My Thoughts SFA

[achrist70]

QB: Tirrell is the most explosive player in the nation, and continues to be a heart breaker to opponents on 3rd down. 9-25 passing isn't that great but I do think he is making better throws, he was facing a fast secondary that probably caused a few incompletions, but no ints for the 2nd straight week, which is huge. I thought he showed moxy in the drive before the half. He also seemed to read the zone read option better this week.

Grade: B

RB: David Johnson didn't have the greatest yards per carry but 31 carries and not having Carlos at all is huge. I really hope Carlos will be back after a bye week. The better our RB's play the better the whole offense is.

Grade: A-

WR/TE: I am becoming more and more impressed with our young players at these positions, Wells seems to be Tirrell's safety blanket, which is very nice and will open things up more down field. I thought our entire core made some nice catches along the sideline. We still need to block better down field, but that is something always improving.

Grade: B

Line: We seemed to struggle a little bit with the over all speed of SFA upfront. We were focused on staying on blocks rather than possibly moving them back off the ball. However with this we often were able to get to the edge. Pass protection I felt was very good. The one thing I would like to see improved is our line getting to the second level.

Grade: B-

DL: Our DL disappointed me tonight a little bit. I don't expect a lot of sacks as a unit as the Jacks got the ball out to their great wide outs so quickly. The did do a nice job at least getting in the quarterbacks face from time to time, messing up the timing of SFA. The area that disappointed me was our inability to shut down their running game. I thought there were way to many 8-12 yard runs tonight.

Grade: C

LB: Our linebackers were great in space tonight against a team with great speed. This will be one of the toughest games they will have all year with the short passing game they love to run. They also did a nice job cleaning up for the DL and some of the runs that the Jacks had.

Grade: A

DB: Again this is one of the toughest games that this group will have all year. 281 yards passing sounds like a lot, but when you consider that SFA is more than capable of going for 500 it was a very nice effort. I that the thing they did so well was limit the yards after catch rather well. #17 for them is a special player and he got his, but we contained well enough to win.

Grade: A-

Special Teams: Sieversten has looked great on FG/PAT and that is something that we sorely missed last year, however he needs to get the ball deeper on kickoffs. Bernard looked like a whole new punter tonight, whenever he averages around that 42-45 yard mark he had a good night. I thought that the kick coverage wasn't that good, but we were facing the best returner in the nation.

Grade: B

Intangibles: 5 penalties for 50 yards was a huge improvement especially considering that they had some very key penalties against them. I think that dealing with injuries in the game of key player played a huge role. Dealing with the Texas heat better than the team from Texas, and the +4 turnover ratio won us this game.

Grade: A

Overall Grade: B+

This was a great win in a tough environment. There are still many things to clean up, but I think that this team is moving in the right direction for the conference season. The question is now with the Eastern Washington loss where do we sit in the polls, I am not sure I like the #1 target yet, but #2 or #3 is fine.

Offensive Player of Game: David Johnson, tough running and had to carry the load, plus I can't give #10 the award every week.

Defensive Player of Game: Jordan Smith, 16 tackles 1 INT enough said.


Can't wait for the 24th!

[harry joy]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

Renny showed moxy with open receivers that made big plays. He threw the long ball tonight better then I ever expected. I felt like he was reading the defense for the first time.

[UNI Fight]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

Rennie DEFINITELY has room for improvement on the passing efficiency front but makes up for it everywhere else...MVP for sure. To think...Rennie was 9/25 passing but had no INT's and we came away with a 34-23 win against a very talented SFA team on their home field (returning the favor for last years game in the Dome). If he can get that up to 15-19/25 I'm just smiling thinking of what this team could do.

['70 Grad]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

The punting average and the penalties were the two good things that stood out for me in the game statistics. Nice to hit field goals consistantly. (But even nicer to finish drives with touchdowns - would have resulted in wins at ISU & Iowa.) I guess the passing yardage makes up partially for the completion percentage.

[panther-state]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

Does anyone know if dropped passes were a problem again?

