SELU Game Thoughts

[jonathanjoseph]

Definitely loaded at RB. I think 4 of the squad's top 10 players might be RBs. Robert Kelley is the real deal. I wondered if I was crazy thinking as much after the opening kickoff, but I now I'm more convinced that Kelley is the best RB we have. He's a big time player.

Very disappointed in the run blocking. There was not much room to run for the most part, save some great individual efforts from RBs. Which brings me back to the Toledo offensive philosophy. We simply don't have the horses up front to play physical, pro-style football. Seeing Houston spank UCLA right now reminds me that a few of those run-run-incomplete 3 and outs and we'll be down 21 to a team like that before we know it.

Griffin looked much improved and will give us the best QB play we've had since Losman. Curious to see how that translates versus better competition, but good QB play is pretty key to a program looking to make moves this year. Promising.

Didn't really understand the WR rotation. Heard all about Lebeau but the rotation seemed to feature Shackleford and Wilson in prominent roles rather than Lebeau. Also, calling a bubble screen for a walk-on WR whose name I've never heard before seemed bizarre. Good to see Van Hooser take one to the house and Grant had a really nice block.

I don't get using Mackey at FB. Seems a little desperate to me. If none of our scholarship FBs aren't good enough to get it done versus an FCS team, that's a problem.

Warmsley played a heck of a game, but otherwise the DL was really bad at times. In the first half, SELU was carving us up both on the ground and through the air. Things were much better in the 2nd half, but still not great given the level of competition. Not sure what to make of the DL after the first game.

Bailey will be a pretty good player too. This really does look like a nice Freshman class, and a much better class then we've signed in the past. Mackey seemed to be off his game. For a guy looking for all-conference honors, he shouldn't be whiffing against FCS RBs.

Strozier looks like a player and someone who would have been highly recruited if he were 3 inches taller. Played great both at DB and PR. Jury is out on the rest of the DBs. The SELU QB made some great throws against coverage but there were also too many receivers running free.

Overall, giving up 417 yards, 26 1st downs and 8-17 on 3rd down isn't going to get it done. So the defense gets a C- for this game. The offense was inconsistent and had way too much trouble controlling the LOS, but the passing game looked much improved. I give them a C+/B-. Special teams had a hiccup or two but had a number of big plays including blocked punts and big returns, they get a B+.

Not sure what to make of this overall, especially since special teams were the standout unit today. That's a shocker for sure! On to next week with a win, but that is to be expected vs a bad FCS team.

[RWR]

Glad we got the win.

Offense- We definitely have playmakers but when we play D-1 teams I still worry that the OL won't provide the holes or the time for them to make plays.

Defense- Well it looks like our offense made them look all world in practice. This team had no QB play. Where was our speed? Too many plays off the edge that we should have run down.

Special teams had some bright spots but also some low points. Improved but needs to be consistent

[NOLABigSteve]

I was definitely more disappointed with the defense. Mackey was off, and the no-huddle had Moses winded most of the game.

Better win than last year, but still don't know what to make of the team. Guess we'll find out more next week.

Beat Tulsa!

[JTLiuzza]

Our Oline is going to be problematic, especially with Toledo's play calling. Our much touted dline got gashed quite a bit, particularly in the first half. Although they did provide pressure at some crucial times and got a few sacks.

Their offense was rounding corners it seemed at will. Where is our speed there?

Special teams, particularly kick coverage, improved but considering how dismal they were that's not saying much. They gave up a couple of returns for yardage but definitely an improvement. Santos looked really good. He was kicking deep and planting kickoffs in the corner all day.

WR play was like kick coverage, hot and cold. I saw some great catches but some head scratching drops as well (not naming names).

It was the first game, but it was for them as well. And they are an FCS team.

I'm glad for the win but we're going to have to do much better next week.

[RWR]

Recap from the main site:

http://www.tulanegreenwave.com/sports/m ... 11aac.html

[msdos]

I was impressed with Robert Kelly and Julius Warsmley. Derek Strozier seemingly came out of nowhere.

I was underwhelmed by Desman Moses, Ryan Grant, and our DBs.

Van Hooser turning on the speed was also really fun to watch.

Tulsa will really tell us what the rest of the season will look like, but I'm getting a little excited.

[DrBox]

The RBs are the best athletes on offense...we need to be sure to throw to them as well.
Toledo's O is too dependent on top 10 quality OL. I really don't want us to go to the standard spread ever, but some sort of spread option with a lot of running.

Still, my thought after today, is that there isn't a team on the schedule that we don't have a realistic chance against. We should be able to win 1/2 of those.

