Albany - The Good and the Bad

[MolivaManiac]

Good:

-We beat a Top 25 team. We were down 10 in the 4th quarter and we showed some grit to come back and ultimately win.
-Lauletta continues to play at an unbelievable level.
-Run defense was much better today.
-Trau has his confidence back

Not so good:

-Albany does not have a prolific passing game and they were able to pick on #1 and, to some extent, #3.
-We still can't run the ball
-Too many pre-snap penalties
-The punting is going to cost us a game.
-Game management at the end of both halves could've been a lot better. I really hope Huesman didn't keep some of London's notes on this stuff.

 

[whampas]

Good:

-We beat a Top 25 team. We were down 10 in the 4th quarter and we showed some grit to come back and ultimately win.
-Lauletta continues to play at an unbelievable level.
-Run defense was much better today.
-Trau has his confidence back

Not so good:

-Albany does not have a prolific passing game and they were able to pick on #1 and, to some extent, #3.
-We still can't run the ball
-Too many pre-snap penalties
-The punting is going to cost us a game.
-Game management at the end of both halves could've been a lot better. I really hope Huesman didn't keep some of London's notes on this stuff.

Time management would have looked much better if we could stop somebody on 3rd and long. But having said that, I agree with your post. Flat out.

 

[72Spider]

I remember when Helkowski signed with us Rocco saying how explosive his foot was. The sound of the ball coming off his foot was loud per Rocco. What the hell happened to him.

 

[32counter]

Keels not playing because of a one game suspension hurt.He has size.We lack it big time on the remaining DBs.Coniker back playing helped.

 

[I-M-UR]

That was truly season on the brink, another conference home loss and the playoffs would have been almost impossible. Two surprising things to me; our running game is poor (reducing the backs didn't help) and our vaunted DB got abused (how many 50/50 balls on third and long did we give up?) and the penalties, wow.

But hey, live to fight another day Go Spiders.

Laulette on the QB draw is painful to watch. Breaking the passing TD record is exceptional, great job Kyle.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Keels not playing because of a one game suspension hurt.He has size.We lack it big time on the remaining DBs.Coniker back playing helped.

I have been unimpressed by Keels play and a senior getting suspended is pretty poor. I like what I see from 21 in his place.

Springs, Jones and Williams are some nice young players in the secondary. All of them have good size too.

 

[LongTimeLurkerFirstTimePoster]

Albany does not have a prolific passing game and they were able to pick on #1 and, to some extent, #3.--COVERAGE WAS TIGHT, BUT DIDN'T GET TURNED IN TIME
-We still can't run the ball- BECAUSE THE LINE IS SUB PAR
-Too many pre-snap penalties-NO COMMENT
-The punting is going to cost us a game.-REMEMBER DANNY GAVE HIM A FULL RIDE
-Game management at the end of both halves could've been a lot better. I really hope Huesman didn't keep some of London's notes on this stuff.AT THE END OF THE HALF, SHOULD HAVE TAKEN PENALTY. END OF GAME, I DIDN'T MIND THE TIMEOUT BEFORE THE FIRST FIRST DOWN, BUT AFTER THAT, IT WAS TIME TO LET CLOCK RUN OUT.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Agree with IMUR ... Kyle ran the ball way too much today.

 

[Spider B]

Agree about Keels play. Impressed with Springs, Jones, and Williams.

 

[32counter]

Agree about Keels play. Impressed with Springs, Jones, and Williams.

Keels at 6’3” 190 will be starting next week at SS.

 

[SpiderRick]

-The punting is going to cost us a game.-REMEMBER DANNY GAVE HIM A FULL RIDE

Danny definitely missed on Helkowski. And trying to completely change him to a rugby style punter has just made him worse. My question is why has he been a 4 year starter? But just because we missed with him, it doesn't mean we shouldn't reserve a scholarship for a punter. It's glaringly obvious how important it is to have a good punter.

And while I'm discussing kicking (there's a surprise), couldn't help but notice that their kicker kicked 5 straight touchbacks, while ours is 0 for the season.

 

[SpiderK]

Looks like the two weeks off really helped Trau heal up some. I saw no noticeable limp today.

Also looked like the heat may have finally gotten to the Albany lineman at the end of the game.

Did some one above mention "vaunted corners"? I spit my drink all over the dashboard when I read that. By the way it's not considered a 50/50 ball when the receiver is a half a foot taller than the corner. It's called a sure thing.

 

[MolivaManiac]

ass
And while I'm discussing kicking (there's a surprise), couldn't help but notice that their kicker kicked 5 straight touchbacks, while ours is 0 for the season.