[Grinch]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

dropped passes weren't really an issue it was mostly rennie in my opinion rushing a few passes n the passing plays being called weren't appropriate. Also after watching the Michigan game we really need our wr's (with exceptionto herring) attacking the ball, there expecting perfect passes to drop right in there hands they have to help out there Qb n go get the ball...P.S watch tape of the second half of the michigan game

[UNI Fight]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

Does anyone know if dropped passes were a problem again?

There were several that I remember seeing/hearing where receivers had the ball on their hands but couldn't bring them in (I watched the game for the 2nd half and had to listen to the first half) not sure on an actual number though.

[Hail Our Panthers]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

Rennie made a lot of big throws last night when he needed to. We converted a lot of 3rd downs in that second half. He's still not the most accurate thrower in the FCS, but he throws a much better ball this year. He is capable of making throws downfield that he never would have last year and he looks confident in the pocket

[Purrrrrfect]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

QB: Tirrell is the most explosive player in the nation, and continues to be a heart breaker to opponents on 3rd down. 9-25 passing isn't that great but I do think he is making better throws, he was facing a fast secondary that probably caused a few incompletions, but no ints for the 2nd straight week, which is huge. I thought he showed moxy in the drive before the half. He also seemed to read the zone read option better this week.

Grade: B

RB: David Johnson didn't have the greatest yards per carry but 31 carries and not having Carlos at all is huge. I really hope Carlos will be back after a bye week. The better our RB's play the better the whole offense is.

Grade: A-

WR/TE: I am becoming more and more impressed with our young players at these positions, Wells seems to be Tirrell's safety blanket, which is very nice and will open things up more down field. I thought our entire core made some nice catches along the sideline. We still need to block better down field, but that is something always improving.

Grade: B

Line: We seemed to struggle a little bit with the over all speed of SFA upfront. We were focused on staying on blocks rather than possibly moving them back off the ball. However with this we often were able to get to the edge. Pass protection I felt was very good. The one thing I would like to see improved is our line getting to the second level.

Grade: B-

DL: Our DL disappointed me tonight a little bit. I don't expect a lot of sacks as a unit as the Jacks got the ball out to their great wide outs so quickly. The did do a nice job at least getting in the quarterbacks face from time to time, messing up the timing of SFA. The area that disappointed me was our inability to shut down their running game. I thought there were way to many 8-12 yard runs tonight.

Grade: C

LB: Our linebackers were great in space tonight against a team with great speed. This will be one of the toughest games they will have all year with the short passing game they love to run. They also did a nice job cleaning up for the DL and some of the runs that the Jacks had.

Grade: A

DB: Again this is one of the toughest games that this group will have all year. 281 yards passing sounds like a lot, but when you consider that SFA is more than capable of going for 500 it was a very nice effort. I that the thing they did so well was limit the yards after catch rather well. #17 for them is a special player and he got his, but we contained well enough to win.

Grade: A-

Special Teams: Sieversten has looked great on FG/PAT and that is something that we sorely missed last year, however he needs to get the ball deeper on kickoffs. Bernard looked like a whole new punter tonight, whenever he averages around that 42-45 yard mark he had a good night. I thought that the kick coverage wasn't that good, but we were facing the best returner in the nation.

Grade: B

Intangibles: 5 penalties for 50 yards was a huge improvement especially considering that they had some very key penalties against them. I think that dealing with injuries in the game of key player played a huge role. Dealing with the Texas heat better than the team from Texas, and the +4 turnover ratio won us this game.

Grade: A

Overall Grade: B+

This was a great win in a tough environment. There are still many things to clean up, but I think that this team is moving in the right direction for the conference season. The question is now with the Eastern Washington loss where do we sit in the polls, I am not sure I like the #1 target yet, but #2 or #3 is fine.

Offensive Player of Game: David Johnson, tough running and had to carry the load, plus I can't give #10 the award every week.

Defensive Player of Game: Jordan Smith, 16 tackles 1 INT enough said.


Can't wait for the 24th!

My grades are based on what I saw in person.

