Way too early analysis - GT v. Alcorn

[Ibeeballin]

Cant wait for @Longestday vines, especially the 2nd drive with Shamire looking really good

I would love to defensive one also. Rewatching the game, even though Jabari was "quiet" he quite impactful even tho he played a little high. He either caused a double team each play or held the LOS. Also, great unselfish D by Jabari on the 3rd & 3 play where PJ gets the QB hurry on the blitz. Jabari pretty much rag-dolled the Guard out of the gap so PJ can come thru clean

 

[Nook Su Kow]

I was impressed with our defense. Alcorn St had a really good offense last year and returned all their starters, if I heard the telecast correctly. They had their stud qb pretty animated on the sidelines.

 

[Cam]

The Marcus Marshall & Patrick Skov combo is going to be fun to watch. They might be better than Laskey & Days.

I've been toying with the idea of calling them "Skoshall." Harkens back to the dwags calling the Gurley and Marshall combo "Gurshall."

 

[Buzz Saw]

I'm gonna lock in my prediction right now that our backs are going to be a good bit better than last year, and I think the receivers will be almost as solid. Marshall and Searcy looked really explosive, Snoddy was as good as expected, and Summers and Jeune looked good in pretty much everything they did.

 

[TechPhi97]

Tonight the #2 OL looked pretty good. When the # 3 and #4 guys came in not so good.

I'm just happy we have #3 and 4. Nobody goes 4 deep on the OL

 

[Fatmike91]

My take away is this:

- Team looks to be ahead of where they were at this time last year.
- We have more athleticism in the skill positions on O than at any point since CPJ has been here.
- I have no idea if the A-backs and WR can block on the edge. It's just too hard to tell.
- WR looked fine to me. In fact, maybe we're better off than how we ended the season last year?

 

[DC Bee]

I'm diggin' all these great comments folks. Oh yeah, one other guy worth mentioning:
<---------------Tim Byerly

I hope he enjoyed playing last night. It's good to have a capable back-up if needed for any reason.

 

[DrJacket]

I came away enamored with how our new A and B-backs did. We have some playmakers, it would appear, with the new guys and at WR. Clean game from a penalty standpoint was nice to see. There was no play, though, any more thrilling to see than Michael Summers turning himself to high point this ball in the corner for a TD.

Btw, somebody's been in the weight room and I think I like it! (Actually, the whole team looks strong and fit)

Speaking of, 2 true freshmen looked stronger and more filled-out than I expected: Glanton and St. Amour. We may not have to rely on them much this year, but they look physically ready to compete.

We wore ourselves out with so much good to yell about. There's not much to dislike about a 69-6 victory. Still, I left feeling like we don't know much yet. Tulane will provide us with a stair-step up in competition. Next Saturday can't get here soon enough.

 

[DrJacket]

I just showed the above photo to @MrsDrJacket. Her reaction?

"He swole!" (Okay...first belly laugh of the day is in the books, and it's barely 6:30)

 

[Minawreck]

We should all look again at our games vs fcs 2011-2013: 63-21, 59-3, 70-0 & 69-7.

It's not like we weren't taking care of business.

Yet, we pulled our starting qb and ol earlier after scoring more more quickly.

I agree we look better and more focused.

This is true but this Alcorn State team is significantly better than WCU, Presbyterian, and Elon.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Tonight the #2 OL looked pretty good. When the # 3 and #4 guys came in not so good.

Remember, there are a bunch of red shirts that would have been on the back up units. Glad to see us play the entire squad.

 

[MrsDrJacket]

I just showed the above photo to @MrsDrJacket. Her reaction?

"He swole!" (Okay...first belly laugh of the day is in the books, and it's barely 6:30)

Just expanding my vocabulary by using one of the latest words added to the Oxford English Dictionary!

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

The Marcus Marshall & Patrick Skov combo is going to be fun to watch. They might be better than Laskey & Days.

