'Dogs Destroy Georgia Southern
The #1 question coming out of Sanford Stadium Saturday after the Bulldogs beat up the Eagles was this: "Did the 'Dogs look like the #1 team to you?" My response to that was this: "Does any team look like #1 in the season opener?" Ahh, no.
Stafford looked like one of CF's top quarterbacks. He looked comfortable and prepared. Mechanics are improved. He set his feet in the pocket and stepped towards the target. He was on balance with his stride. Threw it with some touch when he needed to. NFL scouts were drooling when they saw him stick that skinny post in there to A.J. Green. That route is a signature NFL pattern. It takes a strong arm. Matt's got a gun. He did underthrow a couple of deep balls that would have gone the distance, but you'd rather underthrow them than overthrow and get nothing. Game speed is different than practice speed on those deep balls.
Moreno was awesome before the cramps set in. Knowshon touched it 10 times for 112 yards and 3 TDs. Dude averaged 7.3 yards per carry and 26.5 yards a reception. Four of his 10 touches went for over ten yards. He's a big-play waiting to happen. Just needs to drink more sports drinks on the sideline between series. This guy just smells the end-zone and goes for it.
Caleb King reminds me of Champ Bailey with the ball. Just glides past people and cuts on a dime. He's impressive in this back-up role. But he's not ready for prime time yet.
A.J. Green has some serious skills, but is a little green. He can run by corners on the go route and go up and snag that fade right now. But that's against soft corner coverage. Don't think he's ready to fight off tight coverage. That will come as he gets stronger and smarter.
The O-Line passed the 1st test. Tripp is some kind of impressive athlete at tackle. He will settle in at that spot and take off with his performance level. Vance was solid at guard. Chris Davis handled the move to center okay. Cordy Glenn, the true freshman, is going to be great. Right now, he's just trying to find his way. The guess here is that Clint Boling will take over at right tackle.
Defensively, the 'Dogs took a major hit with the loss of senior DT Jeff Owens. That one hurts as much as losing Sturdivant on offense. Owens was the Papa Bear of the DTs. Without him, the younger guys are going to have to step up as a group. Geno Atkins and Kade Weston will be a good pair. Corvey Irvin is an impact dude, as you witnessed vs. GaS. So, Martinez has 3 legit guys at tackle. The other 3 will have to pick up the slack. Ricardo Crawford, Brandon Wood and DeAngelo Tyson will need to come on strong, in complimentary roles. The depth still looks good, but the young guys will now have a bigger role.
The DE position is in good hands. Battle, Lomax, Houston, Wynn and Dobbs give'm 5 'Dogs who can play. Coach Garner can still play 9-10 guys in a rotation. And that will be huge against these spread teams like Central Michigan. And these DEs are applying pressure from the outside rush lane. Check out their stance. It looks like that Bolt dude about to run the 100M.
The secondary is super strong. Evans, Miller and Allen are above average as a group. Asher is simply a play-maker. Brown can play as a 4th option. But safety is where the strength is...Jones is a star, Byrd is legit and Knox will make an impact too.
Maybe the best news coming out of the Georgia Southern game was the kicker Blair Walsh. He drilled his first attempt from 52 yards, and it would have been good from 60. His first kick-off was 7-8 yards deep in the end zone. And he can angle kick too. What a relief!
The 'Dogs don't look like a #1 team right now, but who does? USC? Perhaps. Everyone in the Top 10 has some coaching up to do this week. A lot of cleaning up. Polish up the rough spots. More later.
Stafford looked like one of CF's top quarterbacks. He looked comfortable and prepared. Mechanics are improved. He set his feet in the pocket and stepped towards the target. He was on balance with his stride. Threw it with some touch when he needed to. NFL scouts were drooling when they saw him stick that skinny post in there to A.J. Green. That route is a signature NFL pattern. It takes a strong arm. Matt's got a gun. He did underthrow a couple of deep balls that would have gone the distance, but you'd rather underthrow them than overthrow and get nothing. Game speed is different than practice speed on those deep balls.
Moreno was awesome before the cramps set in. Knowshon touched it 10 times for 112 yards and 3 TDs. Dude averaged 7.3 yards per carry and 26.5 yards a reception. Four of his 10 touches went for over ten yards. He's a big-play waiting to happen. Just needs to drink more sports drinks on the sideline between series. This guy just smells the end-zone and goes for it.
Caleb King reminds me of Champ Bailey with the ball. Just glides past people and cuts on a dime. He's impressive in this back-up role. But he's not ready for prime time yet.
A.J. Green has some serious skills, but is a little green. He can run by corners on the go route and go up and snag that fade right now. But that's against soft corner coverage. Don't think he's ready to fight off tight coverage. That will come as he gets stronger and smarter.
The O-Line passed the 1st test. Tripp is some kind of impressive athlete at tackle. He will settle in at that spot and take off with his performance level. Vance was solid at guard. Chris Davis handled the move to center okay. Cordy Glenn, the true freshman, is going to be great. Right now, he's just trying to find his way. The guess here is that Clint Boling will take over at right tackle.
Defensively, the 'Dogs took a major hit with the loss of senior DT Jeff Owens. That one hurts as much as losing Sturdivant on offense. Owens was the Papa Bear of the DTs. Without him, the younger guys are going to have to step up as a group. Geno Atkins and Kade Weston will be a good pair. Corvey Irvin is an impact dude, as you witnessed vs. GaS. So, Martinez has 3 legit guys at tackle. The other 3 will have to pick up the slack. Ricardo Crawford, Brandon Wood and DeAngelo Tyson will need to come on strong, in complimentary roles. The depth still looks good, but the young guys will now have a bigger role.
The DE position is in good hands. Battle, Lomax, Houston, Wynn and Dobbs give'm 5 'Dogs who can play. Coach Garner can still play 9-10 guys in a rotation. And that will be huge against these spread teams like Central Michigan. And these DEs are applying pressure from the outside rush lane. Check out their stance. It looks like that Bolt dude about to run the 100M.
The secondary is super strong. Evans, Miller and Allen are above average as a group. Asher is simply a play-maker. Brown can play as a 4th option. But safety is where the strength is...Jones is a star, Byrd is legit and Knox will make an impact too.
Maybe the best news coming out of the Georgia Southern game was the kicker Blair Walsh. He drilled his first attempt from 52 yards, and it would have been good from 60. His first kick-off was 7-8 yards deep in the end zone. And he can angle kick too. What a relief!
The 'Dogs don't look like a #1 team right now, but who does? USC? Perhaps. Everyone in the Top 10 has some coaching up to do this week. A lot of cleaning up. Polish up the rough spots. More later.
Comments