[RWR]

From the T-P:

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/20 ... seaso.html

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/20 ... ts_re.html

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/20 ... _prom.html

[msdos]

we easily have the best looking uniforms in the nation

[Bigschtick]

attendance? probably off because of the storm but curious. Sounded like far more opposing fans at least from listening to the WIST broadcast.

[Robert1969]

attendance? probably off because of the storm but curious. Sounded like far more opposing fans at least from listening to the WIST broadcast.

According to the box score at ESPN it was 15,192.

[HoustonWave]

15,192 is remarkably good considering the weather.

[HoustonWave]

we easily have the best looking uniforms in the nation

And the worst looking uniforms in the nation have to be the ones Oregon wore against LSU--man, were those things ugly. One has to work hard to make a uniform look that bad.

[sader24]

If I had to guess ACTUAL attendance I would put it in the 4,500-5,500 range. The other side was absolutely empty. I understand there was a tropical storm, but why play SLU if they don't bring anyone. MY views on the game:

QB: Griffin looked great in my opinion. However, the foolish offensive scheme we are running makes his job a nightmare. One of his TD throws was to the only WR on a route. I honestly think if he was in the offense SLU was running he'd throw for 3,000+ yds no doubt. I really really hate our offensive scheme. It looks like the Buddy system with 2 TE's and 2 WR's. We have 3rd and 10 and we line up with 2 RB's, 2 TE's, and 1 WR and throw a pass to a RB in the flat.
WR: We look pretty thin here, didn't get a lot of seperation, once again the scheme is going to hurt them.
RB: We're loaded here/
OL: Absolutely terrible. Our OL was getting manhandled by SLU, most of the game our RB's were getting hit either behind the line of scrimmage or 1-2 yds within the line of scrimmage. I don't believe we can win more than 4 or 5 games with this offensive line.
DL: Very disappointing, I was under the impression this was supposed to be our strength, it didn't look good. They gashed us pretty consistently.
LB: Very disappointing
DB: When put it decent positions they made some very nice plays on the ball. There is only so much you can do against a fast paced offense like that in the backfield.
ST: Kicker is good, block was nice but it wont happen against good teams, returns were good, coverage got better as the game progressed.

Overall, I think our offensive scheme is garbage. We are running a 1991 offense in 2011. I counted numerous occasion where there were only 2 guys out on routes, several where only 1 guy was out on a route. It seems he wants to line up and pound the ball with a very very weak and smallish offensive line. It's not going to work. Griffin looks to be good to me, but he has to make perfect throws all the time to succeed in this system. I can't see us consistently putting up enough points to win in this system in this conference. I look at Houston's scheme and ours and it looks like the difference between a pro team and a grade school team. It's just a very vanilla/elementary style. Nothing has changed in that respect since 07. Defensively, we look absolutely abysmal. They moved the ball at will on us, if SLU gets 420yds on us how many do you think Case Keenum and Houston will have? 700? I expected us to struggle offensively, but defensively I really believed we'd shut them down. That was not the case. From a talent perspective, I don't feel we are any better across the board than we were in 2007. We look weak on the lines as usual, we have a few skill players as usual, we have alot of talent at RB as usual, we look small as usual, and our QB looks better than any in the Toledo regime. My opinio is we're looking at a 4-9/5-8 year and I don't believe we have any room for error. I can't really see us competing with the top teams in the conference unless some things drastically change. Our schedule does benefit us a little bit with numerous beatable teams and some teams that look down this year. However, I look at Houston and look at us and it's night and day. We can't play with UCF. We might get lucky and find our way into a bowl, but I don't think so from what I saw yesterday.

[CoachBrockhoff]

we easily have the best looking uniforms in the nation

And the worst looking uniforms in the nation have to be the ones Oregon wore against LSU--man, were those things ugly. One has to work hard to make a uniform look that bad.

Those were one of their better looking uniforms. The neon yellow shoes got me. I kept thinking that penalty flags were being thrown.

[JTLiuzza]

ST: Kicker is good, block was nice but it wont happen against good teams

On that block/safety, SE did some cutesie shift before the snap and in doing so somebody missed a block so the kid who blocked the kick came in untouched. Not trying to dismiss a great play on his part but, you're right, that won't happen against good teams.

I pretty much agree with the rest of your take as well.

[NOLABigSteve]

ST: Kicker is good, block was nice but it wont happen against good teams

Blocked field goals/punts from rushes on the edge are usually a result of a blown blocking assignment given the nature of the type of play being run. Good team or not, this falls more on the responsibility of an individual player than the whole team. So while it's less likely to happen against a better team, saying it won't happen against good teams isn't necessarily true. Give the kid some credit, he got to the ball on their error and his quickness.

