[A Sea of Red]

Quick-hit notes

https://www.aseaofred.com/quick-hit-notes-louisiana/

[FlamesHighontheTide]

These first two losses sting because we all had HIGH hopes coming into the first two weeks. We sit 0-2 and I'd say most of us are frustrated. Remember, this is only the first 2 games of the season and though we missed significantly more tackles this week than last week I still saw improvement from last years D to this years. I was super pumped and proud that our guys kept them out of the endzone on that 4th and goal from the one. Jessie and Austin played well tonight the interior of the DL got abused and our linebackers missed a boat load of tackles. You're going to have games like this defensively where you scratch your head.

Offensively, Frankie played so well as did Josh Mack, AGG, Shaa, Stubbs and King. We have the weapons on offense. The line played better and after two games it is time to say that Buckshot is the rhythm stopper of the offense. I want him to do well so badly as he is a senior and the dude can SLING the ball BUT, pressure gets to him more than it should for a senior and his eyes lock-in more than it should for a senior. I will say, he looked better this week than last week and the offense rolled more this week than last. With that said, JB may get more time next week.

Whatever happens next week I am hopeful because we are a better team talent wise and it does take time for cultures to change and ours has changed a good amount since last year. Just saying, Freeze started 0-2 his first season at Ark. St and then rattled off 10 wins in a row.

[Jonathan Carone]

I expected us to be 0-2.

I didn’t expect us to be this bad.

[tyndal23]

Interesting that Bennett would get mop up time of only 1 series - that is 2nd of 4 available if going to redshirt - not sure why you would wait to last series and not give yourself an option to redshirt on the table week to week. IF the plan already is not to redshirt him then design some packages - even if he and buckshot are on the field together and he is a threat to run or pass on trick plays. I was shooting dove and listening 1st half and only watched 2nd so until I rewatch it completely won’t say a lot - but seems like we don’t have an identity on Offense - seems just like last year - D Coordinators just see - if we can take away AGG then we beat Liberty.

[rtb72]

What happened to all the depth we had in the RB room? I thought we were pretty stacked there, but Frankie seems be carrying the whole running game on his shoulders. With AGG contained and Frankie as the only rushing threat.....we have nothing left as a threat.

[flameshaw]

Don't know how many times Calvert was sacked tonight, but it was waaaay too many. He was sacked 8 times last week and numerous times tonight. You don't get sacked as much as he does and get negative yards rushing in the first game, by accident. Our OL is terrible. They were not good last year and with virtually the same guys back, they are not doing any better, especially against better competition. Does Calvert occasionally lock in on one receiver, absolutely. But having no time to throw takes away any real deep threat, which makes the short throws harder as well. Being a former, starting HS, QB, you can't play well when you are constantly under pressure. It is just not possible.
I find it interesting, that with the enormous number of sacks we are giving up, that we haven't set up a single screen, through the first two games. (I didn't watch the last 5 minutes of tonight's game, so I could have missed one). We need to be more creative in our play calls, to try and slow down the rush.
Finally, I believe that we should have put Bennett in the game earlier, to see if it made any difference. A mobile QB can be a yuuuuuuge advantage. When your OL sucks, and your QB is not very mobile, it is a bad combination.
Our defense couldn't/didn't tackle well at all tonight. We have have a long way to go to be FBS ready on the field, on both sides of the ball. We will definitely get there, how long it will take is the big question.
Hope we win next week. It is going to be a tougher game than most expected 3 weeks ago.

[flameshaw]

What happened to all the depth we had in the RB room? I thought we were pretty stacked there, but Frankie seems be carrying the whole running game on his shoulders. With AGG contained and Frankie as the only rushing threat.....we have nothing left as a threat.

IMHO, it is an OL problem. No one can run without some blocking.

