Thoughts on the game

[evilpoke]

First off, reading everyone's posts, its interesting to see how varied everyone's opinions are.

The score finished 29-22, but it should have been more like 36-14.

Offense:
- The quarterback play was better than at any time last year. Neither of the quarterbacks made any mistakes, their passes (though typically short) were right on the money. ACS played great for a true freshman, but Benjamin had a better presence and the team moved the ball better down the field when he was in there.
- For the running backs, except for a few plays when they went East-West, instead of North-South, they were probably the biggest surprise of the evening. I was surprised how quick Alvester was.
- I thought the offensive line played just fine. Did Weber State get some pressure? Yeah, but that's because the quarterbacks were waiting for their receivers to get open.
- The wide receivers caught the ball, which was the big concern. I thought Leonard had more catches and yards than he finished with. Still, the receivers are not fast, and they are going to have trouble getting separation throughout the year. I think that really stood out when the Pokes were trying to throw in the red zone.

Defense:
- Except for two bad drives (the first and the last) I thought the defense was great. On the first drive there seemed to be some miscommunication between the defensive backs, leading to the quick touchdown. The last touchdown was inexcusable, and I think is leading to the bad taste in everyone's mouth about the game. The defense figured the game was won and let Weber State waltz down the field.
- Defensive line. They kept the running backs basically in check and got pressure on the quarterback. I just wish they had pulled down the quarterback a few times.
- I thought the linebackers were fine. I don't think Weston Johnson gets as much pub as he should.
- The big difference in the secondary was making the quarterback pay when he made a mistake. Last year, those errant passes fall to the ground. This game, someone scooped them up (for the most part - Gary could have had a 4th INT and Fletcher had a pass thrown right into his hands).

Special Teams:
- A player at Legacy High School in Broomfield, Colo., kicked a 67-yard field goal on Friday. Offer him a scholarship right now. Even if he has little accuracy, he should be able to boot the ball out of the endzone on every kick off. Thus, we don't have to deal with the poor kick coverage for four years.
- The coaching staff must have little faith in the kickers. It's was 4th and 10 on the 20 (or so) and we go for it??? Huh? I'm glad Austin made his field goals, but they looked like knuckleball shots.
- The punting was good. I'm a little wierded by the scrum kick, but if they keep getting the ball in the 20, I'm fine with it.

Overall, I give the team a C+ on the game.

Final thought - I don't know if the Pokes win this game last year.

[bladerunnr]

I have a little different take on the game. I thought our O-line was awful. All those picks just set the offense up with greaf field position over and over and we could not run the ball at all . Both Qbs were running for their lives when we had to pass. I thought the running backs are fine but they had no holes at all in the second half.

The receivers are slow and we don't seem to have anyone that can get separation. The qb play was good as I thought both guys can run and throw a bit.

The defense was generally good but we did not get enough pressure on their qb. Those last 2 drives were way too easy.

Overall, a win is a win but we need a lot of improvement if we are going to win a few conference games and compete against CU. It's a little hard to know because Weber st. is such an unknown. I'm thinking they will be the easiest opponent we play all year.

[JimmyDimes]

First off, reading everyone's posts, its interesting to see how varied everyone's opinions are.

The score finished 29-22, but it should have been more like 36-14.

Offense:
- The quarterback play was better than at any time last year. Neither of the quarterbacks made any mistakes, their passes (though typically short) were right on the money. ACS played great for a true freshman, but Benjamin had a better presence and the team moved the ball better down the field when he was in there.
- For the running backs, except for a few plays when they went East-West, instead of North-South, they were probably the biggest surprise of the evening. I was surprised how quick Alvester was.
- I thought the offensive line played just fine. Did Weber State get some pressure? Yeah, but that's because the quarterbacks were waiting for their receivers to get open.
- The wide receivers caught the ball, which was the big concern. I thought Leonard had more catches and yards than he finished with. Still, the receivers are not fast, and they are going to have trouble getting separation throughout the year. I think that really stood out when the Pokes were trying to throw in the red zone.

