Observations from WSSU game

[TOPPDOGG]

The offensive line is still hit or miss, mostly miss.

The running backs are decent, but I think I'd rather have David Robinson and Demerrick Chancellor getting the bulk of the carries. These two seem to know how to run to daylight. It seems like Ferguson likes to bulldoze defenders. That's fine for short yardage plays, but it didn't make for consistent offense last night.

It's hard to judge the wide receivers. The passing game needs a lot of work. I think we could benefit from hiring an offensive coordinator.

Herb Miller is not yet a complete quarterback. He may never become one. I think this is an area we must target in recruiting.

The defensive line is too small to stop much of anybody. I would move Tim Bess from center to nose guard. This is one decision Coach Small had right in my mind.

The linebackers were decent. There was some arm-tackling, but not nearly as much as last year.

The secondary is decent as well. It's hard to cover wide receivers man-to-man when the defense isn't generating any kind of pass rush.

All in all I saw a lot of improvement from our guys, but we may still be a few years from respectability.

[Bornthrilla]

It still frustrates me that teams can run the same play over and over against us with repeated success.

We made Purvis look like Steve Young. There had to be some adjustments our defensive coaches could have made to stop him from killing us on those keepers.

[aggieman007]

Also the o-line has not improved at all. Miller needs to make better decision throwing the ball or Fobbs need to find another QB. The defense showed signed of improvement the db looked confused and slow i hate to think another 0-11?

[AggieMike]

Overall, I was upset because it was 17 in a row not at our play.
- Fobbs and his assistants are on top of their ish, they can't go out and execute the plays themselves
- It looked like Herb's eye was swollen in the first half, like a punch had landed it was definitely puffy.
- I have no faith in Herb Miller as anything more than a 4th or 5th WR or a backup QB.
- I understood the thought process behind a lot of the pass plays that didn't work out but we really need to be running teams into the ground. Plain and simple, I'm talking 40 times a game, we have the backs to do it, I don't trust Herb attempt more than 10 passes (and I'm gonna expect 2 of those to be picked off).
- The team holds each other accountable, I liked seeing one O-Lineman stop another when he tried to make an excuse.
- I like our defense, they were put in a lot of bad situations this week.
- I'm begging for Shelton at QB right now, his HS stats and a lil research tell you that he is better suited to run this offense
- I don't blame the fans to leaving early at all, it was the 17th time in a row.
- Speedy and D-Money are going to be good. I like Mike Ferg but the Miami duo seem to be smarter runners, Mike tries to truck ppl he cant truck
Way more but I'll stop there, look for the photo albums from the game by me and Leroy on ncatregister.com as early as tomorrow. They didn't want me on camera yesterday because I was irate in my criticism of our QB

[Aggie77]

Negatives
• We still make the mental mistakes
• The offense is mildly better than last year
• That “one deep” defense is going to get rocked against better teams
• Is anyone confident that the coaches can use the talent effectively
• The QB position is still a question mark
• I’m not sure this WSSU team is better than last year’s
• This was probably our best chance for a win

Positives
• We have some RBs
• The coaching staff appeared to make adjustments at the half
• The special teams showed significant improvement
• Defense is better but . . .

[jaffejoffa]

Talent-wise, we were on par with WSSU. These are the games that we HAVE to win...What frustrates me is that, in the first half, everytime Speedy went into the game, the play was designed for him, whether it be a sweep, screen, end around etc... I'd like to see the coaching staff use him as a decoy sometime, which would open up the middle and oppossite sides for Mike and Demerick, and catch the defense off guard for when Speedy actually does get the rock.

A 3 - 5 defense is the wrong defense against the draw. The guards are uncovered, therefore can double team our nose straight to the backers. If we're going to run a 3 down defense, then we need some 320 lbs stud DL that can take on 2 blockers on everyplay. We dont have that and it was boneheaded to stay in a defense that was giving up 5 + on a draw play that was run 6 times in a ROW.

