I agree with the aboove concerns but in addition, without Scott, I wonder about our running game. KW looked worse today than at any time I have seen him play. I was surprised at his lack of effort and lack of production. He had a couple of decent runs but never seems to finish a run when a couple of yards would given us a first down.
Unfortunately, I'm out of the country and couldn't watch the game. I am curious, how did Chad Jones look returning punts? You can't really get a feel for things w/ ESPN Gamecast, but it looked like he was getting about 20+ yds on his returns. Was he ever close to breaking one? I've always thought he would be a perfect fit for punt returns. It's a completely different skill required than a kick returner b/c of the extra threat of getting popped right after catching the ball. After he bounced back up during the Bama game last year, I've always thought that he might have had the "I'm not worried about getting hit" attitude that a really good punt returner needs. To me, that's as important as having the moves and speed to run after the catch. Now I know Jones has the speed, but I just couldn't tell whether he also had some moves to make something happen. Finally, Kudo's to Miles for using the second half as an opportunity to get some experience for the younger players, and not running up the score.
1. We need to find a punter. Dalrey is not the man and Jasper will punt next week, I suspect. 2. We need to find a kickoff man. We kicked to the 15 and 20 all day. 3. The quarterbacks were green in their first college game, I don't expect them to look like Joe Montana. Hatch is the definite starter, he was poised out there and ran the offense effectively. He throws late and behind his fast receivers. It's gametime Andrew, they run faster than in practice. Lee looked lost, confused, and locked on to his primary receiver. He'll get better. 4. Wasn't someone trying to tell us that Williams or Murphy was better than Scott? When he is healthy, Scott has always been better. Ridley looked good. 5. Two absolute blown coverages, Mr. Two-headed Defensive Coordinator. You better fix that chit fast. Your defensive backs are going to get eaten alive in the SEC if they let backs slip out of the backfield uncovered. 6. Our receivers are very talented if someone can get them the ball. 7. Both lines are very strong.
It almost looked like the kickoffs were planned that way. My uess is that jasper doesn't have the leg strength, so they intentionally have him hit it HIGH with a lot of hangtime (almost like a pooch punt), that way even though the kick is short, the coverage team is almost on the guy when he catches it. This will probably be better once Colt David comes back. Punter was attrocious. Dickson might be the best TE in the SEC. Byrd looked as advertised, LaFell looked good as well. Keiland Willimas didn't look like he wanted to play football today.
Punting was obviously bad. QB play I'm actually not that worried. Hatch is a good game manager. He doesn't have the arm strength but it's not THAT bad, and his running ability was very impressive. I think we are all a bit spoiled after watching JaMarcus, Flynn, and Perrilloux the last few years as far as QB's blessed with physical abilities are concerned. Lee just looked really lost, he has the physical skills but he did not look good to me today. I would've liked to see Jefferson a bit. As for the positives, Scott is a beast, our lines are looking scary good and Peterson will be a stud.
Today, I believe KW played himself into a reserve role from here on out. That sideline run where he stepped out of bounds without knowing where he was. That was pretty much unacceptable. I think Murphy will be that change of pace back. Williams will get his shots here and there, and will have to make the most of what chances he will be given.
Not that bad??? He had to take a 8 yard running start and the biggest crow hop I've ever seen to underthrow a 40 yard pass! It's that bad. But he runs extremely well, and didn't make any bad decisions. We will live and die by the running game and the 7 yard pass. This may not be a bad thing though. Our running game looks excellent, and our receivers all showed they can make it happen with the ball and some open field.
I agree we can have some success with this offensive scheme. But eventually in SEC play it just won't be enough. If I'm the defense against a Hatch-led LSU, I've got 8 in the box constantly. There is absolutely NO long threat whatsoever when Hatch is in the game. It's a damn shame, because he does everything else quite well.