After he kicked one of them, the guy next to me said "their long kickoffs have got to be driving Spider Rick nuts". I had no idea this guy was even on the message board. LOL.

 

[LongTimeLurkerFirstTimePoster]

-The punting is going to cost us a game.-REMEMBER DANNY GAVE HIM A FULL RIDE

Danny definitely missed on Helkowski. And trying to completely change him to a rugby style punter has just made him worse. My question is why has he been a 4 year starter? But just because we missed with him, it doesn't mean we shouldn't reserve a scholarship for a punter. It's glaringly obvious how important it is to have a good punter.

And while I'm discussing kicking (there's a surprise), couldn't help but notice that their kicker kicked 5 straight touchbacks, while ours is 0 for the season.

net average is approx. 1 yard different. You notice two years ago, when kicked it further, the net was signficantly worse.


17 16 15
Punt: Avg. Yards Per Game 35.65 37.5 38.1
Punt: Net Average 33.18 34.3 29.3

 

[I-M-UR]

Looks like the two weeks off really helped Trau heal up some. I saw no noticeable limp today.

Also looked like the heat may have finally gotten to the Albany lineman at the end of the game.

Did some one above mention "vaunted corners"? I spit my drink all over the dashboard when I read that. By the way it's not considered a 50/50 ball when the receiver is a half a foot taller than the corner. It's called a sure thing.

Looks like the two weeks off really helped Trau heal up some. I saw no noticeable limp today.

Also looked like the heat may have finally gotten to the Albany lineman at the end of the game.

Did some one above mention "vaunted corners"? I spit my drink all over the dashboard when I read that. By the way it's not considered a 50/50 ball when the receiver is a half a foot taller than the corner. It's called a sure thing.

The Albany wide receivers 83 and 5 are 6 ft and 5'11" Jordon and Mainsah are right there. I will say unusually, Mainsah looked tired hands on hips, bent over from the get go, did he have the flu or something

 

[Gallipoli]

The Albany guy named Diggs was matched up against Jordan most of the game. Jordan got torched and Diggs got 140 yards receiving. IMHO, they should have doubled that guy. Jordan was 5 9, Diggs 5 11

 

[I-M-UR]

The Albany guy named Diggs was matched up against Jordan most of the game. Jordan got torched and Diggs got 140 yards receiving. IMHO, they should have doubled that guy. Jordan was 5 9, Diggs 5 11

McDonald did the same with 5 catches, just didn't get the yardage but pulled down the 50/50 balls for first downs when they needed it. he's only 6 feet. This wasn't a height issue. seeing it live, without the benefit of replay I don't know what the problem was or who was guarding whom (maybe because of the side of the field I saw more with Mainsah, but they saw it and kept going there when they needed a first down. We did knock down a few, and there were a couple of pushes by the receivers (in my admittedly bias view) but the DB (Jordon and Mainsah) was there just didn't make the play, I don't know if that is a technique issue, going for interception vs the knock down, or what?

Frankly the pass rush was what kept us in the game. (and we shut down their running game)

 

[Eight Legger]

83 was literally pushing down our defenders all day long, with no calls by the officials. Never seen anything like that before.

 

[32counter]

This excerpt from the Albany newspaper today indicates the Great Dane gameplan.We better read it.


“Brunson had a lot of help as four receivers had touchdowns.

Jerod Diggs, a 5-foot-11 senior wide receiver, had five receptions for 137 yards and a score. Donovan McDonald, a 5-11, 170-pound sophomore, caught five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Crockett (3 catches, 49 yards) and Jerah Reeves (3, 47) had the other TD receptions.

"Will just trusts the wide receivers right now," said McDonald, who spent a semester at Fork Union Military Academy, which is about an hour from Richmond. "I just have to step my game up. Will's a great quarterback and I trust him in everything he does."

A number of the catches by the UAlbany receivers were jump balls, but that was by design, according to Diggs.

"That was in the game plan, actually. We knew they ran a lot of man-to-man pressure, so we knew we had to be ready for deep balls, jump balls."

Diggs also credited his coaches and teammates.

"I think the play-calling was spot-on," he said. "Will played awesome today, and he put me in the perfect situations, and our O-line was doing a great job of blocking today. The other receivers were keeping me up because they were making plays."

Neither JJ nor Mainsah are anywhere near 5’11”

 

[Gallipoli]

Jordan is 5 9 and Mainsah is 5 11.

 

[whampas]

Jordan is 5 9 and Mainsah is 5 11.

In high heels.

 

[DTSpider]

We also tried #12 out there - and he got abused. Guys had good position, just weren't able to elevate to make the plays whereas Albany could high point the ball. Their QB really put it in the right spots.

