Sunday, September 17, 2006

Top 5

I'm going to alternate between Positive and Negative this week, because otherwise by the time I reach Negative #3 I'll have slit my wrists and you'll never see this post.

Negative #5 - Heart On Offense?
What's one of the least worst things that happened this week? I have to say Heart on offense. Where is it? I know it's not at QB. Where's the passion? Where's the intensity? I don't need any players talking like CJ (Love ya, baby!), I don't need them mouthing off because they've done nothing to show even the potential for backing it up. But how about acting like you are something when you are on the field? How about even APPEARING that you believe in yourself? I haven't seen that once this year.

Positive #5 - Coaching
I'm probably going to get torn apart for this, but I really think the coaches did a great job getting a game plan together. We held WSU to 17 points, in a very hostile stadium, which if you recall is only 3 points more than Auburn allowed AT HOME. The scheme sounded solid, but the players weren't executing. Dropped passes killed plays that would have been big. Penalties before the snap put us in very difficult positions to move down the field. If the players execute a little better, (and yes I said this after the TCU game, too) we win this game going away.

Negative #4 - Drops
Where are our receivers? I was one of the many that thought that we would have one of the best receiving corps in the conference. Oops. I couldn't have been more wrong. These guys will be lucky to average 10 yards per catch as a corps, and I would be shocked if we had anyone gain more than 800 yards this season (that's only an average of 67 yards per game).

Positive #4 - Kickoff Returns
Yeah, I might be reaching for some of these. But really, Teasley and Baker did do a good job on the kickoff returns. 4 returns for a total of 116 yards is an average of 29 yards per return. We are pickup up at least 10 yards more than a touchback would give us, assuming that every kick lands at the goalline. That's very important for how very, very poor our offense has performed.

Negative #3 - Turnovers
Two interceptions, two fumbles. Jerry Hill noted that half of Bells interceptions have been by defensive linemen. This is the problem with having a 5'11" QB. The turnovers came at the WSU 16 (RED ZONE!!! ARRGH!!), the BU 34, the WSU 48 and the WSU 49.

Positive #3 - Daniel Sepulveda
Great day on Saturday. 8 punts, 47.8 yards per punt. Daniel got the defense out of some of the messes the offense seemed to try to put them in.

Negative #2 - Offensive Line
You better be glad for Shawn Bell, or you would have run away with the #1 position. Illegal procedures, holding, false starts... Do ya'll not care that you are costing this team wins? Baylor should be 3-0, knocking on the door of the Top 25, but instead we are 1-2 and about to lose our dream of a bowl game because we can't stand still before the ball is snapped. We can't protect the QB for an entire game. We can open some holes for the running attack. This wasn't a great or even good defense we were facing. Pitiful effort.

Positive #2 - Linebackers
I was really worried about the WSU running game. But Nick Moore, Antonio Jones, and Joe Pawelek really showed up yesterday. Combining for 19 tackles, including 11 solo stops, 1 FF and 1 FR. And while tackle stats are nice, the most important stat is this: 1.5 yards per rush. Woolridge only gained 54 yards rushing, which is about 60% of what he did to Auburn in ONE HALF of football.

Negative #1 - Shawn Bell
Sorry, Shawn. The QB is what makes this offense go. Yes, there were drops, but our inability to go down field, 12-play 30-yard drives, 5.33 yards per attempt... I mean, IDAHO passed for 220 yards. 256 is nothing. No less than 300 yards should have been acceptable, unless it came with a win.

Positive #1 - CJ Wilson
He is still tied for 1st in interceptions with 4. There are only two players with 4 interceptions at this point. There are 6 players with 3 interceptions at this point. He grabbed an interception against WSU, did a great job of defense, grabbed 6 tackles, and while I'm not sure how much he was lined up against Jason Hill, I do know that he wasn't against him on the TD pass, but Hill only had 72 yards on 6 catches, which is well below his regular average.



Well, I don't want to slit my wrists, but I do want to throw up. I gotta take a break.

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