Ok, some positives to go with all the negative posts

[eastbaycat99]

Yes, the linebackers are tackling challenged, Kuhbander missed a chip shot, Hilinski didn’t have a pass for more than 20 yards, the red zone offense harkened to the flying wedge era and Ohio was a pathetic opponent.
Having said all that, there were some real, substantive bright spots that showed up this game.

First, the D Backs held positional integrity and a Hankwitz style multi layered defense reappeared. While there were missed tackles, there were always secondary players cleaning up until the last play of the game with the scrubs. Between their first and last possession, Ohio had 11 possessions that did not get within the Cats’ 40.

Gold saw the field, and while Ohio is hardly big ten caliber, there was no room to run between the tackles.

Joseph got an interception, so maybe he will calm down.

Azema looks, even with one hand, much more comfortable than earlier in the season.

Ohio is bad, but the OLine did pretty well get a run push that has been absent all year.

No sacks allowed.

Hull looked like a faster Mike Adamle.

Tyus looks like he is getting used to college football.

The brain trust really, really did not want to throw the ball, but Robinson and Kirtz were pretty much getting separation on every play, something that I haven’t seen Purple WR’s do in years. When Fitz and Bajakian decide to let Hilinski throw, he may well have some targets to hit.

I don’t want to say this game was either a statement or a thing of beauty, or that they are playing at championship level, but between the point where Duke went up 27-0 and the last garbage TD, the Cats outscored two bad teams 58-3 over basically 6 quarters. I’ll take it. Oh, and if the scrubs had pushed Rogers out, they would have had six consecutive shutout quarters. I am not ready to write off the rest of the year.

 

[phatcat]

Yes, the linebackers are tackling challenged, Kuhbander missed a chip shot, Hilinski didn’t have a pass for more than 20 yards, the red zone offense harkened to the flying wedge era and Ohio was a pathetic opponent.
Having said all that, there were some real, substantive bright spots that showed up this game.

First, the D Backs held positional integrity and a Hankwitz style multi layered defense reappeared. While there were missed tackles, there were always secondary players cleaning up until the last play of the game with the scrubs. Between their first and last possession, Ohio had 11 possessions that did not get within the Cats’ 40.

Gold saw the field, and while Ohio is hardly big ten caliber, there was no room to run between the tackles.

Joseph got an interception, so maybe he will calm down.

Azema looks, even with one hand, much more comfortable than earlier in the season.

Ohio is bad, but the OLine did pretty well get a run push that has been absent all year.

No sacks allowed.

Hull looked like a faster Mike Adamle.

Tyus looks like he is getting used to college football.

The brain trust really, really did not want to throw the ball, but Robinson and Kirtz were pretty much getting separation on every play, something that I haven’t seen Purple WR’s do in years. When Fitz and Bajakian decide to let Hilinski throw, he may well have some targets to hit.

I don’t want to say this game was either a statement or a thing of beauty, or that they are playing at championship level, but between the point where Duke went up 27-0 and the last garbage TD, the Cats outscored two bad teams 58-3 over basically 6 quarters. I’ll take it. Oh, and if the scrubs had pushed Rogers out, they would have had six consecutive shutout quarters. I am not ready to write off the rest of the year.

Well put sir!

Way fewer holes than earlier. Need a consistent pass offense and ANY LB play. And a kicker.

 

[TheC]

One clear positive… Hull hits the hole pretty quickly and has a little speed!

 

[Hungry Jack]

Like a well-developed character played by Clint Eastwood, there is good and bad in every game. One must endure the bad to see the good sometimes.

Lou tried to remind us after the Duke dook that we have seen this movie before. A slow-starting Wildcat squat that looks undisciplined, slow, anemic on offense, shaky on defense, outcoached, out-physicaled, and generally out of it.

The recent history of our beloved football club is that we often played our best football later in the season, improving markedly as the season progresses. I do not like what I have seen in many areas, but I know we have reasons to be optimistic despite all the apparent flaws.

For cripe's sake, we won 35-0 today, until a fluky last play TD spoiled bagel. Mind you that Penn St won by 21. Iowa won by 10. Minnesota lost to Bowling Green! We outgained the Rufuses 481 - 348. We had 4 penalties. We clamped down on defense, and the outcome was never in doubt.

We went 1-0 this week. That's the net of it.

