I've already made some comments but this is a more complete list:
1. The coaches did not react to North Dakota stacking the box; they took away the run by having too many players for our offense to block. We should have reacted with bubble screens, screens, slant passes to the recievers, flair passes to the half back, quarter back draw, etc. We did not react; every team we face will utilize the same game plan as North Dakota by taking away the run by stacking the box. We need the coaches to react and plan accordingly. Our loss on Saturday was primarily due to the coaches not reacting!
2. Cam only ran the ball once even though there were multiple opportunities. Instead he forced a pass. If he has torn cartiledge; rest him and play Josh Allen. Josh showed his elusiveness in the spring game; this adds another dimension that was missing Saturday. By forcing passes there were several that should have been picked; we were fortunate the North Dakota dropped several passes that were forced and underthrown.
3. Play more of the Freshmen recievers with speed. In the fourth quarter our offensive linemen were giving five to six seconds of time (on several plays) for the quarter back to find a reciever. Tanner expoited that for a touchdown and there were other opportunities as well. With the speed that some of the Freshmen recievers have; we can exploit many defenses.
4. Opening up the offense will allow our bread an butter run game to materalize; the defense will not be able to stack the box and our excellent running backs will make hay.
5. Special teams played better that we have seen for years. The coverage was excellent; this has traditionally been a problem. We had three errors that I noiticed; a kick off that went out of bounds; a missed extra point and a kick off reception that was caught at the 7 yard line that would probably have gone out of bounds. Two of these issues are easily corrected. The kick offs not reaching the end zone is an issue. If we can't kick it deep; kick it higher and allow the coverage time to make a tackle. All in all; special teams was the best prepared of the three segments of the game.
6. Our defensive front four appeared to be slow off the snap. Only our nose tackle watched the ball being snapped; all others watched the offensive lineman in front of them. If our linemen watch the ball being snapped they can react at the same time the offense moves; by reacting to the movement of the offensive lineman; our defense is already 2/10's of a second behind. That may be the difference between a sack and a touchdown. Maybe the game has changed since I played but this would appear to be football "101".
7. Our linebackers were fooled several times by fake plays. One of ND's fakes to the outside with a run up the middle went untouched for a touch down. Hopefully discipline will come with experience.
8. Our players were not utilizing the angle of pursuit on end around plays. This allowed ND to make several end around plays with our players out of position; they went for touchdowns or plays that went for touchdowns that were called back due to penalty. Again; angle of pursuit is football "101"; need better coaching!
9. Was very impressed with the young defensive backs. They stuck with their man and did a good job. Look at the number of tackles made by our defensive backs! Way too many but very impressive. The recruiting has been excellent. If the coahes coach as well as they have recruited we will be bowling every year.
10. I am optomistic about the future! We have some outstanding young talent and although the coahing staff was horrible this past weekend; they have demonstrated their ability to win. I am hoping they are embarrased by getting thumped by a much better prepared North Dakota coaching staff and will not let that happen again. Say what you will; this loss was on the coaches far more than young players!
1. The coaches did not react to North Dakota stacking the box; they took away the run by having too many players for our offense to block. We should have reacted with bubble screens, screens, slant passes to the recievers, flair passes to the half back, quarter back draw, etc. We did not react; every team we face will utilize the same game plan as North Dakota by taking away the run by stacking the box. We need the coaches to react and plan accordingly. Our loss on Saturday was primarily due to the coaches not reacting!
2. Cam only ran the ball once even though there were multiple opportunities. Instead he forced a pass. If he has torn cartiledge; rest him and play Josh Allen. Josh showed his elusiveness in the spring game; this adds another dimension that was missing Saturday. By forcing passes there were several that should have been picked; we were fortunate the North Dakota dropped several passes that were forced and underthrown.
3. Play more of the Freshmen recievers with speed. In the fourth quarter our offensive linemen were giving five to six seconds of time (on several plays) for the quarter back to find a reciever. Tanner expoited that for a touchdown and there were other opportunities as well. With the speed that some of the Freshmen recievers have; we can exploit many defenses.
4. Opening up the offense will allow our bread an butter run game to materalize; the defense will not be able to stack the box and our excellent running backs will make hay.
5. Special teams played better that we have seen for years. The coverage was excellent; this has traditionally been a problem. We had three errors that I noiticed; a kick off that went out of bounds; a missed extra point and a kick off reception that was caught at the 7 yard line that would probably have gone out of bounds. Two of these issues are easily corrected. The kick offs not reaching the end zone is an issue. If we can't kick it deep; kick it higher and allow the coverage time to make a tackle. All in all; special teams was the best prepared of the three segments of the game.
6. Our defensive front four appeared to be slow off the snap. Only our nose tackle watched the ball being snapped; all others watched the offensive lineman in front of them. If our linemen watch the ball being snapped they can react at the same time the offense moves; by reacting to the movement of the offensive lineman; our defense is already 2/10's of a second behind. That may be the difference between a sack and a touchdown. Maybe the game has changed since I played but this would appear to be football "101".
7. Our linebackers were fooled several times by fake plays. One of ND's fakes to the outside with a run up the middle went untouched for a touch down. Hopefully discipline will come with experience.
8. Our players were not utilizing the angle of pursuit on end around plays. This allowed ND to make several end around plays with our players out of position; they went for touchdowns or plays that went for touchdowns that were called back due to penalty. Again; angle of pursuit is football "101"; need better coaching!
9. Was very impressed with the young defensive backs. They stuck with their man and did a good job. Look at the number of tackles made by our defensive backs! Way too many but very impressive. The recruiting has been excellent. If the coahes coach as well as they have recruited we will be bowling every year.
10. I am optomistic about the future! We have some outstanding young talent and although the coahing staff was horrible this past weekend; they have demonstrated their ability to win. I am hoping they are embarrased by getting thumped by a much better prepared North Dakota coaching staff and will not let that happen again. Say what you will; this loss was on the coaches far more than young players!
