Week 7 Thoughts, Observations

I admit it, I walked in the stadium with that pit in my stomach that I’m sure others did, you know the one that said, “Please don’t blow this”:)  But hey, these aren’t your daddy’s or granddaddy’s Dawgs anymore.  It ended up being a convincing 45-3 win over MTSU, but closer than the final may have indicated, let’s analyze….

Offense

When you score 45, you usually say it was almost all positive.  On this night, we only scored 10 in the first half, and that was disappointing.  We allowed a sack/fumble when we subbed Robinson in at RT, and I can assure you he heard about it!  We also sputtered a few times but when we cranked things up in the 3rd quarter, it snowballed in a good way.  Perkins really got us jump started with the big run and then Tyler made some very nice throws, particularly in the 3rd quarter.  We ran the ball well by committee and we have shown we have great depth.  Good tune-up for next week.  Grade: B

Defense

We only allowed 3 points, so it was a good night.  We did allow a few too many yards and they hit a couple of big passes.  However, we turned them over a couple of times and made some nice plays when we had to.  We also played a ton of guys.  It was good to see Calhoun come in and get meaningful minutes when Banks got hurt, he will have to step up as we progress this season.  I noticed that Nick James and Quay Evans got a ton of snaps and they were productive.  Good work all around.  Grade: A-

Special Teams

I think we only punted once and we kicked off pretty well.  I really want Lewis to be the kickoff return guy, Perkins is just not elusive.  Bell missed an easy FG, not good.  We had a couple of nice punt returns that were helpful.  We have to have an A+ effort for next Week.  Grade: B-

Team

When you win by 42 on Homecoming and cover, all is good with the Bulldog Nation.  Everyone also had to hold their breath when #13 went down, I think he is going to be OK.  Good job to get the guys ready.  As for this week, nothing really needs to be said.  Grade: A-

Notes

Great weather day, it sure seemed like we had fewer people on campus this weekend than the UT weekend.  Nice day all around…..Game 5 of my cell service being held hostage in DWS:)…….We opened as a 24 point dog today, wow.  Respect must be earned, no shortcuts…..AU, I think Chiznik just needs some more time:)…Gotta give a shout out to the Oak Mountain Eagles, now 6-2 and playoff bound after knocking off the defending 6A state champs Prattville.  Lewis is a ballboy, must be a good luck charm:)….Not planning to go into Bryant-Denny but plan to tailgate with some of our Bama friends, then drive back home to watch.  Good luck to those who are attending, do something historic….Have a great week!

Brian (Follow me on twitter @blfdawg)