 

[corbi296]

Yes, the linebackers are tackling challenged, Kuhbander missed a chip shot, Hilinski didn’t have a pass for more than 20 yards, the red zone offense harkened to the flying wedge era and Ohio was a pathetic opponent.
Having said all that, there were some real, substantive bright spots that showed up this game.

First, the D Backs held positional integrity and a Hankwitz style multi layered defense reappeared. While there were missed tackles, there were always secondary players cleaning up until the last play of the game with the scrubs. Between their first and last possession, Ohio had 11 possessions that did not get within the Cats’ 40.

Gold saw the field, and while Ohio is hardly big ten caliber, there was no room to run between the tackles.

Joseph got an interception, so maybe he will calm down.

Azema looks, even with one hand, much more comfortable than earlier in the season.

Ohio is bad, but the OLine did pretty well get a run push that has been absent all year.

No sacks allowed.

Hull looked like a faster Mike Adamle.

Tyus looks like he is getting used to college football.

The brain trust really, really did not want to throw the ball, but Robinson and Kirtz were pretty much getting separation on every play, something that I haven’t seen Purple WR’s do in years. When Fitz and Bajakian decide to let Hilinski throw, he may well have some targets to hit.

I don’t want to say this game was either a statement or a thing of beauty, or that they are playing at championship level, but between the point where Duke went up 27-0 and the last garbage TD, the Cats outscored two bad teams 58-3 over basically 6 quarters. I’ll take it. Oh, and if the scrubs had pushed Rogers out, they would have had six consecutive shutout quarters. I am not ready to write off the rest of the year.

We need more posters like you. Know what you are talking about and prefer to look at the glass as half full.

I’ll add to the list. No interceptions.

 

[torque-cat]

Yes, the linebackers are tackling challenged, Kuhbander missed a chip shot, Hilinski didn’t have a pass for more than 20 yards, the red zone offense harkened to the flying wedge era and Ohio was a pathetic opponent.
Having said all that, there were some real, substantive bright spots that showed up this game.

First, the D Backs held positional integrity and a Hankwitz style multi layered defense reappeared. While there were missed tackles, there were always secondary players cleaning up until the last play of the game with the scrubs. Between their first and last possession, Ohio had 11 possessions that did not get within the Cats’ 40.

Gold saw the field, and while Ohio is hardly big ten caliber, there was no room to run between the tackles.

Joseph got an interception, so maybe he will calm down.

Azema looks, even with one hand, much more comfortable than earlier in the season.

Ohio is bad, but the OLine did pretty well get a run push that has been absent all year.

No sacks allowed.

Hull looked like a faster Mike Adamle.

Tyus looks like he is getting used to college football.

The brain trust really, really did not want to throw the ball, but Robinson and Kirtz were pretty much getting separation on every play, something that I haven’t seen Purple WR’s do in years. When Fitz and Bajakian decide to let Hilinski throw, he may well have some targets to hit.

I don’t want to say this game was either a statement or a thing of beauty, or that they are playing at championship level, but between the point where Duke went up 27-0 and the last garbage TD, the Cats outscored two bad teams 58-3 over basically 6 quarters. I’ll take it. Oh, and if the scrubs had pushed Rogers out, they would have had six consecutive shutout quarters. I am not ready to write off the rest of the year.

Any given year we are 1-2 key players from being a big ten west contender and being bad, just cause the margin of error is small or us and most programs. 2 years ago we were bad when we lost an excellent starter, the 5 star HJ did not live up to the hopes and a veteran backup who looked the part got hurt for the season. That is exactly what appears to be happening this year. Any given year there’s a fine line between good and bad and most years recently we’ve been on the good side more than bad.

 

[Go Catz]

I thought Meiser played a good game. With the return of Jason Gold, the D line is starting to look pretty good. Samdup Miller didn't even play in this game. We just need to find a linebacker or two.

 

[eastbaycat99]

I thought Meiser played a good game. With the return of Jason Gold, the D line is starting to look pretty good. Samdup Miller didn't even play in this game. We just need to find a linebacker or two.

Miller was on inactive list due to injury, I believe

 

[its_the_sauce]

The tailgate next to us had a bottle of Malört.

