Press - curious to hear your thoughts on the Ags through 4 games?
- What have you thought of Knight so far? how bout the defense?
- What have you been most surprised about so far with the team this season? The odds say you will finish 7-1 you agree or disagree?
Through 4 games, where we would expect to be. Not having to go OT with Arky for the 3rd year in a row is a win.
Knight-- prefer him running. The receiving corps is really outstanding except for one thing that bugs the hell out of me. There is some propensity to not try to get open when the play breaks down. Knight is definitely an athlete playing QB. He hit Josh Reynolds on a long throw , but I think Josh can catch a hot coal while eating a meatball sub, without spilling either. That's a guy that will be an all-pro. Saw on the Ag boards a student saying he passed Josh on the way to class and he was bouncing a tennis ball all the way.
Back to Knight, I haven't seen the 15 yd drop when being pressured like we did against the Bruins, so I'm glad for that. Can he get the ball in there, yes. Can he get it in there consistently, not so sure about that. With the talent around him, playing Trent Dilfer role is fine. In the SECW that's not going to be good enough. We gonna need a play somewhere and I think it's with his feet.
Two stories kind of sum up how I feel about it.
I had Mavs season tickets back when Nash was PG. I'd see him do the whirlingdervish thing and the ball go in, a million times. But there would be one or two times/game that it would bounce off his foot or he would just look totally out of control and it just kind of came together. That always made me feel that in a playoff game, could we depend on him to keep the ball inside himself or was it going to get lost when we needed it most .
The other thing is the highlight they like to show when 0U beat Bama in the bowl. He's rolling to his right and throws into the end zone. It's a touch pass, but my mind always says---is it going to ever come down?
Defense-- the Dline is beyond. The fact that Dae Dae and Miles are out for so many plays, same with Mack and there is little drop off. The LB's are playing beyond also and that is because of the front, but that's fine if you seize your opportunity. The is the school of Quentin Coryatt, Roper, Wallace , Semini , Holland and these guys are none of those, but are making plays when needed.
Safeties are just tremendous. Armani Watts should get a Heisman. For a little guy that goes in there and sticks his hat in to some of these behemoths--he's a tougher man than I could ever be.
Obviously, it's CB that is the weakness. I think Nick Harvey will come around if he let's go the swag and just plays.
So basically, it's the front and the back, with the middle being serviceable.
Most surprised----runnning. runrunrunrun. please God run..... T-will is putting some guys to shame. Rebuilding an offensive line and still being able to put some yards up gives me hope. As much as the spread has changed the game(and I'm an I formation guy) you can run from it so well if they have to respect your receivers. We need enough passes to open it up, but you see the Ags tearing off chunks late in the game.
To make a high school reference--Southlake (and a lot of TX high schools) have run out of the spread way more than thrown....maybe not every year, but it's had a running identity at that level for quite awhile.
A word to the NFL----TX high school players can stop the wide rcvr screen about one season after everyone started doing it. No way I'd do that against the speed of the NFL. I think I saw the Bears try it the other night. Don't remember who, but I started laughing when it got crushed.
7-1, in the west? I guess I would hit my futures bet of over 7 if that happened. we sure would have to beat some good teams. I wish they'd win the Natty, yes for the kids etc etc....but mainly to show those little primma donnas that maybe they should have stuck around. Truth be told a lot of that was coaching. I'd still like to tell them F U.
