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Look -- overall that game sucked. And I'll get back to some of my fears about what it tells us about us in a moment. But I do want to make one point. The Maine game was two separate games. The first game lasted about 37 minutes and was as unwatchable as our game against Stony Brook two years ago (during our 2-10 season). It ended in a 7-7 tie with neither team able to move the ball with any consistency whatsoever. The second game started when Noel Thomas converted a third and long. We won the game 17-14, against a FCS team that wasn't any good last year, but it was much crisper and more watchable. And -- more importantly -- it was a game we would have/should have won 20 or 24 to zip, if you take away the phantom pass interference against John Greene and we don't inexplicably run a trick play on 1st and goal from their 14 and give them a return TD. My point -- not to excuse our playing poorly but trying to give some perspective to it -- is that but for one bad call and one stupid self inflicted wound, we win 27-7 or 31-7, and our win is comparable to Navy's and Syracuse's and Cincy's -- a nothing remarkable but solid victory.
Now, having said that, I don't want to imply that I'm not concerned by our performance. Go back and read my preseason View from before the game. I'm not normally that prescient. I listed four areas of concern for me. One was the OL play, and whether we'd get up to average. Well, we didn't look anywhere near average Thursday night. Now, maybe it wasn't all the OL's fault -- maybe we weren't ready from a coaching standpoint from Maine flooding the box, or maybe we had the adjustments an the skill players didn't make them. I don't know -- I only saw the game live from the stadium. But it looked like this problem wasn't solved. Second, I asked if we'd finally show some semblance of a pass rush. The short answer was no. When their QB was pressured he didn't throw well at all, but we barely saw it. This remains a cause for concern. I know we don't blitz but occasionally the front 4 has to produce some pressure and get some sacks on their own. Third, I asked if we saw HCBD grow out the whacky Bob syndrome. Nope. In addition to the incredibly puzzling position on punt returns, and issues about the offensive play calling, we still saw three blown time outs in the first half, the refusal to attempt a Hail Mary or 53 yard FG attempt with 10 seconds left in the first half, where there wasn't enough time to get hurt if we missed, stopping the clock for the game winning FG where he left them time to return a kick and run a play, and the lunacy of that play action at a time in the game when we were finally clicking on offense and were in the red zone. No trick plays when we spent 40 minutes unable to move the ball, but get in the red zone when we're finally owning the line of scrimmage and then some trickery. Ugh. And, finally, whether Shirreffs could play for an entire season without getting hurt. And here, on opening day against Maine, he has his helmet whacked off his head and we only win because he's running outside the pocket all night. Again, Ugh. So everything I was worried about preseason reared its head as a real issue against friggin Maine. Plenty to worry about going forward.
Offense, defense and specials -- let's start on D. Ormsby did not look anywhere near ready to replace Adeyami -- very quiet night. Quiet night for Luke, but he started getting pressure in the 4th Q. Quiet night for Stapleton (although we did see him and Luke both in on passing downs). The DTs were solid, but I didn't notice us able to use depth there. At LB, it looked to me as if Diggs played the whole game (we did not see Omaine Stephens) and Walsh, Joseph and Levenberry probably played roughly equal time at the two interior DL positions. Greene looked fine at the nickel corner -- didn't see Robinson play from scrimmage on the other side. Quiet night from the starting corners. Watkins did not look ready. To me, McCallister, who played roughly equally with him, was more ready. The run defense was obviously fine. The bend but don't break pass defense doesn't work if your Safeties can't keep the ball in front of them. Hopefully, that doesn't become a problem against teams like Cincy and USF that can throw it.
On specials, good games for Wain and Puyol. Kudos to Puyol less for the FG and more for touch backs on 3 out of 5 kickoffs. Never thought he'd have that kind of leg when he started. Kudos to the true frosh long snapper and Davis on the hold on a game winning FG attempt in their first game. Coverages were very solid. The FG block was great. Need to see more on kickoff returns gong forward, and I don't even know what to say about the punt return strategy.
The offense, as I said earlier, was inept for the first two thirds of the game, and was then fine. If you didn't see the game and only read the Boneyard, you'd think Shirreffs was barely adequate. He wasn't -- he was very good. Yes, he missed one or two throws. College QBs aren't supposed to look like Tom Brady. And yes, he needs to get his head up after he starts running and before he commits to go past the line of scrimmage. But he had a great game. Johnson looked much more aggressive going forward even if there was nothing there. Newsome did not have a great game but it was one game, and there weren't holes most of the time. I thought the last two years we didn't throw enough to Geremy Davis and then Thomas, but sheesh. Isn't there a middle ground between going to your stud 2 or 3 times a game and looking at him on two thirds of the pass plays. We aren't going to win many games with Mayala, Beals, Myers and Bloom combining for one damn catch. And the only thing I'll add about the OL is that when Hopkins went out and Vachery came in, it looked better. It may be that Maine was ready to fold in any event, but the results were what they were.