 

[spiderjpo]

We have all lamented on here the past five years about soft coverage. This defense is far more aggressive but puts DBs in single coverage constantly. In fact this defense puts lots of emphasis on making one on one plays even in tackling situations. Look back on the big plays our opponents have made and your will see missed tackles galore. The first Albany score yesterday should have been a two yard loss but tackle was missed in backfield.

 

[32counter]

We have all lamented on here the past five years about soft coverage. This defense is far more aggressive but puts DBs in single coverage constantly. In fact this defense puts lots of emphasis on making one on one plays even in tackling situations. Look back on the big plays our opponents have made and your will see missed tackles galore. The first Albany score yesterday should have been a two yard loss but tackle was missed in backfield.

1 v 1 on the island with a 4 inch height disadvantage puts opposing QBs
itching to throw with fades and lobs against us.Even though our pass rush was exceptional yesterday,Brunson still had a career day.We rarely play the ball but rather face the wide receiver trying to anticipate his timing/jumping moves.

 

[32counter]

We also tried #12 out there - and he got abused. Guys had good position, just weren't able to elevate to make the plays whereas Albany could high point the ball. Their QB really put it in the right spots.

Marcus Vinson may be better suited on the offensive side of the ball given his blazing speed.He put up gaudy numbers at Damascus HS.

 

[Spider B]

I will take shutting down the run and take my chances with jump balls all day long. They are called 50/50 balls for a reason. Albany hit a high percentage of them yesterday, but we should have more go our way as the season continues. Continue to shut down the run and we will see improvement on D.

 

[I-M-UR]

4 inch differential? it didn't look like it. My question is should the DB been only trying to swat the ball away verses compete for the catch/int? For me it looked as if they were looking for the interception not the knock away. but I certainly don't know.

 

[32counter]

I will take shutting down the run and take my chances with jump balls all day long. They are called 50/50 balls for a reason. Albany hit a high percentage of them yesterday, but we should have more go our way as the season continues. Continue to shut down the run and we will see improvement on D.

How did we do with the 50/50 balls yesterday?A mediocre CAA QB put up 340 yards against us.He’s previously thrown for 160,143,196,221,125.Albany had a game plan to go after our DBs with deep shots.This is Albany,not yet real contenders.

 

[DTSpider]

4 inch differential? it didn't look like it. My question is should the DB been only trying to swat the ball away verses compete for the catch/int? For me it looked as if they were looking for the interception not the knock away. but I certainly don't know.

Agree completely - just knock it down!!!

 

[DTSpider]

Marcus Vinson may be better suited on the offensive side of the ball given his blazing speed.He put up gaudy numbers at Damascus HS.

Therein lies the issue. Over the past 5 years it seems that most of our recruits are better suited to offense.

 

[Spider B]

How did we do with the 50/50 balls yesterday?A mediocre CAA QB put up 340 yards against us.He’s previously thrown for 160,143,196,221,125.Albany had a game plan to go after our DBs with deep shots.This is Albany,not yet real contenders.

I'm simply saying if we can shut down our opponents running game and make their best option throwing 50/50 balls, I like our chances. I think the jump ball completion percentage will eventually even out over the course of the season. Albany did hit a bunch of them yesterday. I don't think we will see another opponent complete anywhere close to 6 jump balls on us this year. Stop the run and good things will happen.

 

[whampas]

I'm simply saying if we can shut down our opponents running game and make their best option throwing 50/50 balls, I like our chances. I think the jump ball completion percentage will eventually even out over the course of the season. Albany did hit a bunch of them yesterday. I don't think we will see another opponent complete anywhere close to 6 jump balls on us this year. Stop the run and good things will happen.

Agree. They're called 50/50 for a reason. Another teaching opportunity where we actually won the game. They were in position all day to make plays, I don't remember anyone getting beat badly. I just wish they would turn their heads to make a play. I was taught, when I played the position, to watch the receivers eyes and hands and turn to the ball when the hands started up and the eyes got wide. We seldom do that. I can actually remember some balls hitting us in the back.

 

[localspider]

Must be coaching or lack thereof as I have never witnessed a DB that did not read the receivers eyes or hands, except ours.

 

[SpiderRick]

After he kicked one of them, the guy next to me said "their long kickoffs have got to be driving Spider Rick nuts". I had no idea this guy was even on the message board. LOL.

I have a fan base!!

 

[Hanca]

Getting concerned about time management and failure to accept penalty at end of half. Feel Huesman found old Mike London key to game management notebook in desk drawer. Do not have enough knowledge to be critical as to specifics, but lack of run offense is puzzling. Agree with others DBs are bad.