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Observations so far....

buffaholic

buffaholic

Club Member
Club Member
Special teams are vastly improved.
Kickers, and punter both look very good.
Coverage has been solid.

Montez - needs to stay in the pocket, step up and make teams pay. Too quick to leave pocket. Will get it.

Defense - Not sure yet how good they are, but they all know their assignments. Collier is a plus as a true frosh. I think he's pretty much filled what Jimmy gave us.

You?
 
Offense: quite a bit worse than I thought they'd be. Returned a lot + Montez got good experience, figured they'd be a well oiled machine. Hopefully Huckins/Lynott is getting comfortable at center and Irwin coming back should help. Missing TE Irwin a lot surprisingly.

Defense: a lot better than I expected. Lost a ton, but look quite good. Front 7 seems a little weak on run defense, but pass defense and rush are looking top notch.

ST: way better than expected too. Aussie is good and will seemingly only get better, Kinney good despite the hair. Coverage and returns looks good.
 
We have seen basic plays other than the reverse to Nixon. Team has been scrimmaging at best. The o-line needs to do better
 
Lindsay is not running well. He needs to get downhill and run harder and faster. Too much dancing around trying to be patient. Also, stop running out of bounds! It sends the wrong message to the young guys. I'm a bit shocked that HCMM hasn't chewed his a$$ a bit for that habit.
They also need to get their receivers off the line of scrimmage so they can't get locked up by the DB. Those guys are not that good at getting off press coverage.
Need to get passes in the middle of the field with a TE or a RB.
Has anybody thought of Bisherat as a TE?
I would like to see us tackle a bit better but that is something we did really well last year.
One thing is for sure, after watching some other PAC 12 games this weekend, this team is not good enough to stop playing humble and hungry like they were last year. Right now they look overconfident and listless. I hope that somebody gets a fire under their butts.
 
To me it's clear that Lindsay has gotten some guidance as far as avoiding contact. This is the same guy that two years ago would look for someone to hit instead of running into empty space. I'm not really worried about him. Almost every time he's gone out of bounds, there was little to gain from taking the hit. Maybe the coaches have noticed the same lack of depth at RB the rest of us have??
 
Offensive problems start on the OL. Montez has not looked comfortable in the pocket, not his strength to start with but he looked in both games like he was anticipating the OL to break down.

We have had receivers open all over the field. Montez has missed a lot of them, I wonder if with more confidence in his protection Montez could do a better job of getting set and make better throws instead of constantly throwing on the move. Montez also tends to look to the outside. Saturday Jay MacIntyre was open in the middle of the field all day long but wasn't getting balls throw his way.

Running game again has been a negative. I don't buy the line about having Phil avoid contact to protect himself, I just think that there have been no holes to work with, no forward momentum to build into yards after contact. If they were worried about protecting Phil they wouldn't be giving him the work load they have.

A big part of the problem is that the line simply isn't getting a push, it isn't creating space to allow the backs (Phil or Adkins) to show what they can do. From Bish we haven't seen anything to indicate that he is going to contribute with or without blocking.

Defensively you can't complain about only giving up six points but two negatives stand out. One is that we have given up some big plays, some gashers. Against Texas State they started the game with a huge run. CSU also made some holes. Edwards once warmed up does a good job of holding the middle but when he isn't in there we get pushed back. Leo Jackson is a pass rusher from a down lineman position the like of which we haven't had here for a while. Collier has taken on the Jimmy Gilbert role as the speed rushing OLB. McCartney looks like he is still getting used to being back but I saw some nice play out of him this week. They look to be limiting his time which I'm okay with. It would be a big help to have him factor in league play.

Our DBs are dynamic, they looked like they had the Texas State QB hesitating. The only bad play was the deep pass that would have been a TD had the receiver not tripped over himself. On that play we ended up with a fast guy running a fly on it looked like Moeller who bit up on the run action and had no chance to catch up.

Our punt coverage was excellent including one time catching the punt at about the five and another on a long punt that they just missed keeping out of the end zone. They had one KO coverage as a result of Bobo's demonstration penalty and it actually turned in our favor stopping the returner at the 17 instead of the 25 on a touchback.

Not sold on Oliver returning punts. He has the raw athletic ability but doesn't look instinctive as a returner. Lots of dancing, often into traffic. Also we got super lucky when he tried to turn nothing into something and ended up fumbling. Fortunately the ball ended up in Shenault's hands and Texas State had nobody with a hope of catching him. Could have just as easily been a big turnover for them.

Other than the penalty the KOs were all deep in the end zone, what we have been begging for the past few years. The Aussie looked to have his act together, his kicks get up quick and go through the pipes.
 
I think Lindsay is just getting thru the patsies before we see him strap it on. Dude has 3 years of nothing but rough-riding behind him, so I'm not worried about that cat whatsoever. The losses of the Irwins and Kelley have been evident. Hopefully getting one back helps a lot, but I have a feeling our concern is in the middle.