Defense:
- Except for two bad drives (the first and the last) I thought the defense was great. On the first drive there seemed to be some miscommunication between the defensive backs, leading to the quick touchdown. The last touchdown was inexcusable, and I think is leading to the bad taste in everyone's mouth about the game. The defense figured the game was won and let Weber State waltz down the field.
- Defensive line. They kept the running backs basically in check and got pressure on the quarterback. I just wish they had pulled down the quarterback a few times.
- I thought the linebackers were fine. I don't think Weston Johnson gets as much pub as he should.
- The big difference in the secondary was making the quarterback pay when he made a mistake. Last year, those errant passes fall to the ground. This game, someone scooped them up (for the most part - Gary could have had a 4th INT and Fletcher had a pass thrown right into his hands).

Special Teams:
- A player at Legacy High School in Broomfield, Colo., kicked a 67-yard field goal on Friday. Offer him a scholarship right now. Even if he has little accuracy, he should be able to boot the ball out of the endzone on every kick off. Thus, we don't have to deal with the poor kick coverage for four years.
- The coaching staff must have little faith in the kickers. It's was 4th and 10 on the 20 (or so) and we go for it??? Huh? I'm glad Austin made his field goals, but they looked like knuckleball shots.
- The punting was good. I'm a little wierded by the scrum kick, but if they keep getting the ball in the 20, I'm fine with it.

Overall, I give the team a C+ on the game.

Final thought - I don't know if the Pokes win this game last year.

Good assessment. That is pretty much how I saw it too. Our defense lightened up at the end and we didn't take advantage of all our picks. Otherwise, we could have won by 20. I think we were playing pretty vanilla on offense. And, could have kicked some additional FG's if we didn't go for it on 4th and long in the red zone. We didn't miss a FG.

I'm pleased with the first game, but hope to see some major improvement this week....especially in the red zone.

[one-smooth-poke]

I hate making comments about "thoughts on the game" because they are so subjective, but here goes....

1. Offense. QB play was suprising and much better than I expected. Both bring something different to the table and both did what they had to do to win. I think Benjamin, in the second half, found himself fighting for a job and tried to force to many things...but ACS is definately the future. The offensive line did well, but I think there is still some "jelling" to do between the O-line and the QB's. The reason I say that is on several occassions, the O line was bending in a different direction than the QB was rolling. I dont know if the QB rolled the wrong direction, or if the o-line had the wrong pass protection going...but in each of those situations, there were no receivers open to the side the QB was rolling...so I will take it as the QB rolled into pressure and made a bad read. As the year unfolds, I think it will get better and better.

Defense: I will start out with the obvious problems....and I will not say any names...only numbers.
HEY COACH....did you happen to see your secondary get torn apart....particularly #2? THIS WAS ONE OF OUR MAJOR PROBLEMS LAST YEAR!!!!!! He is aweful!!! Absolutely terrible...,..he was last year, and he will be this year....that kid needs ALOT of coaching....he is lazy and plays half assed....bench him and bring in the back up...the back up cant do nearly as bad. The Weber QB tore him up on the final two drives for well over 100 yards in passing. All the major plays from Weber came from pickin on him, and as a junior, he should be better. If he gives the team the best chance to win, we really have issues at that position.
D-line: I thought they did well, but were left on the field a little two long a couple of times. They will be better each and every game.
Over all, both squads lack something.....they lack KILLER INSTINCE. That needs to be fixed immediately

[23handicap]

Defense: I will start out with the obvious problems....and I will not say any names...only numbers.
HEY COACH....did you happen to see your secondary get torn apart....particularly #2? THIS WAS ONE OF OUR MAJOR PROBLEMS LAST YEAR!!!!!! He is aweful!!! Absolutely terrible...,..he was last year, and he will be this year....that kid needs ALOT of coaching....he is lazy and plays half assed....bench him and bring in the back up...the back up cant do nearly as bad. The Weber QB tore him up on the final two drives for well over 100 yards in passing. All the major plays from Weber came from pickin on him, and as a junior, he should be better. If he gives the team the best chance to win, we really have issues at that position.

I posted a similar comment as well. But #2 is Marcell Gipson and he did not have a good game at all...the fumbler needs to be taken off kick returns. Hindsight being 20/20, they did run a lot of Cover 2 so Chris Prosinski is suppose to help Marcell on his side...you know what I'm implying. Tashaun Gipson must be in heaven right now because he has Shamiel Gary as his help.

