Week 9 (Buffalo) Thoughts

[catdaddyp]

452 yards of offense and 4 turnovers….

 

QB:

Finley caught fire in the 4th quarter and absolutely torched the Buffalo defense. Unfortunately, outside of the 4th quarter and the first drive of the game, it wasn’t a great showing. The interception was another instance where he under threw the ball and allowed the safety to make a play. 

Bullock was stuffed twice on 4th down conversions, but had his moments at other points in the game.

 

RB:

Outside of the fumble by Kellom, the backs ran the ball fine. True to form, they didn’t have that many opportunities - collecting 80 yards on 16 carries.

 

WR:

Norton came alive in the 4th quarter. He’s one of those receivers where many times he may be covered, but he’s really not covered. Meaning give him a chance to make a play against single coverage and he usually will. Golden and Granger had their moments too. On the downside, we still had a few drops.

Freshman Kyan Mason flashed his ability to make a difficult touchdown snag. He’s going to be a good one down the road.

 

TE:

Newell hasn’t been used as much in passing situations with the emergence of Cravaack, but I’ve seen him bark at guys over the past two weeks who were unsure of the play. He’s clearly had enough of people not knowing their assignments. Newell and Cravaack combined for 5 catches for 55 yards.

 

OL:

The amount of pressures that were allowed on either side of the RG was unacceptable. At times, K. Davis and Burrell looked like they were playing their first game of collegiate football. The stunts and blitzes caused all kinds of confusion for the right side of the OL. At this point in the season, these guys have played enough football to know what to expect. It was downright bad for portions of the game. The left side had a few mistakes too, but nothing like the right side. We also failed to get push on key downs when we needed to convert.

It’s frustrating that the OL can get it together in the 4th quarter and struggle so much throughout much of the rest of the game.

 

DL:

The starting defensive line was decent against the run. The 45 yard TD run by the RB was due to a DB (I didn’t catch the number) taking a terrible angle to fill the gap. The backup DTs and DEs didn’t give us much production. For the second straight week, Moore played over 60 snaps and Kapongo played over 50 snaps. That’s too much. We were without Lavea and Brockington and that played a role.

The defense as a whole continues to struggle to create pressure. In fact, I can’t recall a single time we created pressure without a blitz. Teams have figured out they can slide protect against Nunnally and then double one of the DTs and we will struggle to rush the passer. 

 

LB:

McCoy was lights out good. He probably had his best game of the season. Fish also played well.  Benenge, Spriggs, and Summers saw a good amount of action again. Summers made a few plays in the 2nd half.

 

DB:

Golden-Nelson and Reed started at CB again. Reed struggled some after playing well last week. Hunter, DeWalt, and Jarmon saw action. DeWalt played about 50 snaps, which is his career high.  If DeWalt ever figures it all out, he could be a really good player due to his length and natural ability.

Our lack of depth at safety reared its ugly head. When Anderson went down, we proceeded to have multiple mistakes from the DBs. D. Lewis and P. Lewis finished out the game as the two safeties. Greenwood and Thomas rotated at nickelback.

 

ST:

The wind seemed to play a factor on a few of the punts. Overall, special teams were good again outside of the fumble. There’s really no excuse for the fumbling issue to still be happening.

 

Coaching: 

More of the same. Offense and defense looked well prepared on the opening drives and then the turnovers started. We had a handful of penalties and personal fouls were limited, so that’s at least progress in that area. We’re not going to win any games when we lose the turnover margin 4-0.

Our “sudden defense” was bad. They held up at times during the flow of the game and in the 4th quarter, but were woeful after turnovers. It’s been that way all season.

 

 

The fact that we only lost by 11 with 4 turnovers says something. One would think Buffalo would have won by a lot more. We were only down by 8 before the final turnover happened and sealed our fate. Yet, it’s another way this program has found a way to lose. 
 

 

Edit: I noticed Hunter and Bullock walking on senior day. They still have a year of eligibility left if they want it for football, but I would not be surprised to see them move on. Hunter has dealt with injuries and fallen behind on the depth chart. Bullock supposedly reached out to Rutgers this past offseason and they said “no thanks.” Someone may take a chance on him this offseason though after seeing his versatility.

 

 

 

QB:

Finley

Bullock (played multiple positions)

 

RB:

Simmons

Kellom 

 

WR:

Norton

Davis

 

WR:

Golden

Rush 

 

WR:

Granger

Mason

 

TE:

Cravaack

Newell

 

LT:

Blanchard

Shor

 

LG:

Morris

Seymore

 

C

T. Williams

 

RG:

K. Davis

Burrell

 

RT:

James

Thomas

 

 

DE:

Adler

Dall

 

DT:

Kapongo

Madden

Murphy

 

DT:

Moore

Proffitt

Hull

 

DE:

Nunnally

Richards

Cheatom 

 

LB:

Fish

Benenge 

Summers

 

LB: 

McCoy

Spriggs

 

NB:

D. Lewis

Greenwood

T. Thomas

 

CB:

Golden-Nelson

Hunter

DeWalt

 

