CSU Game Review

[WYCAT]

Here are my thoughts on yesterday's game. Again, seeing it live adds a lot to things.

First the offsense: The line for the most part looked good. Lulay did get some pressure but not as much as we put on Holland over the course of the game and they definately held their own. Run blocking wasn't great again but we really didn't try to use the run very much and this looked to improve as the game went on. Travis played very well in my opinion. They ran a lot of QB draws and all of his running yardage was by designed plays not scrambles. On the INT he threw I don't know what happened - the receiver zigged and his throw zagged so chalk it up to a miscommunication. He did a great job of making the tackle though and we held them to a FG instead of a TD. I also think part of the INT was the play calling though. We probably threw that out pattern a dozen times before the INT for an average of 3 yards if we completed it. Their DB was waiting for this one. My only Bailey complaint is the lack of North South routes and way to much sideline to sideline running. Overall Travis made a lot of good decisions and I can only remember maybe 2 bad throws. The receivers - Guinn, Roosevelt, and Sullivan played much better. Sullivan had several key catches, i.e. 3rd and 5 type, and really helped the offense. Guinn had some big catches and Roosevelt really played better from weeks 1 and 2. Again, at most maybe just a few drops all day - much improved. Milton ran well at times and like I said we really didn't do much to use him. His big run in the second half was a lot of individual effort once he broke the line of scrimmage. That was nice to see. Beal had some playing time but we didn't see Gathing. All in all against a pretty good defense, the offense really improved their game and I think we now have our receivers set for conferense play. Sullivan replacing Gatewood really helped and Roosevelt had a very sound game.

The Defense: The defense had three major problems yesterday. First, on the first drive of the game they were on their heals and really not ready to play. CSU took maybe 7 or 8 plays to stuff it down our throats at about 20 yards a pop. It looked way to easy. Second, the two touchdowns we gave up in the last 3 minutes of the first half is what made to score look worse than it should have. After we scored and made it 13-7 it killed us to give up 14 quick points. The first TD they again really just moved down the field with ease but the second was really keyed off the big hit on Wolf that would have been a first down if he had been able to hold on and then the blocked punt. I don't know if the fake punt was on but Travis rolled left instead of right and had a lot of running room but then tried to punt at the last minute and it was blocked. Finally, and in my opinion what really killed us yesterday was our CB situation. I read about the injury to Smith (out for the season - that really hurts). Unless we put pressure on Holland, he ate up our secondary and primarily Fuller. That poor kid had a long day. He again gave up a lot of cushion and CSU exploited this often and way to much on 3rd and medium plays. The WR would run about 10 yards and stop and Fuller was still backpeddling. On the bright side, they did tackle well for the most part after the catch. I saw Ryan Force play some CB - maybe that is the answer. From last year our CB situation is much lacking but our safeties played well. I think Kane was great at stopping the run and we miss his leadership but Ryan, Toph, etc. I think may be better pass defenders. They played well yesterday. The defensive line was great as usual. They really stopped CSU's running game all day. I haven't looked at the stats yet but I know 3/4 of their yardage had to have come through the air. They also pressured Holland quite a bit. The INT he threw was a bad choice but all forced from having two or three white jerseys in his face. Lastly, Cooper is a stud. He was all over the field and at times looked like a man among boys. He made several tackles after 20 yard pass completions when he was at the line of scrimmage when the throw went out. His speed is really surprising.

Special Teams: Doroski was great again. Touchbacks were nice to see on the few kickoffs he did have. I wondered why EJ did the kicking now I know. The first PAT was blocked but still made it over the crossbar but the second was high and straight. The field goal attempt was good execution from the snapper, holder, and kicker but he just missed it to the right. The one punt EJ had from our endzone was a beauty. It was high and long probably 65 yards in the air but they returned it 25+. A good choice though - the rugby kick isn't meant for the endzone. Something we might see more of throughout the rest of the season. Both coverage teams were okay but we did give up some 20+ yard returns. That needs to improve. When we return kicks it is pretty quiet. What kickoffs Roosevelt had a chance to return it looks like his goal is to catch the ball cleanly, run as fast as he can to the designated return side, and cover up and go down as soon as he is close to getting hit so he doesn't fumble. Don't get me wrong, I like the no fumble part but there is really no chance for a big return with this style. Williams on punts has a different style but he didn't get much of a chance yesterday. CSU really covered punts well.

Other areas: Other than the one INT we protected the ball well. I was glad to see just the one turnover. We matched them one for one in this area and that was needed. I think we really solidified our receiving corp heading into ISU next week. Sullivan got his chance and performed very well, Roosevelt stepped up big time, and Guinn really impressed me with his game. It also looked like Milton will be the guy from now on. He ran hard and pass protected very well - which was his main role for the day. Kramer needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat at the corners. Hendersen played decent and as I said the safeties were good but Fuller got eaten alive. One of two things has to happen before next week - either he learned a ton yesterday and will get a lot better in a big hurry or Force will have to move over to CB. That was really the difference in the game. Finally I wanted to say how great our fans were. I would guess we had between 1,000 and 2,000 people in our section and it was obvious the team appreciated us being there. After the game they came over to where we were sitting and saluted us which was cool. Made the whole trip worthwhile for me.