So where do we go from here? Annapolis. For all our struggles last week, Navy will presumably be without their starting QB, and this won't be last year's Navy team anyway. Last year against Navy, it wasn't so much that they dominated us as it was we couldn't finish drives and Navy, converting third down after third down, did. With our offense having returned almost everyone, and with Reynolds gone, I think that the possibility if there to go on the road and come away with a win. And that possibility got bigger when Navy's QB went down. This will be a different game, playing an option team, but I'm fairly optimistic about this. I still think the offensive talent is better than what we saw last week. But my fears also remain. We will need to score points this week. Our blockin and coaching will need to be better.
Now, having said that, I don't want to imply that I'm not concerned by our performance. Go back and read my preseason View from before the game. I'm not normally that prescient. I listed four areas of concern for me. One was the OL play, and whether we'd get up to average. Well, we didn't look anywhere near average Thursday night. Now, maybe it wasn't all the OL's fault -- maybe we weren't ready from a coaching standpoint from Maine flooding the box, or maybe we had the adjustments an the skill players didn't make them. I don't know -- I only saw the game live from the stadium. But it looked like this problem wasn't solved. Second, I asked if we'd finally show some semblance of a pass rush. The short answer was no. When their QB was pressured he didn't throw well at all, but we barely saw it. This remains a cause for concern. I know we don't blitz but occasionally the front 4 has to produce some pressure and get some sacks on their own. Third, I asked if we saw HCBD grow out the whacky Bob syndrome. Nope. In addition to the incredibly puzzling position on punt returns, and issues about the offensive play calling, we still saw three blown time outs in the first half, the refusal to attempt a Hail Mary or 53 yard FG attempt with 10 seconds left in the first half, where there wasn't enough time to get hurt if we missed, stopping the clock for the game winning FG where he left them time to return a kick and run a play, and the lunacy of that play action at a time in the game when we were finally clicking on offense and were in the red zone. No trick plays when we spent 40 minutes unable to move the ball, but get in the red zone when we're finally owning the line of scrimmage and then some trickery. Ugh. And, finally, whether Shirreffs could play for an entire season without getting hurt. And here, on opening day against Maine, he has his helmet whacked off his head and we only win because he's running outside the pocket all night. Again, Ugh. So everything I was worried about preseason reared its head as a real issue against friggin Maine. Plenty to worry about going forward.
Offense, defense and specials -- let's start on D. Ormsby did not look anywhere near ready to replace Adeyami -- very quiet night. Quiet night for Luke, but he started getting pressure in the 4th Q. Quiet night for Stapleton (although we did see him and Luke both in on passing downs). The DTs were solid, but I didn't notice us able to use depth there. At LB, it looked to me as if Diggs played the whole game (we did not see Omaine Stephens) and Walsh, Joseph and Levenberry probably played roughly equal time at the two interior DL positions. Greene looked fine at the nickel corner -- didn't see Robinson play from scrimmage on the other side. Quiet night from the starting corners. Watkins did not look ready. To me, McCallister, who played roughly equally with him, was more ready. The run defense was obviously fine. The bend but don't break pass defense doesn't work if your Safeties can't keep the ball in front of them. Hopefully, that doesn't become a problem against teams like Cincy and USF that can throw it.
On specials, good games for Wain and Puyol. Kudos to Puyol less for the FG and more for touch backs on 3 out of 5 kickoffs. Never thought he'd have that kind of leg when he started. Kudos to the true frosh long snapper and Davis on the hold on a game winning FG attempt in their first game. Coverages were very solid. The FG block was great. Need to see more on kickoff returns gong forward, and I don't even know what to say about the punt return strategy.
The offense, as I said earlier, was inept for the first two thirds of the game, and was then fine. If you didn't see the game and only read the Boneyard, you'd think Shirreffs was barely adequate. He wasn't -- he was very good. Yes, he missed one or two throws. College QBs aren't supposed to look like Tom Brady. And yes, he needs to get his head up after he starts running and before he commits to go past the line of scrimmage. But he had a great game. Johnson looked much more aggressive going forward even if there was nothing there. Newsome did not have a great game but it was one game, and there weren't holes most of the time. I thought the last two years we didn't throw enough to Geremy Davis and then Thomas, but sheesh. Isn't there a middle ground between going to your stud 2 or 3 times a game and looking at him on two thirds of the pass plays. We aren't going to win many games with Mayala, Beals, Myers and Bloom combining for one damn catch. And the only thing I'll add about the OL is that when Hopkins went out and Vachery came in, it looked better. It may be that Maine was ready to fold in any event, but the results were what they were.
So where do we go from here? Annapolis. For all our struggles last week, Navy will presumably be without their starting QB, and this won't be last year's Navy team anyway. Last year against Navy, it wasn't so much that they dominated us as it was we couldn't finish drives and Navy, converting third down after third down, did. With our offense having returned almost everyone, and with Reynolds gone, I think that the possibility if there to go on the road and come away with a win. And that possibility got bigger when Navy's QB went down. This will be a different game, playing an option team, but I'm fairly optimistic about this. I still think the offensive talent is better than what we saw last week. But my fears also remain. We will need to score points this week. Our blockin and coaching will need to be better.