If Winston didnt commit to establishing the run, and wanted to throw the ball, the middle of the field was Wide the hell open all game. We had 8 ppl in the box with only 1 safety to play the entire field, which leaves our corners man up. When starting a freshman and juco corner, its hard to leave them on an island. They were definitley taken advantage of last night and constantly run by.

Play Calling....Suspect, same as last year... We need to play to Herbs strengths and implement an option type attack that utilizes his athletiscm and complement some of the other guys we have. We run the ball all the way down field, and then start passing on the 10? What is that about? We dont really have the physical type receivers that can go up and bail him out when he's asked to sit in the pocket and survey the field. I know that we only have one quarterback and their trying to minimize injury, but 17 losses in a row calls for us to do what we have to do, and put ourselves in the best possible situation to win right now.

In the past, Winston & Central have always had a "tuneup" game before they played us in our first game of the season. In football, the biggest improvements come btwn week 1&2, so we cant use that excuse this year that they had a game to work the kinks out. I dont know why Demerick only got 3 carries, I thought he ran the rock pretty good. If he only wanted 3 carries, I think he could have gotten those at Clemson, so I hope he keeps a positive attitude. Teams are now gonna game plan for Speedy, and I only hope that we can game plan folks a little better.

We are a better team than last year, and have the majority of our players playing in the right places now. If it wasnt for that fumbled punt on the 20, im not sure we would have scored, which is unacceptalbe against a mediocore Winston defense in which we could have taken advantage of. Its frustrating b/c we have the talent and the players to succeed, but everything is not being put together for success. If that 50 yard TD pass by Purvis hadnt of been called back, I think we were on the verge of getting blown out off the water and our conversation today much different.

[Bornthrilla]

Jaffejoffa,

I agree with a lot of that analysis. Thanks for offering a well-thought out opinion on the game, instead of just making up lies about the team like you did in this past.

I still chuckle every time I see Sagote at practice.

[jaffejoffa]

Not to get into an arguing match with the world famous flag football all american, but everyone knows that it was hit or miss with Sagote, just like Garth, Ware, Leath etc... Im glad he's out there...Ive never once "made" up a lie about aggie football...

[Bornthrilla]

Street football all star. Get it right please.

[hawkeye]

jaffejoffa said:

Talent-wise, we were on par with WSSU. These are the games that we HAVE to win...What frustrates me is that, in the first half, everytime Speedy went into the game, the play was designed for him, whether it be a sweep, screen, end around etc... I'd like to see the coaching staff use him as a decoy sometime, which would open up the middle and oppossite sides for Mike and Demerick, and catch the defense off guard for when Speedy actually does get the rock.

It's been a long time since having talent on par with WSSU was viewed as a good thing for our program. I'll take it even though I feel we should have better talent.

The adjustments the coaching staff makes between games 1 and 2, and 2 and 3 will determine whether we win any games this year. Another 0 - 11 season would be a disaster for the program.

[DECKS]

Overall the team is better than last season. That's pretty obvious but I still don't know if that's good enough to get a victory. Miller was the big difference in this game. After he threw that first interception WSSU just loaded the box and dared him to beat them with his arm. Prior to that we were having some success running the ball. Miller just had a tough time reading WSSU's coverages. QB coach will definitely have to work with him on that.

Running backs - C
Quarterback - F
Wide Receivers - I (hard to grade when we can't get them the ball)
Offensive line - C
Defensive Line - D (ok until they got fatigued)
Line Backers - C
Secondary - F
Coaching - D

[DOOMS]

Negatives:
We lost.
Offensive play calling and passing game execution
Pass defense

Positives:
The first defensive series
The running game (in stretches)
We're better than last year

In my opinion the coaches need to look in the mirror and decide whether they are suited for coaching the areas they are coaching. I understand that the coaches can't run the plays for the players but I also believe the coaches are supposed to figure out what plays the players can run effectively prior to the season. The players can't execute the bulk of the offensive game plan at all. We have no passing play that works with any regularity. You can't bemoan a lack of talent and then not do a damn thing with the talent you do get. It's gut check time in the staff meeting. If not this staff will not see a victory this year. Granted, I expected that anyway but I think the talent is there if properly utilized.

