Went back through the game this morning. My thoughts:
1. I didn't hate what I saw on offense. Yes, there were some procedure penalties. Those will get cleaned up. Yes, there were some missed blocks. Those will get cleaned up. It wasn't a lack of effort. Those sorts of issues can make life difficult on an offense, put you behind the chains and throw off the schedule.
2. On Huff's interception, it looked like Pline turned the wrong way. No, you don't like to throw interceptions, but it was pretty clear that was a miscommunication with a new player to the system. That'll get cleaned up.
3. Our defensive front seven basically wholesale rotated every drive. Both units were fast, physical, and aggressive. Tackling was largely very good. Both Gilby and Dimaggio were hammering runners in the hole.
4. Xavier Stephens has added weight at NG, but was still mobile enough to pick off a screen pass. I think he and Cook are going to be a solid rotation in the middle of the defense.
5. Hendrix commented post game that we probably allowed TTU to "play in a phone booth." Lot of inside zone reads that allowed TTU to overload the box. On some plays inside the 10, the Golden Eagles had 9 guys crashing the line. Hard to block 9 with 7 regardless of the opponent. I don't think we'll see that balance of play calling in conference play.
6. Colton Hinton looks incredibly elusive as a wide receiver. Hendrix noted he is explosive and also was diving for loose balls and got his helmet ripped off. I think we're going to like him and appears to be a guy that is going to allow easy throws with big play potential. I think we'll see him house a kickoff at least once this year.
7. TTU really wasn't able to run the ball, which was supposed to be their strength. The game plan appeared to essentially play keep away, and most of their pass attempts were little dink, dunks, flares, bubbles, screens, etc. Hard to do that playing from behind and incredibly hard to beat a good defense with that approach.
8. Lot of stuff I liked on defense, but our ability to funnel the ball carrier back to tacklers was particularly good. Our linemen frequently sucked up double teams, our DBs took on blocks, and everything was funneled back to our linebackers.
9. Easily won special teams. Had a big punt return. Leavy averaged over 51 yards per punt. You can win a lot of games pinning teams deep on special teams supporting a good defense.
10. There were some misfires on passes, especially inside of 10 yards. Last season, these throws typically were directed at Ryan Miller. Now, Furman is going to have to get a new crop of guys on the same page with timing. Throws were open, just a little out of synch with timing.
11. 384 yards is on par with most of our games last year. Considering we scored two touchdowns without the offense on the field and had several short fields, that's a pretty decent day moving the football.
12. TTU's #22 is Marcus Knight, who held rushing records at Montana before transferring. He basically ran into a black-shirted wall every time he touched it.
13. I think teams are pretty much going to stop throwing it at Blackshear. It looks like TTU attempted to throw his direction twice in the first half - the first time was a pick six, the second time should have been intercepted, but just batted down.
14. TTU made a nice play on their end of half touchdown. We can't give away a throw like that right before the half. It was covered, but gotta make that play.
15. The two minute drill before the half (again, minus the penalties) wasn't terrible. Williams had the leg from 57, just pulled it a bit.
16. Norman and Toomey appear to be alright. Norman walked off by himself and Hendrix said Toomey could have returned. I'm surprised we didn't have more injuries - TTU's safeties were attacking the run by basically launching themselves full speed at everyone's legs.
17. We had two drives in the second half starting deep in TTU territory that netted a turnover and a field goal. We've gotta convert those to touchdowns.
All in, I didn't hate what I saw. I thought our offensive game plan was very close to the vest - I saw a lot of inside zone runs against a team hell-bent on stopping the run. We had timing issues, some missed blocks, and procedure penalties, all of which you expect in Week 1. I'm not sure how much of the perceived "offensive line concerns" was just TTU having more players committed to stopping the run than we had to block them.
Defensively, I was very impressed. TTU's offense basically became lateral throws. Other than the one touchdown throw, from about 30 yards out, they never really threatened the end zone. The defense was fast, aggressive, and athletic. Anytime the opposing offense throws more touchdowns to your team than their team, it's a good night.
Special teams looked strong. Punting looked good. Coverage was good. Kicks were good. Returns were good.
