THE GOOD:Congratulations Taylor Potts! This was the first game I actually got to watch on TV and I was impressed by several of his drives and his toughness, especially after that nasty head-shot he took in the 4th Quarter. Tonight was his first road game as a started in front of a hostile crowd of over 100,000 fans. He went 46/62 for 420 yards [insert joke here] and 3 TDs. He wasn't perfect, but he made me believe good things lie ahead for the Red Raiders.
WTG Defense! When I heard that we would be without several of our defensive starters for the UT game (due to injuries or disciplinary action), I was worried that we would get hammered. So I was very pleased to see our Defense step up and play almost lights out in this game. They forced some turnovers and stalled several scoring drives for UT. The defense held Heisman contender Colt McCoy to a pedestrian 205 passing yards and 2 INTs. I love Ruffin McNeal's approach to keep the system simple and be aggressive. Since he took over I can really tell a difference in our attitude and I love it!
Newcomer Stephens impressed me tonight - For a new kid I hadn't seen play before tonight, I thought he did a pretty good job fielding kickoffs tonight. He ended up with 182 all purpose yards and looked explosive at times...I just wished he could have broke one free to make up for the Shipley return we gave up...oh well...
THE BAD:
Onside kick = bad idea - When your team just marched down the field and scored to keep a big game within 7 points [and on the road, no less], you don't need to onside kick the ball. It was unnecessary and took all the momentum from our scoring drive and handed it along with great field position back to the UT offense. We all know that Mike Leach likes to gamble and keep everyone on their toes, but this was a real head-scratcher...
Stupid Penalties and Turnovers - whether most were deserved or not, the fact remains that Tech repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties tonight. The odds are already stacked against you on the road and to get 14 penalties for a 108 yards is bad, real bad... It seemed like every time our offense would get into a rhythm we would get hit with penalties that disrupted the flow of our game. And if it wasn't penalties, then it was turnovers. As everyone knows, turnovers can make-or-break close games, and that is exactly how it went down tonight. We had 3 turnovers on the evening [2 fumbles and 1 INT], but when and where they occurred ultimately influenced this game. I believe both the INT and the Potts' fumble happened inside the Longhorns 20, which gave them excellent field position that they capitalized on. Everyone knows that rule #1 is to protect the football and tonight we didn't do that.
THE UGLY:
What is up with the Tech Running game - no jokes please if you say "Tech has a running game?". Last year we were able to supplement our air raid attack with some explosive running that would keep the defenses honest and allow our offense to click (with last year's OU game being the exception). We ended tonight with -6 rushing yards. Even in a Leach run offense, this is simply unacceptable. Add to that multiple times our RBs fumbled the ball (even though they only lost it once), and the results weren't pretty.
What were your thoughts of tonight's game? Please leave your comments below...
I hate to sound boring here but I do agree with your analysis of the Tech v. TU game.
ReplyDelete- Potts has a great night. A Tech friend of mine let me know that he thought we would be good next year with Potts. I told him, "Heck, next year is great but I think we will be good this year with Potts." He took some tough shots, looked good in the pocket and had great arm strength.
- I was really impressed with the defensive performance. Especially the fact that we are wrapping up tackles so well and not allowing many yards after the catch. This was something we were very weak in a few years ago.
- The penalties are a killer and have continued to be a problem over the past several years. Consistently we lead in penalties in games. I wish there could be more emphasis from Leach but I guess he has his hands full with that offense.
- Batch did look terrible with our running game. I think our RBs are so used to blocking and screens, that they forget to hit the holes and run right into the backs of our offensive linemen.
- Overall, I was pleased wiht the team's performance. Let's get those Cougars!