I suspected this would be a close game and I was right. My friend, a former starter on the Andy Dalton teams, said before that Arkansas would come out and run the ball. Brett Bielma coached teams have always ran the ball dating back to his time in Wisconsin. Brett Bielma thinks about running the ball and he cares about the OL firing off the ball and the QB handing it to the RB. At the end of the season, I suspect both teams will look back at this game as helping them as the season went along.
Slow Start
We let Arkansas build up too big of lead. By the time Hill and the offense woke up, it was too late. We have to be prepared to think about coming out ready by the opening kickoff and care enough to regroup if things don't go our way. I don't know what Patterson said at halftime, but we saw a different team. Once the WR's took the gloves off, we didn't see nearly as mand dropped passes. I would like to thank Josh Doctson for showing the WR's exactly how to be one year from now when they are in the position he was in.
Defense Is As Advertised
Just over 300 yards of offense (304 to be precise) on 88 plays (3.45 yards per play) with the balance of that in the 2nd half against the 2's and the 3's. 10 yards of total offense after 1 quarter. What to look for in the next 2 games will be to see the defense come to the field with the same kind of intensity to close the door before it ever gets started.
Offense A Mixed Bag
As has been discussed, I thought Rutgers really went out of their way to slow down the running game by stacking the box. It opened up a lot of room for Browning in the passing game. One of the things that we talked about throughout the offseason and in looking back at the 2015 season was the lack of big plays in the passing game coupled with his inability to hit the deep ball. That was Rutgers defensive game plan and with John Ross returning, Browning made them play for it. 18 of 27 for 287, 3 TDs, and 1 INT I'd take every game. The INT was poor and was more of just a throw and pray and he missed his spot by about 5-10 yards.
The play calling is something that I think a lot of people will always focus on with Smith at the controls. I've often bitched about the need to dictate matchups to the defense through formation, route combinations, etc. The first TD pass to McClatcher was a great manipulation. There were a few instances in the running game where they were able to get some good plays by how they are shifting pre-snap that personally I don't think they want to completely put as much on tape as possible leading into the first 3 conference games. There was some that I thought was way too cute (i.e. the Budda fly sweep) and some execution issues (going too fast on the 4th and 1 inside the red zone and being a little late calling in the FG leading to a rushed attempt), but all in all, not terrible. The execution in the red zone and on 3rd downs needs to be worked on.
Special teams will lead to continued good field position throughout the year particularly as teams start to kick away from Ross and Pettis.
Bottom line is I have an MBA from TCU. I know many want to punch a hole through the keyboard and @RoadFrog55 won't understand this post because I am much more reasonably and measured than he is, but I have an MBA that I earned in Forth Worth. I suspect TCU doesn't lose another game all season and winds up playing Alabama or FSU in the first round of the playoffs. Sometimes, it's better to lose early. I guarantee Gary Patterson has the player's attention now.
flagged for careless use of "we"
I'll post my thoughts on the PLU - Linfield game next week . Stay tuned.
Linfield will assrape PLU.
Linfield is still mad at PLU for the 56-23 assbeating they got in McMinnville back in 1999.
Comments
Since Dead Dog On The Road isn't a technically gifted poster, it can be concluded that this took not only time to compile but also plan out ...
Who is in who's head???
BURRRRRRN!!!!
Linfield is still mad at PLU for the 56-23 assbeating they got in McMinnville back in 1999.
It's time