CB:

Reed 

Jarmon

 

S:

P. Lewis

D. Lewis

 

S:

Anderson

D. Lewis

 

 

Top Players on Offense:

QB - Finley

WR - Granger

TE - Cravaack

RB - Simmons

WR - Norton (I imagine Norton will be #1 by end of the week)

 

Top Players on Defense:

LB - Fish

LB - McCoy

CB - DeWalt

S - P. Lewis

DT - Moore

 

Edited November 3 by catdaddyp

[MangoZip]

 

[egregiousbob]

You seem to take solace in the fact that they woke up late in the third quarter. They were pathetic during a majority of the game.  That's on the coaching staff. It's time to PROVE you're better than a 2-10 team.  They've not done that thus far.  I see zero fire in this coach.  I would have been angry about my team's ineptitude during the first half+.  Don't look for silver linings...demand accountability.

[catdaddyp]

3 hours ago, egregiousbob said:

You seem to take solace in the fact that they woke up late in the third quarter. They were pathetic during a majority of the game.  That's on the coaching staff. It's time to PROVE you're better than a 2-10 team.  They've not done that thus far.  I see zero fire in this coach.  I would have been angry about my team's ineptitude during the first half+.  Don't look for silver linings...demand accountability.

The team played well enough to actually be in the game after a dismal 3ish quarters. 4 turnovers will doom any team and we are better than most at finding ways to lose, despite having enough talent to be competitive in conference play. I take the time after every game to talk briefly about each position because it’s never all good or all bad. In the end, winning and losing is what matters and we’ve yet to do enough to consistently win.

[ZippyRulz]

6 hours ago, MangoZip said:

 

 

I wonder if Joe and James Franklin had a chat after their games last night..

 

[clarkwgriswold]

The good news is that Zips basketball starts tomorrow.

[MangoZip]

1 hour ago, ZippyRulz said:

 

I wonder if Joe and James Franklin had a chat after their games last night..

 

Fortunately (or unfortunately?) there was no crowd at InfoCision to harass Joe on the way off the field. 

[Lee Adams]

22 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

452 yards of offense and 4 turnovers….

 

QB:

Finley caught fire in the 4th quarter and absolutely torched the Buffalo defense. Unfortunately, outside of the 4th quarter and the first drive of the game, it wasn’t a great showing. The interception was another instance where he under threw the ball and allowed the safety to make a play. 

Bullock was stuffed twice on 4th down conversions, but had his moments at other points in the game.

 

RB:

Outside of the fumble by Kellom, the backs ran the ball fine. True to form, they didn’t have that many opportunities - collecting 80 yards on 16 carries.

 

WR:

Norton came alive in the 4th quarter. He’s one of those receivers where many times he may be covered, but he’s really not covered. Meaning give him a chance to make a play against single coverage and he usually will. Golden and Granger had their moments too. On the downside, we still had a few drops.

Freshman Kyan Mason flashed his ability to make a difficult touchdown snag. He’s going to be a good one down the road.

 

TE:

Newell hasn’t been used as much in passing situations with the emergence of Cravaack, but I’ve seen him bark at guys over the past two weeks who were unsure of the play. He’s clearly had enough of people not knowing their assignments. Newell and Cravaack combined for 5 catches for 55 yards.

 

OL:

The amount of pressures that were allowed on either side of the RG was unacceptable. At times, K. Davis and Burrell looked like they were playing their first game of collegiate football. The stunts and blitzes caused all kinds of confusion for the right side of the OL. At this point in the season, these guys have played enough football to know what to expect. It was downright bad for portions of the game. The left side had a few mistakes too, but nothing like the right side. We also failed to get push on key downs when we needed to convert.

It’s frustrating that the OL can get it together in the 4th quarter and struggle so much throughout much of the rest of the game.

 

DL:

The starting defensive line was decent against the run. The 45 yard TD run by the RB was due to a DB (I didn’t catch the number) taking a terrible angle to fill the gap. The backup DTs and DEs didn’t give us much production. For the second straight week, Moore played over 60 snaps and Kapongo played over 50 snaps. That’s too much. We were without Lavea and Brockington and that played a role.

The defense as a whole continues to struggle to create pressure. In fact, I can’t recall a single time we created pressure without a blitz. Teams have figured out they can slide protect against Nunnally and then double one of the DTs and we will struggle to rush the passer. 

 

LB:

McCoy was lights out good. He probably had his best game of the season. Fish also played well.  Benenge, Spriggs, and Summers saw a good amount of action again. Summers made a few plays in the 2nd half.

 

DB:

Golden-Nelson and Reed started at CB again. Reed struggled some after playing well last week. Hunter, DeWalt, and Jarmon saw action. DeWalt played about 50 snaps, which is his career high.  If DeWalt ever figures it all out, he could be a really good player due to his length and natural ability.

Our lack of depth at safety reared its ugly head. When Anderson went down, we proceeded to have multiple mistakes from the DBs. D. Lewis and P. Lewis finished out the game as the two safeties. Greenwood and Thomas rotated at nickelback.