That defensive set is going to give up 105 yards per game on the ground and 400 through the air.

Herb should've stayed at receiver and Bess should've stayed on the d-line. Small knew what he was doing on those two. He had an eye for where to utilize guys (for the most part).

Winston did exactly what we should have done. They ran the same basic plays over and over and didn't put Purvis in a position to have to make a play. We probably need to install every play they ran on us and make that our offense. K.I.S.S.

I would say I'll reserve judgment to see how we improve as the season goes on but I honestly don't believe we will improve. The ultimate thing we have to admit is that the majority of our coaching staff is still learning their roles and this conference. They probably still don't know how to right the ship. If they last through this year's 0-11 we will surpise folks next year. But the year after it's back to square one.

[Aggie Monster]

Bad Things:
QB
Mental breakdowns in coverage
No Passing plays worth running again.

Good Things:
Speedy Robinson - he will win us a game or 2 by himself
Chancellor - Didn't see him much but I was impressed with the way he searches for daylight.
Athletes - We were not physically destroyed in this game like last time. We made mental mistakes.
Safety#9 - Boy he can hit! He was out of shape though. Cramped up a few times.

Not Sure:
3-5 Defense: I think we get better with time. I saw "the bomb" that got called back coming 2 plays prior. I looked at KrazyKev on the play before it and said "They about to throw this bomb to this guy right here because we dont know who to cover in trips". That was clearly a coaching error. If I saw it, someone on the staff should have seen it also. NO EXCUSE FOR THAT ONE.

I am not as critical of the game as most people. We stopped the run except for a few plays and them damn QB draws. Running game looks decent as long as Chancelor and Speedy get the majority of the carries. I understand that Ferg was looking better at practice, but Chanc look like he could take it to the house if he got a seam. I like Ferguson, but he is a short yardage back.

I hate to say this in an open forum, but I've always been critical of Miller. I never thought he was starting QB material and I was crushed when I found out that Campbell wasn't going to be with us. I stayed optimistic because you guys that witnessed practice said he had improved. Obviously he hasn't and they now are going to have to bench him or "mask" his short comings by playing the right running backs. Without his mental mistakes we possibly win this game, so I'm not totally down on the team as a whole.

I hope we get the victory in LA, so we can have some type of confidence going into the Hampton game. If we loose to PV then they will be deflated by the time NCCU comes to town and wont have the confidence to win that either. Then we will be in BIG trouble.

[dj98]

(We need to play to Herbs strengths and implement an option type attack that utilizes his athletiscm and complement some of the other guys we have.)

NO!!!! Hurb still would have to make the correct decision, three INT's!!!!!

[jaffejoffa]

I think letting him use his legs rather than rely on the arm will give us the best chance to win right now... I think by letting him run the option attack and breaking a couple of 20 yd+ runs will do wonders for his confidence....

- I also rarely saw a tightend used on Saturday in the passing attack...I know that we are fairly short at that position, but we need somebody to hold those lb's in the middle of the field..If I'm not mistaken, the first two INT's were picked off by linebackers who were roaming free.

- I know I sound like a monday morning qb, but like someone said earlier, we need to try to do some of the things that winston did against us..run the draw, let our qb make plays with his legs to minimize crucial mistakes... Another thing...As much heart as he has, Speedy cant take but so many hits throughout the season running up the middle being 5'2 165 lbs..

-For the DL, I know Thornton played End at Independence......WHen Rob gets back from the concussion, I wonder if we can play him in the middle...move Dre outside, and put his hand in the dirt during certain packages, so that we can get our best athletes on the field..We rarely had any kind of a pass rush all game long against Winston, and their OLine was probably one of the worst we'll face..

- I'd also move Croley (#9) too the outside LB/Roaver position to help against the run, instead of leaving him back there too be the sole safety playing center field.. He's a big physical guy that made some decent hits on Sat...We've got some good athletes that can play that free safety position (Ruffin,Platt, Colbert) etc that can play that center field position