The Football Brainiacs

– Coach Mike pulls out the Eagle front this week on some 3rd downs with Corey Nelson playing the Nose. Definitely was a nice way of using our speed to cause their center problems on passing downs.

– I think most people probably felt like ND was trying to run over Striker by running strong left but it looked to me like they were really trying to pick on the Freshman Dom Alexander.

– Dom had a few good plays but he definitely showed his youth. But no one can fault him for that. He’s growing up quick. His intuition and physicality is only going to get better.

– Jordan Phillips played great at some points but was inconsistent. Back wasn’t as flat as usual in his stance which makes me think he might be hurting a little. He’s impossible to handle on passing downs and is only going to get better against the run.

– Also, amazed at how he held up the entire game without much rest.

– Dimon is still young but you can see him continually getting a little more physical and a little more comfortable.

– Some folks might be bothered by the way we gave up plays in the run game but we’ve got to remember that a) there a lot of young guys in the front seven and b) they just installed the 335/34 this summer. They haven’t been recruiting to this even a year. Having your ILBs playing uncovered so much can be tough and one of them is freshman who was more of an “athlete” coming out of HS. Pretty darn impressive if you ask me.

– NDs RB Atkinson’s lateral is something else. Guys that big shouldn’t be able to do that.

– Tapper could end up being 1st rounder good. He lost some reps but for a RS freshman that just started lifting weights last year he held up well against the run. Loved his play at the end of the 3rd when he threw his man off and made the tackle. A guy shouldn’t be able to play the 4i technique at 265 lbs and then stand up and rush the passer the way he does. He’s a freak.

– From what I could tell the big run we gave up was blocked up perfectly by ND. Dom Alexander was playing weak side ILB on that play and it looked like he was just unsure of where to go. He hesitated and I think if he would have come across the formation and attacked the line of scrimmage he would have spilled the runner back inside and stopped the big run. But again, he’s a young kid

– I wonder how much Franks hand/arm cast affected his ability to use his hands to shed blockers. It looked like it was problematic. But catching that tipped ball with his cast was awesome!

– Going back to Striker, after re-watching, he may have lost some reps but he’s got to get some credit for some of the reps he won. For his size and youth he’s strong at the POA. It’ll be interesting to see what guys like maybe a Devante Bond could do at that spot. Similar pass rushing ability with a bigger frame. Though Striker gives us that added element of truly elite cover skills at the position.

– Coach Mike Stoops changing the fronts and keeping the back end fairly simple but having those guys play with great technique is paying dividends and will continue to. If you want to be sound in pass coverage at the college level you’ve got to either play man or pattern match zone. College QBs can’t make those tight throws regularly. I know Coach Brian Kelly said right after the game that it wasn’t the problem for Reese, but it was.

– Loved the way we had long drives to end both halves.

– As a guy who loves seeing us under center I loved the 3rd short PA with Bell under center. I understand the strength of the pistol but I’ll never believe that, as a pure downhill running play, it will ever be as feared by LBs like having an RB coming downhill taking a hand off that close to the LOS.

– Shepard is great but please keep your feat brotha! 🙂

– That game could have turned into a blow out if Blake was able to take advantage of the run game working early and hit those open receivers in the 1st Q on play action. But bottom line is for a guy with so little experience playing complete games he is doing an excellent job!