Falcons Romp Over Wyoming

I think that the Falcon nation is resting a little easier right now.

Yesterday, the Falcons won a road game against a team that is probably the most like a team it might play in the MAC. And, the Falcons won the game convincingly and dominated most of the way.

It is a really good feeling.

To get all the disclaimers in there:

Wyoming is clearly struggling at QB, and it is very hard to win in college football without a solid QB. Whoever is the architect of the "take the Quarterback out every time he throws an interception strategy" needs to work on his people skills.

I don't recall a team seriously trying four QBs in one game. I don't even think we have that many without dipping into redshirts.

Still, the game was on the road, Wyoming had beat a MAC team, and this was a satisfying win for us.

The offense, which has struggled this season, was impressive, though clearly taking advantage of 5 Wyoming turnovers.

• We were over five yards a play--the first time season, I believe.
• We had almost 400 yards of total offense.
• We only turned the ball over once.
• We sprung a couple big TD plays, on a Tyler run and a screen to Corey.
• The running backs were 29-122, which is 4.2 yards and pretty good.
• Tyler was 22-25 (or about 63%) accuracy.

Early on, it did have the feel of previous games, as we drove deep into their territory and didn't finish. We used Ty Pronty in the direct snap, which I don't understand. I do understand that you didn't want to put Freddie there to take those hits, since he is battling and injury, but I don't understand why Pronty is better than a direct snap to Bullock, like we used to do with PJ Pope.

(In a "never heard that before" moment, we lost a shot at a TD when Tyler missed the snap because he was looking for his mouthguard. Doh!)

But, the offense eventually got the rhythm going, and was pretty relentless pushing Wyoming around.

And if you're going to mention that we didn't finish and haven't been finishing, you should we mention that we DID finish from then on.

The defense certainly had a good day, and according to Ryan, the defense is the story of the team.

Certainly, you have to like the results. We held Boise to 20, have been deadly in three of our four games in the second half. The offense didn't give them a chance early in the Minnesota game.

I do have to insert some "not so fast my friends" here.....

• The defense has had some entire quarters where they were completely dominated.
• Wyoming's offense is clearly weak---they have not scored on anyone, and at least one of the interceptions was called "the easiest interception I ever saw" by Cal Bowers.
• Devin Moore averaged seven yards a carry and went over 100 yards on 15 attempts.
• We didn't have any sacks.
• They had 4.6 yards per play.

To be fair:

• We had a defensive touchdown.
• We held Wyoming to 50% completions.
• They had 4.6 yards per play.
• We picked up five turnovers, even if one was really easy.
• Cody Basler had a career day.
  

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade. My opinion is that I am encouraged by the play or our defense and I am looking forward to seeing how we perform against MAC competition. But I'm just not as far along on it as Ryan is. In his blog today he says this:

As I wrote in my game story, it’s asinine to suggest that the defense is simply on a hot streak. Four good games is not a hot streak, it’s the truth. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to be different.

Well, OK. Say that if you want. I'm not saying they are on a hot streak. I'm saying they are on a warm streak, and the body of work is incomplete. (And maybe I am trying to be different).

The special teams seemed much improved. Srinisi drilled a 44 yard FG, something which will be crucial as we head into MAC play. Just as important is that coach have confidence in him, because he has shown time and time again that he will go for it rather than roll the dice with a kicker he doesn't have faith in.

The kickoffs seeemed really good from what I could hear. And we seemed to cover well.

We had just one miscue, a shanked punt, but that's the only play where there were problems.

So, we're 2-2. That was an important win. True, there were no consequences if we lost, but it builds confidence and it helps us with bowl eligibility.

Now, the real season starts on the road to the MAC Championship. Eastern was whooped on by NIU yesterday, so let's hope we can do the same next week for our homecoming and start things off with a bang.

One last note: circle that Buffalo game at the Doyt on 11/21. That could be a donnybrook.