[Dalegarz1]

Really impressed with the creativeness of UL offense. They frequently out schemed us and shredded our defense at critical times. They also demonstrated the value of having a mobile QB.
Our offense looks stagnant at times and BC has been exposed. His lack of mobility and inability to throw on the run with consistent accuracy is a problem. When the play breaks down, we seemingly never make something happen. I think it's time to give Bennett a chance. I'm suggesting he play in the first half and give the defense something different to defend. If we don't do that, nothing is going to change-I've been watching this same scenario for the past 3 years.

[TH Spangler]

Gill was good at game planning around his teams skill set (strengths and weakness) ..... HF had 3 AGG's and a dual threat QB @ Mississippi. I hope he gets on his feet ASAP and comes up with strategy for this team.

[thepostman]

I fell asleep on the couch and didn't wake up until after the game was over. Not a good sign.

Like Jon said, I expected us to lose these 2 games but not in this manner.

[Class of 20Something]

Just a thought on the QB situation. Bennett is not a true dual threat QB. In fact some of the recruiting services called him a pro style QB. That's probably how he should be used. For an NFL comparison, Dak Prescott. JB should be used to stand in the pocket and rush when the play breaks down. Designed QB runs as a significant part of the game plan are gimmicky and lead to injury.

Speaking of injury, we all know that Buck clearly should have rushed for first a couple times today, did the QB slide to save himself, and keep some drives alive. I agree, but Buck is not built to do that regularly the way JB should. Buck still hasnt added to his frame and looks undersized.

[thepostman]

Yeah and he has an awkward slide if I remember right.

I know we all are harping on Buckshot but if the line doesn't get better it may not be wise to put Bennett in such a bad situation.

I guess we all see why High Freeze was hoping to get the Willis waiver approved.

[A Sea of Red]

Freeze addressed the Bennett and redshirt discussion at his press conference last week

https://www.aseaofred.com/hugh-freeze-t ... shot-more/

[LibertyD]

Once again we see the other team use their 3-headed monster RB to beat us. UL had 2rbs with over 100 yards rushing and 1 with over 70. Hickerson had a decent night with one big run but with all the carries you can expect something. Mack has only 5 carries for 24 and Pickett had 1. This is a terrible use of the RB room. PERIOD! This is FBS football. No more easy statements about how we like the improvements. Right now this team sucks. We need an immediate RESET. BENCH BUCKSHOT, share the rushing load evenly to give different looks. Teach the DBs how to tackle in the open field, teach the LBs how to Read -and-React, teach the Defense how to “BREAKDOWN” and not over pursue the runner. THESE ARE ALL BASIC FUNDAMENTALS THAT ALL COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXECUTE! Expand your playbook, BENCH the RB Coach. Teach the OLine the difference between run blocking and pass blocking! This is like watching a bad high school team play. I AM IN DISBELIEF at what I am seeing over the past 2 weeks. I don’t care if this is a Christian school, WILL SOME “DOGG” INTO THESE GUYS and stop being nice. WE NEED NASTY NOT NICE or we might as well convert back to FCS! SU has 63 points dumped on them yesterday by an underdog, unrated team. No more time for being nice and making excuses. LETS PLAY SOME DARN FOOTBALL LIKE MEN!!!

[Chippy]

Rusins our NG and Benton our Rover lead the team in tackles against Syracuse (22) . . .combined for 0 tackles. Saw Rusins on the sideline after the first series (injury?) and Benton never suited up (concussion like symptoms). We can't afford those two being out the're our primary run stoppers with Ajayi and Lewis.

[jinxy]

We dont need a “dual threat” qb. We need someone without concrete blocks for feet and some creativity when the play breaks down. Buck had 2 opportunities to scramble for 1st downs untouched and threw twice into windows that couldnt be throw into. Bad intentional grounding, terrible pick, completely took the rpo plays out to simplify it and he still looked lost, overshot shaa for a easy td that all he had to do was put air under it and shaa walked in, threw to agg in triple coverage while shaa was wide open crossing the field for a 25 yard wide open gain, stepped up into 2 sacks.

