TheDailyEdge
Pretty much a regular
Based on all the games I watched this weekend, here are some of my observations & thoughts. Would be interested in hearing everyone else's.
Stanford at Northwestern – I don’t see any point in continuing to talk about David Shaw’s conservative offensive approach, we’ve covered that ad nauseum. So let’s move on from that subject. The one big thing that stood out to me in this one was Northwestern’s domination in the trenches. As I mentioned to GS & Sabert, they out-Stanforded Stanford. The Wildcats had to be the best running dog of the day, out rushing the Cardinal 225 to 85.
Quarterback Play – Of the games I watched, three new QB’s stood out to me. The “Rosen One” at UCLA was phenomenal in his debut against what is usually a pretty solid UVA D. He was 28 of 35 for 351 yards — I believe all true freshman school records — 3 TDs & no ints.
Malik Zaire against the Texas D. He looked awesome and/or the Texas defense was horrible. I was concentrating on the ASU game, but every time I looked over to the ND/Texas game, the Irish were moving the ball at will. Zaire looked really sharp, as his stats will attest to, 19-22-0 for 313 yards and 3 TDs.
Jake Coker of Alabama looked poised and in control of the Alabama offense. He missed a few deep balls, but all in all he had a solid “game management” type of debut. I can definitely see the Alabama offense playing well enough to complement their usual outstanding defense. The Tide completely dominated Wisky in the trenches, as was expected, out rushing the Badgers 238 to 40.
BYU at Nebraska – Since we made the Cougars +6.5 a BEST BET on the site I watched this entire game. It was a really competitive game, with momentum shifting back and forth. BYU ended up being the running dog, out rushing Nebraska 132 to 126, and overall they outgained the Cornhuskers 511 to 445, which was more or less that Hail Joseph Smith pass at the end of the game. Tommy Armstrong passed the ball a lot better than I thought he would in Riley’s offensive system, and of course the BYU true frosh QB Magnum had absolutely no problems replacing Taysom Hill and performing exceptionally well in front of a Sea of Red Nebraska fans.
Stanford, Penn State & Texas – WOW! Who was more pathetic? All three teams still seem to have serious offensive issues. I still believe Stanford’s offense has the most potential of these three. Despite getting beaten all day by Northwestern’s DL, the Stanford OL has a lot of talent and Hogan is a solid QB. I do not believe we can say that about Penn State and Texas.
We all obviously overestimated the improvement the Penn State OL would make. They were a joke, as was Christian Hackenberg. I keep reading that this guy is a top 5 pick, but the next good game I see him play will be the first for me.
Swoopes and Texas? Every time I looked over he seemed to be running for his life. The Irish completely dominated the point of attack on both sides, out rushing Texas 214 to 60 and 4 sacks to UT’s 1.
Purdue at Marshall – I bring this game to your attention because it is one of those rare games in which the running dog does not cover. The Boilermakers out rushed Marshall 184 to 163, and more or less dominated the game, out gaining the Thundering Herd 454 to 397. The difference in this one was of course Appleby’s two pick sixes to start and end the game. Purdue was covering the entire game until that final pick six.
Arizona State – I would be remiss if I didn’t give you my quick thoughts on my Devils. I thought the D played really well and the final score was not indicative of their performance. Seventeen of Texas A & M’s 38 points were the result of ASU turnovers (setting up 2 short fields for 10 points) & special teams (7 points on the punt return). Seven more were the result of one big play (admittedly some poor ASU tackling).
But the offense and special teams were terrible. The ASU OL had no answer for Myles Garrett and as I have mentioned on the podcast on several occasions, replacing Jalen Strong was going to be an issue.
Stanford at Northwestern – I don’t see any point in continuing to talk about David Shaw’s conservative offensive approach, we’ve covered that ad nauseum. So let’s move on from that subject. The one big thing that stood out to me in this one was Northwestern’s domination in the trenches. As I mentioned to GS & Sabert, they out-Stanforded Stanford. The Wildcats had to be the best running dog of the day, out rushing the Cardinal 225 to 85.
Quarterback Play – Of the games I watched, three new QB’s stood out to me. The “Rosen One” at UCLA was phenomenal in his debut against what is usually a pretty solid UVA D. He was 28 of 35 for 351 yards — I believe all true freshman school records — 3 TDs & no ints.
Malik Zaire against the Texas D. He looked awesome and/or the Texas defense was horrible. I was concentrating on the ASU game, but every time I looked over to the ND/Texas game, the Irish were moving the ball at will. Zaire looked really sharp, as his stats will attest to, 19-22-0 for 313 yards and 3 TDs.
Jake Coker of Alabama looked poised and in control of the Alabama offense. He missed a few deep balls, but all in all he had a solid “game management” type of debut. I can definitely see the Alabama offense playing well enough to complement their usual outstanding defense. The Tide completely dominated Wisky in the trenches, as was expected, out rushing the Badgers 238 to 40.
BYU at Nebraska – Since we made the Cougars +6.5 a BEST BET on the site I watched this entire game. It was a really competitive game, with momentum shifting back and forth. BYU ended up being the running dog, out rushing Nebraska 132 to 126, and overall they outgained the Cornhuskers 511 to 445, which was more or less that Hail Joseph Smith pass at the end of the game. Tommy Armstrong passed the ball a lot better than I thought he would in Riley’s offensive system, and of course the BYU true frosh QB Magnum had absolutely no problems replacing Taysom Hill and performing exceptionally well in front of a Sea of Red Nebraska fans.
Stanford, Penn State & Texas – WOW! Who was more pathetic? All three teams still seem to have serious offensive issues. I still believe Stanford’s offense has the most potential of these three. Despite getting beaten all day by Northwestern’s DL, the Stanford OL has a lot of talent and Hogan is a solid QB. I do not believe we can say that about Penn State and Texas.
We all obviously overestimated the improvement the Penn State OL would make. They were a joke, as was Christian Hackenberg. I keep reading that this guy is a top 5 pick, but the next good game I see him play will be the first for me.
Swoopes and Texas? Every time I looked over he seemed to be running for his life. The Irish completely dominated the point of attack on both sides, out rushing Texas 214 to 60 and 4 sacks to UT’s 1.
Purdue at Marshall – I bring this game to your attention because it is one of those rare games in which the running dog does not cover. The Boilermakers out rushed Marshall 184 to 163, and more or less dominated the game, out gaining the Thundering Herd 454 to 397. The difference in this one was of course Appleby’s two pick sixes to start and end the game. Purdue was covering the entire game until that final pick six.
Arizona State – I would be remiss if I didn’t give you my quick thoughts on my Devils. I thought the D played really well and the final score was not indicative of their performance. Seventeen of Texas A & M’s 38 points were the result of ASU turnovers (setting up 2 short fields for 10 points) & special teams (7 points on the punt return). Seven more were the result of one big play (admittedly some poor ASU tackling).
But the offense and special teams were terrible. The ASU OL had no answer for Myles Garrett and as I have mentioned on the podcast on several occasions, replacing Jalen Strong was going to be an issue.
