Sunday Reflections

[Apptiger]

We have super studs on defense
Anyone notice how big WYO was on the O-line? I kept waiting for our guys to run out of gas with all that time on the field, but they didn't. They bent some but no quit there. Red zone play is outstanding, conditioning appears to be superior. Grit and heart off the charts, way to go!

Zone stretch blocking is really getting dialed in
Who needs a power sweep when your o-line can do that? Another great day for Mr. Cox.

Coaching
Nice job with adjustments and taking what was there.

Special teams
Still improving, think they had 17 return yards. We faked a field goal and it was executed well. The 52 yarder was a nice cap to the day.

WYO is very close to being a very good football team. This was a very good win and the type of game that will eventually bring a lot more bodies to Boone.

Concerns
Third down conversions- we have to do better.

Lamb is still making some bad throwing decisions, he threw into double coverage a lot and some throws were not well placed. Weather could have been a major factor in that but he didn't look comfortable throwing today.

We got beat to the edges too much, need to work on sealing that off better and getting better pursuit from inside and the back side.

Attendance- Roads and travel distance in that weather was a factor. More hotels and closer parking and whole weekend promotion packages? Come to Boone Friday night and stay?

[ashugh]

I think Lamb has to be a concern for anybody that has watched him throwing all year. He has consistently underthrown our recievers on deep balls, even on his good stat days (Stats don't reflect under thrown completions the recievers have to slow down or wait for), and he is missing wide open guys on his bad days. Now, to be fair, he has played in 2 bad weather games and against agruably the best defensive backfield in the country. But, his lack of a big arm (I would say below average strength at this level) is concerning. It really shows against better competition. He doesn't seem to have the power to drive the ball deep or into timing patterns with the pace that will be neccessary as the competition gets better. Just my point of view, but I have a concern about it.

[S.Lewis15]

I'll agree on Lamb under throwing receivers this year, but I'm not worried about it. Last year he was making great throws. I suspect it's just a matter of time before he gets the timing right again. Hopefully by next week.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

I think Lamb has to be a concern for anybody that has watched him throwing all year. He has consistently underthrown our recievers on deep balls, even on his good stat days (Stats don't reflect under thrown completions the recievers have to slow down or wait for), and he is missing wide open guys on his bad days. Now, to be fair, he has played in 2 bad weather games and against agruably the best defensive backfield in the country. But, his lack of a big arm (I would say below average strength at this level) is concerning. It really shows against better competition. He doesn't seem to have the power to drive the ball deep or into timing patterns with the pace that will be neccessary as the competition gets better. Just my point of view, but I have a concern about it.

I've said this since he took his first snap last year. Even against Howard in perfect conditions (Unless you sat on the east side...I burned up) his throws didn't have much behind them. I think this is why you're seeing us run the ball more than pass. Could be wrong. Hopefully as a former QB himself, Satt can help him improve his arm strength and mechanics

[Rekdiver]

I've said this before...Taylor's arm speed is woefully slow. No zip. Throws over the middle are always going to be susceptible to ints. It is possible Taylor may not be starting by his Senior year unless he dramatically increases his arm strength.r...and I just read the previous post..

[Seattleapp]

This is absolute definition of an armchair quarterback thread. Well played guys.

[Rekdiver]

This is absolute definition of an armchair quarterback thread. Well played guys.

So what do you disagree with?

[RunDMC]

What is the latest DL update? Any injuries yesterday? Awesome game!

[manonabuffalo]

The Good:
- We are 3-1, bowl eligibility is looking extremely optimistic.
- Big plays, when needed are happening across all levels.
- Defense, out sized by WYO O-line but consistently fighting their butts off every series.

The Bad:
- Attendance, it didn't even seem like a home game. The weather can only be so much of an excuse (See ND @ Clemson).
- Sound system, don't use it until it works right.
- Play calling down the stretch, just run the football and work the play clock to under 5 seconds every down.

[MountaineerNation]

I can understand with the play calling down the stretch with the weather and Taylor was struggling with the throws..running is our strength and we had run the ball pretty well

[appst89]

This is absolute definition of an armchair quarterback thread. Well played guys.

Wouldn't that be the purpose of a message board; for people to post their observations and their opinions?

