evilpoke
Well-known member
I only watched a little bit of the New Mexico game, but the general impression that I got was that the Pokes would have destroyed New Mexico if they hadn't turned the ball over four times - and that if the teams played 10 times, Wyoming would win 9 of them, and this was the one time.
(I saw one play early in the game where Purcell got a hand on a screen, but it went to a Lobo, who scampered down the field - basically a nutshell of the game)
That being said, losing to New Mexico IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I liken it to losing to Schroyer losing to Air Force or or some of those piddling crap teams last year - you may have some (viable) excuses - but it doesn't matter. Losses like that hurt the program.
Now, for some history.
Last year's team was not a good team. Sorry. Every good team crushed the Pokes, and the Pokes found ways to win against all the mediocre to bad times - usually by the skin of their teeth. (Blocked Xtra point against CSU, miracle in San Diego, stupid play by FI/AU)
Unfortunately, these things tend to even themselves out, and now the bounces are not going Wyoming's way. (BYU, AF, UNM) and Wyoming's record is starting to show the real status of the program.
This is a young team - and there are a lot of young guys who are getting a lot of playing time because the talent in the program isn't there -the defensive tackles really should be backups or redshirting.
Robert Herron should be someone the coaches are high about FOR THE FUTURE - not right now. He could have spent the year working on academics and getting bigger, faster and stronger (and holding onto and catching the damn ball).
Unfortunately, because of attrition, that's who we got. The nice thing is, they do seem like players who will continue to get better.
As for coaching ... errr. It's hard to do anything when your offensive and defensive lines are getting blown up every game.
But, when you switch back and forth between offensive schemes (I know it's technically all the spread, but there's a big difference between a tight end and fullback and then four wide) it set off alarms in my head that something's definitely wrong. My guess is the coaches were just trying to grasp for something to work because they knew the guys in place were going to get ACS killed.
Then there's that damn running play that always seems to lose 3 yards (you know which one I'm talking about). Making judgement calls on specific plays is one thing - hindsight is 20/20 - but the coaches should know which plays are going to work against which defenses on a consistent basis. (And don't go shotgun from the 1-yard-line)
The defense? hmmm... I know everyone would have liked to stick with the 3-4 - but then, who's your noseguard? Who are your d-tackles? With the 3-4, you need three big, stout d-linemen, which we had last year. We don't this year. The 4-3 is the preferred defense of Christensen, so that's what we go with.
My big gripe with the defense is the lack of pressure on the quarterback. We sit back and play a generally vanilla defense - which is great if you have the players. But until last game, there was NO pressure on the quarterback all season, leaving our d-backs out to dry. No one has the d-backs to cover for 6 seconds. Biezuns and Knapton still have another year - so I'm hoping for a big improvement from them next year after moving to d-line for the first time.
Right now, I do feel good about where the program is headed. Most of our best players are Christensen's guys, which bodes well for the future. This team WILL be better next year.
They just can't have stupid losses against god-awful teams like New Mexico. Hard-core fans (should) know this is a process. But you lose outlying fanbase support. Plus, when a lot of fans have to drive 5+ hours roundtrip to get to a game, a crappy loss versus a good win could make the difference of 5,000 butts in the seats.
(I saw one play early in the game where Purcell got a hand on a screen, but it went to a Lobo, who scampered down the field - basically a nutshell of the game)
That being said, losing to New Mexico IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I liken it to losing to Schroyer losing to Air Force or or some of those piddling crap teams last year - you may have some (viable) excuses - but it doesn't matter. Losses like that hurt the program.
Now, for some history.
Last year's team was not a good team. Sorry. Every good team crushed the Pokes, and the Pokes found ways to win against all the mediocre to bad times - usually by the skin of their teeth. (Blocked Xtra point against CSU, miracle in San Diego, stupid play by FI/AU)
Unfortunately, these things tend to even themselves out, and now the bounces are not going Wyoming's way. (BYU, AF, UNM) and Wyoming's record is starting to show the real status of the program.
This is a young team - and there are a lot of young guys who are getting a lot of playing time because the talent in the program isn't there -the defensive tackles really should be backups or redshirting.
Robert Herron should be someone the coaches are high about FOR THE FUTURE - not right now. He could have spent the year working on academics and getting bigger, faster and stronger (and holding onto and catching the damn ball).
Unfortunately, because of attrition, that's who we got. The nice thing is, they do seem like players who will continue to get better.
As for coaching ... errr. It's hard to do anything when your offensive and defensive lines are getting blown up every game.
But, when you switch back and forth between offensive schemes (I know it's technically all the spread, but there's a big difference between a tight end and fullback and then four wide) it set off alarms in my head that something's definitely wrong. My guess is the coaches were just trying to grasp for something to work because they knew the guys in place were going to get ACS killed.
Then there's that damn running play that always seems to lose 3 yards (you know which one I'm talking about). Making judgement calls on specific plays is one thing - hindsight is 20/20 - but the coaches should know which plays are going to work against which defenses on a consistent basis. (And don't go shotgun from the 1-yard-line)
The defense? hmmm... I know everyone would have liked to stick with the 3-4 - but then, who's your noseguard? Who are your d-tackles? With the 3-4, you need three big, stout d-linemen, which we had last year. We don't this year. The 4-3 is the preferred defense of Christensen, so that's what we go with.
My big gripe with the defense is the lack of pressure on the quarterback. We sit back and play a generally vanilla defense - which is great if you have the players. But until last game, there was NO pressure on the quarterback all season, leaving our d-backs out to dry. No one has the d-backs to cover for 6 seconds. Biezuns and Knapton still have another year - so I'm hoping for a big improvement from them next year after moving to d-line for the first time.
Right now, I do feel good about where the program is headed. Most of our best players are Christensen's guys, which bodes well for the future. This team WILL be better next year.
They just can't have stupid losses against god-awful teams like New Mexico. Hard-core fans (should) know this is a process. But you lose outlying fanbase support. Plus, when a lot of fans have to drive 5+ hours roundtrip to get to a game, a crappy loss versus a good win could make the difference of 5,000 butts in the seats.