Worthington has been REALLY flashing, but has made a mistake or two. We could use Fisher IMO as well. Moeller is a fantastic Buff Backer, but not so much the guy I want covering centerfield. He's great in the short passing game handling the flats and RBs coming out of the backfield though. Dude is nails. An all time favorite Buff.

Hope Chris Miller is ready to be the next stud next year because I could see Oliver being 3 and done. In fact, if it was my call, he'd have pulled that RS (if he's any good because we are thin minus Julmisse).

Gamboa has been up to the hype. He's been every bit as good as talked about. He now looks like the defensive skipper.
 
OLine is the fundamental key to the offense, but a good coaching staff would be adjusting around the early weaknesses. I am more excited watching this team than ever because of the culture that exists underneath it now. There should be sell outs and full stadium seats from now on. As for the concerns moving forward, it is solely on one person.... OC Brian Lindgren. For the majority of last year and now 2 games into this year, the offense is not innovative and the play calling is subpar. I have been asking some of the more knowledgable Allbuff posters to explain to me exactly the protocol for play calling? Is Chev involved in the play calling, or is it all Lindgren?

There is enough talent to be racking up 500 yards and 40 points in every game without any issues. If Montez is not comfortable in the pocket, then adjust. Use creative quick passing and play fakes and roll outs. If you look at the Oklahoma game, Montez could play like Baker Mayfield.

Enjoying being 2-0, and enjoying watching all these new kids.

Go Buffs!
 
I think the run game struggles are a product of the play calling more than anything. I've been saying this for a couple days now-Stop trying to ram Taz down the throat of the opponent and use the wide receivers to establish the ground game. Get the ball in the hands of playmakers....and using a short passing game sets up easy, confidence builder type throws for Montez.
 
P12 South... USC is the run away favorite. The buffs will be in a pitched battle with UCLA and Utah for second. I'd say those are most likely losses given they're on the road.

P12 overall...USC, UW are headed for the championship with Stanford and Oregon in the wings. Buffs very likely a middle of the pack finish and will do well to get 7 wins.
 
Clean Undies said:
Minor note, but it's bugging me.

Where is the downfield blocking by the recievers?

Few of Bobo's catches have anyone around him except the defenders.
Click to expand...
That's the thing: Bobo's the one who does a great job blocking. When he's the receiver, there's no help unless MacIntyre and/or Walker are out there.
 
Buffnik said:
That's the thing: Bobo's the one who does a great job blocking. When he's the receiver, there's no help unless MacIntyre and/or Walker are out there.
Click to expand...

Think we may have some divas at WR, looking out for their best draft prospects and not necessarily for the best of the team. Just a feeling.
 
Still really don't have a good feel for the team yet outside of the fact that the defense is ahead of where I thought it would be (not ready to say it's better than I thought it would be just yet- I don't think we learned much about the D in the first two games). STs have been good, as mentioned, but haven't been under a lot of pressure.

I really have no idea what to think about the offense. I am concerned that the aggressiveness in the playcalling and play that were missing in the last several games last year has carried over to this year. However, I do recognize that they were doing just enough to win the last two weeks while likely keeping the focus on UW. Hopefully getting Irwin back will help the OL. I just don't think we've learned much at all about the O through two games.
 
Downfield blocking really stood out for me during The Rise season.

That aspect of the receiving game was one of the things I liked about Coach Chiaverini's impact on the offense. It makes no sense that downfield blocking would disappear with the continuity we have in coaching and personnel. For as much competition there is at WR, it seems like this would be a point of focus that would sort out the starters from the guys on the bench.
 
Downfield blocking don't mean squat when the RB can't get past the line of scrimmage.
 
Clean Undies said:
Point made. But this is also the case on passing downs with 3-wide sets.
Click to expand...
On passing downs, you generally want your receivers running routes, not blocking. Once the catch is made, then block. In fact, it's against the rules to block before the pass is thrown downfield. That's called offensive pass interference.

Snark aside, I'm less worried about downfield blocking than I am with offensive line blocking.
 
It doesn't have to be an either/or.

The highly touted Blackout Boyz can't exactly be expected to help much on the OLine.

Seems like YAC was better last season on the outlets and intermediate out passes.
 
On O I wanna see more attacking the middle, te or something. Screens, draws, shovel passes would nice change up as well. We even sound soft over the radio, not good.
 
Speaking of YAC, the other thing that's bugging me is all the dancing and retreating our wideouts are doing after they catch the ball. this might not bite them in the butt against the patsy teams like csu and texas state, but pac 12 dbs have closing speed and can bring the thunder. make the catch, make a cut, and get upfield.
 
Thought that between Montez and the WRs...they read way too munch into their press clippings heading into the season....and it shows. They seem to lack the edge it takes to be focused and efficient...a little to "relaxed".....we shall see. But the naming of the WR group...and Montez saying publicly stuff like "I feel like I am the best player on the field" were a concern that has panned out. Doubtful you would ever hear Tom Brady echo praise upon himself...dude knows he is the best in football...doesn't have to say anything....lets his play do the talking. Hopefully they step up their game for UW....
 
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