The offense showed some good improvement and while nowhere near ready for the season to get rolling - they're showing positive signs. Today Gustafson had two good drives, Prater had one, and Simis had one. Gus and Simis both threw a TD and Gus and Prater lead the team on fieldgoal drives. You can see that the offense is starting to "get it".
As I'm told this is a shell of the actual complexity of the total offense. The team needs to get this down and can build from there.
Some general thoughts:
1. Brady Gustafson remained the clear choice as the starter but Prater and Simis showed improvement and maybe closed the gap on him. Gus was possibly robbed of at least 1 TD pass when JR Nelson held Ellis Henderson who burned him on a deep route. A few series later another play that would've been a long gain and maybe a TD was also stopped by a PI - that wasn't flagged but drew jeers from the crowd. Guff on the PA even said he was "throwing the flag from the booth."
2. Eric Prater had a long drive as did Makena Simis. Prater's long drive was almost blown up twice on near picks. One play Markell Sanders just missed a for sure pick 6 and it went for a 20 yard gain instead. Simis's drive for a TD was choppy but he got it going and tossed a nice TD.
3. John Nguyen is our starting RB. Logwood is improving but I can't imagine anyone in attendance today thought that anyone other than Nguyen is our best RB out there. Good strong running, a catch or two I believe, hard to tackle, followed blocks well.
4. We got to see some depth on defense make a few plays. Mick Delaney had a few nice breakups, Lebsock picked a pass on the last play of the game. Nate Bradley and Jamaal Wilson had some good plays as interior d-tackles.
5. The 1st string D-line won the day against the 1st string O-line. Tyrone Holmes rushed past both Thiebes and Reese for multiple sacks. Caleb Kidder had a sack and a few breakups. Derek Crittenden had at least 1 pass breakup and a sack I think.
6. Great pick by Eric Johnson. It was 4th and 10 and Gus tossed a deep ball up the sideline in the face of a heavy blitz. The corner was right on the WR and Johnson played it perfectly for a very nice toe-tapping pick on the sideline.
7. The speed on the offense was certainly an effective weapon. The defense was caught off guard more than once with quick snaps. Sometimes converting 4th downs even on quick run plays.
8. Sullivan and Lider both made fieldgoals, Greenberg a PAT. Most kickoffs were landing between the 5 and goal line. Shaw punted just once I think, Lider took the rest and punted well.
9. While Henderson is working his way back in Jamal Jones is playing like a legit #1 WR. Good quickness and hands.
10. 1st string O-line remained Luke-Dietrich-Weyer-Kelly-Thiebes. The left side of Kelly and Thiebes was suspect.... granted they were matched up largely against Kidder and Holmes.
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Concerns and issues that I saw: O-line concerns remain, especially on the edge. Gus with pressure and on the run wasn't very good at all - inaccurate and rushed passes. Simis and Prater were staring down their targets and sometimes threw right at defenders with no actual WR in the area. A few drops - one turned out ok as Naccaratto had one go through his hands and Jones pulled it down for a first. DBs were holding and interfering. It got one flag, could've got 1 or 2 more.
Helena in a few weeks should be fun, looking forward to it!
As I'm told this is a shell of the actual complexity of the total offense. The team needs to get this down and can build from there.
Some general thoughts:
1. Brady Gustafson remained the clear choice as the starter but Prater and Simis showed improvement and maybe closed the gap on him. Gus was possibly robbed of at least 1 TD pass when JR Nelson held Ellis Henderson who burned him on a deep route. A few series later another play that would've been a long gain and maybe a TD was also stopped by a PI - that wasn't flagged but drew jeers from the crowd. Guff on the PA even said he was "throwing the flag from the booth."
2. Eric Prater had a long drive as did Makena Simis. Prater's long drive was almost blown up twice on near picks. One play Markell Sanders just missed a for sure pick 6 and it went for a 20 yard gain instead. Simis's drive for a TD was choppy but he got it going and tossed a nice TD.
3. John Nguyen is our starting RB. Logwood is improving but I can't imagine anyone in attendance today thought that anyone other than Nguyen is our best RB out there. Good strong running, a catch or two I believe, hard to tackle, followed blocks well.
4. We got to see some depth on defense make a few plays. Mick Delaney had a few nice breakups, Lebsock picked a pass on the last play of the game. Nate Bradley and Jamaal Wilson had some good plays as interior d-tackles.
5. The 1st string D-line won the day against the 1st string O-line. Tyrone Holmes rushed past both Thiebes and Reese for multiple sacks. Caleb Kidder had a sack and a few breakups. Derek Crittenden had at least 1 pass breakup and a sack I think.
6. Great pick by Eric Johnson. It was 4th and 10 and Gus tossed a deep ball up the sideline in the face of a heavy blitz. The corner was right on the WR and Johnson played it perfectly for a very nice toe-tapping pick on the sideline.
7. The speed on the offense was certainly an effective weapon. The defense was caught off guard more than once with quick snaps. Sometimes converting 4th downs even on quick run plays.
8. Sullivan and Lider both made fieldgoals, Greenberg a PAT. Most kickoffs were landing between the 5 and goal line. Shaw punted just once I think, Lider took the rest and punted well.
9. While Henderson is working his way back in Jamal Jones is playing like a legit #1 WR. Good quickness and hands.
10. 1st string O-line remained Luke-Dietrich-Weyer-Kelly-Thiebes. The left side of Kelly and Thiebes was suspect.... granted they were matched up largely against Kidder and Holmes.
------------
Concerns and issues that I saw: O-line concerns remain, especially on the edge. Gus with pressure and on the run wasn't very good at all - inaccurate and rushed passes. Simis and Prater were staring down their targets and sometimes threw right at defenders with no actual WR in the area. A few drops - one turned out ok as Naccaratto had one go through his hands and Jones pulled it down for a first. DBs were holding and interfering. It got one flag, could've got 1 or 2 more.
Helena in a few weeks should be fun, looking forward to it!
