Villanova Observations

[MolivaManiac]

What a great day out there. Some observations...

-Credit the Hopewell band for learning our fight song.
-Crowd was terrific. Our best this season by far.
-If our D Line stays healthy, we wI'll win a good number more games this year. This group is the best we've ever had.
-Nice to meet you Billy Caughell. Have a feeling we'll see much more of you the next few years.
-Trau is a field goal kicking machine.
-Think we could go find ashes on the field where Omar pulverized their qb?
-Our OL did a solid job against their front.
-Kyle's best managed game since UVA.

See you at Elon next week.

 

[urfan1]

Glad you mentioned the Hopewell Band -- small but good, classy for them to learn our fight song! I liked their band director also.

 

[DTSpider]

Mo - crowd on your side of the field was barely there. looked like it was half full. I was shocked there wasn't a bigger crowd today.

 

[MolivaManiac]

I dont feel like dwelling on this point, but when I saw it on the monitor down at the concessions, it looked far more than half full. The visitor side looked good. The student section looked good. The red zone looked good.

Smile.

 

[spiderjpo]

Welcome back Nick Holloway to add even more depth at TE.
Welcome to kickoff duty to Ricky Segers.
Good use of linebackers dropping in zone coverages. QB never saw Cougell or Rubin on interceptions.
At least two punts downed inside 10 yard line.
Great crowd that actually got into game and supported team.

 

[SpiderFan26]

loved the amount of depth the defense showed today. Thought the offensive performance wasn't great but was overlooked due to great defense. We did get in more manageable 3rd downs which was nice because have had a lot of third and longs. The Oline is really starting to come together as the entire offensive has been improving recently

Really liked Keels at #2 corner. I think he should start over JJ. Thompson had a good game at RB but still struggles to pick up the blitz. Wiffed at least twice. KL played a very, very smart game which was good to see. Avoided the big mistake and made some really nice throws. Yarbough filled in nicely for Marius Young. No drop off there but the Oline depth gets even thinner sadly.

 

[SpiderFan26]

-If our D Line stays healthy, we wI'll win a good number more games this year. This group is the best we've ever had.

Sidbury, Logan, and the Parker brothers might have something to say about this

 

[MolivaManiac]

Sidbury, Logan, and the Parker brothers might have something to say about this

I'm sure they would. I think Sid had about 30pct of his sacks in the title game.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Welcome back Nick Holloway to add even more depth at TE.
Welcome to kickoff duty to Ricky Segers.
Good use of linebackers dropping in zone coverages. QB never saw Cougell or Rubin on interceptions.
At least two punts downed inside 10 yard line.
Great crowd that actually got into game and supported team.

PH finally punted like Rocco has been expecting with placement and distance.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Sidbury, Logan, and the Parker brothers might have something to say about this

Boy I would have to agree that Sidbury, Logan, Parker and Miles were a very strong unit. The old bunch may have been better only from the standpoint
Sidbury and Logan were quicker DEs, just ask Amanti Edwards. But like Mo this current group is coming around and getting stronger each week.

 

[MolivaManiac]

2008 defense... 36 sacks in 16 games.

2016 defense ... 17 sacks in 7 games.

#98 has 7 sacks. Quite honestly, he is playing the position as well as anyone I have seen here. He needs to be in the conference DPOY conversation.

 

[Spider B]

2008 defense... 36 sacks in 16 games.

2016 defense ... 17 sacks in 7 games.

#98 has 7 sacks. Quite honestly, he is playing the position as well as anyone I have seen here. He needs to be in the conference DPOY conversation.

98 is also reposible for a number of QB hurries and consistently gets push up the middle. He is a real game changer.

 

[SpiderFan26]

Whether you the '08 or '16 Dline you have a damn good Dline is basically the conclusion.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Right. The fact that we are having this conversation is reason enough that we are going to win a good number more games.

 

[ur2K]

Craig is an absolute force of nature right now. Its amazing that he's getting to the QB as much as he is at his position.

 

[32counter]

He was being double teamed all day.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

2008 defense... 36 sacks in 16 games.

2016 defense ... 17 sacks in 7 games.

#98 has 7 sacks. Quite honestly, he is playing the position as well as anyone I have seen here. He needs to be in the conference DPOY conversation.

I concur!

 

[iSpider]

Mo - crowd on your side of the field was barely there. looked like it was half full. I was shocked there wasn't a bigger crowd today.

Stadium looked pretty full on TV.

 

[SpiderK]

Boy I would have to agree that Sidbury, Logan, Parker and Miles were a very strong unit. The old bunch may have been better only from the standpoint
Sidbury and Logan were quicker DEs, just ask Amanti Edwards. But like Mo this current group is coming around and getting stronger each week.

Just ask Montana also. That 2008 DLine was in the Montana backfield all night in Chattanooga.

 

[Hanca]

Great win and agree with all the accolades. personally, still troubled by failure to secure TD in red zone.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Great win and agree with all the accolades. personally, still troubled by failure to secure TD in red zone.

Of course you are. Because you've been really down on our team on this board and others, pretty much every step of the way since way back in the summer.

 

[SpiderFan26]

Our red-zone offensive touchdown percentage is 59% and our opponents red-zone touchdown percentage is 70%, given us a net score of -11.

To compare, Elon's touchdown percentage is 54% (bad) but their opponents is 60%, giving them only a net of -6.

I think the 70% D has much more room for improvement than the 59% O, but interesting to look at those numbers. I don't read into it too much but still fun to compare.

 

[Spider B]

Helkowski had a great day. However, we nearly had at least one punt blocked. I would expect Elon to really come after punts especially with the bye week.

 

[I-M-UR]

Of course you are. Because you've been really down on our team on this board and others, pretty much every step of the way since way back in the summer.

Give Hanca a break even Rocco wasn't happy they had to settle for field goals. And I agree we do seem to struggle when the field shortens.

 

[Hanca]

Thanks I-M. Mo, sorry but I thought this was about observations in the Nova game. My observations were it was a great win, many aspects deserved praise as others noted and I agreed with, but find a problem with UR's red zone offense not producing touchdowns.

 

[SpiderFan26]

Of course you are. Because you've been really down on our team on this board and others, pretty much every step of the way since way back in the summer.

Mo, do you think our Redzone offense has been at the level of a top-10 team? Even Rocco has said after a couple of games that redzone scoring (on both sides) needs to be better

 

[iSpider]

We are 27:29 in the red zone this year, but only 17:29 when it comes to TDs. Still, pretty damn good if you ask me, but we need to improve on our TD percentage. I see Hanca's point and I respect his input on this board, but I do not think that it is a matter of concern.
A successful red zone offense is usually based upon a balanced run and pass offense. We did a pretty good job at UVa and have been 100% with respect to TDs in the red zone in two games since then (Towson, Colgate), but we have also lost our top two running backs and Nova was just the second start for DThompson. Nova was also the best defense we have faced all year and thus our worst performance in the red-zone(1:4) this year.
I believe that our TD percentage will improve as Thompson gets more acclimated to the OL. IMO, just a matter of time provided we can keep him healthy.