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Well, that couldn’t have been any more opposite of an offensive performance than we saw in week 1. Bad game on just about every front. We struggled all day to get in rhthym on offense and never really did. Defensively we played well enough to win but we couldn’t get stops when we needed them and yielded too many sustained drives. Even the giant bright spot that was our special teams had a mark against it with Coutu’s miss. Just an ugly day all around. Oh well, time to get back on the horse so to speak and get things done.

About the SC game

As well as things went against OSU, they went that poorly against SC. For the most part, especially considering the way they started, the OL played as well as could be expected Saturday. Stafford had time to throw during most drops. He was hurried some and sacked a few times, but the OL played better than I could have thought they were capable of after 1 quarter. The problem was that when they did manage to block, it wasn’t a guarantee that Stafford was going to be on target and if he was on target there certainly wasn’t a guarantee that the WRs were going to catch it. That’s a recipe for ineffectiveness. The running game certainly had its moments, but time and time again Jasper Brinkley plugged holes as quickly as they would open and we couldn’t sustain anything.

I suppose Mike Bobo’s having an interesting week. After week 1, everyone was extolling the virtues of the boy-wonder OC that was bringing some new wrinkles to our offense that the players seemed to like and that after one game certainly seemed to be effective. Now Bobo gets to deal with the opposite end of the spectrum, the one where the fans start to question exactly what in the world you’re thinking roughly 1 out of every 3 plays. We probably got a little too cute in the playcalling on 3 different (key) occasions Saturday, but you can’t fault Bobo too much for trying to make a statement early.

We managed to avoid the turnovers that plagued us all of last season for the most part. The one turnover we managed was on a tipped ball. That alone should tell you that Stafford has progressed from last season. When he struggled with accuracy last season, he was good for several turnovers. Now he knows the offense better and despite scuffling pretty much all day we were still in the game until the end because we hadn’t given them any short field situations. On the flip side of that we didn’t force any turnovers and only have one on the season.

I won’t make any comments on Stafford beyond what’s already been said. Honestly, on 2nd viewing he was much better than I had remembered. Frankly I don’t know enough about the offense to know when he’s making the right decisions. It kills me to hear announcers (ahem…that means you Bob Davie) saying things about him not going to an open man when they have absolutely no idea what the progression reads are. If the first receiver your QB looks at has man coverage and a step on his defender, that’s where the QB is going, regardless of what his other receivers are or are not doing. It’s obvious he was having some problems with accuracy and didn’t seem as comfortable as he has recently, but it wasn’t a complete turnover-fest like we saw at times last season. I think the fact he stepped up and took the blame for the loss in the media speaks volumes to his development as a leader.

WC Offense

Let’s be honest, this is a team in Western Carolina that both the coaches and media picked to finish last in the Southern Conference. For those of you new to football, that’s not good. Over their last 11 games (all losses) going back to week 3 of last season, they’ve averaged under 12 points a game, only two of which were against 1-A (I’m not using the new designations) opponents (UF last season and Bama in this year’s opener).

At QB, they’ve used two guys this season. Jr Todd Spitzer has started both games this season which makes sense as he appears to be the less accurate, less mobile of the two. So. Adam Hearns has racked up more yards in less than 75% of the attempts and has a TD/INT ratio of 2/1 on the season. Compare that to 1/3 for Spitzer. We’ll likely see them both.

At RB, Jr Mike Malone is a preseason all-conference selection. At 5-10, 174, he’s about the size of Mikey Henderson. He’s averaging right at 4 ypc. He’s averaged 4 receptions through two games, with a 69 yd TD, so our LBs can’t go to sleep on him in the passing game.

Aside from Malone, only one other player has more than 4 catches on the year and that’s Jr. WR Eddie Cohen with 9, none for TDs. They have 11 difference people with receptions on the season, so they spread the ball around a good bit.

The OL averages a light 285 across the starters. With none weighing more than 300. They do start 4 upper-classmen though, although one of those transferred in and another missed all of last year with an injury. Their starting LT played TE and DL last year and checks in at 6-2, 270.

Bottom Line: I can’t imagine these guys being able to sustain blocks too long. Look for them to use short passes and a bunch of other stuff that likely won’t work against a fast, angry defense looking to prove that last week’s missed tackles and inability to make key stops was a blip, not the norm. They will take a few shots deep though, as they’ve had a long TD pass so far (against EKU) and had another one against Bama that got called back. They’re a decent passing team, averaging 234 ypg but through two games they’re under 100 ypg on the ground.

Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: In the interest of changing things up, let’s go with our LBs against their blockers and RBs. Our LBs struggled at times Saturday getting off blocks and missed a few tackles. Ellerbe should have a big day as should his backup, Washington, who plays a ton anyway.

WC Defense

This is a first, but I’m not going into great detail on these guys. It wouldn’t be worth it for anyone involved. Did I mention that this is a team that was picked to finish last in the Southern Conference? That’s usually not a precursor to solid defenses. They play a standard 4-3 defense. There’s really not much else to say.

Bottom Line: These guys have given up an average of more than 48 points over their first two games, only one of which was against a D-I opponent (Bama – 52). They’ve averaged giving up almost 320 ypg rushing so far and an astounding 505 yards of total offense. This is the worst defense we’ll see all year.