Subdue the Roo

Ok, with a night to reflect, I'm still feeling pretty good about the win last night.

Here's the perspective.  I know that Miami and Akron are among the worst teams in FBS football.  I know that Buffalo is struggling.

Even so, we beat all three....we beat the teams we are supposed to beat.

And that's better than last year's team.

Also, we can be trusted to hold a lead in the fourth quarter.  We seem to have the ability to close games out.  Note, if you will, the onside kick vs. Buffalo last year....and vs. Akron last night.

Some other thoughts:

BG's running game continues to be pretty poor.  The stats were bolstered by a 72 yard run on our last real play from scrimmage, we were 32 for 70-something, and just over 2 yards a carry.  Obviously, this is a struggle that is not going to go away this season.

Sheehan had an excellent game, maybe his best of the season.  72% completion, 10.6 yards per attempt and 14.7% per completion with no interceptions, that's a pretty good day on anybody's sheet.  He managed the offense very well, especially the first drive in the second half.

I think our offense is much better managed overall than it was last year.  Our OC is doing a great job finding ways to move the ball.  I often felt in the past like we had one idea how to move the ball, and we just kept doing it over and over again.  This offense is far more creative in how we find open space for our good players.  Our screen game, in particular, has really improved, and that throwback screen yesterday was a back breaker.

The red zone stuff also continues to be vexing, although we mitigate it by getting down there so often.  I don't really care about whether the calls were good or bad, we should have punched it home there in the second quarter.  To not be able to make six inches on a QB sneak is really disappointing.

For as much as I think the run game is not getting consistent productive blocking, our pass protection was excellent, albeit against a team that doesn't get many sacks.

On defense, you know, the story isn't changing that much.  The best thing that ever happens for our defense is that the offense puts us in the lead.  Akron's offensive struggles coming in were pretty well documented, but Nicely had almost as good a numbers as Sheehan had, and they ran the ball like crazy in the first half.  We still tackle poorly in the run game.  With the lead, we did collapse the pocket on Nicely a little bit, even if we didn't get home with sacks.

The safety was a big play.   It looked to me like the RB had the opportunity to duck out of the end zone on the inside but went parallel to the goal line and Brown swooped in on him.  We did a nice job on the tackle, because he was kind of leaning downhill and BG stood him up and kept him in the end zone.  So, even if it was an Akron mistake, they made a mistake and BG made them pay for it, which is what good teams can do.

On special teams, we had a TD on that onside kick, and beyond that, it seemed like a pretty even game.  That missed XP was an absolute killer.  With a 17 point lead, the last six minutes are a sleep walk.  With a 16 point lead, Akron still had a shot.

I think our coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for us being 6-5.  They have doggedly pursued ways for these guys to win, not ways for some guys who are going to be here three years from now to win.  I haven't seen anyone write recently that Coach Clawson always loses in his first year, etc.  This team hemorrhaged defensive players since last season (plus Mahone), and despite that the team is still 6-5.

We can't run the ball or stop the run, and this team is still 6-5.  That's an accomplishment.