Th

Our b-backs are thunder and lightning and very exciting to watch. JT was great besides his one Johnny Manziel moment. I thought that Milton looked more confident and played the ball instead of being a step behind like last year. I loved when Vic and PJ were in together! Talk about hard hitting. I also enjoyed watching Shamire during most of the drives. I found myself laughing at him(in a good way). He would just lay on the guy till the whistle blew or barely bump him and he would go flying. AJ Gray a true freshman, had some missed tackles, but overall played pretty well. I think T. Lewis should get more snaps with the 1st team over Marcordes. He plays fast and aggressive while Marcordes seems like he is always a step late in coverage and missing tackles. Golden might be the most sound tackler on our team and was the baller he is. Jabari and Gotsis are beasts inside, and I think day 1 or 2 draft picks in the NFL. 1-0 sounds good, and we are 1 step closer to 15-0!

e

The Marcus Marshall & Patrick Skov combo is going to be fun to watch. They might be better than Laskey & Days.

They might get better blocking than Laskey & Days, too. We will know more after Tulane.

 

[Declinometer]

The A backs are good at catching the ball
The offensive line is the teams strength
Summers looked like a different guy
The A backs are not a concern
Great crowd for a busy Thursday night
Bedford did a good job
When Q gets back!

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

I don't read too much into these early games against inferior opponents anymore, as the spread option can make good defenses look stupid and average defenses look horrendous.

So, being a school night and all, and only watching the 1st half in a local watering hole due to the blackout, I'll start this off and look forward to everyone's comments tomorrow.

1. This is a new season of GT love with it's B backs
2. Few GT penalties, only 1 through the 3rd quarter. Perhaps due to lack of stiff competition and team is relaxed.
3. GT DL has given up more yards and ypc on the ground than I would like to see, but AS has some beef on the OL.
4. JT is still JT. Playmaker. Vision. Awesomeness.
5. Secondary is tight on the coverage.
6. Rodwell has sucked tonight, averaging 0 yards per punt
7. I hate seeing a muffed hold on a PAT, but all is good on the other 8 snaps and holds

And so it begins fellow Jackets. GN.

Just think how different the universe would be today if that muffed hold had been in Athens. whew!

 

[AE 87]

The A backs are good at catching the ball
The offensive line is the teams strength
Summers looked like a different guy
The A backs are not a concern
Great crowd for a busy Thursday night
Bedford did a good job
When Q gets back!

Summers looked like a different guy from what?

 

[Yoda]

I am really happy for Michael Summers. That was a fantastic catch. He really had to earn his first touchdown.

He's bulked up a lot

 

[Declinometer]

Summers looked like a different guy from what?

Sorry, I thought it said it all.
His body his primed.
Confidence looks high
Snatched that TD catch differently than I have seen him catch before (made it look easy)

Keep in mind, he averaged less tha 4 yrds/catch last year (for a variety of reasons)

"Looked like a different guy"

 

[Legal Jacket]

Can't take away too much from games like this. Basically that there was nothing glaringly flawed is the best we could have wanted. One really dumb play by Thomas, but otherwise he looked good. OL, ABs, WRs all did what they were expected to do against an overmatched opponent.

Defense, or at least the guys who will usually be playing this year, played better than I expected against a should be respectable offense. Depth looks like it could be an issue, but we'll have to wait and see on that. Could just be jitters.

Skov is a hoss and will be valuable, but the way he runs shows he's more fullback than bback right now. Head down immediately bracing for contact whether it is there or not will mean he will be leaving yards on the field due to lack of vision. Still valuable, especially in short yard situations, and late game situations where we are looking to burn clock and wear down defenses. I also see no reason we don't just give it to him every time on the goal line. I don't really agree with switching QBs in that situation, and I think Skov behind our OL should get in the vast majority of the time.

Marshall is sort of the opposite of Skov. Great vision, cutting ability, and burst. I think down the line his footwork in the hole will be invaluable for picking up short yardages especially if the OL continues to open up lanes, but with Skov we shouldn't need that this year. Needs to work on ball security, but the positives far outweigh the negative right now. I think we likely see him take over the starting role in a couple of games, and Skov act as a short yardage back, and a closer of sorts.

CPJ said he switched QBs at the goal line to keep JT from getting hurt. If it were fsu or uga, JT would have stayed in.

The ball security issue is the only thing I can see keeping MM from starting. Even though one didn't count, he fumbled twice. That will definitely keep him from the goaline package this year (well, that and skov). After watching today's game, I'm thinking the breakdown in carries this year will be 10-15 for MM per game, and 15-20 for Skov. MM looked great, but he isn't going to see holes like that again and there probably isn't a slower secondary on the schedule.

 

[UgaBlows]

How does Alcorn compare as a team to Wofford from last year?