- Credit Anae and Atuaia for inserting Ho Ching and running stretch behind him instead of the lone back zone read dive nonsense from the week before. Ho Ching played awesome, and Hine is hard to bring down when he has momentum–it just takes him a bit longer to get going.
- Credit 2J for yanking LT Ryker Matthews after that horribly embarrassing series that went hold/procedure/sack and ruined a prime scoring opportunity, killing our momentum on offense. Matthews came back later, far more focused.
- Mangum has a cannon. I love the ball he throws.
- Mangum has to stop holding the ball so long. He takes too many health-risking hits and too many drive-killing sacks. He played way too greedy in the middle part of the game. He is AWESOME in the short to intermediate range because he has a cannon and gets the ball into tight windows, and we saw that in technicolor on the last few long drives.
- I’m a believer in this WR group. Mitch Matthews is really, really, REALLY good. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone better at coming back for the ball to create separation on short passes, and you can see that Houk and Kurtz are being taught the same things. Matthews should have 100 catches this year. Juergens and Blackmon are both REALLY fast, and both totally impress me with their ability to make tough catches while defended. That is a great group of kids.
- Our ILB need to be really sure tacklers because of how much we blitz. Langi really struggled vs Neb, but has made great strides–he is a freak athlete who just lacked experience. He will be a great one. On the other hand, Pikula and Leuta-D seem to really struggle. Pikula misses soooooo many tackles…we were spoiled by Kaveinga/Unga/'Tree.
- Nacua is very intuitive about where to be and when to get there. Great instincts and great atheleticism=great safety.
- Travis Tuiloma is a MAJOR loss, and not just in gross tonnage. With lots of questionable tackling by our ILBs, it’s crucial that our interior DL hold their gaps, and we got pushed around pretty badly in the middle.
- ZERO bad snaps from Koroma in three games. Ladies and gentlemen, we have an All-American center. Show some love for the big man in the middle.
- Three games in a row with really good officiating!!! Thank you PAC12 refs for not flagging #72 for the 10 holding penalties he deserved, and for letting the game move at a good pace without a bunch of ticky tack penalties.
2 Likes
Agree with all your points.
One Minor correct…
Koroma did have a bad snap in the BSU game where it went to the side of Mangum and before he was ready, but 99.9 percent He has a been a stud so far…
I love the interior of the O-ling Johnson, Koroma, Kanuch I am not 100 percent sure, but I don’t think Tanner has been pressured up the middle… However as you stated R. Mathews and Lapuaho needs some “come to Jesus” meetings with 2J… :O)
Tlaimer,
I agree with each of your points. Thanks.
I would like to add that the coaches are doing a much better job coaching this season over what we witnessed in the past seasons.
They seem more focused and more determined. I see more game time adjustments. I see less distractions and I salute them for the progress. Our team is doing great this season under their leadership.
great breakdown. We sure could have used Brown and he sure hands for a 3rd and 5…now get this list in Anae’s hands with the wide receivers comment circled. No more up the middles in critical times, please.
Well, good breakdown. A couple of things:
- Anae had a good game plan but still brainfarts when it counts.
- Mangum isn’t being greedy. He’s reading his progressions. What he needs to learn to do is occasionally throw the ball away instead of taking sacks.
- Defense tackling is poor. Staying in their lanes and protecting outside is fair.
- 72 wasn’t holding on that play either. And, the timing of it was poor.
Good post–I agree that “greedy” was a poor choice of words, because it suggests Mangum is not a pure team player. What I meant is that he is reading too long, refusing to give up on a play when the D has it stoned, hoping to get something that is just not there. I’m afraid he’ll get killed if he keeps holding the ball so long. But the way the ball rockets out of his hand, I’m reminded of a certain young Stanford gunslinger who could run just enough to be dangerous, had a rocket launcher on his shoulder, and seemed to have a big silly lopsided grin just like Mangum’s tattooed on his face. That kid played the game like he knew he would win, even when all the odds were against him. That kid wore #7 and turned to be pretty good.