It's Halftime

Well, same old, same old...

Offense -
Started off great, with a long drive for a touchdown. But then it seems every drive after that scales it back a bit. We get a field goal (great kick, Ryan!), but then we just keep stalling.

Bell had a good half stat-wise and looks ready to get over the 300 yard mark, along with a great completion rate with 14-18 passing (77.7%). He has the lone touchdown, but despite the 11 yards per completion, it seems that Bell has scaled back his risk-taking in the second half. He did a great job of going down the field in the first quarter, getting multiple gains of more than 15 yards, which is really what opens up this offense. But I didn't hear as much of that in the second quarter.

Hays did a good job of calling running plays, too. It has had varying degrees of success play-to-play, but I think it's a big reason the passing attack is looking a little more explosive. Whitaker has 6 carries for 26 yards (4.33 yards per carry), and Mosley has 4 carries for 9 yards (2.25 ypc).

I hope we see the offense come out in the third quarter and really start going down the field some more and open things up. We gotta score 21 more points in the second quarter to make me look like a genius.

Defense -
What's going on, guys!? Giving up long drives, allowing Army inside our 30 yard line? This is not the defense that held TCU to 2.6 yards per carry or Washington State to less than 60 yards rushing. And Pevoto is completing 66% of his passes, after completing less than 50% of his passes against A&M.

I know that we're missing some defensive linemen, but against this undersized line, we should be getting much more pressure and doing a much better job of shutting down their offense. We've only allowed 136 yards in the first half and 3 points, but we are giving them way too much time on the field. We need to force some 3 and outs to increase the number of chances the offense has and to get the defense some more rest.

CJ, I'm calling on you to intercept a pass. You better get at least one against this guy.

Special Teams -
Ya'll are showing a different kind of "special" than I was hoping to see. Giving up lots of yards, shanking a punt, etc. We have way better athletes than these guys, and we should be able to dominate them on special teams, but it doesn't sound like we are playing with the same level of desire.


Keys to the Second Half:

1. DON'T GIVE UP THE EARLY 3RD QUARTER SCORE!
2. Show some consistency on offense, getting the ball down the field and gaining yards on the ground.
3. Force at least one turnover.
4. Improve the 3rd down conversion rate. (2/6 in the first half, but we also allowed a 4th down conversion)