From the Couch

[VDub26Falcon]

I think it was just a little disheartening knowing that we could possibly land a knock out blow very easily. I mean, we scored 30 (should've been 31) unanswered points after Idaho's opening drive! I can understand wanting to control the clock a bit but I think I would have worried about controlling the clock when I was up 44-7 instead of 30-7.

[jpfalcon09]

Coach admitted after the game that the 2nd half playcalling was close to the vest. I don't think they want to show anything too early for teams to get a read on for MAC play, or at least until the Wyoming game. I was most impressed with the creative playcalls and misdirection in the first half. It's about time our offense has some sort of new look to it, and I think it surprised Idaho greatly, their defense was very frustrated.

Overall, a solid win for the program that desperately needed to get off to a good start. 1-0 always sounds so much better than 0-1!

[Falconfreak90]

I disagree about Idaho not being a good team. They were 6-7 last year with 12 starters back this year. Phil Steele stated they are a dark horse contender for the WAC title and Phil usually knows what he's talking about. The Idaho QB struggled cuz our D pinned their ears back and went after him...LOVED seeing the blitzes.

The 2nd half? Eh....we did what we had to do to run out the clock and with (FINALLY) a running game to do it.

[bgdodgeball4]

Positives: I liked the fact that we were ready to go from the start. There have been times recently where we came out flat and it was good to see us come out with fire like that. I also liked pretty much everything in the first half. Schilz looked sharp and everyone contributed which is great. Also... have to give props to the special teams units - the first time I can say that in a long time. Our punter is the real deal.
-Samuel is going to be good
-Joplin looked good
-Schilz was impressive. He's been fantastic when healthy.
-Defense was all over the place
-I like how Burkhardt recovered to make that FG after missing the XP.
-Special teams was great
-Keith Morgan and Chris Jones both had good games.

Negatives: I understand the reasoning for the playcalling in the second half, and I liked the fact that we ran the ball pretty well for the most part, but that was a 2 possession game for almost all of the 4th quarter. Maybe that Buffalo game right before Brandon got fired is still too recent in mind, but if it weren't for a couple great punts we could have been in a much closer game. We got away with it this time but that's not going to work in MAC play - what's wrong with scoring 1 or 2 more before getting so vanilla? Beating a team convincingly means more confidence, and we could have got some of the younger backups playing time had we kept on them.
-Offensive line had trouble getting a good push at times.
-Have to keep the pressure on.

I'm not going to criticize too much; every unit played great and I'm excited. But my excitement is tempered a little bit because we should have won by 4 touchdowns.

[Redwingtom]

BTW - If you have the time, cruise on over to mac-sports.com under the Fan Zone section and vote for Anthon Samuel as the top performer from last night. Polling just started.

[AyZiggy97]

I couldn't care less about nos. 1, 2, and 5 if they continue to win.

[MarkL]

Few quick thoughts ...

1. Matt Schilz looks like a future pro prospect.
2. This is the best BG defensive line since probably 03. Briggs was an outstanding end and is the best single lineman during that time, but he didn't have the DTs that we have now.
3. Eugene Cooper, Kamar Jorden, Adrian Hodges, Ray Hutson, and Shaun Joplin are five of the best WRs in the conference right now. Too bad they can't all have outstanding seasons, but if we spread the ball around more evenly than the past two years, defense won't have a single guy to keep their focus.
4. Corners are young. Talented, but young, and young players will make mistakes. As they grow up, the defense is gong to get better and better.
5. We have a running game!
6. We can stop a running game!
7. We have special teams, as opposed to "special" teams! I like seeing one guy handle PK, one guy handle punting, and one guy handle kickoffs, so they each can focus on what they specialize in during practice. Watch out for outstanding special teams this year.
8. I'd personally rather have seen Clawson dictate some adjustments, let the offense go out there and play aggressively and give them the experience of adjusting to score. Put together at least one good drive before going all conservative. Give Matt the experience of leading a changing offense. But as it was, they gained the experience of having to run for first downs.
9. Hopgood left the game, but he was fine. I think he would have made that last first down that Samuel didn't. Hopgood is more of a north-south physical runner. He'll be very important for us late in games.
10. This is a young team. They just blew out an opponent which was supposed to be even with us. Clawson is going to have a new challenge - keep them focused. It's easy for the team and easy for us as fans to get excited about this season, but as far as this team needs to be concerned, there is one opponent remaining on the schedule - Morgan State. They must keep their focus at all times on the one opponent coming up.

I am SO PROUD to be a Falcon!