[YesAppCan]

There is much to be learned from the game film from yesterday, the good news is App won while not playing a stellar game. On a side note, I thought Chapman and our long snapper did a great job on a terrible weather day. In the end, its good to be 3-1.
BEAT GEORGIA STATE

[Rick0714]

Arm strength is just one factor in what makes a good quarterback. There are dozens of examples of great college and pro quarterbacks that overcome "below average strength at this level" arm strength. (Montana, Staubach, Bama quarterbacks of recent note, kid at Florida did OK yesterday, etc) Just give me a good, balanced attack, a few less forced throws and we'll be fine. To be frank, the only underthrown ball I saw yesterday was on the completion to Meadors on a fake option run where Lamb was running to his right and throwing across his body ... in the rain ... and the wind. No problem with that.

[AtlAppMan]

IMO,

Good
- We got a quality W against a team that is better than their 0-4 record, it wasn't the prettiest but it was OOC game against our peer and it shows we are taking care of business
- We are 3-1 and continue to improve going into Sun Belt play
- Made some big plays when needed both offensively and defensively
- Matics made a 51 yard field goal in challenging weather conditions

Bad
- We gave up too many yards on the ground, they got to edges too often
- we need to continue to improve on punting consistency
- we were awful on our 3rd down conversions
- our team may have gotten a bit caught up in hype after great ODU performance, not surprising
- Special teams still needs work (i.e. receiving onside kicks, punting consistency) but we are much better than last year

Summary
- Their running back Hill looks like a stud, very difficult to take down, strong and elusive running style, will be interesting to see how he performs in future games/opponents
- This will be a very good learning experience for still a young team. Let's build on it for rest of season. Compare this to last year, i.e. Liberty, we did get W and I do think the team will learn valuable lessons. This was the first opponent that played pro set offense this year which did pose some different challenges.
- This was a far from perfect game and we are yet to play a perfect game this year but they found ways to make enough plays to win by a fairly decisive margin.

[APPdiesel]

I think Lamb has to be a concern for anybody that has watched him throwing all year. He has consistently underthrown our recievers on deep balls, even on his good stat days (Stats don't reflect under thrown completions the recievers have to slow down or wait for), and he is missing wide open guys on his bad days. Now, to be fair, he has played in 2 bad weather games and against agruably the best defensive backfield in the country. But, his lack of a big arm (I would say below average strength at this level) is concerning. It really shows against better competition. He doesn't seem to have the power to drive the ball deep or into timing patterns with the pace that will be neccessary as the competition gets better. Just my point of view, but I have a concern about it.

I've said this since he took his first snap last year. Even against Howard in perfect conditions (Unless you sat on the east side...I burned up) his throws didn't have much behind them. I think this is why you're seeing us run the ball more than pass. Could be wrong. Hopefully as a former QB himself, Satt can help him improve his arm strength and mechanics

Yeah we built an entire offensive scheme because our QB doesn't have elite arm strength...give me a break.

We run first throw second because it's a tried and tested offensive philosophy that works. It forces defenses to play downhill which takes the pressure off the QB to carry the game themselves. Sure beats the predictable swing pass on 1st, delayed handoff on 2nd, swing pass on 3rd, punt scheme from the past.

twitter.com/diesel933

[Rekdiver]

Some seem to think we are attacking Taylor. Not the case at all. He is effective in managing our offense and understands the game. However the Int's against Clemson and the Int yesterday exposed an inability to burn a throw to the receiver. Finesse throws like the beautiful toss to Sims are a staple of Taylor's. No denying his skill with timing. There is a time for a fastball and we haven t seen that from Taylor yet. You need that to become elite. There are exceptions. To compare to baseball Greg Maddox made a living without the elite fastball and we all hope Taylor is that exception here. One cannot deny that arm strength is a shortcoming in his game at this juncture albeit the only one that most see.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

I think Lamb has to be a concern for anybody that has watched him throwing all year. He has consistently underthrown our recievers on deep balls, even on his good stat days (Stats don't reflect under thrown completions the recievers have to slow down or wait for), and he is missing wide open guys on his bad days. Now, to be fair, he has played in 2 bad weather games and against agruably the best defensive backfield in the country. But, his lack of a big arm (I would say below average strength at this level) is concerning. It really shows against better competition. He doesn't seem to have the power to drive the ball deep or into timing patterns with the pace that will be neccessary as the competition gets better. Just my point of view, but I have a concern about it.

