Reflections (lengthy)

[eagle76 1]

Now that I’ve had time to “adjust” to what happened this past Saturday night, I would like to give my reflections and opinions. I know, opinions are like a@@holes, everyone has one. But here goes.

I am terribly disappointed about the game! But, the sun still came up on Sunday morning. Nothing about the outcome of the game affected me physically or economically – only some emotionally. Remember everyone, that football is a game for our entertainment. There are a lot more important issues than the outcome of a game. Very few, if any one out there, can say that the outcome of this game affected them in a really negative way outside of the ribbing we took because of the loss. Those that did loss monetarily – sorry, but you knew the risks. With the events of the past 10 days, all of the emphasis on winning a game should pale in the real light of the hardships and loss of life and property that have befallen our fellow Americans.

Now for the team and game reflections. Hoping not to offend anyone very much, but no one out there (me included) should not have expected a drop off in performance from last year’s team. That team had talent (4 1st round picks) and great team chemistry. I did not expect a repeat of last year. It took a lot of adversity to bring that team together. This is a “new” look team and chemistry has not YET been established. We may have MORE TALENT, but the chemistry, bonding, and trust is not there YET. I believe it will be – we just have to give it some time. Many games on our schedule can be won without the chemistry but not the big ones or close ones. I’m disappointed in some of my fellow poster because of their criticism of the young men playing this game. I’m sure that they did not intentionally do anything that caused us to lose. But I do believe that they could have done more and better – and the coaches too.

GT was no push over. They are a very good and respectable team.

I was discouraged by the play of out O and D lines. They got whipped most of the time.

LB’s had to take on too many blockers due to poor D line play and they did not do a good job of tackling. Improvement was noted in 3rd and 4th qtrs.

DE’s seemed to get outflanked by their blockers and almost always took a too direct path to the QB which allowed for mis-direction, bootlegs, and counter plays to work. They over-ran the play frequently. I feel this will be corrected very quickly.

DB’s and S’s got a real taste of life in the big league. Their game did improve as the game went on.

RB’s did not get to show much due to O line play. RB’s need to pass protect better.

QB had a tough time. He has a good arm for short/mid length throws but not good on long passes. His forte is the 10-20 yd pass. He will get better - no doubt! This was his first start and he is only a sophomore.

WR’s and TE’s had a fantastic game. No drops that I remember and made some very tough catches.

Penalties were a killer – coming at the most inopportune times. I believe the “killer” play of the game was the holding penalty that got the touchdown called back. With us getting the go ahead score, I believe that the defense would have been inspired and the momentum would have shifted to AU and the game would have been ours.

Spec Teams – nothing real special. Especially kicking the opening kickoff out of bounds and giving tech great field position to start game.

Officiating – poor at best but we should not have been in a position to let the officials hurt us.

Now to the coaching. We got out-coached badly. Our game plan was to play not to get beat. No creativity. No mis-direction. No bootlegs. No counters or reverses to slow down the rush. The tech secondary was not that good. We could have exploited them with more crossing patterns, QB rollouts (to both sides), and quick 3 step passes. Cox was put into to many predictable situations and I’m sure he felt that HE had to make something happen. Unfortunately, the happenings weren’t all good. Adjustments were made by the defense for the 2nd half but overall defense did not impress me. Where was K Irons?

We will get better. IF we get better O and D line play and the coaches utilize the strengths of this team, we will have a good year. We will see IF they can regroup this week. MSU will be a good, tough game. We will prevail. Up until this first game, me and almost everyone else in the world figured that QB play would dictate the outcome of the season. I’m not so sure that the O and D line play is the real key. Cox will do well if he has the time to throw and can run a more controlled shorter pass route game.

Sorry for the length but remember - Football is a game for our entertainment and we should not be bashing or make demeaning comments about specific players. There are more important things in life than the outcome of a game. Just ask the people in LA, Miss, and South Ala. WE WILL HAVE A GOOD YEAR. Believe in this team.

WDE