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Dustin00whoop
09-24-2006, 12:46 PM
Overall, a great game! We came out extremely flat on offense, but I think that had a lot to do with the 2 hour delay. It just kind of looked like everyone was out of sync. The defense, however, was stellar. Hell, on their 2nd drive we held them to 6 & out because we held 'em 3 & out the first time, gave 'em a first on a running into the kicker penalty, & then held 'em to 3 & out again.

The only TD that they scored when the game mattered was off a TO & you can't fault the D for that. I don't know the exact stats, but they had 100 yards passing on 2 plays (which just happened to be the same play call). Their TE was just too fast to have a LB matched up on him (although Dodge did a pretty good job of hanging with him on the 2nd play) & he caught two balls on a TE seam route that went for 50 yards a piece. That being said, they tried to run it a 3rd time & we had 3 guys there & damn near got a pick.

That being said, I have to compliment the coaches on the biggest noticeable change from last year to this year. MAKING ADJUSTMENTS!!! Especially in these last two games. They are making adjustments on the fly & during the half--something that I couldn't see them do at all last year. LaTech came out with some blitz packages that it looked like we weren't expecting. They made our O-line look extremely pourous in the 1st quarter. But by the time the 2nd quarter rolled around, McGee had all day to throw & he picked 'em apart. It also looked like we came out trying to establish the run to set up the pass, and LaTech was expecting that. They were committed to stopping the run. Last year, I think Fran would've kept beating his head against the wall until it worked. Last night, we said, "Screw it!" We decided to set up the run by establishing the pass & it paid off huge.

The pass defense was stellar. I can only remember one time when a receiver was running wide open. We generally had very good coverage, & if they did catch the ball, we were right there to make the tackle. I was extrememly impressed with 'Keith Brown & if Peterson is healthy I would like to see the two of them start against tech. I think Gorrer is the weak link out there. We had a legit shot at 3 or 4 picks & we're going to have to come up with a couple of those against better opponents. I was also impressed with the front 7 cutting off those cut back lanes. Last week, Army killed us on that. This week, there were numerous times when the D-line got good penetration at the point of attack, the RB found nothing, and cut it back--only to find Michael Bennett, Chris Harrington, or Justin Warren waiting on him. Nice job of correcting mistakes.

McGee spread the ball around again. 11 different guys caught a pass, equaling a team best. Lots of guys out there with big play capabilities. I love to see all of them get in on the action. 'Tellus made that one dude look like Mike Tyson when Buster Douglas knocked him out....dazed & confused. I still don't think that dude knows where he is. Magic had a good block too before he got hurt. The WR blocking this year has been the best that I can ever remember. I don't see offense being a problem for this team at all this season. We'll score points.

ST was improved. Another stupid ass penalty on running into the kicker, but other than that, there wasn't a lot to complain about. Brantly had another stellar night. Symanski & the kick coverage team were awesome. I lost count of how many times we stopped them inside the 20 on a kickoff return. We made a FG..that was good. And the kickoff return team had a good average in their 3 tries.

Too many penalties...however, a lot of them were holding penalties once the game was well in hand. I bet we had 80 yards of rushing called back because of holding calls--most of them on guys that wouldn't normally be in the starting 5.

Overall, a much, much better game than last week. If we play tech like we played for the 2-4th quarters today, we'll win going away.

Gig'em & BTHOtt

macduff93
09-24-2006, 12:53 PM
Yes. The reason I feel so much better is because of the noticeable improvements of the coaching and their apparent attitude. If it holds up and continues to improve and help the players improve their skills, focus and overall game, this could be the outstanding season we've been waiting for. Whoop!

Dustin00whoop
09-24-2006, 05:10 PM
Thoughts...for those of you who are not too ADD. :D

aggieamy07
09-24-2006, 05:15 PM
Thoughts...for those of you who are not too ADD. :D

HAHA! You read my mind...I got through 2 paragraphs, saw how long it was, and quit reading. I'll go back and read it when I'm on my meds tomorrow.

texags08
09-24-2006, 05:19 PM
One thought to add that I liked was Goodson's running. Fran mentioned that he was hitting the hole too fast, and i noticed that he made some changes this week. Everytime that i saw Goodson get the ball he was chopping his feet before he got the ball and waiting for the play to develop. The first time i noticed this he made a couple of good cuts off of his blocks and picked up like 8 yards. I really think that when he gets his exp he will be a huge asset. I really would like to see him break a big run for a TD to get his confidence up there. I also saw him go down a few times and it looked like he was making a big effort to have both hands on the ball while being hit and going down. I feel a lot more comfortable when he has the ball now. If Lewis is hurt a lot this year I think fran needs to give goodson some more carries. It looked like he would go in for a play and make a good run, but then would be pulled out. Fran should leave him in there and give him a few consecutive runs to build his momentum on.

texags08
09-24-2006, 05:21 PM
Oh, and what the hell was our man thinking when he plowed the punt returner while the ball wasnt even half way there. That being said the returner should have called a fair catch on that one.

