Nice stats. I think a lot of the worriments are unfounded. We are a VERY good football team, and that was not our typical football team on Saturday.
Miss State beat us by 15 points and we gave them 14 points within the first two minutes. 21 within the first five. We GAVE them those points. Yes, those mistakes count. No, I'm not saying Miss State didn't deserve to win.
But they didn't whip our ass up and down the field. It was a pretty good back-and-forth football game once we found our footing.
I don't think much needs to be changed. Marshall is still a better passer than last season. CAP is a pretty good running back. He's third in the SEC with 110 yards per game. We have one of the best receivers in the country. Our defense is twice as good as last season.
We aren't perfect, but how many teams are?
2010, we had a defense that gave up huge chunks of yards. 2011 Alabama could run up the middle on offense and that was about it. 2013 Auburn couldn't pass the ball very well and gave up huge chunks of yards on pass defense.
Am I the only one not worried at all? Outside of not being up for two away games, I don't think there's anything impossible for this team.
Went back and watched the first three quarters. Duke's fumble in first quarter was devastating, decision to let Uzumah throw in two down territory only to kick FG, WORSE, especially when Mullen had his punter attempt a failed pass minutes earlier.
Having no safety in the middle of the field all but stopped their passing game but it severely hampered our run defense. We had no answer for the QB draw or the bowling ball off tackle.
As for the rest of the schedule, I think Coach Johnson will know how to better control how we defend from the results of this game so we can win out.
We should handle the Gamecocks and Ole Miss sets much the same way as State only we are at home-Rebs are loaded with veterans, dual threat QB that will force passes into coverage yet they do not have a running back like Robinson. And rest assured, Whitey will dial up the heat on brother Bo.
I'm comfortable with our finesse offense scoring enough points from here out. We have too many weapons and I know we will make far fewer mistakes in the rest of the games. Also think we get to see more of Roc Thomas allowing CAP to have fresh legs which will likely help Nick bust some more runs as well.
One at a time!