The bye comes at a good time in my opinion. I like it when the bye comes before a Thursday night game because then you have about 10 days off BEFORE and AFTER that Thursday night game (Nebraska 10/19; Cinci 10/1; Florida State 10/10). That is a great advantage to have from scheduling standpoint, especially with Florida State being the team against whom we open up ACC play. LOTS OF TIME to prepare. So, what should the focus be between now and next Thursday? Here is what I think:
(1) Safety Rotation: If I correctly recall, I believe that Carter and Bush are out for the game, or at least the first half. Please feel free to correct me on the rules. In any event, these guys are going to miss some time, so it is VITAL that we keep our strong secondary play going by getting guys reps at the Safety position. Jenkins will probably be the starter at one Safety position. Who starts opposite him? Crawford? Does someone roll over there from the corner position? Curious as to what the practice reports say this week as to who is getting reps at that second safety position. Please keep us all updated Gary- thanks in advance. Cinci is going to throw, throw, and throw. Gunner Kiel is a good quarterback, and although his stats are not overly impressive, he will be primed and ready to have a good night against us in front of a home crowd on National Television. This is an NFL resume building game for Gunner Kiel, so he is going to want to give us his best, and we need to be prepared as we can be in the secondary for him.
(2) Press Coverage: I would like to see more emphasis in practice using press coverage and jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage. Too many times in the second half I saw our players lining up 5-7 yards back and giving the Nebraska receivers a lot of space to release down the field. That's too easy, and on the final scoring drive, that #87 for Nebraska has a free release off of Howard and runs a 12-15 yard post right into the end zone. I want to see our corners being more aggressive with wide receivers at the line of scrimmage.
(3) Short Yardage Situations: It puzzles the hell out of me how we can power run the ball all game but when it comes to these 2nd and 3, 3rd and 2 type power running situations to convert, Walton and Yearby get stuffed for no gain and we have to punt. I don't know whether we need more Oklahoma drills, or more offensive line drills, or whatever, but our short yardage situational running game has to improve a LOT, and that in turn will help our woes converting third downs.
(4) Special Teams: It hasn't been bad, but the return game needs to be a lot better. The extra time is PERFECT for more reps on Special Teams- maybe we can add a wrinkle in there like a fake punt or play to block a punt.
(5) Red Zone Situations: I suppose this is similar to Short Yardage Situations, but we HAVE to improve the rate at which we score TOUCHDOWNS in the red zone. What did we have- something like FIVE FIELD GOALS in the redzone...??? Kaaya had an untimely interception there... Throw fades to the Tight Ends and Cager, and figure out a way to get the ball in the endzone, because against Florida State, Clemson, and Georgia Tech, you can't trade 7 points for 3 points on a consistent basis and expect to win. We are SOLID from the 20 to the 20, but red zone play is about a C Level right now.
(6) STUDY THE CINCI GAME THIS WEEK: They play Memphis, a quality team. I thought that Memphis was an average team, but went back and looked at some of their wins this season. They are 3-0 and will pose a good challenge for Cinci. I think that Cinci will win though by about 6-7 points- a 34-27 win for Cinci. Cinci does not have a good defense- it's about average in my opinion. I think that we can move the ball on them. They have a quality coaching staff and weapons on offense to move the ball. It is a winable game, but their game against Memphis this week will give us all a good preview of what to expect.
These are the six things which I would emphasis between now and Cinci- the bye comes at a great time. Also, we are VERY FORTUNATE that we have not ("knock on wood") have been hit with the injury bug, outside of Gus. These first three games have seen everyone relatively healthy. I think Berrios and Coley are almost at 100% too, so really all things considered, we should be locked and loaded for Cinci. Will be a tough game, an honest, quality game, but one which we can and SHOULD WIN, just like Nebraska. Will give you my prediction on it once I see Cinci play Memphis this Saturday.
(1) Safety Rotation: If I correctly recall, I believe that Carter and Bush are out for the game, or at least the first half. Please feel free to correct me on the rules. In any event, these guys are going to miss some time, so it is VITAL that we keep our strong secondary play going by getting guys reps at the Safety position. Jenkins will probably be the starter at one Safety position. Who starts opposite him? Crawford? Does someone roll over there from the corner position? Curious as to what the practice reports say this week as to who is getting reps at that second safety position. Please keep us all updated Gary- thanks in advance. Cinci is going to throw, throw, and throw. Gunner Kiel is a good quarterback, and although his stats are not overly impressive, he will be primed and ready to have a good night against us in front of a home crowd on National Television. This is an NFL resume building game for Gunner Kiel, so he is going to want to give us his best, and we need to be prepared as we can be in the secondary for him.
(2) Press Coverage: I would like to see more emphasis in practice using press coverage and jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage. Too many times in the second half I saw our players lining up 5-7 yards back and giving the Nebraska receivers a lot of space to release down the field. That's too easy, and on the final scoring drive, that #87 for Nebraska has a free release off of Howard and runs a 12-15 yard post right into the end zone. I want to see our corners being more aggressive with wide receivers at the line of scrimmage.
(3) Short Yardage Situations: It puzzles the hell out of me how we can power run the ball all game but when it comes to these 2nd and 3, 3rd and 2 type power running situations to convert, Walton and Yearby get stuffed for no gain and we have to punt. I don't know whether we need more Oklahoma drills, or more offensive line drills, or whatever, but our short yardage situational running game has to improve a LOT, and that in turn will help our woes converting third downs.
(4) Special Teams: It hasn't been bad, but the return game needs to be a lot better. The extra time is PERFECT for more reps on Special Teams- maybe we can add a wrinkle in there like a fake punt or play to block a punt.
(5) Red Zone Situations: I suppose this is similar to Short Yardage Situations, but we HAVE to improve the rate at which we score TOUCHDOWNS in the red zone. What did we have- something like FIVE FIELD GOALS in the redzone...??? Kaaya had an untimely interception there... Throw fades to the Tight Ends and Cager, and figure out a way to get the ball in the endzone, because against Florida State, Clemson, and Georgia Tech, you can't trade 7 points for 3 points on a consistent basis and expect to win. We are SOLID from the 20 to the 20, but red zone play is about a C Level right now.
(6) STUDY THE CINCI GAME THIS WEEK: They play Memphis, a quality team. I thought that Memphis was an average team, but went back and looked at some of their wins this season. They are 3-0 and will pose a good challenge for Cinci. I think that Cinci will win though by about 6-7 points- a 34-27 win for Cinci. Cinci does not have a good defense- it's about average in my opinion. I think that we can move the ball on them. They have a quality coaching staff and weapons on offense to move the ball. It is a winable game, but their game against Memphis this week will give us all a good preview of what to expect.
These are the six things which I would emphasis between now and Cinci- the bye comes at a great time. Also, we are VERY FORTUNATE that we have not ("knock on wood") have been hit with the injury bug, outside of Gus. These first three games have seen everyone relatively healthy. I think Berrios and Coley are almost at 100% too, so really all things considered, we should be locked and loaded for Cinci. Will be a tough game, an honest, quality game, but one which we can and SHOULD WIN, just like Nebraska. Will give you my prediction on it once I see Cinci play Memphis this Saturday.
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