Dustin00whoop
09-24-2006, 05:27 PM
Oh, and what the hell was our man thinking when he plowed the punt returner while the ball wasnt even half way there. That being said the returner should have called a fair catch on that one.


That was a good penalty. Made that dude look twice the next time he caught one. IF you noticed, the very next punt...he fumbled it & we tackled him inside the 10.

texags08
09-24-2006, 05:34 PM
True, I cant deny that, I know how hard it is to judge when the ball will arrive, and especially when the returner doesnt call for a fair catch you just want to plow him.

phatbc
09-24-2006, 06:48 PM
I was quite impressed with our defense. they looked like they were pumped up and even, dare i say, made a few plays on the ball to break up some passes. I thought arkeith played very well, too.

Vlyrock
09-24-2006, 07:23 PM
I think there were too many penalties and we kept their drives going longer than they should've. I don't think you can fault Warren for running into the kicker. He jumped to block it and came down on top of two guys and kind of got body surfed into the kicker -- he wouldn't have hit him if it weren't for that (that's why it was 5 and not 15).

The offense was good (except the first quarter), and I liked that we decided to pass to set up the run. We were stuffed early and Dustin nailed it when he said La tech was committed to stopping the run. You know the play calling has become predictable when the D-Line can be on top of J-Lane in the backfield and drop him for a loss... (on the goalline).

I liked that we finally gave the ball to Goodson up the middle. If the kid fumbles on pitches, don't pitch him the ball -- hand it off. :D He has great vision going up the middle and he showed it by getting several positive runs (also showed good hands in catching out of the backfield).

The D was the best I've seen in a long time. They were always pressuring the QB and a big reason why 4 of those balls at least hit our defenders hands (we should've caught them, but oh well). The La Tech offense never got in a rhythm when it counted and the D bailed the offense out of the game early...if the D hadn't shown up in the 1st quarter, it could've been a worse start and not sure how the team would respond.

I think we've seen the best and worst of our team this non-conference schedule, but I think most importantly, we've seen them respond to adversity and being in a tough spot. They overcame it every time and I think that builds confidence and makes this team dangerous now that Big XII play is starting.

jagowar
09-24-2006, 07:44 PM
I also liked goodson up the middle.... he cant try to run around everybody inside (like he tries to on the outside)

And I want to see one play added to the playbook for tech (and any team that sets up to try and stop our run). And that is a TRUE screen play (goodson would be great for this as well) and not the slip-screen we have run. That would do wonders to get defenses hesitant against stacking up the box.

Pumchavas28
09-24-2006, 10:48 PM
One thing I find interesting that I am glad to hear/read... is the coach's are doing something right... I hope this is a trend that continues.... But just something I noticed.

Loftin
09-26-2006, 03:23 PM
My (late) thoughts:

1. The defense has gotten much better. We only gave up 14 points, despite LaTech doing a decent job of moving the football(300+ yards). The first TD was a result of bad field position. They did a great job of pinning us at the 1 on that punt, and we never got ourselves breathing room. With the field position advantage they had, it was only a matter of time until they scored. We held them to 2-14 on 3rd down conversions. Last year, that number would have been 10-14. Our secondary has improved a ton as far as breaking up passes, but I'd like to see them pick off a couple of those.

2. I'd like to see us in shotgun a lot less often. It seems to me to be our least effective strategy. The hand-offs can be seen by every player on the field, and this makes Train less effective. He is our best player, so we need to make a gameplan that maximizes his impact on the game. Also, the RBs are not blocking as well as I'd like. They'd be more effective in drawing defenders if they were selling a fake with the QB under center.

3. One thing we've done pretty well is our emphasis on the running game. We really stick to the run pretty stubbornly and make the opposing defense respect it. That opens up the opportunity for us to break out with a big pass play once or twice a drive. I think that moving the ball this way works best for the personnel we have.

4. I'd like to see Martellus get the ball a little more. Short dumpoffs to the TE are an easy way to move the ball, and our TE is as good as any. The best offenses in the nation utilize their TE very effectively.

5. I know that Fran has been saving a lot of the playbook for Big XII play. This is the week to unleash some of what we have up our sleaves. Defensively, I want to see us BLITZING.

6. I don't usually agree with Fran, but showing that pass play with Jorvorskie throwing the ball downfield was genius. Tech safeties will now be coached to stay on the WR when J-Train goes outside, and this should give him more room to run. If nothing else, that play was a great decoy for Texas Tech to gameplan against.

7. Kickoff coverage needs to get better. I know that our opponents are averaging a return to the 22 or so yard-line, but a lot of those returns seem to drag out. Starting this week, our competition is bigger, faster and stronger.

8. Mike Goodson looked MUCH, MUCH better. He committed to holes up the middle, hit defenders in the mouth, fell forward and held on to the football. The transformation was drastic. I have to give credit to him and RBs Coach Kenith Pope for fixing that problem.

Gig 'em Aggies
BTHO TT

GuatemalanAg
09-26-2006, 03:48 PM
We need to stop roughing the kicker!!!
and our D needs to hold on to the "almost" ints!!!
BTHO Texas Tech!!!