In no particular order:
- It was nice to watch the Cougs play football!
- If 32 guys are "unavailable", then I'm guessing that more than 20 are quarantined. We certainly don't have 5 injured safeties (with a walk on playing...and by the way, playing rather well).
- The O line has to feel good. Their adjustments through the game, and improved concentration, were great to watch. A different unit at the end of the game than at the start. That is not a totally unusual thing for the first game, but the circumstances made for a greater progression through one game than I am used to seeing....
- Dion. What a great game when a kid gets a chance.
- Playing out every...single...play. No quit. No slowing. Downfield blocking. Multiple blocks from the same people as JdL scrambles. On the other side, pursuit. Sometimes a bit of over-pursuit, but can't be too surprised in the first game. D line did not come as far in this game as the O line, but that is because they started better.
- Speaking of the D line, that is the single best D line performance by the Cougs that I've seen in years. I have no idea how much that says about the OSU O line, vs. where we are, but our front 6 did all we could ask in game 1 with a new system and limited implementation time.
- Coach spoke about the unit conversations after every series in his post game. WR's telling the O line what they were seeing was an interesting comment. Rolo credited much of the progress during the game on those conversations.
- Nice punting. Been a while since one of our punters could find the sideline inside the 10.
- Both Kick & punt return blocking is a work in progress. Again, not a surprise in the first game. I'm expecting better blocking and fewer fair catches next game.
- JdL is going to be special, so long as he avoids injury.
- We won the field position battle decisively, and IMHO that was the most important factor in the win.
Finally, two key thoughts:
1.) it is pretty obvious that we have a solid coaching staff. They climbed a series of mountains at a pretty brisk pace. You know that neither the O nor the D was using anything like a full play book. Based on what we saw yesterday, I'm expecting that more wrinkles will be added every week. This team will be HARD for other coaching staffs to prepare against...
2.) thank you to Mike Leach for leaving a reasonably well stocked cupboard, to go with some key recruiting pick ups by the new staff. I repeat: Rolo said 32 kids were "unavailable". Counting the non-scholly kids, that is almost 1/3 of the team. A lot of 2's were playing as 1's and a walk-on safety got a LOT of PT. Sure, we were playing OSU. But at no time did our team look outclassed vis a vis athleticism. And sure, there were some mistakes...but nothing like I would have expected with 1/3 of the team out. We can stop bitching about Leach. He left us more depth than we realized.
- It was nice to watch the Cougs play football!
- If 32 guys are "unavailable", then I'm guessing that more than 20 are quarantined. We certainly don't have 5 injured safeties (with a walk on playing...and by the way, playing rather well).
- The O line has to feel good. Their adjustments through the game, and improved concentration, were great to watch. A different unit at the end of the game than at the start. That is not a totally unusual thing for the first game, but the circumstances made for a greater progression through one game than I am used to seeing....
- Dion. What a great game when a kid gets a chance.
- Playing out every...single...play. No quit. No slowing. Downfield blocking. Multiple blocks from the same people as JdL scrambles. On the other side, pursuit. Sometimes a bit of over-pursuit, but can't be too surprised in the first game. D line did not come as far in this game as the O line, but that is because they started better.
- Speaking of the D line, that is the single best D line performance by the Cougs that I've seen in years. I have no idea how much that says about the OSU O line, vs. where we are, but our front 6 did all we could ask in game 1 with a new system and limited implementation time.
- Coach spoke about the unit conversations after every series in his post game. WR's telling the O line what they were seeing was an interesting comment. Rolo credited much of the progress during the game on those conversations.
- Nice punting. Been a while since one of our punters could find the sideline inside the 10.
- Both Kick & punt return blocking is a work in progress. Again, not a surprise in the first game. I'm expecting better blocking and fewer fair catches next game.
- JdL is going to be special, so long as he avoids injury.
- We won the field position battle decisively, and IMHO that was the most important factor in the win.
Finally, two key thoughts:
1.) it is pretty obvious that we have a solid coaching staff. They climbed a series of mountains at a pretty brisk pace. You know that neither the O nor the D was using anything like a full play book. Based on what we saw yesterday, I'm expecting that more wrinkles will be added every week. This team will be HARD for other coaching staffs to prepare against...
2.) thank you to Mike Leach for leaving a reasonably well stocked cupboard, to go with some key recruiting pick ups by the new staff. I repeat: Rolo said 32 kids were "unavailable". Counting the non-scholly kids, that is almost 1/3 of the team. A lot of 2's were playing as 1's and a walk-on safety got a LOT of PT. Sure, we were playing OSU. But at no time did our team look outclassed vis a vis athleticism. And sure, there were some mistakes...but nothing like I would have expected with 1/3 of the team out. We can stop bitching about Leach. He left us more depth than we realized.
