There were several changes in the approach to Baylor. One was Darlington on several levels. One is that he had this little head wiggle on the snaps. I believe the staff saw in film against them before that his body was tipping the snap somehow and Baylor was getting a pass rush jump on us. The head wiggle was distracting and took away their read. It worked pretty well. It came at different times. Sometimes just before the snap. Sometimes earlier. Sometimes immediately at the snap.
They also fixed one of my pet peeves. Almost 80% of the snaps, when he'd get lined up, this season, he'd be snapping the ball behind the computer driven line on the field. Often it was a foot behind it. This is giving away yardage. That didn't happen much at all in Waco. There were even several times when he moved the ball up a little. I hope it stays that way.
I also like the deliberate substitution on defense, when they changed personnel. You don't have to sprint guys onto the field. You get a chance to see who they took and and who they brought in and then get the right personnel out there. It's not your fault if they don't make their sub until there is 24 seconds left on the play clock. And it peeved Briles.
But not as much as Bob was, when they sneaked a receiver off the field and the stripes didn't let us get our matching personnel out there. Bob had veins sticking out on that one.
I know there has been talk about who should play corner if Sanchez is hurting. But I also think that Devante Bond didn't play up to the level he has earlier this season. And he's been dinged a little. I'd love to see the senior P.L Lindley get more snaps. He's been really good, especially against the run. He is not quite as good in coverage, but I loved how he played when in the game Saturday.
During Bob's presser, two scribes said they saw both Sanchez and Brown walking around the offices with a boot on. Bob poo-pooed it, but what injury does he not minimize? Brown has become a very good player and is going to likely be great.
There were times in the game, when in a passing situation that Oakman was on the edge and Darlington was uncovered. And Ty pulled to help Brown block Shawn. That is a really tough task for a center, but Ty did it well. And OUr line is a lot better when Jonathan Alvarez plays guard. He might be a future star.
I had not seen us run counter trey this season, but we did on the Perine 60-yard TD run. Two backside linemen pull across the formation in tandem to block in the hole at the point of attack. Samia got two guys on the play. There was a DL close to the hole unlikely to get there, but maybe. Samia put a hand on the top of his shoulder pad almost like a stiff arm to hold him just a little, and then turned up to get the last guy with a shot at Samaje. He didn't get a good lick the second guy, but didn't really have to do more than screen him. Samaje kind of took care of the rest.
Was I the only one who briefly saw the season about to go in the toilet when they Horse collared Mayfield?
Ahmad Thomas (the safety) took a poor angle on his pick to effectively end the game. Brilliant physical play, but the ball was underthrown. And I can't remember the receiver or db in man coverage, but the Baylor receiver had a step on him and Thomas was too shallow to help. Not sure if he'd have gotten there had the throw been deeper, but it looked likely not. If that had gone for a score, different ballgame.
I hope that playing against backup quarterbacks two weeks in a row doesn't mess with OUr SOS.
Number one thing I'd like to see fixed is the confidence and ball striking of OUr place kicker.
Loved the design of the zone read that Baker scored on. And I'm watching him let the clock run down and it's first down and we have only one TO and I'm thinking snap the damn thing. He had a LOT of confidence that it was going to be a score. Riley is doing some really interesting little things in back path adjustments and swapping block assignments in crucial situations, not unlike Barry did with a wishbone. Very similar tactics. Mixon's path as a blocker on the zone read touchdown was gorgeous to watch.
And I though I enjoyed Samaje's 60-yard TD run the most, I thought his run for OUr first touchdown was his best run of the night. Considering Kansas last season, I think we can say confidently that Samaja is really good when it's wet.
They also fixed one of my pet peeves. Almost 80% of the snaps, when he'd get lined up, this season, he'd be snapping the ball behind the computer driven line on the field. Often it was a foot behind it. This is giving away yardage. That didn't happen much at all in Waco. There were even several times when he moved the ball up a little. I hope it stays that way.
I also like the deliberate substitution on defense, when they changed personnel. You don't have to sprint guys onto the field. You get a chance to see who they took and and who they brought in and then get the right personnel out there. It's not your fault if they don't make their sub until there is 24 seconds left on the play clock. And it peeved Briles.
But not as much as Bob was, when they sneaked a receiver off the field and the stripes didn't let us get our matching personnel out there. Bob had veins sticking out on that one.
I know there has been talk about who should play corner if Sanchez is hurting. But I also think that Devante Bond didn't play up to the level he has earlier this season. And he's been dinged a little. I'd love to see the senior P.L Lindley get more snaps. He's been really good, especially against the run. He is not quite as good in coverage, but I loved how he played when in the game Saturday.
During Bob's presser, two scribes said they saw both Sanchez and Brown walking around the offices with a boot on. Bob poo-pooed it, but what injury does he not minimize? Brown has become a very good player and is going to likely be great.
There were times in the game, when in a passing situation that Oakman was on the edge and Darlington was uncovered. And Ty pulled to help Brown block Shawn. That is a really tough task for a center, but Ty did it well. And OUr line is a lot better when Jonathan Alvarez plays guard. He might be a future star.
I had not seen us run counter trey this season, but we did on the Perine 60-yard TD run. Two backside linemen pull across the formation in tandem to block in the hole at the point of attack. Samia got two guys on the play. There was a DL close to the hole unlikely to get there, but maybe. Samia put a hand on the top of his shoulder pad almost like a stiff arm to hold him just a little, and then turned up to get the last guy with a shot at Samaje. He didn't get a good lick the second guy, but didn't really have to do more than screen him. Samaje kind of took care of the rest.
Was I the only one who briefly saw the season about to go in the toilet when they Horse collared Mayfield?
Ahmad Thomas (the safety) took a poor angle on his pick to effectively end the game. Brilliant physical play, but the ball was underthrown. And I can't remember the receiver or db in man coverage, but the Baylor receiver had a step on him and Thomas was too shallow to help. Not sure if he'd have gotten there had the throw been deeper, but it looked likely not. If that had gone for a score, different ballgame.
I hope that playing against backup quarterbacks two weeks in a row doesn't mess with OUr SOS.
Number one thing I'd like to see fixed is the confidence and ball striking of OUr place kicker.
Loved the design of the zone read that Baker scored on. And I'm watching him let the clock run down and it's first down and we have only one TO and I'm thinking snap the damn thing. He had a LOT of confidence that it was going to be a score. Riley is doing some really interesting little things in back path adjustments and swapping block assignments in crucial situations, not unlike Barry did with a wishbone. Very similar tactics. Mixon's path as a blocker on the zone read touchdown was gorgeous to watch.
And I though I enjoyed Samaje's 60-yard TD run the most, I thought his run for OUr first touchdown was his best run of the night. Considering Kansas last season, I think we can say confidently that Samaja is really good when it's wet.
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