Sweet Victory #5 Overview--Offense

On the numbers, BG had a pretty good offensive day.

• 6.9 yards per play.
• 59% completions
• 5.4 yards per rush
• 9.8 yards per pass attempt
• 16.6 yards per pass reception

And yet, you had the feeling it wasn't as good as it should have been.  Remembering that UMass is among the worst defensive teams in FBS, BG really struggled early on.  Johnson was 2-7 in the first quarter and was sacked twice.  The sacks seemed to be more coverage sacks.  Johnson sometimes just holds onto the ball too long, but coverage sacks are also a sign of our receivers not getting open.

BG also had two 3rd and 1 plays that netted negative yards (though they were bailed out on one of them due to a personal foul) and ran only one play in UMass territory.

It was not good.

Things picked up in the second quarter and BG scored on four straight possessions.  Coach says we aren't an explosive team, but BG 448 yards of offense and 94 came on two Ronnie Moore catches and one 51 a long Andre Givens run...almost a third of BG's yards came on those three plays.  We're in favor of it...I think it helps to explain why the offense felt worse than the numbers showed.

Travis Greene had another career high day.  He had 160 yards on 22 carries, which is over 7 yards per carry.  If anything, BG, which only threw the ball 22 times, should have run the ball more.  Greene is just a very good player.  He is tough to stop.  He makes moves in tight spaces to get free, looks for blocks.  He's been a great find for this team and a good thing, too.

Ronnie Moore continued to make plays.  He's a very elusive football player.  If one guy misses, he can go all the way on any play.  BG still lacks a deep threat at WR, and you'd think Moore would have the skill set, but they never seem to use him that way, so maybe he isn't there yet.  He isn't tall enough to out jump a defender.

Ryan Burbrink was injured and Heath Jackson came in.  You might remember Jackson.  He's from Ada, was a HS QB who moved to WR because they had a guy named Dysert there.  He has battled injuries in BG, but is on the depth chart and took over the slot spot.  He led the team with 4 receptions and he scored a TD.  Good story, and you have to love his perseverance.

Matt Johnson had an average game.  He was 11-20 for 166 yards with 3 sacks.  To his credit, he did not throw an interception and he did throw 3 TDs.  Teams are doing a better job keeping him in the pocket, which has limited his ability to make plays with his feet.  I felt like in general the line was pretty good and that most of the pressure was late, which is as much on the WRs.

John Wagner has been writing that BG can't keep having these slow starts when the games get tougher--and they do get tougher.  BG is 5-1, but they should be.  You beat a Tulsa team which is not  turning out to be very good and a Kent team without Archer.  You lose to the Big 10 team, and then you beat Murray State and then Akron and Umass (teams with a collective one win between them.  OU smoked Akron.)

I think that's where we are.  This team is good, but nothing they have shown indicates this team is great.  I'm glad they make adjustments and turn things around, but I worry that this seems to be happening against teams that are sub-par.  BG still has the opportunity to show what they can do.  Beat Toledo and OU and there's a different assessment, but that's going to require continued improvement.