Long break
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:32 am
It's hard to believe that the team gets 2 and a half weeks off between the WMU and Akron games. What all should the team be working on? My top two are injuries and offensive woes.
I expect everybody who is injured except for Johnson and Gallon should be healthy for the Akron game. And with that thought, I can't help but think having Dieter healthy could be a real shot in the arm for the offense. Knapke definitely looked sore as the WMU game went on. I think I heard he bruised some ribs. I have bruised and broken my ribs before and I can tell you the pain experienced there is awful and it impacts every motion. Two and a half weeks should hopefully be enough to reduce the rib pain.
Offensive woes have been noticeable at times in each of the past few games. When the pace is there, the offense is damn near unstoppable, but when you see the whole team look to the sideline and wait fifteen seconds to communicate the play, drives stall with alarming consistency. So pace needs to pick up, but pace is not our only offensive woe. Our screen plays were going for huge gains against Buffalo and we had the big one to Greene against Ohio, but WMU sniffed out the screens all day. The downfield shots have largely been just to Lewis and the defenses are getting good at keeping him out of the game, so I would like to see Dieter and Jackson get more involved in the 15+ yard passing plays. And I also hope Callaway is ready ... we may need him, especially if Knapke takes another bad shot. You know the Akron linebackers will be eager to take some shots at Knapke's ribs to get him to think about body pain every tame he takes a snap.
And there is the concern of losing a beat due to the time off. Bye weeks can be good in that you as a team can heal and reevaluate concerns. But bye weeks can also throw off the rhythm of the week-to-week progress of the team. It is concerning that we have such a long break before what may be the MAC east championship game. This break is also the first bye week for Babers. Both Brandon and Clawson teams were known to look a bit rusty after bye weeks. Last year's loss to that team up north and 2008's meltdown against Buffalo both come to mind when I think of bye weeks. I do not know how the team will look against Akron, so I am hoping they look refreshed and not rusty or out of sync.
I expect everybody who is injured except for Johnson and Gallon should be healthy for the Akron game. And with that thought, I can't help but think having Dieter healthy could be a real shot in the arm for the offense. Knapke definitely looked sore as the WMU game went on. I think I heard he bruised some ribs. I have bruised and broken my ribs before and I can tell you the pain experienced there is awful and it impacts every motion. Two and a half weeks should hopefully be enough to reduce the rib pain.
Offensive woes have been noticeable at times in each of the past few games. When the pace is there, the offense is damn near unstoppable, but when you see the whole team look to the sideline and wait fifteen seconds to communicate the play, drives stall with alarming consistency. So pace needs to pick up, but pace is not our only offensive woe. Our screen plays were going for huge gains against Buffalo and we had the big one to Greene against Ohio, but WMU sniffed out the screens all day. The downfield shots have largely been just to Lewis and the defenses are getting good at keeping him out of the game, so I would like to see Dieter and Jackson get more involved in the 15+ yard passing plays. And I also hope Callaway is ready ... we may need him, especially if Knapke takes another bad shot. You know the Akron linebackers will be eager to take some shots at Knapke's ribs to get him to think about body pain every tame he takes a snap.
And there is the concern of losing a beat due to the time off. Bye weeks can be good in that you as a team can heal and reevaluate concerns. But bye weeks can also throw off the rhythm of the week-to-week progress of the team. It is concerning that we have such a long break before what may be the MAC east championship game. This break is also the first bye week for Babers. Both Brandon and Clawson teams were known to look a bit rusty after bye weeks. Last year's loss to that team up north and 2008's meltdown against Buffalo both come to mind when I think of bye weeks. I do not know how the team will look against Akron, so I am hoping they look refreshed and not rusty or out of sync.