Monday Morning QB

[Ruler 79]

The Troy Record does a better job covering Albany football then the Times Useless. andrew Santillo is really on top of things as far as UA football goes.

 

 

http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2009/10/17/sports/doc4ada95c20fe43236241217.txt

 

 

 

An ugly win is better then a good loss. A few observations from Saturday: I only listened to the second half so let me know if I missed something.

 

Vinny played his best game of his career. He and his recievers along with the D beat a decent Bryant team. Thats right I said decent. I know Bryant played as well as they could on D against us Sat and fortunatly for UA it wasn't enough. They used gadget plays etc, which is a credit to their OC. When you are overmatched athletically, these plays keep you in games and in some instances get you a win(see UA 2006 vs Delaware).

 

Defense is one of the best I have ever seen at Albany. Take the UMASS turnovers away and you are talking a smothering kind of D. They only gave up 30 yards on the ground against a running team. They did get beat some through the air in the second half. If their WR's could catch we may be sitting here with a L today.

 

The Good:

 

We now have more balance on offense and it appears Vinny has turned the corner.

 

Recievers besides Bush coming into their own.

 

Defense is outstanding against the run!

 

Playcalling was very good Sat, although a few gadget plays of our own would of caught them out of position bigtime. Probably could of tested the outside more then we did. BTW they were putting 8 and sometimes 9 in the box to stop #3. That means we throw.

 

This game will prepare us to be in a dogfight. This game should not of been this close. We missed two scoring opportunities.

 

 

The Bad:

 

Was disappointed in our O line. They were beaten on Sat. It took what seemed like 50 carries to get top 100 yds. They are playing better but are not finishing drives. They couldn't get a freakin yard on 4th down to close out the game. What if we needed a TD on the 1 yard line? I will be beaten up for this but we need to be bigger upfront. Bryant was big but they were no bigger or certainly no better then GSU or Maine. They matched up well against us size wise but our line should be more athletic. These guys will all be 10-15lbs heavier next season which is where they should be. I havce faith in them going forward. FINISH DRIVES or it will cost UA.

 

Penalties: Way too many which lead to points for them. The final should of been 23-9. Missed FG didn't help. No complaints with our kicker he is a good one.

 

 

A game like this wakes up a team. They now realize they can't just show up and win. They also realize they are gonna get everyone's very best shot. Monmouth will be good, but I am not convinced they are better then Bryant. Same of CCSU. Both teams, especially CCSU will be tough against the run but I am not overly impressed with CCSU either(I know Danefan thinks they are the best on our schedule).

 

Monmouth is no gimme but I like our chances on the road. They are getting better each week so I believe this will be a close game as well. I hope not, my heart can't take these games. UA needs to come out of the gate fast.