside rush and can't look off primary wr. He's not crafty enough with the ball like Peterman was to be deceptive with all the fakes. The kid has a fantastic arm and if given the perfect pocket, will put the ball there. I'm impressed with that, so he'll be my 1st round pick in flag football.

I always said Ollison was an NFL back...yesterday was a good start. Hall stinks and should lose his time to Davis. I like how Moss ran.

OL played well. Officer needs to drop weight if they expect to pull with him. JJ is slow and needs to keep working back into shape.

DiNucci gives Pitt a better chance to win. All that Browne can do better is throw the long ball....well I have news for ya, this team isn't going to be a downfield passing team this year, so play the more athletic/more deceptive qb.

 

[Parkview57]

For now it seems as though Max's stronger arm is being counted on to stretch the field (both) vertically and horizontally so that their are less defenders stacked at the LS (or "In the Box"), so the running game can be effective. Picks and drops don't work against good teams so time will tell.

 

[rpost3]

What I saw:

RB:
2 RB sets is working great. All 3 running backs are good getting the ball off the wing in-motion, and Moss and Ollison excel at the misdirections up the middle that plays off the wing coming around in-motion. PSU knew Pitt's passing game was not a threat and they still couldn't stop the running game.

WR/TE:
Not much there. No reliable mid-range receivers. Lots of drops. That doesn't bode well for a traditional pocket passer who needs people who can catch passes in traffic and zings to the sideline.

OL:
Great run blocking. PSU's defense is very good and the OL kicked their butts.
Not great pass blocking.

QB:
The classic drop back passer throws a pretty spiral when he has time, but he doesn't get good pass protection, he's not mobile enough to improvise and escape the pocket, and his receivers aren't reliable enough to catch his downfield throws.

The backup probably doesn't throw down the field as well, but does that really matter if the targets are going to drop it anyway? At least he can combat weak pass protection by escaping the pocket and make plays with his feet. Plus he's a nifty ball handler in this misdirection running game for the added element of the run-pass option, roll outs, bootlegs, read-options, etc. And I think those plays that move the pocket are the types of plays that are likely to spring Quadrey Henderson into open spaces into the flat and crossing routes too.

The Browne offense will get at least 2 other games to see if it can succeed. They didn't bring him 3,000 mi for nuthin.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Defense much improved and was sound... despite facing a talented group.

Ollison is shifty for a big back, I'm a fan.

Nice to see the kicker convert.

Watson is not creative like Canada, but we're also much less talented as last year.

 

[rmf05]

What I saw...
The 4 players that decided the outcome...their TE and TB made plays our QB and SE missed plays.

All four won't be back next year.

 

[raleighpanther]

Great post guys. Lots of objective analysis; devoid of the usual downcast moaning that typically goes on after a loss.