Sweet Victory #1, Part Two

To look into the game a little more....

Marshall outgained BG significantly for the game, though BG outgained them after the first quarter, 356-338.

Offensively, BG had a very productive game on the scoreboard.  Breaking it down, there was one specific thing that made the offense work...which was big passing plays.

I think it's pretty clear that BG did not think they would be able to run the ball against the Marshall line.  If you take out the scrambles and sacks, there were 21 true run attempts in 74 plays.  Seems like a strategic decision to me.

By the way, whoever thought we wouldn't be able to run the ball was right.  If you take the sacks out, BG was 25 for 115.  That is 4.6 per carry, which isn't great and it isn't awful.  However, they had 35 yards on scrambles and 23 yards on the Wimberly fake reverse, leaving them 20 for 57 on honest to god run plays that were designed as regular runs.  

Patterson and Mosely had 3 carries. When coach talks about the RB room being "thin," he's referring, I assume, to the loss of Jaylen Jennings and Jamal Johnson, neither of whom can go.  And of course, Stewart.  Our line certainly struggled out there today

Oh, and he still thinks Jakari Robinson will get his waiver, which will allow BG to close up one hole on the offensive line.

So, BG was going to need the passing game to get going to move the ball.  And it did get going.  McDonald completed 60% of his passes with no picks. He had about 10 yards a completion and his highest average depth of target this season.

Coach says McDonald was "sensational."  Without getting wrapped up in labels...he did have a really good game, some of which might not show up in completion numbers.  He scrambled for some key plays, including a key first down at the end of the game.  He is tough, to be sure.  He took some shots and kept playing.

He made some big throws and hit guys who were open. And he made the winning pass in the flat to Taron Keith.  I think he had a really good game.

I think the key was that he completed 7 passes for more than 20 yards.  Those chunk plays were probably the difference between winning and losing, and occurred against a good Herd secondary.

Honestly, coach says we need to keep him clean, but I thought many of his best plays were under pressure.  In fact, his PFF grade is higher on pressured plays than non-pressured plays.  He did a good job creating time, scrambling for yards, etc.

And he was under a lot of pressure. He was pressured on 39% of his drops, same as last week.  Having said that, the line won some of the battles and provided solid coverage on a bunch of plays.  And hopefully, roon to get better.

Coach said that in practice this week they said they needed to "bring the defense."  As noted in the preview, Marshall was a team that relied heavily on its run game.  Even though Ali was in practice, he did not get the ball.  They relied on Laborn, who ended up 24-157, which is a really good day. After the first Q, he was 19 for 90, which is 4.7 yards per carry, much more manageable.  In total, while Marshall got their yards, their running game did not take the game over.

They actually called passing plays on a majority of their plays.  Here they had more trouble than the expected. They came in completing 85% on high-percentage passes, and BG had them at 68%, with an INT and 4 sacks. Their completions were spread across 9 different receivers.

The key for the defense was the 30+ minutes between when Marshall had 21 and when they got to 28.  That kept BG in the game long enough for the offense to get back in it, plus BG turned the Herd over twice in that segment.

Especially note that JB Brown forced 2 fumbles, including the key red zone fumble...Demetrious Hardamon had a sack and 2 hits...