For some reason I had high hopes for better performances tonight than I witnessed. Maybe it's my fault for expecting more. I thought I had read that Patrick had really improved in the off season and it was clearly his team. That his bad play the last half of last year wasn't really who he was, that the O-line hadn't given him time and the receivers weren't good enough. I believed these things. Sounded reasonable. But then I watch him tonight with all day to throw on every play, and receivers running wide open on nearly every play, and he throws the ball terribly. I mean way short on every throw. These receivers would be open behind the defense, like I normally only see from receivers on the other team, and they would have to stop to catch the ball every time, allowing the defense to catch them. And Patrick kept getting worse and worse so that in the second half he looked very afraid to throw the ball at all.
And Coach Eliot's defense. The first game out we get to play ULL. We know they can run so we'll game plan for that. And our improving defense has gotten bigger and stronger I've read. More SEC caliber athletes, and we brought in Coach Buh who will really help with the outside linebackers and also the defense in general as he's been a D-coordinator before. Coach Stoops is being more hands on in the secondary, his specialty. So we're really tightening this thing up. That's what I believed anyway. But then they gashed us for 200 yards in the first half, about the same amount we had if you took away Boom's run, and that worried me that they were controlling the line of scrimmage way too much. Luckily they had scored only 7, and I hoped we'd tighten up the defense with some second half adjustments. But instead they gained nearly 300 yards in the second half, most of them rather easily. And this half they scored off of em instead of missing their chances.
Luckily we won and I'm glad. But I ask you (if you bothered to read this);
Was I expecting too much? Were these expectations of improvement silly? I ask because it's the third year and I wonder when I'll see SEC caliber QB play, and when I'll see a defense that could stop this not very imposing ULL team.
And Coach Eliot's defense. The first game out we get to play ULL. We know they can run so we'll game plan for that. And our improving defense has gotten bigger and stronger I've read. More SEC caliber athletes, and we brought in Coach Buh who will really help with the outside linebackers and also the defense in general as he's been a D-coordinator before. Coach Stoops is being more hands on in the secondary, his specialty. So we're really tightening this thing up. That's what I believed anyway. But then they gashed us for 200 yards in the first half, about the same amount we had if you took away Boom's run, and that worried me that they were controlling the line of scrimmage way too much. Luckily they had scored only 7, and I hoped we'd tighten up the defense with some second half adjustments. But instead they gained nearly 300 yards in the second half, most of them rather easily. And this half they scored off of em instead of missing their chances.
Luckily we won and I'm glad. But I ask you (if you bothered to read this);
Was I expecting too much? Were these expectations of improvement silly? I ask because it's the third year and I wonder when I'll see SEC caliber QB play, and when I'll see a defense that could stop this not very imposing ULL team.
