Falcons Scrimmage

So, BG scrimmaged yesterday.  I wasn't there, but the media was.  Working here with Nick Piotrowickz, who may be known on this blog as "Nick P." for spelling reasons.  Anyway, he had a couple impressions worth noting.  His story is here.

The first, as noted in the headline, the offense won the day.  It is difficult to describe how important that is for BG this year.  The line seems to be stable and ready, though still young.  You have strong but young starters at QB, RB, and an all-MAC WR.  But beyond that, the skill position players are not proven. 

So when you see Quinton Morris showing something, that's pretty important.  He was injured last year or he probably would have been playing then.  As noted by The Blade, he's potential trouble in the red zone at 6'4".

Also, Nick P was impressed by Ra’veion Hargrove, who was a huge recruit for BG last year.  Coach says in the story that they don't know how they will use him, but they will need to be.

Because the defense is still developing, this offensive production is going to be important.  We're going to need to score to stay in games and if we can get leads, we can help the defense out by forcing the offense to limit their strategy. 

So all those guys, along with CJ Lamar, Denson, Pough, Phoutavong, and the transfers are going to be really important.

In MAC play last year, BG scored 31 PPG and was 7th in the MAC.  They allowed 39, which was 11th.  To have the kind of season we frankly need, it needs to reverse and then some.  Ohio, for example, was +12.  UT was +17.  NIU was +11.  Buffalo was +4.  (Those are per game numbers).

So, BG gets to 39 on offense and 35 on defense...you're at least getting near to .500. 

The defense?  Well, Nick P noted that the defense is still learning the schemes.  We are trying to be less predictable this year, which means more sets and more options.  Those of you who have been around here a while know that the previous defensive regime started that way and then was forced to continually "simplify" the schemes so they players could execute them. 

Nick P also mentioned that Jinks didn't seem worried about the defense.  I will note that he didn't seem worried before we gave up 39 a game either.

And that brings us to the last issue with yesterday's scrimmage.  The offensive did look productive, I believe that.  You just have to remember they were playing against a defense that hasn't learned its schemes yet and has a lot of new and untested players.  Honestly, they might not play against an easier opponent this year. 

On the other hand, last year the defense was winning some scrimmages.

I do expect the offense to be better, but we're going to need to see them score in a more projectible situation before we're sure what we have.