Game Report (Offense)

[PirateVOL]

QB:  D  I We had receivers open all over the field for the most part but JG was late and either under or over throwing the receivers (even the long pass to Keyton was woefully underthrown – was a good 5 yards behind the defender when thrown).  JG also stares his receivers down, has no clue how to manipulate safeties with his eyes.  As a result, he misses wide open receivers, even when in the same arc. Nobody appeared to cover Palmer on the pass play (plus faceguard) after the OSK.  Palmer just ran straight down the field and there was nobody within 10-15 yards of him at any point till after the catch.  Maurer has WAY TOO MUCH confidence in his arm.  One other note is that on one goal line incomplete in what had to be a RPO JG keeps the ball, makes a bad pass.  Meanwhile, the left side of the O-line open a huge hole (Trey absolutely SEALED the inside while Wanya kicked his guy out) – the RB (Gray?) would have scored untouched.

RB:  B  We have ourselves a RB.  Gray is special.  Even on A gap dives you get the impression he is one cut or missed tackle away from a long gain and/or TD.  He is also a FR and either he or JG were on the wrong page on the first pick as Gray went right (whiffed on a block) and JG was looking and threw left.  I also get the feeling they don’t fully trust him in pass pro yet.  Chandler also had a nice game.  Jordan was a non-factor. 

WR/TE:  A/D  Our WR were getting open, just had nobody to throw them the ball.  Our TE was poor (especially after Pope was injured.  DW-A had a bad game, missed blocks, poor route running (IMO) and just not up to the standards he played at late in the season.  There is a reason our running game deteriorated for a bit after the Pope injury.  Between Palmer and Keyton we will have a very good core WR set to build on in the spring and fall camps.  Palmer caught several balls but should have been targeted more as they were always rolling a safety over the top on Callaway, who still had a couple of nice catches (one should have been a TD if thrown better).

OL:  B  two costly holding penalties early (The 1st I saw live and thought was BS) and some whiffs (Locklear absolutely WHIFFED in the A gap once and got our RB drilled) but for the most part played well,  Trey had at least one pancake stack and between he and Wanya (and Pope) were consistently opening holes on the left side.  Most of our runs were off tackle left.  BTW, the timing on JJ’s wildcat was just off.  If JJ is just a quarter/half second later he gets the 1st down as Trey was in the process of destroying two defenders in what became a double stack.  As it was JJ runs into Trey and destroys his momentum.  The hole that Trey and Wanya opened on the Gray TD was unbelievable.  IMO Wanya had his best, most consistent game.  I believe Trey should go pro if NFL teams accept his medical regimen.  He should be a top 10 pick IMO, he is that good.  If he does return the expectations will be sky high.  For someone who is such a great ambassador for the school he is one nasty dude in the trenches. 

Coaching: B  I think Cheney was slow to recognize the middle was open as once JJ was in the game they were more often than not doubling both he and Callaway.  That often left Palmer and the middle in a soft underbelly zone coverage (not unlike our soft underbelly against them).  I’ve heard the two passes called check downs, IMO they were not.  Those were the fist time we had run someone into that area.  On both Gray just ran to the spot and settle between the two LBs, there was nobody around him.  Also, on at least one the plays JG was throwing the ball as Gray was turning around.  What I found really interesting is that on both the plays Gray went down on his own, like he was saving time.  On the 2nd he went down so hard that an IU player 5 yards away flopped down “injured”

Defense report later today

[Tnphil]

Good report Pirate

Just don't see how a QB can be a starter for pert near 3 years and still be as bad as he is at times....for every 1 good play he makes he makes 2 what the hell plays. He still can't read defenses like he should and has his pre snap mind made up. With a QB we could and should have won 10 games and we would have beat Indiana by 20 plus....even the Indiana boards I read said it. Hopefully the QB position will improve over the off season and Bailey will be the real deal that he looks like he is.....And Maurer finally figures out he's not Brett Favre. We are good QB play from being pretty darn good.

Like/love watching Gray run and looking forward to seeing a couple of backs we have coming in. Chandler not sure, I think some injuries held him back this season. Would like to see Chaney use him more in the pass game and get him in space. As far as the TE's....find one and use him. Using a TE can be a weapon and it could help with our red zone issues too. We had no answer most of the game for Indiana's TE. A TE used correctly can create mismatch issues. There's a TE that is ranked No.1 player in the state and one of the top TE's in the country in the the next class 60 miles down the road from me. I hope we can get him...Saban has been on him  since he was young and is a Bama lean right now....Go get him Pruitt.

Our OL will just get better and the next step is to improve in run blocking and it will come. Kennedy coming back is a huge plus.

Defense...Been a long time coming but we are starting to look like a SEC defense again and will just keep improving. Got some help in this last signing class too.

[murfvol]

As always, nice work. I love JG, and hope he has a stellar season at Rutgers next year. Our ceiling is really low with him.

[Tnphil]

As always, nice work. I love JG, and hope he has a stellar season at Rutgers next year. Our ceiling is really low with him.

I think there was a subliminal message in there somewhere