 

ST:

The wind seemed to play a factor on a few of the punts. Overall, special teams were good again outside of the fumble. There’s really no excuse for the fumbling issue to still be happening.

 

Coaching: 

More of the same. Offense and defense looked well prepared on the opening drives and then the turnovers started. We had a handful of penalties and personal fouls were limited, so that’s at least progress in that area. We’re not going to win any games when we lose the turnover margin 4-0.

Our “sudden defense” was bad. They held up at times during the flow of the game and in the 4th quarter, but were woeful after turnovers. It’s been that way all season.

 

 

The fact that we only lost by 11 with 4 turnovers says something. One would think Buffalo would have won by a lot more. We were only down by 8 before the final turnover happened and sealed our fate. Yet, it’s another way this program has found a way to lose. 
 

 

Edit: I noticed Hunter and Bullock walking on senior day. They still have a year of eligibility left if they want it for football, but I would not be surprised to see them move on. Hunter has dealt with injuries and fallen behind on the depth chart. Bullock supposedly reached out to Rutgers this past offseason and they said “no thanks.” Someone may take a chance on him this offseason though after seeing his versatility.

 

 

 

QB:

Finley

Bullock (played multiple positions)

 

RB:

Simmons

Kellom 

 

WR:

Norton

Davis

 

WR:

Golden

Rush 

 

WR:

Granger

Mason

 

TE:

Cravaack

Newell

 

LT:

Blanchard

Shor

 

LG:

Morris

Seymore

 

C

T. Williams

 

RG:

K. Davis

Burrell

 

RT:

James

Thomas

 

 

DE:

Adler

Dall

 

DT:

Kapongo

Madden

Murphy

 

DT:

Moore

Proffitt

Hull

 

DE:

Nunnally

Richards

Cheatom 

 

LB:

Fish

Benenge 

Summers

 

LB: 

McCoy

Spriggs

 

NB:

D. Lewis

Greenwood

T. Thomas

 

CB:

Golden-Nelson

Hunter

DeWalt

 

CB:

Reed 

Jarmon

 

S:

P. Lewis

D. Lewis

 

S:

Anderson

D. Lewis

 

 

Top Players on Offense:

QB - Finley

WR - Granger

TE - Cravaack

RB - Simmons

WR - Norton (I imagine Norton will be #1 by end of the week)

 

Top Players on Defense:

LB - Fish

LB - McCoy

CB - DeWalt

S - P. Lewis

DT - Moore

 

UB kept attacking the right side(their left) of the Akron secondary with some success. There was NO wind to speak of.  What little there was, was gentle out of the north. I stood in the south end after 1/2 and there was only a slight breeze in my face. Big picture, big trouble.

[catdaddyp]

9 minutes ago, Lee Adams said:

UB kept attacking the right side(their left) of the Akron secondary with some success. There was NO wind to speak of.  What little there was, was gentle out of the north. I stood in the south end after 1/2 and there was only a slight breeze in my face. Big picture, big trouble.

Buffalo went after D. Lewis 7 times, Golden-Nelson 3, and Reed 3. Lewis played both NB and S, so he had a variety of matchups. DeWalt rotated in for both Golden-Nelson and Reed and pretty much shut his man down. No one else was thrown at more than twice. EMU went after Lewis and Reed a lot last week too.

 

Odd there was no wind. Both teams seemed to have their worst punts in the same direction. 

[catdaddyp]

 

[clarkwgriswold]

On 11/3/2024 at 9:35 AM, egregiousbob said:

You seem to take solace in the fact that they woke up late in the third quarter. They were pathetic during a majority of the game.  That's on the coaching staff. It's time to PROVE you're better than a 2-10 team.  They've not done that thus far.  I see zero fire in this coach.  I would have been angry about my team's ineptitude during the first half+.  Don't look for silver linings...demand accountability.

 

I also think it's pretty easy for a team to let up when they are up 38-7 in the 4th quarter.  I like the 23 points from the Zips in the quarter but I don't think it's truly representative of anything.

[Captain Kangaroo]

16 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I also think it's pretty easy for a team to let up when they are up 38-7 in the 4th quarter.  I like the 23 points from the Zips in the quarter but I don't think it's truly representative of anything.

From a late 90's Zips basketball game against Buffalo -

 

Joe Dunn - "Dan, you were down over 20 points for the entire second half, and in the last minute cut it to 2 points. What happened?"

Dan Hipsher - "Joe...it's easy to shoot threes when your down 20."

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

I also think it's pretty easy for a team to let up when they are up 38-7 in the 4th quarter.  I like the 23 points from the Zips in the quarter but I don't think it's truly representative of anything.

 

I didn't watch the game so I didn't want to comment, but that's how I imagine it played out. Teams generally get very conservative in the 4th quarter on both offense and defense to protect a big lead. Getting away from the things that built them that lead in the first 3 quarters. Allowing easy underneath completions and blitzing less on defense. On offense instead of taking shots down field, they look to run the ball or high percentage completions to both keep the clock running and to avoid costly turnovers that might allow the opposing team back into it.