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Tequilla's Thoughts - Boise State Aftermath
Tequilla
Member Posts: 19,954
The Good
Lots can be said about Browning and the playcalling (more on that later), but lots of credit to him on his poise to drive us in position to tie/win the game on the last drive. That's some big time moxy for a kid playing in his first game as a true freshman. Loved his commentary after the game knowing that he's got to play better going forward.
Going into the game, I thought that our special teams had a chance to make a difference in the game. Not only did it make a difference, it was almost enough to win the game. Punt return TD. Solid coverage all night. Durkee had a reasonable night in tough kicking conditions. Blocked extra point. Van Winkle was solid in his kicks all night and it looked a tad unlikely that the final kick kept trying to turn back into the goal posts and continued to straighten out. Lots to be excited about here going forward.
When you consider that the defense had your typical first game problems with tackling, etc., the defense played very well, particularly in the second half. Continuing a trend from last year, the adjustments that we're seeing at halftime tend to be very, very good. Before the game I said that the target should be to hold Boise to between 3 and 4 yards per carry ... they averaged right in the middle of that. Solid effort from the defense.
When you are down 16-0 at half, and on top of that you have ZERO going for you during the half on offense, it's easy to start pointing fingers and chalk it up to another day. Very proud of the effort in the second half to continue playing hard, staying with the process, and working back into the game.
The Bad
I understand the desire to protect Browning in his first start, but his best throws of the night were when he was in positions to push the ball down the field. Smith's play calling left a lot to be desired. He had a QB that could at least push the ball down the field but treated him like he was Miley Cyrus. One thing though that I think needs to be said to give credit to Smith though was that I thought his use of the screen game, particularly the middle screen, was good.
The OL and Dwayne Warshington sucked ... no way around this. While many have talked about Boise's front 7 being one of the better sets we'll see this year, there's no excuse for how fucking pathetic the run game was. 29 yards on 22 carries ... thanks Seven for your fucking brilliant OL recruiting over the years.
Youth is something you don't want to use as an excuse but there were a few instances in CRITICAL points last night where the youth really bit us. First, on the great scramble play by Browning that turned into probably what would have been our biggest offensive play of the night had Pettis not stepped out of bounds first, you just have to have more awareness of what is going on around you. Mistakes happen and I get that. But that was such an inopportune time to make that kind of mistake. Second, inside the red zone on the final drive, the throw to Mickens on a quick screen was just a disaster. Lenius blocked on inside leverage allowing Mickens to turn straight up the field yet Mickens went the other way on the play. Once that happens Lenius is in a terrible position to stick with his block without getting a holding penalty. Not sure which one of the two fucked up more on that one ... but that was a MONSTER fuck up in that situation ... and of course that was followed by the only real jail break that the OL gave up all night in a passing situation.
Takeaway
Boise wasn't that impressive. They basically looked like a slightly more experienced version of us playing at home. That was enough for the win. We've talked on this board about how the early season could be trying with some growing pains. No question in my mind that if we played this game again at the end of the season we'd win it. I'm much more encouraged after this weekend of our ability to make sure that we win our next 2 OOC games. Hopefully we can get some growth in the OL over the next 2-3 weeks heading into the Cal game. I do like what I saw defensively and think that this team could be just as good (if not slightly better all around) than last year's defense. I'm feeling a little better about our chances to beat Cal now due to our defense and special teams being able to make a difference in that game just like we were able to do to them last year. I do think that the offense will grow some and not only will Browning's confidence grow, but so will the coach's confidence in calling plays that give him more responsibility (and hopefully the OL can do their part as well). I still like our ability to be bowl eligible and push the 8 win barrier (bowl game included).
Lots can be said about Browning and the playcalling (more on that later), but lots of credit to him on his poise to drive us in position to tie/win the game on the last drive. That's some big time moxy for a kid playing in his first game as a true freshman. Loved his commentary after the game knowing that he's got to play better going forward.
Going into the game, I thought that our special teams had a chance to make a difference in the game. Not only did it make a difference, it was almost enough to win the game. Punt return TD. Solid coverage all night. Durkee had a reasonable night in tough kicking conditions. Blocked extra point. Van Winkle was solid in his kicks all night and it looked a tad unlikely that the final kick kept trying to turn back into the goal posts and continued to straighten out. Lots to be excited about here going forward.
When you consider that the defense had your typical first game problems with tackling, etc., the defense played very well, particularly in the second half. Continuing a trend from last year, the adjustments that we're seeing at halftime tend to be very, very good. Before the game I said that the target should be to hold Boise to between 3 and 4 yards per carry ... they averaged right in the middle of that. Solid effort from the defense.
When you are down 16-0 at half, and on top of that you have ZERO going for you during the half on offense, it's easy to start pointing fingers and chalk it up to another day. Very proud of the effort in the second half to continue playing hard, staying with the process, and working back into the game.
The Bad
I understand the desire to protect Browning in his first start, but his best throws of the night were when he was in positions to push the ball down the field. Smith's play calling left a lot to be desired. He had a QB that could at least push the ball down the field but treated him like he was Miley Cyrus. One thing though that I think needs to be said to give credit to Smith though was that I thought his use of the screen game, particularly the middle screen, was good.
The OL and Dwayne Warshington sucked ... no way around this. While many have talked about Boise's front 7 being one of the better sets we'll see this year, there's no excuse for how fucking pathetic the run game was. 29 yards on 22 carries ... thanks Seven for your fucking brilliant OL recruiting over the years.
Youth is something you don't want to use as an excuse but there were a few instances in CRITICAL points last night where the youth really bit us. First, on the great scramble play by Browning that turned into probably what would have been our biggest offensive play of the night had Pettis not stepped out of bounds first, you just have to have more awareness of what is going on around you. Mistakes happen and I get that. But that was such an inopportune time to make that kind of mistake. Second, inside the red zone on the final drive, the throw to Mickens on a quick screen was just a disaster. Lenius blocked on inside leverage allowing Mickens to turn straight up the field yet Mickens went the other way on the play. Once that happens Lenius is in a terrible position to stick with his block without getting a holding penalty. Not sure which one of the two fucked up more on that one ... but that was a MONSTER fuck up in that situation ... and of course that was followed by the only real jail break that the OL gave up all night in a passing situation.
Takeaway
Boise wasn't that impressive. They basically looked like a slightly more experienced version of us playing at home. That was enough for the win. We've talked on this board about how the early season could be trying with some growing pains. No question in my mind that if we played this game again at the end of the season we'd win it. I'm much more encouraged after this weekend of our ability to make sure that we win our next 2 OOC games. Hopefully we can get some growth in the OL over the next 2-3 weeks heading into the Cal game. I do like what I saw defensively and think that this team could be just as good (if not slightly better all around) than last year's defense. I'm feeling a little better about our chances to beat Cal now due to our defense and special teams being able to make a difference in that game just like we were able to do to them last year. I do think that the offense will grow some and not only will Browning's confidence grow, but so will the coach's confidence in calling plays that give him more responsibility (and hopefully the OL can do their part as well). I still like our ability to be bowl eligible and push the 8 win barrier (bowl game included).
Comments
Needs about 50 more error messages.