 

[Go Catz]

Miller was on inactive list due to injury, I believe

Yeah he didn't play in the Indiana state game either. I think they're just resting him, and when he comes back it'll give us a boost.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Coco was a bright spot for me. Looked much more confident in his tackling. Will need him to play lights out vs. UNL.

 

[loyolacat]

I thought Coco was constantly around the ball....linebacker play seems to still be below average, I thought Kalid Jones got more snaps yesterday and Mueller when he was in there showed some speed and quickness. Played 10 guys on the D-Line w/o Miller today. Hope they find the right combo...at times they put some pressure on the qb. Adebewore is really a load...with him on one side and Pooler on the other the D-line might be rounding into shape. There were two new guys(Priebe , Rowley) on the line and one in a new position (Schmidt at center) and ran for over 350 yds......Helinski showed a strong arm and good awareness.....Dbacks pretty much kept everything in front of them.....I am hoping that Fitz just kept everything close to the vest...and will open things up against Nebbie. and that new players are playing confidently now and we know through 4 games the best line up combos

 

[phatcat]

Is Gerak out for an extended period? Samdup?

 

[cattul]

After watching the Fitz presser, I honestly believe that the coaching staff wanted to practice ‘winning the Wildcat way.’

Fitz’s B1G West vision of the Wildcat way is careful game management by QBs, winning the turnover battle, committing fewer penalties…and an enormous amount of tough rushing.

Sounds a lot like yesterday. I can see people being upset with ‘missed opportunities’ for individual player development, but I am quite satisfied with the coaches‘ approach of going for more of a holistic team training exercise.

Make winning ways habitual.

Edit: I’ll also add that many of the problems the team faces boil down to abandonment of fundamentals, and fortunately those sort of problems can be overcome. Better that than just having major talent deficits.

 

[FeralFelidae]

We need more posters like you. Know what you are talking about and prefer to look at the glass as half full.

I’ll add to the list. No interceptions.

Although there was a pass right to one of the Ohio players that should have been a pick-6, but he dropped it. We were pretty lucky there.

 

[corbi296]

Although there was a pass right to one of the Ohio players that should have been a pick-6, but he dropped it. We were pretty lucky there.

That pass was tipped by a DL at the line of scrimmage. By the way, way to embrace the glass half full mindset!

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Although there was a pass right to one of the Ohio players that should have been a pick-6, but he dropped it. We were pretty lucky there.

That pass was deflected at the LOS.

 

[FeralFelidae]

That pass was tipped by a DL at the line of scrimmage. By the way, way to embrace the glass half full mindset!

That pass was deflected at the LOS.

Ah, okay. I was in the stands and I didn't see in real time that it was tipped and I didn't have the benefit of replay and announcers.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Ah, okay. I was in the stands and I didn't see in real time that it was tipped and I didn't have the benefit of replay and announcers.

Fair enough. Protection broke down quickly. Looked terrible on first glance. Replay clearly showed the deflection though.

 

[corbi296]

I just rewatched the game and saw a lot more positives the 2nd time around. Azema, Meiser and the defense over all. The OL played better than I thought and I am starting to think the unit that started this game may be our best starting five. Hilinski was also better than I thought. This was a great game for him to work the kinks out and build some familiarity with his teammates. I saw multiple instances in the 2nd half where he was talking to teammates about what went wrong during a particular play and how to correct it. Working on snap count, cadence and timing with the OL. Discussing a specific play with Marshall Lang. These are the kind of things that are needed for this team to get better. I would not be surprised if we see a much cleaner effort next week.

 

[hdhntr1]

Well put sir!

Way fewer holes than earlier. Need a consistent pass offense and ANY LB play. And a kicker.

Except that many of the holes were still there and Ohio just did not find them. We get no pressure on with 4 man rush and they don't maintain contain plus when they blitz, they still don't get there

 

[hdhntr1]

Like a well-developed character played by Clint Eastwood, there is good and bad in every game. One must endure the bad to see the good sometimes.

Lou tried to remind us after the Duke dook that we have seen this movie before. A slow-starting Wildcat squat that looks undisciplined, slow, anemic on offense, shaky on defense, outcoached, out-physicaled, and generally out of it.

The recent history of our beloved football club is that we often played our best football later in the season, improving markedly as the season progresses. I do not like what I have seen in many areas, but I know we have reasons to be optimistic despite all the apparent flaws.

