Week 2 Observations

jtm0097 · September 10, 2023

This has been a rough week. Two weeks ago, we were all so excited for football season to get here. The prospects of a new starting QB, head coach/staff, and moving to a new conference had us all drunk on the green kool-aid. Now, I am questioning if we win a conference game, if our next QB is on this roster, and if moving to the 3-3-5 was a mistake. We were more run heavy last night, 56% to 44%. Additionally, we did put up 548 yards of offense. The bad news is that we gave up 514 yards and didn't play complementary football.

Observations:

Stone Earle made plays last night, but he was also careless with the football. That first touchdown pass to Trey Cleveland was really nice. Then FIU responded with a 3 play, 75 yard touchdown drive. After that drive, I knew we were in for a ball game. Each team turned the ball over via a fumble, and then we got a quick FG.

The next series of plays were insane. I don't think I have ever seen 3 drives in a row end due to interceptions. Stone Earle scrambles out of the pocket and gets too much air under his deep pass and it is intercepted by FIU. The very next play, FIU throws an INT to the best Canadian to ever suit up for the Mean Green Jaylen Smith. We get the ball back, and after 2 plays, Stone throws a pick 6. We get the ball back, and 2 plays later Stone throws another INT. The football gods give us a gift, and the play is overturned by a targeting call. If it wasn't for this targeting call, that would have been 3 drives in a row ended by a NORTH TEXAS INT. INSANITY! However, we commit a personal foul and get backed up 15 yards. We fail to convert and NT is forced to punt.

Shout out to Noah Rauschenberg, he drilled a 47 and 49 yard field goal. He nailed all 3 extra points and had 7 touchbacks on his kickoffs. If Morris hands out weekly awards, he was this week's MVP.

After half time, Morris made a QB change, and put in Chandler Rogers. I was actually encouraged to see that he made an adjustment. Chandler did some good things. He made plays with his legs and arm. I was very encouraged with how fast he was with his reads. Chandler completed 73% of his passes (11 out of 15) for 201 yards, and threw 2 TDs. Additionally, he ran 49 yards and 1 TD. I personally think Chandler should start next week against La Tech.

The defense gave up a lot of big plays, and I am not qualified enough to give an honest assessment as to who messed up on the big plays. Logan Wilson was our leading tackler with 8 (6 solo) . Phil Hill had a nice INT and was our 2nd leading tackler this week with 5. Patrick Smith also made a few nice plays in the secondary. Ethan Wesloski recorded our first sack of the season. Both players are redshirt freshman, so that is at least one bright spot for us. Marcus Moore our JUCO transfer DL from The Colony recorded 3 tackles and forced 1 fumble. So it's good to see that a couple of these guys we signed over the last 2 years are contributing positively on defense.

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