The Book: 2007 Football

[rhineaux]

Â_ Could not say it any better! "Overwhelmingly PLEASED!" Â_

I, too was pretty pleased a the overall performance. the team had a lot going against it, but has a lot to be proud of.

my only beef.we ran effectively all night by spreading them out, then went with a tight formation and down inside the five and was only successful once out of three times. I would have liked to see us continue to keep them spread to minimize the effects of their speed.

and, I thought that MD could have pulled the ball a lot more. they were crashing down on the RB every time.

[Just1More]

_ If my assessment of the game is taken as doom and gloom, dont. Its just observations at the game that we played very well in. If our "down and distance" and "Dline and Linebacker QB pressure" are some of our only negatives, then we're in MUCH better shape than anyone thought. The things I quoted are most likily the exact things that the coaches saw and will work on this week. I think next week we will see more down the field passes and I think they will work, I just think we could have done it yesterday as well.

Take it easy _

My reply wasn't directed at you. I just scanned some of the threads and made "my assessment" of the comments. The SC game may or may not point to some weaknesses. I do not think an SEC foe, on their turf, is a good example of "details" that need to be focused on. Coaches will, as they always do, use whatever is at their disposal to get the team to work hard for the next opponent. Undoubtedly, they will state much of what you stated.

I do not think you throw downfield passes when you are succeeding at running and making short, sure passes. I expect we will, sparingly, throw some more downfield passes. I liked what I saw in mixing in the pass, short seeing the TEs get some touches. However, I think we locked them into blocking for MD and I call that smart.

There is much more to be said as for the details of the game. but overall. very, very pleased. I see the system coming together. much, much hope for a good season.

[nicajun]

I'm not trying to rub dirt in anything,I just asked a legitimate question about the man's injury when the trainers had to come on the field & check him out.Also I think Desormeaux is possibly one of the best athlete UL has ever had.

[Cats82]

No offense taken! Just been a busy weekend. I wish I could drop everything and come down; you people sound like you do football up right!

Anyway, best of luck, I look forward to a good game, and for those who don't have the URL, stop by, say hi.


www.bobcatattack.com


and to see what our school looks like.

http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/tour/tour.html

[CajunKate]

The commentators on TV said Mike's "injury" was having the wind knocked out of him. I guess that'll happen when you have a 300+ pound dude bellyflop on you. But I share the concern of injury. It makes sense that he runs more of a risk of getting injured if he's rushing more than he's passing. I guess we will find out more about the passing game as the season unfolds. All we can do right now is wait and wonder.

[nicajun]

Thanks CajunKate for the info,I was not able to see the game,but listened to it on the radio & I didn't hear Jay or Steve follow up on it.

[Cajunsmike]

The commentators on TV said Mike's "injury" was having the wind knocked out of him. I guess that'll happen when you have a 300+ pound dude bellyflop on you. But I share the concern of injury. It makes sense that he runs more of a risk of getting injured if he's rushing more than he's passing. I guess we will find out more about the passing game as the season unfolds. All we can do right now is wait and wonder.

In the six games Desormeaux played in 2005, he ran the ball quite a bit and was not injured. He is pretty durable. Do you guys remember the wishbone/veer teams of the 70's and 80's? Those QB's ran just as much as Desormeaux and most held up fairly well. In fact it is sometimes more dangerous to get hit in the pocket as the blow comes from the blind side. When you are running you brace yourself for the contact.

[yazoo]

I was at the game Saturday night. You have a very good football team. Spurrier was quoted somewhere as saying that everyone has under-estimated the Ragin Cajuns, and that he expects your team to compete for the Sun Belt title.

Your QB was exceptional. His ball-handling and running was outstanding. No turnovers is a huge statistic. I did not see anything close to a turnover by your offense.

Fenroy was very impressive as well. He ran though arm tackles like a hot knife through butter, and he has exceptional power, as shown by his 3 yard TD run for the second ULL TD.

Your passing game was effective. MD has an arm on him that a lot of folks are going to under-estimate. He threw some very nice passes that were accurate. I don't recall any bad passes as a matter or fact.

Your team also did an exceptional job of spotting the mismatches and attempting to exploit them. I recall one play in which our sophmore DE (Norwood)was covering one of your receivers. The receiver ran all the way across the field and MD dumped the ball to him in full stride. Luckily, Norwood is exceptionally fast and he was able to dive and trip up the receiver for little gain. I predict that no other DE on your schedule will be able to do what Norwood did on that play.

Your defense was also good in the man to man coverage. Our receivers were not open much. With the exception of McKinnley's TD, I didn't see any blown coverages.

The Gamecock fans were nervous as anything when your team scored its second TD. It was a really good game.

Good luck with the rest of your season.

[Just1More]

Good luck with the rest of your season. _

Thanks Yazoo. Admittedly, many Gamecock fans probably summed up the game as a "bad day" for SC. They expected a blowout. I think the battle had more to do with a solid UL team than any particular problems with SC. If Spurrier thinks he has the talent and ability to compete for the SEC East this year, then I don't doubt you do. Good luck in the rest of your season, and again, thanks for your classy post game post.

