YSU Recap

College Football is as official as it can possibly be. The games from week 1 are over, some teams are who we thought they were, others not so much, but there have been some pleasant surprises all across the country. The one thing that I will focus on the most though will be the fact that I was wrong in my preview for the Youngstown State game. I was wrong in the fact that each quarterback would get equal time, but correct in the sense that I ranked the Quarterbacks.

Nonetheless, I have never been so excited to have been proven wrong in my entire life. I love the way the game went this weekend. I know a lot of you skeptics are shaking your heads, and have your criticisms, but I will, as usual go ahead and explain to you why I was absolutely ecstatic about the way our team performed this weekend.

First and foremost, I was absolutely impressed with the way Robert Bolden played in this week's game. I know some of you might be upset about the start of the game, but you have to understand two things. First, that we were facing a team that has an absolutely new coaching staff, there is no film of what to expect when we were going to face them, and also their defensive coordinator is the former defensive coordinator of the South Florida teams that produced NFL guys such as George Selvie and first round pick Jason Pierre-Paul. In other words, their defense was coached well. Second, that we were operating out of a base offense with scripted plays at the beginning of the game because the coaches did not want to reveal anything for the Alabama game.

The best thing that could have happened for this team was for the slow start out of the gates. There were two great outcomes from the start to this game. One, it forced our coaches hand in playcalling, forcing them to take off the reins, and let Bolden throw. Two, it got Bolden the necessary repetitions to show the coaches that he can handle a heavy workload, especially in the face of adversity. In other words, we got a minor showcase of what Bolden is capable of, and a preview of the years to come.

As for Bolden, he is the real deal people, and he is here to stay. He is going to cause problems for opposing defenses all year. All the criticism and questions that people had about his abilities due to his highlight tapes from high school were absolutely shot in the face. A lot of people were worried about him working through his progressions, arm strength down the field, making the right reads, and standing in the pocket, taking hits. Well all that was pretty evident this weekend. If you were just focusing on the stat line, than you might have missed a few of these things.

A lot of people are focused on the fact that Brett Brackett is Bolden's number one target. This is so far from the truth, even though Brackett caught 8 balls for 98 yards, if you look through the tape, on 5 of those targets , he was Bolden's third read. He took what the defense gave him, and Brackett made opposing defenses pay for forgetting about him. He stood in the pocket, took some hits, and even came back from his interception and led the team on a 68 yard TD drive. It will just be interesting to see what he can do this week.

The running game however, is under a lot of scrutiny for their performance in this game. The truth is that they too were working out of a base offense as well. They did not reveal any of the ways that we plan on running the ball against Alabama, and let's be honest, if we wanted to run it down their throats we would have. We ran the ball 17 times between Green and Royster, that should indicate to you that they have enough confidence in the run game, and the only reason these guys got touches during the game was to get them some game time before Alabama. The most important thing about this game, was getting Bolden some quality time under center, and to get him experience reading opposing defenses, checking down receivers, and making the necessary throws.

As for the defense, it is the exact same story and game plan as the offense in this game. Minus the 80 yard hiccup in the first quarter, they played great. But the fact of the matter is that they simply just matched up on the line and played areas of the field. Basic assignment defense, which works on discipline, but at the same time gives the players the freedom to make decisions and make plays. They came out a little flat to start the game, but I would have too if I had Alabama on my mind for next week's game. Even more evidence of this, go ahead and review the tape and count the number of times Bradley dialed up blitzes from the linebackers, or any stunts along the defensive line. Heck, I'll save you the time, the total number of times we blitzed or stunted...... ZERO! Once again, another strategic move to keep Alabama from getting any sort of a competitive advantage in planning for this weekend's match-up.

The good news from this game however, does not end with Bolden's development, it ends with the special teams. Simply, they absolutely blew last year's special teams out of the water. They were hitting hard on kickoff coverage, Fera was booting the ball out of the back of the end zone, and Wagner hit 3 forty plus yard field goals. Did I mention Chaz Powell's 100 yard kickoff that was returned for a touchdown? Look for the special teams to continue to improve and surprise a lot of people as the season progresses.

So what can we take out of this game? Not much, because the game plan against YSU was simple, we're better than them so lets just out man them in all aspects of the game. The team responded with a win, and we're now off to prepare for Alabama. Expect the coaches to let Bolden show a little more of his repertoire this week, as this will be the week where we find out who we actually are. Be on the lookout for the Alabama preview, should be up by this Thursday.

WE ARE.........