Recap: ECSU

So, let’s get it out of the way – the bad news.

1. What the heck was going on with the kicking game. Someone look it up for us, when was the last time we missed two extra points in a game? And add a missed 31-yard field goal? That’s obviously got to get cleaned up, whatever it was that was happening.
2. The defense only gave up 380 yards of offense. Not too bad, but not great. Take away the two HUGE plays (75 yd run and 82 yd reception), and you’re left with just 223 yards. We looked really bad on defense in the first quarter and found ourselves down 14-7 as it ended. Coach Eliano gave some folks a “pep talk,” and things got a lot better after that.
3. Nine penalties – which was supposed to be something we were working to improve on. I think we even had back-to-back false starts. ECSU also had a play that was apparently an irresistible hard count from the qb that cause our line to jump offsides (twice), and the qb attempted to just throw the ball up for grabs to a receiver streaking down the field.

The not-so-good news:

1. The punt/kick-return defense was pretty hit or miss. There was a 1-yard punt return – good. And there was a 33-yard punt return – bad. We also leaked out a kick return of 35 yards – no so good. Eddie Carmona kicked the first two kickoffs for touchbacks – good.
2. It didn’t look like we had a lot of injuries – good. The only one I know of is that Larry Duvall appeared to break two fingers on his left hand – bad.
3. We dropped a pretty easy interception and ended the game with zero turnovers forced.

Now moving on to the good news.

1. Kenneth Robey was a man out there today. He ran a perfect stop-and-go route for the 63-yard touchdown. That play was very patiently set up by previous playcalling. I’m not very patient as a fan and wanted more downfield passes, but it was worth the wait I guess. If you looked at the returning roster after the end of last season, Robey might not have been on the THREE-deep of most fans. He made his move in the fall and clearly showed he has the skill to be an impact player this season.
2. Nathan Dick was very efficient. The live stats show that he finished with a QB rating of 186. We had a quarterback a couple years ago that put up similar numbers in games. It was fun to watch Nathan out there. He looked good and in control.
3. The offense had 585 total yards, a whopping 407 in the first half. We only had 27 points at the half, but that’s some pretty good ball movement up-and-down the field.
4. Nine players caught passes.
5. The defense allowed just 141 yards in the second half, and in the game was brilliant on 3rd down (2-of-12) and perfect on 4th.
6. The defense seemed to be almost constantly rotating people in and out. Lots of people got playing time. It should have given the coaches a pretty good idea who can and can’t do what.
7. I don’t know what the live stats looked like live, but they are pretty sweet now after the game is over! I’m loving that.

It’s now time for bed.