Notes From Section 105

MeanGreenWithEnvy · September 5, 2016

Howdy, Go Mean Greeners!

Welcome to the first installment of Notes From Section 105 for the 2016 football season! I know my expectations were likely high going into the game, and like all of you I was disappointed with the outcome. I was most disappointed with SMU's ability to nail big gainers against the Mean Green defense, both on the ground (that Davis guy has some freakin' wheels!) and in the air (the forever-infamous 3rd-and-McKinney TD). Here are some notes I jotted down during the course of the game:

1. Jeff Wilson is tremendously fun to watch. He's got that rare combination of the burst of corner-turning speed while being able to instantaneously flip a switch and run downhill. He is rarely brought down by one guy and he looks like he holds up very well considering his very physical running style. He's a guy whom I'm not going to make up my mind about any players after one game, but my first impression of Anthony Wyche is that I hope he's a speed guy because he certainly didn't look like a tackle-breaker or a between-the-tackles runner against SMU. Here's hoping my first impressions are way off! Every time I heard Wyche's name on the PA, my mind tried to trick me into thinking former Bengals head coach Sam Wyche was running out of the backfield.

2. The offensive line is still gelling. Particularly when it comes to pass protection, I hope they will gel soon because neither Morris nor Fine are going to stay healthy and upright for long if they're going to get beat up the way they were on Saturday. I wasn't paying strict attention to each one of Morris' drop backs, but I bet I was paying attention to at least 90% of them, and in those drop backs, he was either sacked or knocked down on all but five of them. That might be a result of him holding the ball for too long. That might be the result of him being a pocket passer who doesn't roll out unless he's chased out. Even if both of these are true, pass protection is still an issue. Get to gellin', fellas!

3. The defensive secondary scares me, but we're going to enjoy watching Combs & Wheeler this year.

4. Goree & Thompson will be fantastic in this offense. If I'm a DB lining up in the slot against Kelvin Smith, I'm going to do my best to jump his route every time because my worst nightmare is Kelvin catching the ball and steamrolling me 10 yards downfield.

5. We've already discussed Morris & Fine. I hope Morris will develop on the job and will develop sooner rather than later. Fine looks like he's game ready right now, but I don't see Littrell making a switch one game into the season. I think it's fair to expect that Morris is going to be on a short hook against BCU this weekend. If he struggles, I wouldn't be surprised to see Fine come out as the starter in the 3rd quarter.

6. Saturday's crowd was one of the better ones I've seen at Apogee. There were a lot of people and most importantly even though the game was in no doubt by halftime, the majority of the crowd stayed until the beginning of the 4th quarter. I got the feeling that if the score had been closer than 20 points that most of the crowd would have stuck around until the end.

See y'all next week with another edition of Notes From Section 105! Go Mean Green!

Harry · September 6, 2016

Good info! Keep it coming.

GrayEagle · September 6, 2016

21 hours ago, MeanGreenWithEnvy said:

Howdy, Go Mean Greeners!

Welcome to the first installment of Notes From Section 105 for the 2016 football season! I know my expectations were likely high going into the game, and like all of you I was disappointed with the outcome. I was most disappointed with SMU's ability to nail big gainers against the Mean Green defense, both on the ground (that Davis guy has some freakin' wheels!) and in the air (the forever-infamous 3rd-and-McKinney TD). Here are some notes I jotted down during the course of the game:

1. Jeff Wilson is tremendously fun to watch. He's got that rare combination of the burst of corner-turning speed while being able to instantaneously flip a switch and run downhill. He is rarely brought down by one guy and he looks like he holds up very well considering his very physical running style. He's a guy whom I'm not going to make up my mind about any players after one game, but my first impression of Anthony Wyche is that I hope he's a speed guy because he certainly didn't look like a tackle-breaker or a between-the-tackles runner against SMU. Here's hoping my first impressions are way off! Every time I heard Wyche's name on the PA, my mind tried to trick me into thinking former Bengals head coach Sam Wyche was running out of the backfield.

2. The offensive line is still gelling. Particularly when it comes to pass protection, I hope they will gel soon because neither Morris nor Fine are going to stay healthy and upright for long if they're going to get beat up the way they were on Saturday. I wasn't paying strict attention to each one of Morris' drop backs, but I bet I was paying attention to at least 90% of them, and in those drop backs, he was either sacked or knocked down on all but five of them. That might be a result of him holding the ball for too long. That might be the result of him being a pocket passer who doesn't roll out unless he's chased out. Even if both of these are true, pass protection is still an issue. Get to gellin', fellas!

3. The defensive secondary scares me, but we're going to enjoy watching Combs & Wheeler this year.

4. Goree & Thompson will be fantastic in this offense. If I'm a DB lining up in the slot against Kelvin Smith, I'm going to do my best to jump his route every time because my worst nightmare is Kelvin catching the ball and steamrolling me 10 yards downfield.

5. We've already discussed Morris & Fine. I hope Morris will develop on the job and will develop sooner rather than later. Fine looks like he's game ready right now, but I don't see Littrell making a switch one game into the season. I think it's fair to expect that Morris is going to be on a short hook against BCU this weekend. If he struggles, I wouldn't be surprised to see Fine come out as the starter in the 3rd quarter.

6. Saturday's crowd was one of the better ones I've seen at Apogee. There were a lot of people and most importantly even though the game was in no doubt by halftime, the majority of the crowd stayed until the beginning of the 4th quarter. I got the feeling that if the score had been closer than 20 points that most of the crowd would have stuck around until the end.

See y'all next week with another edition of Notes From Section 105! Go Mean Green!

Good stuff. I agree with most but I see a couple of things a little differently. Of the five sacks, two were on the offensive line, two on the running back and the other on the quarterback for not throwing the ball away. That's per Seth's PC. Morris did seem to hold onto the ball a little too long although he had a better completion percentage than Matt Davis, who I consider a very accurate passer. I expect Morris to get better as more and more rust comes off. The offensive line exceeded my expectations and I believe that they'll get better. I still worry about depth. I believe that only six OL played against SMU and there may be some games where he have to go much deeper.

On point 3, I believe that our defensive backs are our strongest unit. SMU completed less than 50% of their passes due to coverage. McClain was again the leading tackler and Davis, Brooks, Gray and Preston contributed with multiple tackles and/or PBUs. I was really heartened to see them playing man instead of the 5-10 yard cushion of the McCarney years.

Aldo · September 6, 2016

16 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

On point 3, I believe that our defensive backs are our strongest unit.

^^ This.

UNTLifer · September 6, 2016

Davis was a magician scrambling. Keep him in the pocket where he can't hurt you with his legs, because, IMHO (sorry GrayEagle), his arm is his weakness. Not accurate.

Where was Rutherford? I thought he would show up more.

Aldo · September 6, 2016

Just now, UNTLifer said:

Where was Rutherford? I thought he would show up more.

Me too. The most memorable thing I saw was when he was downfield blocking for a run and not seeing the pass headed towards him on what should've been a comeback route.

But, ahem, Thaddeous tho.

Also Willie, nice showing and quick reaction on the almost-interception.

MGNation92 · September 6, 2016

2 minutes ago, Aldo said:

Me too. The most memorable thing I saw was when he was downfield blocking for a run and not seeing the pass headed towards him on what should've been a comeback route.

But, ahem, Thaddeous tho.

Also Willie, nice showing and quick reaction on the almost-interception.

Extremely lucky on that play. Morris should've had 4 picks