Unacceptable

Gamblers fallacy: Past doesn’t predict the future. :slight_smile:

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Note to self: Don’t wear boots to the Arizona game.

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Looks like the first 20-25 plays were scripted out and VERY conservative. King only threw the short out. Three of his four first incompletions were drops.
WR had some nerves. King’s initial throws were not as accurate as you would like. It looked like nerves as well.
Play calling in 1st half seemed VERY Applewhite-ish. Run, run, run or run, run, pass.
Special teams missed FG, XP, muffed a punt, KO coverage team gave up field position.

2nd half play calling opened up. Threw quite a few more times on 1st and 2nd down. Post patterns were open all half and King was hitting them in stride. It really opened the running game.

Rice QB and WR made some GREAT passes and catches. Especially on 3rd and 6+. At one point they converted SIX 3rd and 6+'s in a row.

DC did get the DBs up, but we never hit the WR at the LOS to interrupt the QB timing.

DL was stout against the run. Very little pressure on the QB. Very few blitzes. When we did seems like they were delayed blitzes…need to check the film. Need to get more QB pressure.

1st half was forgettable
2nd half was great

Plenty to work on for next week. But also plenty of good to take away.

Incredible catch by Smith…what an athlete.

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unacceptable would have been to lose. Personally I didn’t see a lot that was impressive from the master Briles. Still run off tackle and still do nothing with it. In the end they started to work crossing routes and run away from the Rice defenders. I thought clock management was stupid with 5 minutes left in the game.

I was very worried when Rice came out after the half and ate up 1/2 the third quarter. If they put up a TD there I’m not sure how the game goes.

The one thing I don’t like is the team seemed flat from the get go. That’s on Major. As much as you may hate Herman his teams played with a certain attitude and just seemed to have more energy.

It’s only one game but the UH o-line was overall unimpressive.

#1 should not catch punts anymore.

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For a first game against a team that had already played a game, it is okay. Next week’s performance is gonna show more where this team is than today’s game.

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You are correct, Herman was very good about getting the Coogs up to play every game…except when he was job hunting.

Applewhite does need to open it up early. I felt like the first players were scripted by CMA. Second half seemed like a Briles O.

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The first 20 minutes were rough. Just like they were for FAU in 2017 and Baylor in 2008. Your expectations for a bunch of college athletes to immediately look good in a spread offense they have never played are on you, not them.

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I didn’t get that impression… I saw the team fired up, jumping up in down, congratulating each other.

It seems to me the first half they were feeling out Rice and then got their answer… then easily demolish them.

What hurt us were bone head turnovers.

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C’mon that’s a bit much. What offense did they run last year? It wasn’t like they went from the option to the spread. Yes, adjusting routes etc is a learned skill, but calling run plays off tackle where they don’t get a push or can’t get outside isn’t because they don’t understand it. They weren’t very good at running the ball last year in key spots.

They still don’t have good speed at the skill positions.

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I see Briles is recruiting smaller speedier skill guys now. We still cannot outrun DBs in the open field often.

umm… Rice had a 13 play 7 minute drive to start the 3rd quarter. Key was they only got a FG.

Jumping up and down doesn’t mean anything. They played very flat for 2 and a half quarters.

Luckily UH has better athletes and was able to score quickly when needed. Everyone wants 60-3 and that’s unrealistic. Today wasn’t a disaster, but there’s concerns.

The fumbled punt hurt. The other turnover happened when UH had a 10 point lead. Turning the ball over wasn’t really the issue today.

Two positives? I saw a lot of good stuff. We got some speed. Ol had some improved pass protection. Wr position looks solid. King very good. Ed led in tackles but the next two leaders were linebackers.

Tomato, Tomahto. We won. Be happy.

I think it’s too early to judge the body of work.

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Their defense sucked. Did you watch it or just look at the final score?

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"did you see the first half?
Yeah I watched the whole game. Lots of powerhouses struggled this week before winning against inferior opponents.

Do we need to improve? Of course. But I am going to be in the moment enjoy the win and enjoy my weekend. I hope you will too."

So, anyone on this board who has every played football and has had to change systems from one year to the next knows that you’re first go in a real game is going to be a little rough.

Games are so totally different than practices, and I can’t explain how, you just have to have had the experience.

I am very happy with the coogs offensive performance today. First half was the shake down. Briles showed me he is a good halftime coach because the O was humming pretty good the second half. Even got some running plays to go.

The secondary is what worries me. Our CBs got run by for some long plays and it seems Johnson still doesn’t know how to track the ball. There were some blown coverages too, as Manster points out on another thread.

Good news is, I felt like DiehardCoog713 in 2015 after the Tenn Tech game. Said I, we cover like that against Louisville, we’ll get lit up. We were much better vs UL then and I am comfortable we’ll be better against Zona too.

Me, I’m going to record the BYU - Zona game and see what kind of passer Tate is.

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The problem is the DC scheme. We don’t blitz except when it is obvious. Orlando was wrong D’Onforio is nothing like him. Turns out the Miami people were right about him. A soft zone will not win for us against Memphis and other passing teams.

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Yeah, but they have 2 halves and the final is what counts. I don’t ever remember a game ruled on who won which half.

I saw the big name transfers as looking the part but not playing the part. Williams doesn’t run hard.

Grades:
QB B-
RB C-
OL C-
WR B+
TE A+ (that is a real TE)

DL A+ (Ed is the best player since…Chambers is the real deal)
LB B #22 is terrific
DB D

ST C- (punter is great, punt return is well…, K had a missed PAT)

Coaching B a win is a win.

I think this is a fair assessment.

Bryson Smith I bet will never try to one arm a punt return catch again. True Freshman mistake.

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My concerns are the offensive line run blocking, pass rush, and the secondary. Other than that I feel pretty good about the team.