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Off
The Air
Lynn
Meredith
Teamkong
The
Gorillas were everything we needed, wanted and could have hoped
for in their performance against Mo Western last Saturday…and
the victory will propel them into the playoffs.
The Defense was truly outstanding….stifling a Griffon rushing
game and forcing their quarterbacks to scramble on nearly every
pass. Aaron McConnell was a man among men and set the pace for
the group. Aaron must play at that level EVERY game for the rest
of his PSU career if the Gorilla D is to be successful.
Offensively, the Griffs couldn’t stop Neil Philpot. He could
have 4 yards anytime…. anywhere …every time. That is the
most frustrating thing about playing on a defense that cannot
stop one person. Mo Western keyed on Germaine Race and shut him
down early, but could not stop Philpot….eventually they had to
key on Neil…. and up comes Germaine’s running stats. Our
running game was very good….so give tons of credit to our
Offensive Line.
The best thing in that game was an offensive drive in the 4th
quarter that ate up over eight minutes on the clock and resulted
in the Gorillas final touchdown. Just a FANTASTIC drive! That is
what championship teams are made of….defensive stops in the 4th
quarter and an offense that eats the rest of the game up with a
drive.
Still
a couple of things to address
The
game did much to improve our confidence and set the table for us
to run it over the next two weeks, but…..we really need to
address a couple of issues as key areas for improvement in the
coming weeks…
1) The Kicking Game…. Whatever creative coaching and
situations that our coaches can create during individual and
team practices are probably being done to improve the abilities
and confidence levels of our kickers and punters. I used to
coach these positions and the guys who do this are unique
individuals. Most tend to be a bit self-conscious and sometimes
can be intimidated by the “traditional” coaching styles of
chewing your ass off when you make a mistake. They also feel the
“pressure” of the situation and if the crowd is behind them.
Kickers/punters will make mistakes….and they know that
everyone notices them…and they are quite affected by the
groans or catcalls from the crowd! You tell them not to
notice…but most of them do. As Lou Holtz used to say about his
team, “they’re all we have now…so make them better!” So
all you naysayers out there….shut-up… and quit bitching
about these guys. You’ll feel better because it’s less
negative and they’ll probably improve as a result.
2) The
Passing Game…. Okay…all you Air Broyles/Beck guys are
probably getting excited about what I am going to say….but
sorry to disappoint. I am advocating LESS passing in our
Offense...assuming we can run instead.
Now I am not saying to go back to the 80’s and throw it
6-8 times a game…but I think sometimes we pass at certain
times of the game, just to prove we can throw…not because it
is advantageous to our offense.
Let’s take our current offense…Neil Philpot was alright as a
passer last weekend and he will need to improve his consistency
the rest of the season….but we all know he can and will. He
could have easily been intercepted 3 times last week and missed
receivers or made them stop their routes too many times.
But he also hit some good passes at crucial times as
well. I think one reason why Neil has some inconsistencies with
his passing in some games is because we force him into some
situations that creates a lot of extra pressure on him to be
perfect.
All too often, we throw a lot out of the shotgun…on first down
and whenever we are near mid-field. Defenses know these
tendencies and routes seem to be more tightly covered in those
situations. When you review last weeks play-by-play…(or about
any week’s stats), we also have a high incompletion rate on 1st
down. Once that happens…Neil is forced to throw on one or two
of the remaining downs to make up the difference. I know we have to throw on first down, but why not pass for
shorter yardage to improve Neils chances of completion? But on
the other hand…when we are running as well as we were last
weekend….I ask why throw much at all?
Neil is a great passer when he has play action to work
with…down the line option passes (we don’t throw these often
enough)…sprint outs where he can use his great gifts to run or
throw….and play action off of Germaine Race’s best running
plays.
You don’t need to throw much when the run works…but as soon
as the Free Safety has to support the run…your play action is
brutal on Linebackers and the Secondary and usually results in
large gains. We are not a great…pure shotgun…straight
passing team…Neil is not as effective in those situations. The
only time we should have to do that is if we are behind and
it’s late in the game…..bottom line….more play action off
of Neil’s running…and his passing effectiveness will
improve.
What about the Mules?
Well…they
were my pick to challenge the Gorillas. It will be a very tough
contest. The Mules are first or second in nearly every major
offensive and defensive statistical category. They feature a
strong…balanced offense and a solid, tenacious defense.
Willie Fritz loved nothing more than beating the
Gorillas…just look at how he flipped out after they beat us in
overtime last season.
I used to say they had a “juco mentality”…meaning lots of
transfers and players who didn’t understand the traditions of
CSMU….but that is changing. Less transfers…more 4 and 5 year
players…and their system is more consistent as a result.
Is it consistent enough to beat the Gorillas on a regular
basis?? Not this year! The Gorillas are a better team when they
choose to be. So far we have chosen to be better in eight of our
games and I feel confident we will be ready to play this
Saturday in Warrensburg. The Mules will have it all going on
Saturday….free “thunder sticks” for every person in the
stands….lots of recruits… high school bands…. on campus
volleyball tournaments…and a rabid crowd bent on defeating the
Gorillas.
It won’t matter….
PSU 42-17
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