Otherwise he played pretty well ha. Is the line shaky? Yes but it has been for 2 years. He is absolutely stifling us on offense. Flameshaw is right about the screens though weve tried a couple and buck made bad throws on both. Weve tried to replace it with wr screen but nobody can block but agg. Were missing farrow there badly.

I worry zero about freeze as an offensive guy. He has a mediocore to bad line, no wrs with size outside agg, and a qb who is super slow to grasp new concepts.

Defensively, man that was discouraging. Steele who i had hoped we would replace in starting lineup had the long 85 yard td run stuffed dead to rights and completely whiffed on the back. The back jucked and he went right back cutback. He has done this repeatedly. Hold the lane and make the back cut to beat you and run him into help. The db tackling on long plays and etc is just so bad its astonishing. That is just poor discipline.

To me, you have to go to bennett atleast in packages and see what he can do. Being able to run rpo plays and extend plays could make all the difference. The film is out and teams are gonna go to the well until we make an adjustment.

[olldflame]

Once again we see the other team use their 3-headed monster RB to beat us. UL had 2rbs with over 100 yards rushing and 1 with over 70. Hickerson had a decent night with one big run but with all the carries you can expect something. Mack has only 5 carries for 24 and Pickett had 1. This is a terrible use of the RB room. PERIOD! This is FBS football. No more easy statements about how we like the improvements. Right now this team sucks. We need an immediate RESET. BENCH BUCKSHOT, share the rushing load evenly to give different looks. Teach the DBs how to tackle in the open field, teach the LBs how to Read -and-React, teach the Defense how to “BREAKDOWN” and not over pursue the runner. THESE ARE ALL BASIC FUNDAMENTALS THAT ALL COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXECUTE! Expand your playbook, BENCH the RB Coach. Teach the OLine the difference between run blocking and pass blocking! This is like watching a bad high school team play. I AM IN DISBELIEF at what I am seeing over the past 2 weeks. I don’t care if this is a Christian school, WILL SOME “DOGG” INTO THESE GUYS and stop being nice. WE NEED NASTY NOT NICE or we might as well convert back to FCS! SU has 63 points dumped on them yesterday by an underdog, unrated team. No more time for being nice and making excuses. LETS PLAY SOME DARN FOOTBALL LIKE MEN!!!

You make a couple of good points, but they are buried in so much vitriol, it's a task picking them out. Frankie averaged over 7 yards on his 18 carries. The idea that we are going to do better than that rotating the backs more simply because it gives the defense a "different look" is ludicrous. Hickson (not "Hickerson") is our best all-around back, and 18 carries is not that many. If we have games in the future where we run it 40 times, we obviously will need to use Mack and/or Pickett more.

To say that Buckshot has been disappointing is an understatement. Having to be reprimanded for his lack of time in the video room and the fact that he has only put on 10 pounds in 4 years when he clearly needs another 20 or so to be able to fully execute the demands of the position shows he has been cruising on his arm talent and has not been held accountable in the past. Having said that, what has Bennett done to suggest he could be handed the starting job and do better with zero experience? I do think that if we are going to be burning his redshirt anyway, we should spot him a bit more and give him a chance to show what he can do and possibly EARN the job.

We've discussed it here in the past, but the mathematical transitive property does not apply to football. The fact that Syracuse stunk up the joint against Maryland really has no bearing on our team.

The poor defensive fundamentals which resulted in so many explosive plays for LA is by far your most valid point. I was hopeful after their performance against Syracuse, but clearly there is still a lot of work to be done there. At this point I'm willing to accept the fact that Symons and his staff need more time to overcome the poor habits learned in years of Wimbo defense with "thudding" in practice.

