Give Kwiatkowski some time. I think he'll end up quite a bit better than Ash, and Ash ended up pretty good. Prolly somewhere around the Robinson level. Possibly even better. Coach PK has a very good track record. He didn't just fall off the turnip truck (no offense lurking aggies...). This week will be a big early test for him and our D. (I know nobody can touch Fuller, so I won't even go there)
The biggest challenge will be finding the right talent to plug into the system. He's done a nice job of adapting to what he has. And credit to folks like Overshown, who have worked hard to shine. I'd grade him out at a B-.
F. Without the TOs OU scores 60 or 70. PK and DB coaches still have taught them how to play ball in the air. If the DBs make plays on EASY hail mary throws from Williams, OU scores 3 less times. The D didn't stop OU on any possession starting in the late 2nd Quarter. That's F-.
I liked what they were doing in the 3rd quarter playing bend, don’t break defense. Then the offense shriveled up and then the defense became aggressive, which led to big plays by OU. I recognize this is Monday morning quarterbacking but I wonder if we win if the strategy was reversed: more aggressive on offense and less aggressive on defense.
I still don"t understand how the secondary is taught to play in today's game. How about going back to knowing your responsibility, cover the receiver in your area, see the ball, intercept or bat the ball down. Seems to me there should be a great number more interceptions made in the game of football today. I know I picked off at least 4 or 5 passes from the couch in this one game alone. By the time I watch numerous games today, I might as well move into the Heisman House!
If they don't give up the 60-yard run where we missed two or three tackles, things likely would have gone differently. With the rage cooled from my veins, there are a couple of those plays, particularly the go-ahead TD throw at the pylon, where you just have to say that was impressive. Still too many busts, too many people out of position, but I do think we're still limited by our personnel. We don't have the people we need to run his system, and I'm hopeful that will change. Right now it looks ugly at times because our front three can't hold the line consistently and our edge guys are getting washed out too much and leaving running lanes open. As bad as our secondary played at times last week, I didn't think they were that bad this week except for a couple of busts, one of which ended up not costing us anything.
Missed tackles cost us, says Captain Obvious; and then he said that not blitzing/pressuring their QB cost us big time. I have to agree with him
Hiring PK is Sark's biggest mistake. Herman's demise was not hiring coordinators very well. Sark is the OC but he had to pick a top notch, national best level DC and he completely whiffed.
I don't really follow schemes and such. I just watch the game. But on the third and 19 play we rushed 3 guys. In other words, lets make sure the QB has all day to sit back and make an uninterrupted throw. That I'll never understand. I say rush 4, 5 or 6. Don't give the QB enough time for his receivers to even make it 19 yards down the field. Yeah, I know the theory behind the prevent. But it's a bad move.
Would you prefer Ash? Ash was actually rather good, but you wouldn’t know it from reading these boards. So many here said he really sucked until late last year. Then so many gushed over how good he was. Would you rather we hire Odom? Well, that’s a good choice, but we ain’t getting him. Sark has worked successfully with Coach K before and he has a good track record. Could he coach D so well at Washington, then turn into a lousy coordinator here? Possible but unlikely. A turnaround isn’t overnight folks.
Oh, and Herman hired Ash. That same Ash that so many praised by late last year and wanted us to keep.
Our defense gives up 29.14 points per game which will land us somewhere around 100th in the country in scoring defense. Take out the patsy Rice game and we give up an average of 35 points per game which would rank us 115th out of 130 teams. Coach K has a major problem on his hands that I'm not sure he can solve. We're only 6 games into this but I hope he has an idea of how to fix this.
If I had to pick one aspect of the game, I would say that our inability to stop the run was the difference, and in particular three runs including — if I’m not mistaken — three long rushing touchdowns. (Maybe two.) Ojomo said after the game that we didn’t handle the counter very well. Frankly, that may have been the difference. A defense has to stop something. After the mid third quarter, we couldn’t stop anything. Is that on Kwiatkowski, a talent void, too much time on the field or all of the above? Awfully disappointing.
Eh, I really don't care because data is data. Sometimes people let their feelings of hope get in the way of reality. The reality is we are one of if not the worst defense in all power 5 conferences and quite frankly the country. Besides the point problem, we give up an average of 439 yards per game which will land us around 110th in the country. This is absolutely pathetic results. We should be 5-1 easily if the defense had any idea what they are doing. They have plenty of talent. Our d-line was supposed to be an overall team strength but he keeps putting them in a 3 man front with a non aggressive approach...just hold the line. Stupid.
Ash was one coach I thought should be retained. I thought he did a pretty good job getting things turned around last year considering the steaming pile of (*^&( he inherited from Orlano.
Coach K and the D have a lot of work to do, and there are more good offenses ahead—look what Baylor did today. His track record, however, is very good. I don’t think he’ll go from one of the most coveted D coordinators in the country to one of the worst. Give this one some time.
