Great win--not because Syracuse is a great football team, but we needed to show that we can beat the teams we should beat in order to prove the progress that we have all seen this year. No, its not amazing success, but it is a GREAT step in the right direction, and certainly something to celebrate. Here are some things about the actual football game that I saw with my amateur eye:
-We came out with a good plan on defense and executed it (mostly) well. Kudos to the defensive staff for being ready and putting the players in the right position! It looked to me like we kept 3 LBs out there at all times and rolled the safeties in too.
-Speaking of LBs, I am buying stock in #44. Efford has been a revelation, and now he has an INT to go with his game leading 11 tackles. He takes good angles, is hard to block, hits hard and wraps us well. He now lead the team in tackles.
-Haynes King is one tough dude. He takes a lot of hits. Jamal Haynes is also a really tough runner and hard to take down.
-Singleton is such a talented receiver but he has dropped the equivalent of 150-200 yards in the last two games. I don't think I saw him drop one pass before this.
-How about a big round of applause for Aiden Birr?
-We need to fix the punt return issues.
-I'm really proud of the team's response in the fourth quarter. Almost everything went wrong in the 3rd quarter and they could have folded. But they stayed mentally strong and finished the game. I think they are more and more taking on the character of their coach, and that's a good thing.
Go Jackets! Let's do it again next week.