Delaware State Game post game thoughts

[admin]

Watched the replay on ESPN.  Here are some thoughts.

The Good

• Tyree Jackson looks good.  Really good.  The guy can make all the throws.  He threw for 6 TDs on 17 completions.  That's insane.  33% of his completions went for 6.  I don't know about NCAA records, but that rate must be up there somewhere.
• Receivers look good.  We have weapons.  We line up 4 receivers and all four guys can make plays.  KJ and Rushing look like they will make tons of plays this year.  We all know about Anthony Johnson, but I think his numbers might be down this year not because of his talent, but just because we have other guys that can make plays this year.  Hopefully, that doesn't hurt his draft stock.
• We have some big play potential.  At any point, we can take it to the house.  At the end of the day, it's all about scoring points and scoring points with big plays is something this team has the potential to do.
• Defense looks fast.  The secondary is fast and it showed.  They will be the strength of the defense.  They will produce some coverage sacks.
• Team just looks much more experienced and confident overall.  This team has all the parts for a very successful season.

The Bad

• Run game needs improvement.  We only gained a total of 154 yards on 4.1 yards/carry.  That seems ok, but that's not going to get it done against higher level competition.  The line needs to create holes, this could be a real problem going forward.
• Run defense needs improvement.  They were 1 yard short of gaining 200 yards.  We were outgained on the ground as a team.  That team almost had two 100 yard rushers in the game.  That could spell trouble going forward.
• The first 3 TDs were a result of going for it on 4th down.  We really should not be in a 3 and out situation too many times against a team like Delaware State.  So even though, we were up 20-0 in the 1st quarter, I just did not see a well oiled offense.  We need to improve our 3 down efficiency.  
• Mitcheson still can't convert XPs regularly.  Getting an XP blocked is all on the kicker.  There is no reason why you should kick an XP that low.  Maybe a long field goal, I can understand, but an XP should not get blocked.  Kick it high, you're not kicking it for distance.

Overall a great start to the season.  Also good to see Ledarius Mack get some action.  Hopefully that brings Khalil back to UB and inspires him to give.

[promotherobot]

While the Del.St. offense was pitiful, their defense wasn't that bad. 

[mikescherrer8]

To be quite frank, Delaware State did run the ball 54 times for only 3.7 yards a carry, which isn't that great on their end. I didn't think the run defense was all that bad, but, I do agree there can always be room for improvement. 

[zigo230]

Not that he needed to, but I noticed Tyree did not have one single carry.  Before his injury he was a take-off and run machine.   Do you think this is the coaches telling him about self-preservation for the season?  He really doesn't need to scramble and risk injury.  The team is good enough to make first downs and move the ball without his running. 

Maybe it's also maturity as he sheds the high school type game that he used to play and now turning into a pocket-style QB.   On to Temple!  

[BrooklynBull]

44 minutes ago, zigo230 said:

Not that he needed to, but I noticed Tyree did not have one single carry.  Before his injury he was a take-off and run machine.   Do you think this is the coaches telling him about self-preservation for the season?  He really doesn't need to scramble and risk injury.  The team is good enough to make first downs and move the ball without his running. 

Maybe it's also maturity as he sheds the high school type game that he used to play and now turning into a pocket-style QB.   On to Temple!  

Unless it is a designed play for the quarterback to run, they do not run.  When they run it is because pass protection breaks down and they run for their lives or the coverage is too good to throw into and there is an opening for them to run.  Neither of those two situations occurred on Saturday so he did not have to pull it down and run.