Let's just get this over with so that we can get back into our swing of things, HATE on Tennessee, and get ready for better football. How's about some quick bullet points and then a free range comments thread sound? Great.
- Jeremiah Masoli, stop getting concussions. You're too valuable to this offense for that. I'm a Nathan Stanley fan, but his play in lieu of Masoli's became apparent as to why the coaches madly scrambled to get the former Oregon signalcaller to Oxford. He can throw a nice ball, and generally makes good decisions, but he's not very mobile and has a strong tendency to overthrow his receivers. I cannot count how many open receivers in the endzone he sent the ball sailing over. His stats line from Saturday is something like 6 for 14 with just over 100 yards. Sheesh. I do think that Stanley has always had a ton of potential, but he didn't show that against ULL which, considering the future of this offense, is quite disconcerting.
- Enrique Davis and Brandon Bolden had great games on the ground but, considering the competition, that should be expected. Bolden was his typical opportunistic self while Enrique showed some promising flashes of elusivity. Truly, I was happy with Enrique and the coaches' insistence on him getting carries, for a change. The final three teams on our schedule are more than good enough defensively, so we'll need Bolden, Davis, and a handful of others to continue to elevate their play.
- It's a bit unnerving when your leading receiver is Brandon Bolden, especially against the level of talent the Rebs were facing. Bolden, though, was an excellent all-purpose guy yeterday, adding 80 yards receiving onto his 136 on the ground, totalling three touchdowns. Melvin Harris had three grabs, and a host of Rebels reeled in a single reception apiece. Patrick Peterson's gonna have a field day against our passing game, I fear.
- It's hard to judge the offensive line (or anyone, which is kindof a pervailing theme in such a postgame) off of their play but, sure, why the hell not; they were fine. Whatever. Hopefully this glorified practice has them ready-ish for Tennessee this weekend. The Vols, even in Neyland, "boast" one of the weakest DL's we'll have faced all season, so the Rebels really must take advantage of that this Saturday.
- Rodney Scott... Just... I mean, what the Hell, broseph?
- ULL's 21 points are misleading; the defense played as well as they should have against a Sun Belt squad, allowing a paltry 215 yards total. The Cajuns mustered 3.1 yards per carry and only completed 7 of their 21 passes. The defensive line was alright, the linebackers were serviceable, and the secondary really showed up. Charles Sawyer showed everyone why he's one of the most heralded young players on the team, and Mike Marry had an excellent game filling in for Jonathan Cornell. There's some young talent on this defense which should give us some excitement for the next two seasons (we'll need it).
- Bryson Rose hit all five of his field goals on Saturday. Well done, Bryson.
- How was the Grove? How was the game itself? How were the ULL fans? Things seemed deader than Tyrone Nix's job out there.
- Any other thoughts?
- No? Alright.