And this is my first chance to sit and type. I can't believe what I saw.
First, credit to Air Force for playing their game on offense, executing well, and managing on D to get enough stops with a leaky and slow DB zone to stop us from breaking big plays all the way into the end zone. They probably studied enough film to realize that if they showed Gordon something that looked pass neutral (didn't have to be pass friendly; just middling pass neutral) we wouldn't run the ball much. They clearly didn't have a very high opinion of Gordon's judgement; I wish they had not been proven correct on that point. They also clearly figured that their slow DB's could do just well enough in the compressed Red Zone to have a chance of disrupting us. All in all, I'd say the AF staff did a pretty good job of game planning on both sides of the ball.
I was pleasantly surprised at our special teams play, with one exception. We really never started a drive in poor field position, and the misdirection on the punt return was the best trick play I've seen during the Leach era. My only gripe was the brain dead decision to kick short on our last kickoff so AF would have a short field. That approach has not worked all season; why would it work now? Take that play out of the playbook and the tribal memory, because it has hurt us every time we've used it.
The officials took forever to blow a play dead. That was probably to our advantage, since in roughly half the plays we ended up in a mob, mugging the AF ball carrier, trying to strip the ball. We never managed to do it, but not because the officials didn't give us an opportunity. I typically counted 2-3 seconds AFTER forward progress had been reversed and the ball carrier was in a scrum, being pushed backward, before a whistle was blown. I could never figure out what was going on there...? Does the B10 use Rugby rules (they were announced as being B10 officials)?
AF occasionally got pass pressure, but far more often Gordon had at least 4 seconds, and sometimes a lot more. For the most part we moved the ball well until we got to the Red Zone.
I was very disappointed in our D. First, our ends had not been coached to hit the QB if he got as far as the tackle. Time and again our ends would follow the pitch and chase after the running back, even though 99% of the time they were too far behind at that point to be relevant. For the most part the ends played for containment reasonably well, but they didn't follow up with contact to the QB. I thought everybody who ever played an option team knew that the QB has got to be made to hear steps and anticipate the hit as he is deciding when to pitch??
None of the AF WR's were faster than our safeties...in other words, they were slow. Our CB's should have all been faster than their WR's, or if not, then no worse than the same speed. Yet we consistently played 7-10 yards off the line of scrimmage for coverage...and we paid for it several times. If we can trust Forrest Gump on this..."Stupid is as stupid does"...then somebody on our side has to be considered stupid.
At the start of the second half we had a D back break for the spot where a HB would receive the pitch as soon as the play started in that direction. It was one of the few TFL's they took. It's too bad that we forgot about that for the rest of the game.
Two conclusions:
1.) We clearly do not have a D coordinator. This game we really missed having Claeys or someone like him, because we clearly have no one on the D staff right now who can game plan worth a flip.
2.) We made too many mistakes to win. The team that executed better won the game.
First, credit to Air Force for playing their game on offense, executing well, and managing on D to get enough stops with a leaky and slow DB zone to stop us from breaking big plays all the way into the end zone. They probably studied enough film to realize that if they showed Gordon something that looked pass neutral (didn't have to be pass friendly; just middling pass neutral) we wouldn't run the ball much. They clearly didn't have a very high opinion of Gordon's judgement; I wish they had not been proven correct on that point. They also clearly figured that their slow DB's could do just well enough in the compressed Red Zone to have a chance of disrupting us. All in all, I'd say the AF staff did a pretty good job of game planning on both sides of the ball.
I was pleasantly surprised at our special teams play, with one exception. We really never started a drive in poor field position, and the misdirection on the punt return was the best trick play I've seen during the Leach era. My only gripe was the brain dead decision to kick short on our last kickoff so AF would have a short field. That approach has not worked all season; why would it work now? Take that play out of the playbook and the tribal memory, because it has hurt us every time we've used it.
The officials took forever to blow a play dead. That was probably to our advantage, since in roughly half the plays we ended up in a mob, mugging the AF ball carrier, trying to strip the ball. We never managed to do it, but not because the officials didn't give us an opportunity. I typically counted 2-3 seconds AFTER forward progress had been reversed and the ball carrier was in a scrum, being pushed backward, before a whistle was blown. I could never figure out what was going on there...? Does the B10 use Rugby rules (they were announced as being B10 officials)?
AF occasionally got pass pressure, but far more often Gordon had at least 4 seconds, and sometimes a lot more. For the most part we moved the ball well until we got to the Red Zone.
I was very disappointed in our D. First, our ends had not been coached to hit the QB if he got as far as the tackle. Time and again our ends would follow the pitch and chase after the running back, even though 99% of the time they were too far behind at that point to be relevant. For the most part the ends played for containment reasonably well, but they didn't follow up with contact to the QB. I thought everybody who ever played an option team knew that the QB has got to be made to hear steps and anticipate the hit as he is deciding when to pitch??
None of the AF WR's were faster than our safeties...in other words, they were slow. Our CB's should have all been faster than their WR's, or if not, then no worse than the same speed. Yet we consistently played 7-10 yards off the line of scrimmage for coverage...and we paid for it several times. If we can trust Forrest Gump on this..."Stupid is as stupid does"...then somebody on our side has to be considered stupid.
At the start of the second half we had a D back break for the spot where a HB would receive the pitch as soon as the play started in that direction. It was one of the few TFL's they took. It's too bad that we forgot about that for the rest of the game.
Two conclusions:
1.) We clearly do not have a D coordinator. This game we really missed having Claeys or someone like him, because we clearly have no one on the D staff right now who can game plan worth a flip.
2.) We made too many mistakes to win. The team that executed better won the game.