[NOLABigSteve]

Those were one of their better looking uniforms. The neon yellow shoes got me. I kept thinking that penalty flags were being thrown.

I loved their uniforms actually, especially the high-contrast accenting. Some love it, some hate it. To each his own on that one...

[JTLiuzza]

The Ducks have definitely made weird uniforms a part of their program's identity. I did like the matte black helmets, though.

And I agree with msdos. The Wave's unis look sharp.

[sader24]

Not to repeat myself, but I'd really love to see Griffin in a wide open offense, and I'd really love to see our RB's in a wide open offense ala Jamaican Dartez/Toney Converse. Our OL is more well suited for a quick passing attack that gets the ball out of the QB's hands as quick as possible instead of expecting these guys to protect him while he takes a 7 step drop. It is also much more well suited for a running attack that is quick against 6 guys in the box instead of 7 or 8. QB is everything and can make an average team good, and I think for once we have that in this regime. What really gets me down on Toledo is that he doesn't recognize and tailor his offense to his players strengths. As a coach it is your job to put your guys in situations to succeed and I don't see that happening right now. Look at Rich Rodriguez for instance, I truly believe that in his heart he wanted to run a true spread with his best athlete at QB that was mostly a running threat who could pass when needed, that's why we recruited Derrick Joseph. However, when he got here Shaun King was an exceptional passer so with King his offense was a passing offense where the QB can run when necessary. When he had Pat White and Denard Robinson it was the opposite. All 3 offenses produced but they were tailord specifically to the needs of the talent on offense. It seems to me Toledo is hard headed, while this offense will be better than last years b/c of QB play and RB talent, will it really be as good as it could be? Its pretty apparent after yesterday we need every point we can get. My complaints of Scelfo and Toledo's offenses were that I felt we constantly left points on the table and never got 100% from our offense. When I left Bowden/Rodriguez games I always felt we got everything offensively that was available. They didnt waste series, they didnt call plays just to call them. Everything had a purpose and a position in the grand scheme of things. If we had an average day offensively it was b/c the other team stopped us, we rarely stopped ourselves. That Losman offense in 2002 should have been far more dynamic than it was. I felt that was a 10 win team instead of a 7 win team. I think with the right offense against this schedule we could win 8 games, the QB play is there. Will we?

[DrBox]

I agree that that 2002 team should have won 10 games. However the OL was terrible (sound familiar). But we had playmakers on O and D. Scelfo punted the game away against ECU and that Army game, was one of the "let's not show up" variety that Scelfo produced all too often.
Toledo's offensive scheme is boneheaded.
I'm watching SMU - they get their wideouts open by 10 yards. They also have a good OL. Not much on D though.

[Robert1969]

I agree that that 2002 team should have won 10 games. However the OL was terrible (sound familiar). But we had playmakers on O and D. Scelfo punted the game away against ECU and that Army game, was one of the "let's not show up" variety that Scelfo produced all too often.
Toledo's offensive scheme is boneheaded.
I'm watching SMU - they get their wideouts open by 10 yards. They also have a good OL. Not much on D though.

Don't talk no fancy-schmancy offense stuff here. When I was kid we always played with one wideout, offensive lineman were 185 pounds, and quarterbacks learned the high art of handoffs. If it worked then, it'll work now. You younguns with yer spread offense are a bunch of hippies. Spread offense? Might as well stick a flower in a Marine's rifle. Humbug!

[CoachBrockhoff]

Those were one of their better looking uniforms. The neon yellow shoes got me. I kept thinking that penalty flags were being thrown.

I loved their uniforms actually, especially the high-contrast accenting. Some love it, some hate it. To each his own on that one...

I like all black.

My school is green and white, but we wear all black.

[RWR]

As I said earlier I'm glad we got the win. And like everyone here I want us to go 15-0. However, as I noted earlier where was our speed on defense? Some are suggesting we couldn't shed blocks. First off that's why you can't just recruit speed there has to be some braun to go w/it. But another factor may have been that we started camp a week later than most. We still had the same number of practices but had to do it in less time. Did that leave us w/dead legs? Just food for thought. Also, from player comments we know our players were fired up over some things sela did leading up to the game and we didn't appear to hold much back. All that and it was still a good game when it should have been a slaughter. Interesting week ahead.

[DrBox]

Also, from player comments we know our players were fired up over some things sela did leading up to the game and we didn't appear to hold much back. All that and it was still a good game when it should have been a slaughter. Interesting week ahead.

Well I hope we held a lot back (speaking of plays, formations, etc.) and I think we did. Hopefully we'll see it this week.
We're obviously still thin on defense. That goes to recruiting which, while improved, isn't where it needs to be.