[TH Spangler]

Once again we see the other team use their 3-headed monster RB to beat us. UL had 2rbs with over 100 yards rushing and 1 with over 70. Hickerson had a decent night with one big run but with all the carries you can expect something. Mack has only 5 carries for 24 and Pickett had 1. This is a terrible use of the RB room. PERIOD! This is FBS football. No more easy statements about how we like the improvements. Right now this team sucks. We need an immediate RESET. BENCH BUCKSHOT, share the rushing load evenly to give different looks. Teach the DBs how to tackle in the open field, teach the LBs how to Read -and-React, teach the Defense how to “BREAKDOWN” and not over pursue the runner. THESE ARE ALL BASIC FUNDAMENTALS THAT ALL COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXECUTE! Expand your playbook, BENCH the RB Coach. Teach the OLine the difference between run blocking and pass blocking! This is like watching a bad high school team play. I AM IN DISBELIEF at what I am seeing over the past 2 weeks. I don’t care if this is a Christian school, WILL SOME “DOGG” INTO THESE GUYS and stop being nice. WE NEED NASTY NOT NICE or we might as well convert back to FCS! SU has 63 points dumped on them yesterday by an underdog, unrated team. No more time for being nice and making excuses. LETS PLAY SOME DARN FOOTBALL LIKE MEN!!!

You make a couple of good points, but they are buried in so much vitriol, it's a task picking them out. Frankie averaged over 7 yards on his 18 carries. The idea that we are going to do better than that rotating the backs more simply because it gives the defense a "different look" is ludicrous. Hickson (not "Hickerson") is our best all-around back, and 18 carries is not that many. If we have games in the future where we run it 40 times, we obviously will need to use Mack and/or Pickett more.

To say that Buckshot has been disappointing is an understatement. Having to be reprimanded for his lack of time in the video room and the fact that he has only put on 10 pounds in 4 years when he clearly needs another 20 or so to be able to fully execute the demands of the position shows he has been cruising on his arm talent and has not been held accountable in the past. Having said that, what has Bennett done to suggest he could be handed the starting job and do better with zero experience? I do think that if we are going to be burning his redshirt anyway, we should spot him a bit more and give him a chance to show what he can do and possibly EARN the job.

We've discussed it here in the past, but the mathematical transitive property does not apply to football. The fact that Syracuse stunk up the joint against Maryland really has no bearing on our team.

The poor defensive fundamentals which resulted in so many explosive plays for LA is by far your most valid point. I was hopeful after their performance against Syracuse, but clearly there is still a lot of work to be done there. At this point I'm willing to accept the fact that Symons and his staff need more time to overcome the poor habits learned in years of Wimbo defense with "thudding" in practice.

Hickson got all his yards on one carry. Avg per carry is miss leading.

[LibertyD]

Once again we see the other team use their 3-headed monster RB to beat us. UL had 2rbs with over 100 yards rushing and 1 with over 70. Hickerson had a decent night with one big run but with all the carries you can expect something. Mack has only 5 carries for 24 and Pickett had 1. This is a terrible use of the RB room. PERIOD! This is FBS football. No more easy statements about how we like the improvements. Right now this team sucks. We need an immediate RESET. BENCH BUCKSHOT, share the rushing load evenly to give different looks. Teach the DBs how to tackle in the open field, teach the LBs how to Read -and-React, teach the Defense how to “BREAKDOWN” and not over pursue the runner. THESE ARE ALL BASIC FUNDAMENTALS THAT ALL COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXECUTE! Expand your playbook, BENCH the RB Coach. Teach the OLine the difference between run blocking and pass blocking! This is like watching a bad high school team play. I AM IN DISBELIEF at what I am seeing over the past 2 weeks. I don’t care if this is a Christian school, WILL SOME “DOGG” INTO THESE GUYS and stop being nice. WE NEED NASTY NOT NICE or we might as well convert back to FCS! SU has 63 points dumped on them yesterday by an underdog, unrated team. No more time for being nice and making excuses. LETS PLAY SOME DARN FOOTBALL LIKE MEN!!!

You make a couple of good points, but they are buried in so much vitriol, it's a task picking them out. Frankie averaged over 7 yards on his 18 carries. The idea that we are going to do better than that rotating the backs more simply because it gives the defense a "different look" is ludicrous. Hickson (not "Hickerson") is our best all-around back, and 18 carries is not that many. If we have games in the future where we run it 40 times, we obviously will need to use Mack and/or Pickett more.

