We all wanted a game of total domination from kickoff to the end and that certainly didn't happen. I'll say this though, I also wanted to, at the very least, cover. Not because I had bet on the game, I just wanted the validation of doing so and damn, we did it. And so maybe it wasn't four quarters of annihilation, but it was a win where we out did them in the stats column and we held them out of the endzone ....in short, I'll take it.
OL - not the dominate performance we dreamt of; run blocking is superior to pass pro, lots of dirty pockets, right tackle in particular seem to struggle, but also interior line play was inconsistent. Overall, they got the job done.
WR - need to improve - I think perhaps some of the guys are still nursing injuries. We might need to be patient with ZT developing a rapport with his WR group on medium and long throws. Great TD by Flynn. I liked the effort to toss the long TD pass to Harrison which bounced off his hands.
TE - blocking is a struggle at times, nice td grab by Neimenski. Would like to see us target them more often in the pass game. I see they put true freshman Joly out there on redzone plays.
QB - ZT is learning. Missed two short range passes with rushed throws....had the red zone TD (whoops). I am worried he is a little reckless with his body, needs to slide at the end of some of those QB scrambles. Lets see how he grows week to week.
RB - maybe not the flat out domination we expected from the start, but its clear all four RBs have talent and make plays. No issues here.
DL - maybe a little less rotation this week, guys made plays - really limited the interior run game. McCarthy and Gourdine stood out. the unit might not be QB killers, but they are keeping good gap control at the LOS.
LB - sort of less dominate than the Utah game. CCSU did manage to get to the edge and turn the corner a few times.
CB - played a lot of soft coverages, did get beat a few times. have to be a little concerned going forward. Did see true freshman Brinson on the field late. Myles Bell also on the field at times.
S - okay game I guess. seemed a little late on run support at times.
Specials - Protection unit seemed to underestimate CCSU. Harrison needs to clean it up - I would give him more time though, he has some ability.
Overall, I'll try to take the silver lining approach, we had our best game vs FCS since Fordham in 2011. We have a true Freshman QB. We have our top two WRs out. We played with some heart in the end, not so sure prior Edsall teams would have pulled out that 4th quarter.
Syracuse will be tough. No longer too optimistic about that one. I expect a different atmosphere under the lights and a bigger crowd. I just want to be in that game late. And yes
@Chin Diesel Charlton will be using the full playbook at that one. Razzle dazzle is coming.
