Game Six (CMU) Thoughts

[catdaddyp]

QB:

Finley had his best game of the season, and if he’d played like that against Wyoming, we’d probably be sitting here with another win. Granted, CMU’s defense wasn’t anything special — I thought the number of turnovers they’d created (or been gifted) coming in masked some of their flaws. Still, it was great to finally see the kind of performance we know Finley is capable of. Hopefully, that’s something he can build on moving forward. On the lone interception, it looked like there was some sort of miscommunication, with the receiver running a different route than what Finley expected.

 

RB:

I don’t have enough positive things to say about Gant. He was excellent and once again looked like the FCS All-American from a few years back. He seemed a little gassed in the fourth quarter — which is understandable given he carried the ball 32 times and was on the field for all but six offensive snaps. It would’ve been nice to have another playmaker like Patrick available to give him a breather, but that wasn’t an option. Curry saw his first action, and while he’s a bigger back, he didn’t have much of a chance to show what he can do in limited touches.

 

WR:

Mason finally had the breakout game I’ve been waiting for. His performance looked a lot like what he showed during the spring game — the flashes that had me raving about him during the offseason. Outside of one glaring drop that would’ve moved the chains, this group was solid, and that miscue didn’t end up costing us. We just need this unit to keep developing. If they do, we’ll be talking about one of the better wide receiver corps in the MAC by the end of the season.

 

TE:

All three tight ends caught passes today and chipped in with some key blocks as well. I’m not sure why PFF graded the group as low as they did — I actually thought they played a sound game all-around.

 

OL:

This was one of the offensive line’s best games of the season — especially in the run game. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but they did enough to give the offense a chance to be effective in both phases. I believe K. Davis played every snap at right guard, which says a lot about his reliability and consistency up front.

 

DL:

I’m not sure when the last time our defense had five sacks, with four of them coming from the defensive line. Laventure was credited with six total pressures and two sacks, while Durham had two sacks, and Dall had three pressures. I also want to give credit to the DL for holding their ground and blowing up running lanes so often. 

 

LB:

Summers played a whale of a game. I’m not sure what the refs thought they heard when he was flagged for mimicking calls again, but from my view, it looked like he was just trying to get everyone lined up correctly on a play where several defenders seemed unsure of their assignments.

I’ll lump the secondary into this as well — it’s tough to always be in the right spot and still make open-field tackles against an offense like CMU’s, one that relies heavily on misdirection and gets its linemen to the second level. There were more busts than anyone would like to see, but overall the defense did enough to slow CMU down when it mattered most.

 

DB:

The secondary was asked to play the run more in this game than any other so far this season — as alluded to above. In coverage, they were generally solid, holding CMU to just 136 yards through the air. No individual stood out in a negative way, which is definitely a positive sign.

 

ST:

Special teams were very good overall, outside of the long missed field goal — which came from a tough angle — and Hills overestimating his ability by bringing out kicks several yards deep in the end zone. I like Hills and still think he’s going to break one this year, but there’s just no reason to bring those out from that deep.

 

 

Coaching:

Give credit where credit is due — great gameplans on both sides of the ball. Offensively, we were stubborn running the football while also taking timely shots downfield. The defense looked well prepared and didn’t hang their heads after giving up some explosive plays. Overall, I thought the staff came close to maximizing what they could in this game. The only downside was a handful of penalties that were 100% self-inflicted.

 

 

QB:

Finley

Johnson

 

RB:

Gant

Curry

 

WR:

Walker

Masom

 

WR:

Mar. Williams

Grear

 

WR:

Polk

Monteiro

 

TE:

Newell

Cravaack

Whisner

 

LT:

Dar. Johnson

Motley-Simmons

 

LG:

McManus

Archer

 

C

Lyons

Morris

 

RG:

K. Davis

 

RT:

King

A. Jones

 

 

DE:

Durham

D. Frazier

 

DE:

Dall

J. Frazier

 

DT:

Hull

Murphy

Musika

 

DT:

Laventure

Mixon

Madden

 

LB:

Summers

Boswell

 

LB:

Cooper

Spriggs

 

NB:

Al. Branch

 

CB:

Reed

Kamara

 

CB:

DeWalt

Thomas

 

S:

Flowers

Hunter

 

S:

Di. Johnson

Stepney

 

 

Top Rated on Offense (20 snap min.)

WR - Mason

C - Lyons

QB - Finley

RG - K. Davis

RB - Gant

 

Top Rated on Defense (20 snap min.)

LB - Summers

S - Flowers

LB - Spriggs

CB - DeWalt

CB - Reed

 

Edited 44 minutes ago by catdaddyp