[RaginFan2]

_ I was at the game Saturday night. You have a very good football team. Spurrier was quoted somewhere as saying that everyone has under-estimated the Ragin Cajuns, and that he expects your team to compete for the Sun Belt title.

Your QB was exceptional. His ball-handling and running was outstanding. No turnovers is a huge statistic. I did not see anything close to a turnover by your offense.

Fenroy was very impressive as well. He ran though arm tackles like a hot knife through butter, and he has exceptional power, as shown by his 3 yard TD run for the second UL TD.

Your passing game was effective. MD has an arm on him that a lot of folks are going to under-estimate. He threw some very nice passes that were accurate. I don't recall any bad passes as a matter or fact.

Your team also did an exceptional job of spotting the mismatches and attempting to exploit them. I recall one play in which our sophmore DE (Norwood)was covering one of your receivers. The receiver ran all the way across the field and MD dumped the ball to him in full stride. Luckily, Norwood is exceptionally fast and he was able to dive and trip up the receiver for little gain. I predict that no other DE on your schedule will be able to do what Norwood did on that play.

Your defense was also good in the man to man coverage. Our receivers were not open much. With the exception of McKinnley's TD, I didn't see any blown coverages.

The Gamecock fans were nervous as anything when your team scored its second TD. It was a really good game.

Good luck with the rest of your season. _

Thanks for the observations and compliments. They are most appreciated by Cajun fans like me who were unable to see or hear the game Often you see the final score and stats, but really have no idea if your team played well or got lucky. Glad it was a good game. Check back with us from time to time and let us know how you guys are doing. Best of luck to the Gamecocks the rest of the year!

[Crawfish]

Wow, thanks.

[CajunNation]

_ We didn't make it through last year without a effective passing game and we won't do so this year. _

Let me refresh your memory. Last season our passing stats were:


PASSING OFFENSE

7th in the SBC
114th Nationally


PASS EFFECIENCY

7th in the SBC
96th Nationally


During our losing 5 out of our last 7 games last saeason, we had more pass attempts in those 5 losses than any other games. Babb had fewer rush attempts in those 5 losses than any of our wins.

If this is your definition of an effective passing game, then you and I have different definitions.

[Just1More]

_ In the six games Desormeaux played in 2005, he ran the ball quite a bit and was not injured. He is pretty durable. Do you guys remember the wishbone/veer teams of the 70's and 80's? Those QB's ran just as much as Desormeaux and most held up fairly well. In fact it is sometimes more dangerous to get hit in the pocket as the blow comes from the blind side. When you are running you brace yourself for the contact. _

You are absolutely right, if the QB has good instincts. MD has good run instincts, and does run toward the open seam. It kills me where people say stupid stuff like we are more likely to get injured playing a "big school" or stupid things like that. We are as likely to sustain injury in the McNeese game as in the SC or Tenn game.

Most injuries happen after first contact and can be caused by any player on the field. someone adding a lick to a pile, rolling up on someone, or like we saw with MD, a DT dropping on his back after he is down. Not to whine. but had this been our DT falling on top of their down QB. flag.

Injuries will happen even to a pure drop back passer QB. Trust me, there are going to be people projecting that MD is going to get hurt. Look around the league. There are going to be just as many QBs hurt in shots taken when attempting to pass as when running in a design run. It's football, not golf. Being mobile adds to your not taking hits when passing. Linemen trying to keep MD contained is going to be like herding a cat.

When we get into Sunbelt play, MD is going to be dodging DBs more than anything else. The DL is only going to see him go by. Rarely will an LB be lined up to square up against him. This is predicated on our establishing that you must stop Fenroy, Wallace or Roberson. MD is going to be the "ought oh" runner. not the "first you gotta stop this guy" runner.

I love the passing that we did use against SC. We will see some of these exact 5 yard catches turn into 25 and 35 yard gains. As MD settles in, and that could be as soon as our next game, we will see an occasional deep ball. If you do not need to, you don't throw em. But, as a defense completely sells out on the run, and neglects a deep route. you pop em. Even if it's overthrown. if the WR gets past his coverage. those guys start playing softer. They hate, more than anything else, to be burned by a WR.

See you at the Ohio game. We have fun times ahead.

[CajunCharlie]

_ No offense taken! Just been a busy weekend. I wish I could drop everything and come down; you people sound like you do football up right!

Anyway, best of luck, I look forward to a good game, and for those who don't have the URL, stop by, say hi.


www.bobcatattack.com


and to see what our school looks like.

http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/tour/tour.html _

I took the tour, saw what your school looks like, and I like what I saw.

I assume that the Cajuns visit you all in 2008. Having a daughter and her family living in Columbus gives me, and members of my family, added incentive to make that game.

[CajunKate]

Linemen trying to keep MD contained is going to be like herding a cat.

LOL!

This is my nomination for the Best Quote of the 2007 Football Season!