QB - it waz good to see Rennie try to go long more than twice even, but on a lot of the long pass incompletions, he was locked on to one player the entire time, when the backside release was wide open every time. He did that a few times. It was great he had enough time for those long passes but I think he was looking for the play to develop a little too long and should have gone else where. He is something special tho!
B-

RB- honestly, it was a pretty quiet 200+ yards of rushing. Outside of Rennie scrambling to get the first downs...wasn't really anything to write home about. SFA's front four were beasts and really limited our backs to go up the middle without getting pounded. 31 rushes for under 100, is a pounding on the body. Good thing we have a freak in our RBs.
B

OL did their job but I felt Rennie was scrambling a lot in the first half with the pressure SFA was bringing. Took a half for our line to pick some packages and get used to their speed.
B-

WR/TE - A few messy routes but overall, great group. Nothing really to complain about here.
A-

DL - i agree with you achrist.

Special Teams - totally agree with you...i was going to emphasize the coverage team was getting killed on big returns, but they have some great returners over at SFA. I wish we had Billy's leg to kick it into the endzone and through the uprights again

SFA has a nice campus and their stadium and tailgating is very Greek based/advertised. Met some really nice people from SFA, and some not so nice people from SFA. Met some other Texas based Panther Alums and converted Panthers! Met Rev and his friend who looks just like zach galifianakis and even had a satchel! My biggest beef I guess was with SFAs ROTC who was right in front of our section. We would do our U-N-I chant and the ROTC was all about saying SUCKS at the end. While its not a huge deal, and I would expect it from college kids, wearing a uniform of such a nature and having that behavior seemed not so classy to me I guess. Had a blast tho and the after party was great too! I apologize to our section as I had full intentions of bringing the Interlude, but forgot the ipod in the car My bad.

Overall B+.

[pwjmjt]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

In regard to the OL grade...we were at the game. The tackles and center played the entire game, but there were 5 different players used at the guard positions. I think the coaches were trying to find the right combination of muscle/speed to keep Rennie protected.

[UNIFanSince1983]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

I have a few things to say. Rennie wasn't impressive passing, but did make a couple that he needed to. Our team is very similar to last year right now only causing turnovers instead of giving them up. Rennie will need to pass better if we are going to be a real contender.

David Johnson tiptoed around in the backfield too much. He tried to make moves like Carlos, but he isn't that type of back. I wish he would have just hit holes hard although there weren't too many hole for him to run through. The rushing offense was basically when Rennie would get outside and use his speed. Towards the end he did finally keep his legs moving and wouldn't get pushed backwards, but still room for improvement.

And Purrrrrfect I would rather have Brian Wingert's strong leg. Billy had an alright leg, but it was Wingert who put them out of the endzone on a regular basis. Our coverage team didn't look good, but they had great return men and when you receive the kick at the 10 you don't have to run it as far to make it look like a great return.

Overall, it was a very big win. It is always nice to face adversity against a Top 20 team on the road and come out on top.

[JayJ79]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

And Purrrrrfect I would rather have Brian Wingert's strong leg. Billy had an alright leg, but it was Wingert who put them out of the endzone on a regular basis. Our coverage team didn't look good, but they had great return men and when you receive the kick at the 10 you don't have to run it as far to make it look like a great return.

granted, Wingert did have the advantage of kicking off from the 35, where as the kickers we've had since then have had to kick from the 30. Not saying that BW didn't have a strong leg, just providing some perspective.

Also, did the NCAA change the rules for kickoff coverage this year, limiting or eliminating coverage guys ability to "get a running start"? Or was that just the NFL?

[jegbomb52]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

College usually follows the NFL a year later. Next year look for college kick off rules to mirror that of the NFL.

I am telling you people, our kick off person (I think its Sievertsen) is not being allowed to line up and just blast it as far as he can. If so, rarely. That will change next year assuming we are at the 35 again.

[Purrrrrfect]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

granted, Wingert did have the advantage of kicking off from the 35, where as the kickers we've had since then have had to kick from the 30. Not saying that BW didn't have a strong leg, just providing some perspective.

Also, did the NCAA change the rules for kickoff coverage this year, limiting or eliminating coverage guys ability to "get a running start"? Or was that just the NFL?

Oops I meant Brian and not Billy...seemed like Billy was there forever!
Wingert...wow. I think I still have that sign too from 2005..."In Wingert We Trust"

[TheRevSFA]

Re: My Thoughts SFA

Yeah purrfect it was a pleasure.