Good morning Wildcat Fans!
After what is a heartbreaking loss to USC (It is for me anyway) I have some observations and a little reality check.
RR has this team going in the right direction despite last night’s set back. If he can build off of this season we should get better. This season is not over so I hope we realize that and finish strong. Still not entirely sold on some of his decisions, but no decisions are always correct.
I have always been critical of RR and the recruiting process since he arrived. I maintained he blew a huge opportunity after we won the south and went to the Fiesta Bowl. A team he really did not build. Did he learn from that? He has made some changes since and he certainly deserves credit for bringing in this new group and Tate! Offense is his specialty and we do a decent job of that. RR brought in Marcel Yates and others who are changing the defensive system and what appears to be better recruits. Much work to be done in this area! D-line needs more beef! Time to see if he can finish what he started or re-started with this group. Can we keep recruiting upward? Better players make players better!
We are a team with 61 freshmen and while I do not know all the particulars the house cleaning needed to take place! We need to remember this as these young guys should continue to get better. I do not believe in moral victories and based on the post-game interviews the guys do not either. Good!! Now what? Can we learn from our mistakes? Will we work hard to be better? Time will tell, but I’m a believer we can.
We were overmatched in size, but not the size of our heart! Again, I do not believe in moral victories. We did however show we would not just lay down and roll over when down. This team has the right mindset and wants to win no matter the odds. Heart is something you can’t just coach. It has to be there already! See Tate after the game….
Now for the bad news… We cannot continue to give up 5 and 6 hundred-yard games! If we want to get to the Pac 12 title game again this has to change! Simply outscoring teams in a track meet is not going to work every game. We gave up 21 points in the 4th quarter! 21!! All while we trying to come back. I am not blaming the defense for the loss as we made plenty of mistakes on the other side of the ball. Win as a team lose as a team. I’m good with that. Back to the defense… Sometimes it feels like scheme, other times it is missed assignments. Missed assignments can be attributed to scheme especially when are in a zone defense. RR was asked the question in post-game and he just said the problem was we gave up 650 yards and 49 points. I know it was a I’m mad right now answer, but how do we fix this? Some on this board have been screaming for more pressure! I agree! I also agree we need some bigger athletic bodies up front to stop the run. We also need to send pressure in 3rd and long downs and not give the QB time to find an open receiver. If he makes a perfect split-second decision so be it. This is of course arm chair coaching and since I don’t know why and how all these decisions are made I am not saying I know better. What I am saying is we need to be better and I believe that it is in more than one area.
I said in an earlier post this was my team win or lose. I stick by that as it has always been that way with me. I hope we can still finish this season strong. Take no one for granted including this week when OSU comes to town. Plenty of football left to play!
After what is a heartbreaking loss to USC (It is for me anyway) I have some observations and a little reality check.
RR has this team going in the right direction despite last night’s set back. If he can build off of this season we should get better. This season is not over so I hope we realize that and finish strong. Still not entirely sold on some of his decisions, but no decisions are always correct.
I have always been critical of RR and the recruiting process since he arrived. I maintained he blew a huge opportunity after we won the south and went to the Fiesta Bowl. A team he really did not build. Did he learn from that? He has made some changes since and he certainly deserves credit for bringing in this new group and Tate! Offense is his specialty and we do a decent job of that. RR brought in Marcel Yates and others who are changing the defensive system and what appears to be better recruits. Much work to be done in this area! D-line needs more beef! Time to see if he can finish what he started or re-started with this group. Can we keep recruiting upward? Better players make players better!
We are a team with 61 freshmen and while I do not know all the particulars the house cleaning needed to take place! We need to remember this as these young guys should continue to get better. I do not believe in moral victories and based on the post-game interviews the guys do not either. Good!! Now what? Can we learn from our mistakes? Will we work hard to be better? Time will tell, but I’m a believer we can.
We were overmatched in size, but not the size of our heart! Again, I do not believe in moral victories. We did however show we would not just lay down and roll over when down. This team has the right mindset and wants to win no matter the odds. Heart is something you can’t just coach. It has to be there already! See Tate after the game….
Now for the bad news… We cannot continue to give up 5 and 6 hundred-yard games! If we want to get to the Pac 12 title game again this has to change! Simply outscoring teams in a track meet is not going to work every game. We gave up 21 points in the 4th quarter! 21!! All while we trying to come back. I am not blaming the defense for the loss as we made plenty of mistakes on the other side of the ball. Win as a team lose as a team. I’m good with that. Back to the defense… Sometimes it feels like scheme, other times it is missed assignments. Missed assignments can be attributed to scheme especially when are in a zone defense. RR was asked the question in post-game and he just said the problem was we gave up 650 yards and 49 points. I know it was a I’m mad right now answer, but how do we fix this? Some on this board have been screaming for more pressure! I agree! I also agree we need some bigger athletic bodies up front to stop the run. We also need to send pressure in 3rd and long downs and not give the QB time to find an open receiver. If he makes a perfect split-second decision so be it. This is of course arm chair coaching and since I don’t know why and how all these decisions are made I am not saying I know better. What I am saying is we need to be better and I believe that it is in more than one area.
I said in an earlier post this was my team win or lose. I stick by that as it has always been that way with me. I hope we can still finish this season strong. Take no one for granted including this week when OSU comes to town. Plenty of football left to play!
