All that is true. They controlled the ball with the quick passes and managed to get 390 plus yards against a power 5 school which is impressive but the 4 turnovers and 10 TFL will get you beat no matter how much you move the ball between the twenties. We appear to have had most of our starters in the game in the fourth quarter which is not a good omen for the future. Ole Miss and UCF will largely determine the trajectory of this season.
Oddly enough, I couldn’t watch the game live, but it looked like the only worrying thing would be not getting the passing game on track. They gave us their best hit but unlike Southern Illinois and Citadel, we stopped trying to go downfield and ran all over them, like we should. Watching the condensed game, we did a much better job from second quarter on, but you can’t let a team convert that many 3rd downs.
In game being down by 7 in the first half worries you, but we went on the outscore them 28-3. I saw a bunch of reserves in playing in the 4th.
Things I thought about:
Charlie Thomas is a man. Ace Eley is a man. There’s something to be said for losing guys like Ivey and Domineck. Always hate to have a guy and miss out on his best football.
McCollum is our guy, just like McGowan last year. We need another dynamic guy getting snaps, Jenkins and Carter are your solid possession guys but we need a Blackstrain/king/DJ to step into another playmaker spot. I think we want Norris to be that guy but he may be a liability in the run game.
