Sorry for getting this out a day late. I live in Orange County, where all of the forest fires are running rampant. Don't worry, I am fine and my house isn't in danger, but my priorities have been other places. It is getting better, however, and I should resume my normal blogging schedule by tomorrow...
Todd Reesing
Oh, so much to talk about. In the first half, Reesing didn't play amazing. He was looking to run a little too early, like Kerry Meier most of last season, and on the 4th and 2 he locked onto Kerry Meier. And on that 3rd and 2 he made a pretty bad pass to Brandon McAnderson which would have been an easy TD. He played loads better in the second half, but in the first half he definitely could have been better.
Wide Receivers
The receivers are still the biggest weakness on our offense, but they played pretty good in the first half Saturday. Sure, it is still an area of weakness, but they got open pretty often. Reesing just took off a second too early on most of his runs, almost every time there was a receiver getting open right when he began his run. The group as a whole still drops way too many passes, and the Marcus Henry fumble killed us, but they definitely aren't as bad as they are made out to be.
Defensive Line
The weakness of our defense, the line, played phenomenal in the first half. Sure, they didn't get enough pressure on the QB, but that wasn't the design of the defense Bill Young set up to stop the Buffaloes. We wanted to take away their running game, specifically the cutback that Hugh Charles rode to a career-high 171 yards last week against Kansas State. Brorsen, Larson and Co. didn't crash down to rush the QB or rush to where the RB was, they stayed in their lanes and made the play when the ball-carrier got to them. Oh, yea, and James McClinton is an absolute monster. The kid is a stud, and is good enough to make offensive coordinators think about running at him. Jake Laptad is really emerging as well, despite being a true freshman 2 star recruit. Laptad had two big, big plays in a row late in the first half, one a sack of Cody Hawkins and another a catch-from-behind tackle of Hawkins as he was trying to run. I bet he starts next season, he might already be the best pass-rush defensive end we have.
Kyle Tucker
Tucker really, really had a good game on Saturday. He booted the ball deep downfield consistently, and the hold on the FG was huge. Hopefully he found his groove and he will keep it up the rest of the way, we need to get all of the field position we can take.
Anthony Webb - Punt Returner
He is still learning when to fair catch, all of that, but at least he catches the ball. Right?
Second half film review will be later on tonight, along with the Thursday Night Preview of the Texas A&M Aggies.