Game Report

Offense
QB: B+ JG threw some dimes but still went through phases where he wasn’t in the same time zone with his receivers. That being said, this was his best game of the year. 2-3 incompletions were well thrown balls where only the VOL receiver had a chance to catch the ball. Only one “oh crap” pass. Had 2-3 outright drops. Missed at least three swing passes, just can’t seem to throw those well. Still a bit late and behind at times. Run checked well, for the most part. On 3rd down he conducted a Masters thesis. Bottom line was a darn good game overall. After the dark times it was great to see the smile after some success. Very happy for the young man and hope he continues this upward journey.

RB: B- Found some room in the 2nd half. Had some burst, hit the hole hard. Had a fumble but the helmet hit the ball but it wasn’t high and tight enough. Still a two man game with gray getting only spot appearances.

WR: A freaking Plus Three (3) receivers with 100+ yards. Open most of the night. Every time we ran the inside out to the left the receiver was wide open. Through the middle of the game they essentially chose not to guard JJ for some inexplicable reason. They excelled in inviting and playing through contact. We never threw to it but DWA was open all night on the seam route. It was very clear that going into the game that Cheney and crew felt we could exploit their secondary, and we did. JJ is still the alpha dog.

OL: B+ Grade brought down due to the lack of a consistent running game, penalties (Calbert 2 bad ones on a single drive) and some poor play by early (Kennedy), middle (Locklear) and late (Morris). However, for the most part they passed protected very well against a darn good DL/front 7. The one sack (that I recall) was more on JG’s indecision that poor pass pro. Trey Smith is playing at a very, very, very high level. He is playing at an All American level. Enjoy these last two game because if the NFL can accept his medical issues he is a 1st round pick IMO. If you go to the candy game, do yourself a favor and concentrate on #73 for a couple of series – you will see how the OG position should be played. It is truly the TSHOP!

Coaching: A I thought Cheney and crew had an excellent game plan. It was apparent they thought that if the OL could be decent in pass pro that we could exploit their secondary. The OL could and we did. Some really interesting wrinkles in the run game. For example, lining Calbert in the backfield and using him as a lead blocker. One interesting self-scouting wrinkle. All year we had been lining up the TE in a wing (H-back) position and running the ball. Last night we passed out of that formation with a wingback right every single time, especially with the QB under center (the first couple of times you could literally see the defense go WTF?!?). Also, I only remember one specific handoff to the left (JG’s left hand) all night – schemed around that limitation.

Defense
DL: B At times played very well At times they didn’t. Even without Solomon, once they adjusted, they tended to play the run well. Typically needed LB help for pressure but one where we got really good pressure only rushing 3. In the 2nd half we essentially played a 4-2-5. I consider Taylor a lineman event though he is a LB and though he didn’t get any sacks last night he was our most consistent pass rusher and probably had close to 5 pressures.

LB: A- Butili got off to a slow start but showed his presence after that. Both had a couple of pass defense breakdowns. Henry T may have a damaged wheel but it didn’t show last night. He made the definitive stop on their QB that forced a punt that resulted in our last drive to seal the game.

DB: B Warrior is playing lights out ball at the moment (though judging by Pruitt’s reaction the pass to the void where Butili blitzed from was a bust by Warrior as he was blessed out on the sidelines). McCollough continues to improve opposite Warrior – will be the lead safety next year IMO. Taylor had a good game, has shown good improvement the last few games. Thompson, George and Shamburger were disappointing. BTW, some have made a big deal by the grabbing of his jersey by Pruitt (especially one damnyankee asshat ambulance chaser). But if you follow the tape all the way through Shamburger didn’t have a negative reaction at all and two plays later was back in the game. Tough, effective coaching by Pruitt IMO.

Coaching: B I thought that Ansley had a god game plan, just poorly executed at times. Adjusted well to what MO was doing. Effectively mixed in aggressive pass rushes. Adapted to place a spy on the QB (see MO’s last few plays)

Overall: A good night in Columbia and we are going bowling!

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