- The defense. I could have a whole section on their play, but Washington was a beast, Rambo continues to impress, the interior line was spectacular. Oh, Jarvis
JenkinsJones was everywhere. I am a little surprised he wasn't there to stop Nickoe Whitley from peeing on the hedges. - John Jenkins: Body slam artist.
- Crowell's running in the first half.
- Run blocking.
- Not getting rattled on defense. Mississippi State had over a quarter of their offensive output during the FG drive in the first quarter, with well over 90% of those yards on that little screen thing they ran. We stayed the course, brought the pressure and didn't allow them to have anything close to that kind of drive again.
- Play calling in the first half. We had them off balance from the start. Crowell's running was a factor in that, but the two TD passes were perfect calls at the perfect time. With the one to Orson, three guys were open and the first read was the easiest, since Charles had position on his defender the whole time. As for the second half, as long as we see the defense play like this and we have a 2 or more score lead, get used to it.
- Figgins and Thomas' blocking. Carlton blocks like a much bigger player.
- Five more sacks.
- Gates false start on 3rd and 6 during the long drive in the fourth. You knew Bobo wasn't going to let Murray throw another ball. Samuel had a 7 yard run. Walsh trotted out and missed the FG. Instead of continuing a drive that had the potential to make this a game we'd all go Yes! about, the 5+ minutes was just time off the clock.
- Conditioning. The offensive line looked gassed in the second half. The starting tailback looked completely uninterested in fighting for extra yards in the second half. The game isn't won getting to 100 yards of rushing, despite what some pundits go to bed wishing for. The game is won on getting stronger as the game goes on. We didn't do that on the offensive side of the ball.
- [insert obligatory offensive line pass blocking snark here]
- The hurry up and wait no huddle.
- Walsh's shanks. He didn't miss a single second half warm up (that I saw). His attempt in the second half was pure wiffage. We all know he is a spectacular kicker. As Blutarsky put it: "there’s a young lady out there who needs to step up and do the right thing by her man."
- Murray's throws to the players in white, particularly the one returned for a TD. The first took a decent play to come up with it. The second was a nice mental play on an ball that needed more arc. But that third one. Wow. About four things went wrong, the worst of which is under throwing a sideline route to a 6-3 manbeast that might be able to flatfooted jump over a truck.
Boys, we are back in this thing. No one is ready to proclaim all is awesome, but Grantham's defense is playing very well and in the SEC that will get you places. Bobo's offense is playing competently, especially when strong plays are called. The play calling has significantly improved, for that matter. The players looked coached up.
What did I miss?
TD
11 comments:
I'm guessing you meant Jarvis Jones. Although John Jenkins' Chris Relf body slam was pretty fun to watch.
Yes. I got excited about both and combined names.
Thanks.
Figgins Blocking...seroiusly? love your blog and appreciate the forum. YOu might go back and watch our fullbacks for the last 2 games and only give them a plus for hitting somebody. Watch for yourself...something is really wrong with how they are coached, and I am a fan of current staff, OL coach excluded since I am learning more about him.
Washington was a beast, but didn't listen to the pre-game drinking and driving announcement.***
Tyler,
Any comments on Boykins toughness? He took some hits and kept coming back. We need him healthy for UT and knowing the concussion issue these days I was worried about the knee to the head by our own player. 3 Kicks through the endzone by Walsh was impressive.You can't return what you can't catch on the field. Slim crowd for a big game;that was disappointing though some showed up late. We had a fair number of empty seats around us.
Have you looked at any Tenn. sites. They seem to think they will beat us easily. Hope you guys find some of that and get it forwarded to the team as bulletin board material.
Aladawg
Aladawg,
Thanks for mentioning Boykin's toughness. He lost teeth. TEETH. During the game. I should have recognized that.
Anon 11:15,
In the Ole Miss game, Crowell's run from the end zone was a result of awesome blocking, especially Figgins on the lead. There were several times all three backs got yards due to Figgins' leads. He also does well (granted, he missed at least one this week that got Murray planted) in pass blocking. I agree that there is areas for improvement, but FB play isn't one of them, IMHO.
Note on the 2nd INT, you could hear MSU's staff calling the play in from the sideline and setting the LB's up to drop back into coverage as we called the play out at the line.
They knew what was coming and in the rare instance Murray's height plays against him, he never saw the LB. Lawrence is a solid player (#10)...he baited Murray into the throw.
Anyway, we need to figure out what the tell was on that play and change it.
The problem with Murrays INT's is he's telegraphing his passes to one side, and especially to Orson too often. Watch on pass plays, the ball snaps and he'll totally ignore one side. Defenses know Orson is his favorite target now and he's forcing throws to him.
We played Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Enough said.
has anyone read Muschamp's quotes after the Bama game... Florida has to get better because they will see Alabama again. Then a player from Florida said they will play Alabama again the SECG. How about that for bulletin board material... I think right now they need to worry about LSU while starting a true freshmen QB who could do nothing against Alabama's defense. I don't know about you guys, but the UT game is HUGE!
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