1/4 of the season through, the place for thoughts/comments

[jpfalcon09]

Hey guys, just figured that since we've reached the all important quarter mark of the season, this could be a place to discuss how you feel so far about the team, season and MAC opponents to come.

I'll get the ball rolling:

Offense: B
After 3 games, I really see the offense starting to gel. The addition of Partridge back at WR gives us a legit #1 WR threat now, and he will most certainly give Charles, Brantley and Ruiz more chances for catches. Freddie Barnes has emerged as the explosive player that we had been hoping for all season that would make a big impact. However, I think that Dan Macon has been somewhat of a disappointment, although he has been steady receiving the ball. It seems to me that Bullock may have more size to be able to fight for some extra yards, but I hope to see the Macon everyone's been talking about. AT has been steady, and although his status for Kent is unknown at this time, I feel confident in Freddie possibly handling most if not all the snaps this coming weekend.

Defense: B+
The defense has been a strong point for BG since the huge 4th down stand vs. Wisky. Key players have emerged in the likes of Kenny Lewis, Erique Dozier and Jerrett Sanderson that have picked up some of the leadership roles of a young defense. I am excited about the future for the defense, especially since they've been forging big turnovers at key points in games. Tackling could improve, especially with some of the secondary players, and I think that will come with time.

Special Teams: D
Wow...where to start? The Wisky and Buffalo games were complete disasters in regards to blown opportunities, blocks and misses. However, the FIU game gave me a slight glimmer of hope that I certainly believe willl get brighter as the season progresses. Alonso Rojas averaged 47 yards a punt, which is outstanding, and he had time and protection to get off good kicks. Sean Ellis stepped up and kicked 2 clutch field goals after missing an XP on the 2nd touchdown of the game. However, tackling issues again rear their ugly heads in regards to punt and kickoff coverage. The last 2 games have been provided with 2 kickoff returns for touchdowns, due to poor coverage and lackluster tackling. Ironically, BG has won both of those games, and the team has picked up the slack in other aspects of the game to cover for those blunders. I feel that as the younger players get more experience, things will improve. Rojas and Ellis showed their potential against FIU, now it's time for everyone else to step up.

I'll be curious to see everyone else's "grades" per say and to see some godo discussions on a so far successful BG football season.

[Falconfliccbone]

1/4 of the way done?!?!?! Man, the season is going fast...too fast! It seems like it took forever to get here, so I want it to last for awhile. Good luck Falcons and beat the Flashes!!

[Columbus_Zak]

Superstar Freddie Barnes has my vote for Heisman.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Offense: Partridge coming back is huge, and Ruiz and Drob are big reliable targets for our young QBs. We need another receiver to step up here. The running game has been a pleasant surprise, and our veteran OL should continue to be the strength of the offense. The Turner injury will be huge. He needs to be able come back full strength for our offense to continue to develop. I like Freddie as a runner, but we will not win the East with Barnes at QB this year. We need AT to throw the ball around a bit. I really hope we can be a little more creative with the playbook against Kent and Ohio. We can't continue to run our QBs 40+ times a game, or else we'll be peeling redshirts off the freshman because Barnes and AT will be in the hospital. Grade = B-

Defense: Heart of the team so far, no question. Still not wrapping up, but this unit as a whole has been in a much better position to make plays. The additional speed has been evident, and the young secondary is playing better than expected. I expect the young (no pun intended) DTs to gain more and more playing time, and for that to allow Briggs and Parks to take over some games with the edge rush. Dozier and White are all-MAC guys that have been playing like monsters, and leading the defense. John Lovett is making his case as the next leader of this program. Grade = B+


Special Teams: Grade: Z-



We still have no idea how good this team is, or can be. Buffalo got smoked by a struggling NIU team, and Wolfe ran for about 1,000 yards. Our rushing day against them certainly shouldn't impress anybody. FIU was able to adjust to our tendencies and was more effective in stopping the QB rushing show. Wisconsin doesn't look all that special either. Now that there is some decent film on our offense, the MAC coaches know what we want to do. Brandon and Stud need to change it up week in and week out. We don't have the talent/experience on O this year to just run our scheme and put up 40 points. This offense needs to adapt and be unpredictable in order to be effective. Right now, predictable would be the one word I would use to describe our offense. That has to change. STs needs to continue to improve if we want to win the East as well. That pretty much goes without saying.

