It's never easy or feels good to lose, but the reality is we learned a lot about this team last night. Some things we can impact that are within our control, and others we cannot. Every fan wants to see the program clicking on all cylinders at all times, but the reality is it's hard to enjoy your team and the game if this is your expectation.
Before my points below, I'll preface, if you're looking for an overreaction/trolling thread, I'm not your guy.
Here's what we learned and keys for fans going forward:
Before my points below, I'll preface, if you're looking for an overreaction/trolling thread, I'm not your guy.
Here's what we learned and keys for fans going forward:
- Let's not give up on Bret and this team: Normally like to save the conclusion for last, but want to get this out there right away. As easy as it seems at this point, there's nothing worse we can do for the middle to long-term viability of this program. Bret's blue print will work, there are just a bunch of road blocks in his way that's preventing us from executing at a high level that I'll get into further.
- Injury bug and our breaking point: Because of my age, I've only followed this team since 1998, but in the years following this team, I've never seen injuries to key players pile up like they have for this team. The only other case I can remember it being this bad was in 2003 vs. Ole Miss when we lost Cobbs and Howard and had to bring Holmes (DE) and Birmingham (WR) back into the backfield and even Holmes went down that game. We lost that game. When Cornelius went down, I texted my nephew who is currently a student at the U of A, "it'll be interesting to see how we pull this one out without our #1 RB, #2/3 RB/FB, #1 WR, #2 WR, #4 WR, and with no FB." Hell you, could even say another #3 RB if you wanted to include Marshall in the mix for getting the boot b/c we had him LY and he was an effective KR. While injuries are part of the game, we don't have the depth to sustain so many key hits. I feel like even with just JWill out, we see a different outcome in last night's game. Think about this: one of our leading receivers was a guy that was supposed to REDSHIRT this year. The injury bug is bad this year, and it's unfortunate for this team and coaching staff because we do not have the depth to win at a high level with so many hits. Many of you need to put this into perspective relative to our performance. It just is what it is.
- JWill loss bigger than anyone expected: while many of you want to hop on Bret for hyping his backups, it's tough to do that to the guy. As a HC, the last thing you want to do is put the fanbase in widespread panic with something along the lines of, "yep, our season isn't going to be nearly as good without that guy." No coach is going to say that. With that said, really missing that guy. Collins is doing the best he can, but we've learned that Collins is most effective as a complimentary/change of pace back than anything else. Until RWIII really arrives, we're going to continue to feel this the rest of the season. Like I've said above, before anyone grabs the pitchforks, these are realities of the game beyond the coach's control that impacts the success of the team. You can point to nearly any team across the country and if you remove 3-4 starters on offense and 1 as being possibly the best, they would not be as good and be very vulnerable. (See OM last year and that was just 1 WR)
- We do not have an answer for the spread on defense at this time: I cannot pinpoint whether it's scheme or talent at LB, but we do not have an answer for the spread/quick passing offense at this time. There were times last night when the middle of the field seemed to stay wide open and we could not slow it down. Then you combine that with our CBs (particularly Collins that I can remember) missing open field tackles once the WR caught the ball, and we got into a bad spot. Greenlaw will be good in time, but we are going to have to recruit more like him that are able to come up, stop the run and also defend the middle of the field.
- This team is lacking its mental edge: Untimely penalties continue to show in key moments during games, and we've got to clean this up now that we're getting into conference play. For how great HH can be at times in the passing game, he's now hurt us at significant moments in both of our two losses. The same can be said about the OL with Ragnow and Skipper. You can't pickup 6-8 yds running the ball and then put your team in a bad position by jumping offsides. Got to get this figured out.
- HH needs another year in school: For the pre-season accolades he racked up, he needs another year in school. For how great the guy is in the passing game, he has been a bit of a liability in the running game on the edge. A few times, his man beat him last night and picked up TFL on Collins/RWIII. I still believe he has AA upside, but he needs to continue working on becoming a complete TE in all phases.
- BA is solid for what type of QB he is but was never going to take over games and never should have been expected to: This expectation should never have been formed by fans, yet it seems its still being held against the guy week after week. BA's role in this offense is to complement an effective running game with timely throws that help us move the chains. With so many injuries, BA has been asked to do more. Throw the ball more, make more plays and etc. My thoughts are he's done well in most cases but fallen short in others, and IMO, this should not be held against the guy in his ability to lead this team. I've said this before, but there are few QBs in the nation on any level that can takeover a game without either (1) incredible abilities to improvise/make plays when everything breaks down (EXTREMELY RARE) or (2) without something to complement him to facilitate the execution (great OL, great WRs, great running game and etc). What you've seen from BA is a guy that's been called on to do more but not having the pieces (particularly with the injuries) to execute at a highest level in the highest stakes. You can point to nearly every great QB that comes to the top of your mind and almost all of those had a unit that really stood out that helped them shine. I don't believe we have that at this time.
- Don't jump ship: As in point #1, the worst things we can do as fans is turn on this coaching staff. If this team were healthy, it's still a 7-9 win team. We've learned that we cannot take as many hits at key positions and still expect to win big. The truth is most teams across the country are in the exact same boat, and pressuring this staff to either get fired or feel under the gun would do a lot more harm to the program than good. Like basketball, we would be set back years, but the fans need to realize there's a lot of things not going our way that are not within our control that would help us have a better season.
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