To say that Buckshot has been disappointing is an understatement. Having to be reprimanded for his lack of time in the video room and the fact that he has only put on 10 pounds in 4 years when he clearly needs another 20 or so to be able to fully execute the demands of the position shows he has been cruising on his arm talent and has not been held accountable in the past. Having said that, what has Bennett done to suggest he could be handed the starting job and do better with zero experience? I do think that if we are going to be burning his redshirt anyway, we should spot him a bit more and give him a chance to show what he can do and possibly EARN the job.

We've discussed it here in the past, but the mathematical transitive property does not apply to football. The fact that Syracuse stunk up the joint against Maryland really has no bearing on our team.

The poor defensive fundamentals which resulted in so many explosive plays for LA is by far your most valid point. I was hopeful after their performance against Syracuse, but clearly there is still a lot of work to be done there. At this point I'm willing to accept the fact that Symons and his staff need more time to overcome the poor habits learned in years of Wimbo defense with "thudding" in practice.

If you call using a better sequence of rotating RBs ludicrous, then you obviously don't know much about attacking with the run-game. I coached 20 years mister and I have yet to see a successful team with an extremely limited QB win games by utilizing a 1-RB attack. Are you kidding me? Just stop now...you have NO CLUE! You need to watch more FBS teams so you better understand. You not only rotate your top 2-3 backs, you also use them in groups to run Read options, wildcats, etc. to max their abilities. Mack has the best hands in th RB stable. They should be using this guy in HB passes, etc. Pickett should be used in short yardage situation. Hickerson is a decent back, but he can't claim best back because he's been the only back. So get real! He definitely does not have the size to bang inside. We gotta utilize these RBs more strategically or its going to be a long season with limited offensive production. Regardless of who you think is "the best back on the team." Give me a break!

[Jonathan Carone]

Again I ask - do you think you may be too close to the situation to be objective?

[olldflame]

I'll dismiss what is obviously false as hyperbole. He got almost exactly HALF of his yards on one carry, but still averaged 4 yards a carry on the other 17. That is OUTSTANDING productivity. Pretty much any time a RB averages over 6, there is going to be a long run or 2 in there along with some plays where he gets stuffed. If there were such a thing as a back who could gain 5 or more yards every time he touched the ball, his team would never lose a game. Despite your protestations to the contrary, I actually believe I do "have a clue" If we were running the ball 40 plus times a game, your point would be semi-valid. When the backs only get 24 carries, I stand by my position that to say dividing them equally among 3 backs would have gotten us significantly more than we did is ludicrous.

[LibertyD]

Again I ask - do you think you may be too close to the situation to be objective?

Do you think you may be to close to the situation to clearly see where LU is going wrong. Stop trying to figure me out and analyze the facts of FBS football. We have a 1-dimensional QB who present little to no threat. We are too predictable in the single RB set. Teams will not have much to plan for if we continue to do the same thing over again. I'm talking "FOOTBAL FACTS" and you are asking questions about being objective. Being objective in football situations like this do not win football games. Making immediate adjustments and correction do! Hickerson had 100 yards which is good but UL had 2 rbs with 100+ and 1 with 70+. Do you not see the problem??? It's about getting full production out of all you assets. We have to admit that although we have the great AGG, we are not a high-powered passing team with BC at the helm. The run-game is our best asset. But if we don't properly utilize it, the we have NO BEST ASSETS!

[Jonathan Carone]

The fact you’re automatically assuming I don’t think we have problems show that your closeness to the running back room is blinding you from having a legitimate discussion.

[thepostman]

Hickson proved himself this week. He deserves most of the reps he got.

I certainly agree that Buckshot is struggling and if it continues then we may need to move on.

[flameshaw]

Gill was good at game planning around his teams skill set (strengths and weakness) ..... HF had 3 AGG's and a dual threat QB @ Mississippi. I hope he gets on his feet ASAP and comes up with strategy for this team.

LOL.