I've said this since he took his first snap last year. Even against Howard in perfect conditions (Unless you sat on the east side...I burned up) his throws didn't have much behind them. I think this is why you're seeing us run the ball more than pass. Could be wrong. Hopefully as a former QB himself, Satt can help him improve his arm strength and mechanics

Yeah we built an entire offensive scheme because our QB doesn't have elite arm strength...give me a break.

We run first throw second because it's a tried and tested offensive philosophy that works. It forces defenses to play downhill which takes the pressure off the QB to carry the game themselves. Sure beats the predictable swing pass on 1st, delayed handoff on 2nd, swing pass on 3rd, punt scheme from the past.

twitter.com/diesel933

I said I could be wrong and only time will tell. I'm hoping for the best man. I'm one of the ones that made the bold 11-1 Prediction. But I know for that to happen we will need more from Lamb. That's something I think we all agree on, and we have time for that to happen. We will need to do better on third downs in big games. 3rd down pass conversions. Sticking to my 11-1 bold prediction because I think Lamb will improve.

Not trying to argue with anyone, just stating what I view to be a valid opinion.

[hapapp]

IMO,

Good
- We got a quality W against a team that is better than their 0-4 record, it wasn't the prettiest but it was OOC game against our peer and it shows we are taking care of business
- We are 3-1 and continue to improve going into Sun Belt play
- Made some big plays when needed both offensively and defensively
- Matics made a 51 yard field goal in challenging weather conditions

Bad
- We gave up too many yards on the ground, they got to edges too often
- we need to continue to improve on punting consistency
- we were awful on our 3rd down conversions
- our team may have gotten a bit caught up in hype after great ODU performance, not surprising
- Special teams still needs work (i.e. receiving onside kicks, punting consistency) but we are much better than last year

Summary
- Their running back Hill looks like a stud, very difficult to take down, strong and elusive running style, will be interesting to see how he performs in future games/opponents
- This will be a very good learning experience for still a young team. Let's build on it for rest of season. Compare this to last year, i.e. Liberty, we did get W and I do think the team will learn valuable lessons. This was the first opponent that played pro set offense this year which did pose some different challenges.
- This was a far from perfect game and we are yet to play a perfect game this year but they found ways to make enough plays to win by a fairly decisive margin.

He has rushed for almost 700 yards in 5 games. He is actually averaging more yards per game than Cox. He is going to be a problem for everybody they face.

[hapapp]

Some seem to think we are attacking Taylor. Not the case at all. He is effective in managing our offense and understands the game. However the Int's against Clemson and the Int yesterday exposed an inability to burn a throw to the receiver. Finesse throws like the beautiful toss to Sims are a staple of Taylor's. No denying his skill with timing. There is a time for a fastball and we haven t seen that from Taylor yet. You need that to become elite. There are exceptions. To compare to baseball Greg Maddox made a living without the elite fastball and we all hope Taylor is that exception here. One cannot deny that arm strength is a shortcoming in his game at this juncture albeit the only one that most see.

I noticed last year that there were times when he under threw receivers on the long ball. He doesn't have the strongest arm. His strength as a QB is his IQ for the game, the fact that he doesn't (usually) make bad decisions, and he has the ability to run effectively when called for. He is the guy that leads this team and I don't think anyone is calling for him to be replaced. He is the QB that has helped engineer our turn around. That, however, doesn't mean he doesn't have any shortcomings. Even Wilcox in the postgame yesterday indicated that Taylor had had two bad games this year as far as the passing game goes.

[Deano]

I was at the game yesterday along with all my kids ( I was proud of my young ones, they didn't complain one bit). I wasn't upset with Lamb's play, because I don't believe we had any other QB that could have done better given the conditions. I was surprised out how easy Wyoming marched down the field. We are going to see some good running teams down the road ie Georgia Southern for one. Im ok with teams that are typically great passing teams such as Ark State, i think we can still beat them but the run heavy teams worry me. Having said all of that, I stll think we have a team that has improved over last year and will only get better.