For cripe's sake, we won 35-0 today, until a fluky last play TD spoiled bagel. Mind you that Penn St won by 21. Iowa won by 10. Minnesota lost to Bowling Green! We outgained the Rufuses 481 - 348. We had 4 penalties. We clamped down on defense, and the outcome was never in doubt.

We went 1-0 this week. That's the net of it.

I thought the name of that movie was The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. And while there was some good, there was a lot of bad and of course ugly. Hopefully we will see the improvement we need but not there yet

 

[hdhntr1]

I thought Coco was constantly around the ball....linebacker play seems to still be below average, I thought Kalid Jones got more snaps yesterday and Mueller when he was in there showed some speed and quickness. Played 10 guys on the D-Line w/o Miller today. Hope they find the right combo...at times they put some pressure on the qb. Adebewore is really a load...with him on one side and Pooler on the other the D-line might be rounding into shape. There were two new guys(Priebe , Rowley) on the line and one in a new position (Schmidt at center) and ran for over 350 yds......Helinski showed a strong arm and good awareness.....Dbacks pretty much kept everything in front of them.....I am hoping that Fitz just kept everything close to the vest...and will open things up against Nebbie. and that new players are playing confidently now and we know through 4 games the best line up combos

One of my biggest problems with the rush is on one side I consistently saw the end going to the inside leaving the whole side open. Play after play, no contain. And we are about to face Martinez who will butcher us if it happens again this week

 

[EvanstonCat]

After watching the Fitz presser, I honestly believe that the coaching staff wanted to practice ‘winning the Wildcat way.’

Fitz’s B1G West vision of the Wildcat way is careful game management by QBs, winning the turnover battle, committing fewer penalties…and an enormous amount of tough rushing.

Sounds a lot like yesterday. I can see people being upset with ‘missed opportunities’ for individual player development, but I am quite satisfied with the coaches‘ approach of going for more of a holistic team training exercise.

Make winning ways habitual.

Edit: I’ll also add that many of the problems the team faces boil down to abandonment of fundamentals, and fortunately those sort of problems can be overcome. Better that than just having major talent deficits.

It's all good when we win.

When we don't, it sucks McCall's hairy balls.

 

[Deeringfish]

I got the impression that Miller and Gerak were nursing something minor and just being held out to be more ready for Nebraska but Like Sgt Schultz, "I know nothing, Nothing!"

 

[TheC]

Except that many of the holes were still there and Ohio just did not find them. We get no pressure on with 4 man rush and they don't maintain contain plus when they blitz, they still don't get there

The problem is that it sure looked like when we blitzed, it was almost always Bergin. While he may be an inspiring walk-on story, he is simply too slow to get to the QB quickly and too small to even beat the block of the RB.

 

[Figrating]

The brain trust really, really did not want to throw the ball, but Robinson and Kirtz were pretty much getting separation on every play, something that I haven’t seen Purple WR’s do in years. When Fitz and Bajakian decide to let Hilinski throw, he may well have some targets to hit.

The thought that this team might have a passing game is the glimmer of hope for the season. Good observation that Kirtz and Robinson were getting separation.

It's Fitz' dream - maybe every HC's dream - to be a power running team. As NU follows it, the brain trust looks scared to pass. If the team can start to complete some passes once in while, some of the runs might go for a few more yards against the stronger defenses NU will face the rest of the way.

 

[phatcat]

The problem is that it sure looked like when we blitzed, it was almost always Bergin. While he may be an inspiring walk-on story, he is simply too slow to get to the QB quickly and too small to even beat the block of the RB.

My high school coach used to say that about me: "he's small, but he's slow"...

I feel like it's Bergin by default. I wouldn't trust the other LB's to do it, and would be reluctant to blitz a DB for as suspect as our overall D has been. Further, I think I HAVE seen certain other LB's try to blitz, only to get stuffed at the LOS

 

[freewillie07]

My high school coach used to say that about me: "he's small, but he's slow"...

I feel like it's Bergin by default. I wouldn't trust the other LB's to do it, and would be reluctant to blitz a DB for as suspect as our overall D has been. Further, I think I HAVE seen certain other LB's try to blitz, only to get stuffed at the LOS

Yeah, I trust Bergin more than anyone else (except maybe our safeties) to make a play on a blitz.