Obviously there has been a lot of really good commentary about Monday's game. Here are a few other random thoughts after seeing the game live and a once through of the replay at live speed:
The whole night had a really weird feel for me, right from the beginning. I had a nice dinner downtown with the spousal unit and we casually walked over to the new dome well before KO. We entered the building and marveled at the grand spectacle before us. We walked around inside and my pulse started to race as we got about 30 min from KO. We found our seats and I thanked God for the ability to be at TECH games in person, just to enjoy sports to their fullest. As we got to about 5 minutes before the game starts I am about as jacked up as I can be before a game. The scene was electric and I had confidence to go with an extreme sense of anticipation. Then......a text comes in from a former colleague. One of my best friends in the world had just died. I had recently learned he was very ill but the expectation was that he would live a while. I was crushed and yet still excited at the same time. I can safely say that I had never experienced such a state in my entire life, all at once. It was sooo weird. I ask for your prayers. God knows who he is.
As of this Wednesday afternoon, I am now over the loss. It was one of the most inexplicable losses of my entire fandom, but in the end, it is still just another loss. We crushed them. Every person who saw the game knows we crushed them. The Vowel fans leaving the game were silent and humble because they knew, we crushed them. There were a hundred paths to victory at the start of Q4 and only 1 path to defeat. Sadly, we took the wrong path where literally everything that had to happen to our detriment did happen. So be it. If we place ourselves in equal positions to win at the start of Q4 all year, we will finish 11-1.
As always, fans tend to extrapolate wildly after the results of the first game. I am proud of our offensive performance, but please let us not set the bar so high for the rest of the season based on this result. There are bound to be struggles and set backs along the way. What we have seen is the potential of the group, nothing more. Still, the potential is for an amazingly entertaining bunch. With that said, I am really worried about Saturday. We simply have to find a way to come out on top. I truthfully do not think it will be easy.
Taquan Marshall - wow. Where to begin? I am not presently yet convinced that he will hold on to the starting job long term (meaning for the rest of his tenure), but you have to give the kid props. He had the best first day on the job of any athlete, or co-worker for that matter, I have witnessed in my entire life. Did he miss that last pitch read? Absolutely, but without him, we don't even sniff OT in this game. That 170 pounder just put about 3 tons of combined player mass (22 players) on his back for a night. What an effort! I am giving him a standing ovation as I write. Predictably, the game started with a few "feeling out" play calls (Rocket Toss and QB draw) that really didn't require decisions of any kind. That was smart of PJ. We punted and moved on. Gradually the complexity started to increase, then he made a play or two and he was off to the races. He is his own self out there and doesn't really remind me of anybody. Bottom line: he just makes plays. At times he looks slightly out of control, like noodles Neal on the hoops court, but he knows what he is doing. What composure and self confidence!!! He may lack the explosive speed of JT, but he is fast enough and makes up for it with an uncanny ability to run on the inside that JT never had. At 170 LBS he was picking up tons of extra yards in the trash. Additionally, he would evade a tackle in space and tack on an extra 10 yards in the blink of an eye, all while it seemed every body part was going a different direction. His throws were pretty much spot on and could not have disappointed even the most hardened of QB purists among us. There is absolutely nothing about that performance that should cast doubt about his ability to lead this team. If the other 3 are presently competitive with him, then we are in really good shape and CPJ was not exaggerating in the least bit.
Kirvonte Benson - another wow. He certainly ran the ball well. But perhaps what jumped off the screen to me most was the effectiveness of his blocking in the open field. Holy crap was he effective. He was nifty in the trash, hard to stop, and tough as nails the whole night. We didn't get a chance to see him in the upper gears, but his low gears are more than fine. I am not a huge believer in taking guys' weight lifting records as evidence of playing ability, but with this kid, you can see how his leg strength translates directly to the field. He also gets an A+ from me. Mills was going to be a great player. Benson is a different player, but all signs point in the same direction.
Blocking - it appears the whole offensive unit, especially the skill players, have bought into the idea that we needed to block better to get to the next level as a team. Without even studying the slo-mo, I feel sure, this was the best skill position blocking night in quite a while, if not ever. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this development. UT played a yard back from the LOS most of the night. Our OLS fired off and slobber knocked those guys, who had no answer. I have nothing but pride right now. Well done.
Defense - there was good and bad. A couple of bad angles really cost us along the sideline where a routine 8 yard play turned into a TD. AAAAArgh! Once again, we couldn't sustain a pass rush or get negative plays. It doesn't mean we won't. It just didn't happen Monday. For me, it wasn't as impressive a performance on that side.
I am not going to talk about special teams. In case you were wondering.
