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The straight scoop from
Colonel Mustard

Sept. 22, 2009

We did everything but win the game on Saturday. For the first time in long time against a highly ranked team we had the better team on the field. This is an extremely positive sign that our talent is improving. We failed to execute particularly in the red zone which cost us the game. Virginia Tech knows that they were lucky to win that game and our guys know that they gave one away. Suh and Helu were the best offensive and defensive players in the game.

There were about a half dozen execution errors that were crucial to the loss. Execution on any one of the plays would have won the game. Failure to run the ball inside the 5 when Helu was hot was a strategic error. Henry’s holding call brought back McNeill’s TD catch. On the next play Holt dropped a very catchable ball that would have been a TD. Zac’s failure to hit a wide-open Gilleylen with a pass he could run with also cost a TD. O’Hanlon’s blown coverage was a glaring error but just one many on which the game changed.

The defense played a terrific game. They did a good job of containing Taylor after he ran all over us last year. Suh was almost impossible to block at times on Saturday. That was the best game I have seen from one of our defenders in a long time. Helu was the primary offensive weapon and had terrific day running the ball. Zac had very inconsistent day including a long stretch of incompletions. That was his first road start in a difficult environment so hopefully he will improve as the season progresses. Helu and McNeill are our best offensive players but we need one of the WR’s to emerge to diversify the attack.

Overall the team was very resilient after falling behind on the road in the opening minutes. Controlling the game against Virginia Tech on the road is a big step forward in the development of the team in Bo’s second year. Our young team needs to learn from the execution errors that cost them the game. They appear to have the talent to compete at high level, now they need the execution to win those games.
 
-- The Colonel

 

 
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