Thoughts from the Day After

[JH5]

So I've waited a few days to gather my thoughts and calm down after Saturday night.

-This is a tough loss, but I still have the feeling that Clawson is going to do good things here. It's going to take some time (which, as a fan, is hard to deal with) but he will make it work I believe. He has already proven to be a good recruiter and I like what I see in our younger guys so far; plus, and this is the biggest thing, there is an attitude change going on. He's suspending people when he needs to and the team hasn't quit when it faces adversity-two things that give us hope for the future.

-Our glaring weakness is our defensive line. We knew this was going to be an issue and so far it has been the biggest. To beat teams, we're going to have to score points early and force them to try to throw to beat us. I think our secondary is actually quite good--but teams are going to wear us down with our small D-line--that's why it is key for us to score early and often if we're going to have any success this season.

-As good as Tyler is, he isn't the vocal leader that we need him to be. I hate to criticize the kid I really do, because he has talent, but we need a guy that has that killer instinct--someone that is going to get in the faces of other players and say listen, we need to step it up. Since he's been the starter, we've lost games that we should have won on numerous occasions (and this past saturday was just another one of those games) and I strongly feel like that is due to lack of leadership. I hate to say it, but we need another Omar or JH to lead the team. We have the talent to compete with anyone but we don't have a true leader. We won't blow people out this year becaus of that--you have to have a guy thats going to go for the kill and makes the rest of the team do the same.

[Falconboy]

So I've waited a few days to gather my thoughts and calm down after Saturday night.

-This is a tough loss, but I still have the feeling that Clawson is going to do good things here. It's going to take some time (which, as a fan, is hard to deal with) but he will make it work I believe. He has already proven to be a good recruiter and I like what I see in our younger guys so far; plus, and this is the biggest thing, there is an attitude change going on. He's suspending people when he needs to and the team hasn't quit when it faces adversity-two things that give us hope for the future.

-Our glaring weakness is our defensive line. We knew this was going to be an issue and so far it has been the biggest. To beat teams, we're going to have to score points early and force them to try to throw to beat us. I think our secondary is actually quite good--but teams are going to wear us down with our small D-line--that's why it is key for us to score early and often if we're going to have any success this season.

-As good as Tyler is, he isn't the vocal leader that we need him to be. I hate to criticize the kid I really do, because he has talent, but we need a guy that has that killer instinct--someone that is going to get in the faces of other players and say listen, we need to step it up. Since he's been the starter, we've lost games that we should have won on numerous occasions (and this past saturday was just another one of those games) and I strongly feel like that is due to lack of leadership. I hate to say it, but we need another Omar or JH to lead the team. We have the talent to compete with anyone but we don't have a true leader. We won't blow people out this year becaus of that--you have to have a guy thats going to go for the kill and makes the rest of the team do the same.

Yeah, the defensive line is hurting big time in these games. I don't know how many guys we are able to sub in and out but losing Mike Ream hurt us big. I'm particularly interested in how Clawson recruits interior d-lineman. Hopefully more size and strength instead of these bulky DE's with a little speed. I don't why it is, but the DT position probably has been our bane going on nearly a decade now. We seem to always have problems keeping guys there whether it's guys being raided by GB to play OT who never play OT or guys leaving or guys getting suspended , arrested , what have you. It's gotten ridiculous and I hope for one it ends with Clawson and the DT position can be a force in the future. My personal philosophy is , if you've got major weakness at the front four , your entire defense is going to suffer in one way or another.

[hammb]

I know its sinful to disagree with HAMMB... But I just think its a matter of coaching philso. I think there are alot of coaches on the road... whose teams were getting run over ...and you have a kicker that has missed..... that would rather go for the TD... becuase if you miss the kick you are also SOL... so I think its kind of suspect to say that it is 100% wrong. If you think URBAN or Pete Carroll do not GO in that situation your nuts and they are considered the best coaches in college football.

It's certainly not sinful to disagree with me. I'd be willing to bet I've been disagreed with over the years on this board more than most people. I disagree with you entirely if you think Meyer or Carroll are going to go for it in that situation. Obviously impossible to prove right or wrong unless you can find a similar situation in a past gamelog, but I don't believe any coach would forego the points in that situation.

However, you do bring up the interesting notion, and that is that I'm seeing going for it as forgoing the points. If you don't have confidence in your kicker to make the FG from there then by all means, go for the TD and play to get the ball back and then play for the TD again. I just think you have to have faith your kicker is going to nail it from the 12 yard line. That's a 29 yard FG...

If it's the 3rd quarter or earlier I have NO problems with going for it in that situation...in fact I applaud it, and I would venture to guess that Urban or Carroll would both go for it as well. At the end of the game though, when you need 10 points to tie, you HAVE to play for to get those points and prolong the game. The FG from that range is considered a gimme to most kickers, so you have to put the points up and then try to get another possession for your TD. I have to believe most coaches would agree.