The next two games will tell us a lot about or team. If we can win one of them, and stay healthy through the OSU game, I think we have as good a chance as anyone in the East.

[Warthog]

Offense - B, I liked how we started mixing it up more Saturday (AT fakes the dive and throws to Barnes for the TD, Barnes fakes the dive and turns and throws TD pass the opposite way.) We need to do some more of this to keep defenses honest. I like Barnes as a runner, but AT much better as a passer. Agree that 40+ carries for our QB is not a good thing. Can we line Macon up at QB and let him take a direct snap like we did with Pope? Seems like that could work. But overall, I have been disappointed with Macon. He looks like he only wants to try to get outside and use his speed instead of running 'North and South' toward the goaline.

Defense - B-, Much improved over last season and a lot of potential to improve. They should a lot of heart in the Buffalo game the way they controlled the fourth quarter so the offense could get a chance. We still give up a lot on the ground and I haven't seen enough of the pass defense because of that. I am still very positive about this unit though. We are playing a ton of young guys. This could easily be a dominating unit in the MAC for the next couple of years if they continue to improve.

Special Teams - F, enough has been said about this already. There was some improvement last week so maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The MAC seems very unpredictable thus far. But there is no doubt we can compete for the division title. No disrespect to Kent (they are 1-0 ), but our four home games are looking like our four easiest games at this point. So it will come down to how we play road, especially next week at Ohio. If we can win the next two, survive physically at OSU, and handle EMU at home, we will be 4-0 and sitting alone atop the MAC East with the toughest part of the schedule coming up. That will be make or break time.

[JohnnySwoop '85]

Offense: C+ Is it me or do we really seem to score on the first possession of every game. Harkens back to the day when Omar & Co. would blast out to a huge lead before the other team would get a first down. Only problem after the first possession we settle into a dog fight and field position battle.
Shows "O" coaches can design an initial game plan, Thereafter...adjustments to keep it going? If QB draws, sweeps, and keepers continue providing wins then grade automatically improves, however somebody and maybe soon is going to design this as first priority to shut down.

Defense: C Are we improving over last year, or settling for playing to our level of competition? 35 against Wisconsin not too bad, battled the whole game...but 27 and 28 points against Buffalo and FIU? which leads me to...

Special Teams: D OK, I get the youth thing, there freshman, but for crying out loud it's a 20 yard XP!!! Kicking starting to show improvement, keep it going. Coverage? Nothing saps momentum by giving it all right back...this aspect alone would be an F.

But hey, some us started our college careers with worse grades...I believe we'll be a 3.0 GPA by Thanksgiving....B , B, and B.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Offense: C+ Is it me or do we really seem to score on the first possession of every game. Harkens back to the day when Omar & Co. would blast out to a huge lead before the other team would get a first down. Only problem after the first possession we settle into a dog fight and field position battle.

The current staff has always been sub-par at in-game adjustments. They are fantastic at gameplanning, but don't seem to realize that the other team has coaches too.

Typical Brandon-BG pattern against similar talent level opponent (of course it's not like this every game) -- Come out of the tunnel guns blazing, building a huge lead, racking up chunks of yardage, and looking unstoppable. Second quarter, start to slow down, lose most momentum. Third quarter, we get taken to the woodshed and look like a Pop Warner team. 4th quarter -- finally figure out that the stuff we've been doing since the beginning isn't working any more, so we try some different stuff. It's either too late at that point, or we claw out a victory.

This season has shown improvements in this area, at least defensively. The fact that our first drive is always money and then we drop off considerably is very troubling.

[Falconfreak90]

Quick look:

Offense-B

I like how the O is coming together. Still, work to do. I wish the staff would start using more of the playbook.

Defense-B

The D is playing pretty well so far. Still too many missed tackles but other than that, I love the intensity of the D.

ST-D-

Saturday's game in Miami was an improvement...not a whole lot, but some. Loooooooooooooots of work to do.

Overall...I give the team a B- at this time but we're gonna keep getting better as the year goes on. Take it one game at a time and let's rock Kent State!!

GO FALCONS!!