catdaddyp

It was great to hear some excitement about the freshman. Joe knows he has something cooking here. I’m incredibly excited about the future of our LBs with Fish, McCoy, and Griffin. I also can’t wait to see the freshmen OL develop. Just need to get through these next two weeks with minimal injuries and hopefully find a few more players that will provide depth come conference play.

They can score some points, that’s for sure. Last year they went up 28-0 before the 1st quarter ended on a South Carolina team that won 7 games and blistered UNC in the bowl game. UT puts a tremendous amount of stress on the linebackers and safeties. Unfortunately for us, our S play has been below average to date.

That’s disappointing. I wonder if he has the grades and/or desire to graduate and enroll early. If so, that could be a nice spring board from this setback.

From what I can tell, out of the 25 players who have transferred out since I started tracking: - 2 are now at JUCO - 1 at FCS level - 4 at D2 level - 1 at D3 level Either I just can’t find where the other 17 went or they are not playing football this year. That’s rough.

Best interview I’ve seen with JoeMo so far.

Edge Micheal Garner is announcing his commitment on 9/17.

Haha, call it like I see it. Our issues were compounded due to the opponent we were playing.

I’m sure nerves played a part of it. I think what I originally posted about Undercuffler when he committed was that his strength was on throws 20 yards and in. The zip on his passes seems to fall off some on anything beyond that. He definitely struggled throwing those out routes from the far hash. Maybe he completes them against lesser competition? But that type of throw isn’t a strength of his. A few times he climbed and moved around in the pocket really well. For instance, there was one play where he gave himself some time, stepped up, and found a wide open Wiley. Unfortunately, he threw it right at Wiley’s feet for an incompletion. He threw a few nice balls at other times at well. So there is some potential there and he is with the right staff to get the best out of him. I hate that we face Tennessee next week as they are likely going to make both our offense and defense look rough.

I really liked the concerted effort to have Irons run yesterday. He looked comfortable and in command of the offense. It’ll be disappointing if he misses a considerable amount of time. Best case scenario Undercuffler gains confidence and becomes a reliable option by the time conference play rolls around as Irons heals up. Hooks just isn’t getting it done. I wasn’t watching that closely in 4th quarter but from what I did see, we don’t have many (or any) better options right now. That doesn’t mean someone else won’t develop as the season goes on, but the notion that our secondary is a strength (according to the media) is false. Yes, there is some talent that could develop, but no depth at the moment ready to help. That being said, I did notice Threatt on a few plays near the end, so maybe he will get a look at some point? It’s become clear why JoeMo was hesitant in answering the question about the roster looking like an FBS roster. We do at certain starting positions, but the productive depth is lacking. I feel good about our front 6 on defense (7 if Lewis is included in that Nickel front) so that is improvement over last year. Plus, one CB spot is locked down. DT depth is ok. We need for either Behm, Boateng, or Fish to take a major leap forward and not have LB play drop substantially when they enter the game. Our two P5 safety transfers have disappointed so far and need to start playing like P5 players. JKP saw more snaps than either of them last game and probably should be starting in one of those spots. I liked Woods activity at S for his limited snaps, so maybe he will help down the line?

So many guys played and this depth chart isn’t perfect. Since the backups filled in multiple positions I just slotted them where they were at some point in the game. DE: 1) Jones = 57 (51.2) 2) Lawson = 4 3) Howze = 9 4) Adler = 5 DT 1) Hawkins = 23 (65.1) 2) Wilson = 32 3) Robinson = 15 4) Thomas = 13 DT 1) Harper = 53 (55.9) 2) Sy = 27 DE 1) Johnson = 49 (56.3) 2) Morton = 35 LB 1) Arslanian = 26 (40.9) 2) Behm = 35 3) Fish = 23 LB 1) Terry = 31 (44.8) 2) Boateng = 42 3) McCoy = 9 3) DiLauro = 6 NB/OLB 1) Lewis = 68 (59.8) 1) Thomas = 15 CB: 1) Golden-Nelson = 56 (64.1) 2) Ogbonna = 12 3) Threat = 9 CB: 1) Hooks = 55 (36.9) 2) Durant 47 S: 1) Martin = 46 (53.9) 2) Woods = 23 S: 1) Thompson = 38 (40.1) 2) JKP = 55

