Tired of speculating about our chances with Swoopes, without Ash/Espinosa, so....... John Harris-- 7 catches for 110yd, TD. More receptions in W1 than all of last year. McFarland--we haz receiving TE!!! Haalthy one!!! And, DEFENSE that utilizes the 'tackle' technique.
Harris was indeed a pleasant surprise. Biggest surprise about McFarland was that he didn't get flagged and tossed after using his fist to hit the NTSU DB up the side of the head. We had two blatant loss of control plays during the game. NO MORE!
Good post - Outside of an incredible giving up < 100 yds. by the D, John Harris had to be the next best positive aspect of the win on Sat. This will no doubt boost his confidence and perhaps help him step it up a few notches. I also noticed TE Swain popping up in various O formations to block. I want us to throw to him and see if he can catch with some consistency - if not, we know he can block. We need to find a TE safety valve for Swoopes - McFarland, Swain, etc. I really want to see Daje back in the offense and returning some punts - he is our best game breaker with his speed. There were not a lot of stupid penalties in the game!
Spacing in zones in coverage. Guys were very disciplined in their zone spacing. LB's made it very difficult to get the ball over them and still underneath the safeties. Takes a solid understanding of where your area of responsibility is, and the exact depth your drops needs to be. Great discipline with a lot of temptation around to cheat elsewhere. The windows were kept very tight, which caused QB's to add extra air and miss high. Also, caused tips and picks. The fundamentals are shining through right away. I expected at least a few big lapses like the past many years on first week. Nothing.
Great observations, it’s worthwhile (and more fun) to focus on the positives. And there were several really good things to note in the first game. And while it’s tough seeing David Ash injured again, we could very well be surprised with Mr Swoopes in the weeks to come. Our nasty defense could be a huge benefit to the offense.
I'm as big a pessimist as they come, but my wife got on my butt about being so negative, so I thought I'd post something positive. While I'm not too excited about what to expect from Swoopes arm, I am cautiously optimistic to see if he can show improvement in his running game. The kid is large but deceptively quick with long strides. Hopefully, the staff can play to his strengths and implement a zone read that can afford him to gain confidence and take a bit (albeit tiny) of pressure off of the depleted OL I'm hoping the team can make marked improvement on offense, continue to dominate on defense, and make the Mountain Mormons soil their magic underwear this weekend. Who's with me? Hello BillinSinton???????
I'll tell you, watching the presser and Rewind on LHN, Strong seems to not be bothered by the Ash news. He has consistently said that he doesn't need great, marquee players, just players who do their jobs and give 4-6 seconds of all-out effort per play. Seems to feel that Swoopes will be quite capable of doing what they ask, which is to manage the game and get the ball to his play makers.
"Seems to feel that Swoopes will be quite capable of doing what they ask, which is to manage the game and get the ball to his play makers." Was he supposed to say "DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED?" He can't possibly re-watch the Spring Game and feel that Swoopes is the answer at QB. The fact that Watson also said 6 days ago that Swoopes would need to "earn" his playing time doesn't bode well for his development. Of course he's going to get up there and state that he has the utmost confidence in the backup to get out there and do the job. People said that about Case last year. On top of that, with Raulerson at C, you need to alter how the line looks at the coverages and front 7 of the defense. So you're basically simplifying for QB, and simplifying for the line. That means our run game will probably look predictable on Saturday, unless Swoopes somehow gets daring and unaccounted for on zone plays. BYU isn't the type of defense that you "fool," as evidenced by last year. I'd love to be a fly on the wall for the offense meetings this week.
Okay. He seems like a straight shooter. Must be a pretty good actor, too. He seemed very relaxed and confident. This thread is about positives, so I took his demeanor as a positive, but feel free to opine otherwise, I really don't care.
I will say Swoops changes the game some for prep for BYU. They knew Ash would not run, but now they'll have to prepare differently and won't really know what to expect. I'd go deep early and often and see if we can hit something big. BYU will have 8 guys on the LOS. Wheel route might be there as well.
My biggest pleasant surprise was the tackling. Especially Mykelle Thompson. The difference between this game and the previous seasons was night and day. Mykelle was a 4.3 sprinter playing QB throughout high school and the previous staff never taught him proper defensive technique. In one offseason this staff has taught him skills that may result in him being drafted. Prior to this, he would have no chance at playing on Sundays.
I would not be optimistic if there had been no coaching or cultural change. But that's not the case. ] Period. You'll see.
