Week 5 Observations

[jtm0097]

The opening drive of the game foreshadowed how it was going to ultimately end, disappointment. On the first drive we drove the ball down the field, and failed to convert in the red zone. The defense then bailed us out, and we were able to drive the ball down the field again. However, a dropped pass in the end zone stalled the drive, and we had to kick a FG. We could have easily been up 14-0 here, but poor execution doomed us. I think the most frustrating thing from this game was the offense's inability to come up with adjustments to stop the Navy pass rush. Our OL gave up 8 sacks to Navy and 2 of the sacks resulted in lost fumbles. We knew they were going to bring pressure all week. Why did we not help our QB out by having a TE or RB stay back to block? I am not a coach by any means, but that was hard to watch. The inability to stop the pass rush impacted our 3rd down conversions as well. We had a measly 18% conversion rate this week.

Our offense remained balance this week, 33 passes vs 36 runs (48% vs 52%). We rushed for 206 yards and passed for 267 yards, a total of 473 yards. 

The defense played better than we expected. . Navy was able to win the time of possession battle (33:55 vs 26:05) and do just enough to beat us. The defense did squander 406 yards to Navy, but they are not the sole reason we lost this game. The guys played tough and made when stops when they needed too.  We failed to play complementary football this week. We had the ball with less than 2 minutes left, and had a chance to either tie the game up or win it. However, our inability to stop the Navy pass rush forced us to turn the ball over on downs.

One positive from the game is that we had zero penalties. It was nice to see that we cleaned that up at least. 

I normally write up about individual performances, but I don't have it in me this week. This game was frustrating, and if we don't make a bowl game this year, the Navy and FIU games are going to be the main culprits of why we didn't. As the great @TheReal_jayD said, we are a couple of plays away from being 4-1 right now. Unfortunately, we are now 2-3 with a tough stretch of games on the horizon. Temple is certainly a winnable game. The guys just need to execute better and the coaching staff needs to make better in game adjustments. I'm not throwing the towel in yet, but I am not feeling great about the next few weeks. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by jtm0097

[BFraz]

14 minutes ago, jtm0097 said:

The opening drive of the game foreshadowed how it was going to ultimately end, disappointment. On the first drive we drove the ball down the field, and failed to convert in the red zone. The defense then bailed us out, and we were able to drive the ball down the field again. However, a dropped pass in the end zone stalled the drive, and we had to kick a FG. We could have easily been up 14-0 here, but poor execution doomed us. I think the most frustrating thing from this game was the offense's ability to come up with adjustments to stop the Navy pass rush. Our OL gave up 8 sacks to Navy and 2 of the sacks resulted in lost fumbles. We knew they were going to bring pressure all week. Why did we not help our QB out by having a TE or RB stay back to block? I am not a coach by any means, but that was hard to watch. The inability to stop the pass rush impacted our 3rd down conversions as well. We had a measly 18% conversion rate this week.

Our offense remained balance this week, 33 passes vs 36 runs (48% vs 52%). We rushed for 206 yards and passed for 267 yards, a total of 473 yards. 

The defense played better than we expected. . Navy was able to win the time of possession battle (33:55 vs 26:05) and do just enough to beat us. The defense did squander 406 yards to Navy, but they are not the sole reason we lost this game. The guys played tough and made when stops when they needed too.  We failed to play complementary football this week. We had the ball with less than 2 minutes left, and had a chance to either tie the game up or win it. However, our inability to stop the Navy pass rush forced us to turn the ball over on downs.

One positive from the game is that we had zero penalties. It was nice to see that we cleaned that up at least. 

I normally write up about individual performances, but I don't have it in me this week. This game was frustrating, and if we don't make a bowl game this year, the Navy and FIU games are going to be the main culprits of why we didn't. As the great @TheReal_jayD said, we are a couple of plays away from being 4-1 right now. Unfortunately, we are now 2-3 with a tough stretch of games on the horizon. Temple is certainly a winnable game. The guys just need to execute better and the coaching staff needs to make better in game adjustments. I'm not throwing the towel in yet, but I am not feeling great about the next few weeks. 

 

 

 

 

Huge transition year for the program.  Expectations.  GMG 

[Glory to the Green]

Good write up.  Yeah, we knew they were a blitzing team coming into the game. I was hoping we had a few ways to counter when they brought pressure. 

[SilverEagle]

I made the huge mistake of watching the Texas/Oklahoma game before switching over to the NT/Navy game. It was depressing and disheartening. The level of raw talent and intensity of play between UT and OU was astounding. Even keeping in mind that those two teams have been going at it for over 100 years and nothing short of all-out effort is allowed by any player that steps out on the field. I won't even talk about some of the freaks of nature that were playing on both teams lines.....mostly notably the 360lb D-lineman from Texas who was able to leap up in the air and get a piece of a pass thrown by the OU QB. In the case of both defenses their intensity reminded me of a quote supposedly attributed to Bear Bryant who was describing his star LB Leroy Jordan....."Leroy always took it real personal when anyone came toward him with a football under their arms"

And then I switched over to the NT/Navy game. After watching for about a quarter, I couldn't believe what I was watching from our defense.....who at one time earned the nickname "Mean Green". The best way to describe their type/level of play Saturday is to go back in history to the plains Indians and one of their battle traditions......"counting coup"....

Counting coup - Wikipedia

 

[Texas Stranger]

1 hour ago, Glory to the Green said:

Good write up.  Yeah, we knew they were a blitzing team coming into the game. I was hoping we had a few ways to counter when they brought pressure. 

Our "adjustment" was to give them a 5-man front with an empty backfield.

[Glory to the Green]

1 hour ago, Texas Stranger said:

Our "adjustment" was to give them a 5-man front with an empty backfield.

That would have been fine if we would hav been able to capitalize on it…it just never seemed to happen.