QB: 1) Irons = 24 (57.4) 2) Undercuffler = 39 HB: 1) Wiley = 46 (54.7) 2) Price = 11 3) Norrils = 6 WR: 1) SJL = 44 (51.0) 2) A. Williams = 17 WR: 1) George = 50 (67.5) 2) Anderson = 11 3) Naim = 2 WR: 1) Grimes = 45 (54.4) 2) Golden = 15 3) Gathings = 5 TE: 1) Banks = 40 (57.8) 2) Brank = 23 LT: 1) Daniels = 58 (37.6) 2) Gray = 5 LG: 1) Banes = 58 (52.1) 2) Lyons = 5 C.: 1) Georges = 31 (49.0) 2) Robarge = 32 RG: 1) Whigan = 46 (53.1) 2) Kilbane = 17 RT: 1) Williams = 52 (63.3) 2) Chambers = 11

A few thoughts from yesterday: - The OL (and Irons) looked much better and were moving the ball until the turnover bug reared it’s ugly head. That’s the kind of improvement I expected to see from this staff. Good things are on the horizon…..but it probably won’t be in the next two weeks due to the opponents. - Undercuffler had a rough outing, but I’m not ready to throw him under the bus. He does not have as big an arm as Irons and struggles to make certain throws, but we had an idea that would be the case from his FCS film. I trust the staff will curtail the game plan around Undercuffler in the coming weeks and put him in a position to be as successful as he can be, while limiting the throws/plays he struggles with. He has enough arm strength to move the offense down the field, but the deep balls and cross field throws will have to be minimized. He will get more comfortable with more reps. - We landed some really good to solid players out of the portal in SJL, George, Banks, Whigan, Banes (looked much better), and Wiley on offense. On defense Jones, Harper, Terry, and Golden-Nelson have been the key pickups. I wondered why we did not see some of the other players on the roster in Week 1 and we found out why against MSU. The best players were already seeing the field. While there is certainly some potential waiting in the wings, some players just are not ready to help us yet. Maybe that changes by conference play? - I really like the front 4 combo of Jones, Harper, Wilson, Johnson. Along with Bubba and Terry at LB. Lewis continued his active play at Nickel and Golden-Nelson has done a nice job at CB. MSU picked on Hooks all game long at the other CB spot. Safety play was better at times in the run game, but still struggled against the pass. I do not know what the answer is there outside of hoping our current rotation continues to improve. - I do not feel the final score is indicative of what this team could become. Are we where we need to be? Absolutely not. Irons going down and the turnovers completely doomed us yesterday. But if improvements continue to be made - which they will - this team should be competitive in the MAC. So far, no one in the MAC has seemed head and shoulders above anyone else.

Seeing the same players so far this this week. Difference in a few starting spots though. LT - Daniels over Gray LB - Terry over Boateng DE - Johnson over Morton And we came out in a Nickel set on defense so I guess it could be said Lewis over Thomas, but not exactly the same position.

I hope so. Daniels looked like the better fit during his limited time last week.

Fisher to West Virginia. Another one that may not stick if Neal Brown doesn’t produce this year.

Edge Oryend Fisher is announcing his decision sometime today.

I’m assuming this is up to date. I haven’t been involved with high school athletics for a while. https://www.athleticscholarships.net/academic-requirements.htm#division1 2.3 GPA in core courses and sliding scale to match on SAT or ACT.

Talk about doing a disservice to the kids. I imagine many of these kids will think they are D1 eligible because they are eligible for their own high school. Then the cruel reality will hit.

That’s pass blocking. They listed his run blocking at 61.7. Giving him an overall of 67.2.

I remember thinking during the game “has Jones played every snap?” He was certainly close to it. Boateng really struggled this game. I forget which drive it was but he did not squeeze enough at the goal line and left a gaping hole for the RB to run through. I’m pretty sure we did not see him enter the game again after that. Terry was much better than Boateng and Fish looks like he’ll be special. JoeMo commented on him in the game review too. Our D1 safety transfers were underwhelming to say the least. JKP should be starting at one of those spots. The cornerback spot opposite Golden-Nelson is also a concern..

Agree about RB. Seems the staff is really high on Wiley though. Gray certainly struggled for a large part of the game. I think Murphy is hurt. There were a ton of guys on ST, but I could not list them all. Instead, I just listed the guys who saw 10 snaps or more.

PFF. It may not be 100% accurate, but it’s as close as it gets without going through each play myself haha.

QB 1) Irons = 71 RB 1) Wiley = 65 2) Price = 6 WR 1) SJL = 59 2) A. Williams = 12 WR 1) George = 51 2) Gathings = 20 WR 1) Adams = 29 2) Golden = 38 TE 1) Banks = 38 2) Brank = 37 LT 1) Gray = 50 2) Daniels = 21 LG 1) Banes = 68 2) Lyons = 3 C 1) Robarge = 36 2) Georges = 35 RG 1) Whigan = 65 2) Kilbane = 6 RT 1) Williams = 58 2) Chambers = 13 Notable ST Players: Hester = 25 Naim = 25 SJL = 19 Price = 18 Brank = 14