[Fullback41]

Our kickoff team is horrible again, partly because of the kicks lack of hangtime and distance, partly because of the coverage itself. On the flip side I thought our punting was much improved over last year, none were blocked, we downed it inside the 20, returns were smaller than last year. Last year I cringed everytime we punted in fear they all would get blocked, I only cringed once this game - that's improvement.

Colt McCoy will tear up our DBs if he has the time to throw Weber State had. It wasn't a constant problem but there was a series here and there where they seemed to have way too much time to throw. We need to put more pressure on the QB, it will help out our DBs - even with all the interceptions I still worry. I really hope we were playing pretty base and saving something for Texas. On the flip side I thought our run defense was good again, until late in the game.

Our offense in the first half looked a thousand times better than it ever did last year, unfortunately that's not good enough the RedZone offense will have to improve in conference play or we are screwed.

Passing +
Rushing +
Red Zone -
Kickoffs & kicking -
Punting +
Run D +
Pass D -
Punt & Kick Returns -
TURNOVERS +++++

Overall felt good when the score was 23-6, so I wil hang onto that and hope the rest was not a sign of things to come.

[evilpoke]

Just as an update from my earlier post, the kid who kicked the 67-yarder is signed to go to Minnesota, so there you go.

A big-leg kicker would be HUGE.

[MrTitleist]

A kicker with a sense of where the goal posts are would be an improvement.

[WYO1016]

What happened to the walk on kickers that showed up last week during practice? I noticed a couple of scrawny dudes out of pads prowling the sidelines. Maybe they just didn't have enough practices to suit up this weekend.

[CowboyFan]

I was wondering what happened to those guys. Lets hope at least one works out and can help.

[zappinpoke]

Just as an update from my earlier post, the kid who kicked the 67-yarder is signed to go to Minnesota, so there you go.

A big-leg kicker would be HUGE.

Evil, that was a free kick after a fair catch, meaning he got to use a tee with no rush and took more than 3 steps to boot it. Kind of like a kick off. Still impressive no doubt. And yes, we need a kicker.

[Cornpoke]

All this talk about our bad kicking really makes me wish I had gotten my eligibility back lol. Not to toot my own horn but I'm pretty sure I could have won the job and be the one lining up for kicks if I had gotten it back... Oh well, I still enjoy kicking for fun.

You guys are being a little to hard on our kickers. Yes McCoy missed a PAT but also made a field goal on a bad hold by Sween. Most fans never notice a bad hold but I noticed terrible holding by Sween on every kick. Jake Scott had a touchback and got most of his kickoffs made it inside 5. McCoy had some great punts as well as the rugby style they have him doing this year. So let's not be tough on the kickers just yet. I do agree our coverage could improve, but that's the case with many teams.

[Fullback41]

Cornpoke,

I think the punting is night and day better than last year - no complaints on the punting from me.

Shouldn't the kickoffs have more hangtime or is our coverage team just slow? The kickoffs seem like linedrives, our coverage is so far away when the returners get it.

[WYO1016]

I agree with fullback, the punting looked 100% better than last season. The place kicking, on the other hand, was bad. Bad hold or not, you HAVE to get under the ball and get a little loft to it. Those knuckleball kicks and line drive kickoffs will kill us against all the rest of our opponents if they don't get fixed.

[Dread_Pirate_Cowboy]

Somebody needs to talk with the UW Men's club soccer team and see if they are interested in American football. Kicking line drives kick-offs and having no confidence in our kickers outside of 35 yards is going to kill us. DC eluded to this before the game and he is right. Anybody know when Landess will be back?

[sluggerchamp02]

A kicker i know by the name of kevin bell went to the university of hawaii from kelly walsh high school. Something happened where he returned home and is now attending wyoming. I heard that wyoming did not want him while he was searching for schools last year. He has a great leg and has thought about trying to walk on this year but he would have to sit out a year since he participated in some of hawaii's practices.

[Cornpoke]

Kickers should be drooling to come to UW and kick at this altitude.. Even a washed up kicker like me with a bad back looks great at this altitude. A kicker I was coaching in high school almost came out here from Tennessee to walk on but his dad convinced him to go to UTC instead, bad decision. Now he is a backup to a senior at a FBS school! He could have come here and started immediately