Turning Back; Looking Ahead

Turning Back

Well, I've gotten through two DVR re-watches of the USCe game after seeing it live on Saturday. I'm gonna give a few half-assed insights but you should definitely check out the pros - The Senator's "Upon Further Review," and Bernie's "Sakerlina Recap" as well. 

I will say that I agree wholeheartedly with what many have been saying all week - our O-line work was bordering on brilliant. That's great execution, but that's also great coaching and game-planning as well. And obviously Aaron Murray just had a banner day. Great games also by Scott-Wesley, Artie Lynch, Quayvon, Marshall, and Gurley.

The defense, after some additional review, did a lot better than I originally thought. Our line did get some pretty good pressure and I thought our LBs were great. The secondary didn't do as badly as I originally thought, but it was hard watching Langley get treated like the schoolyard chump on that last SC drive in the replay. I think that kid's gonna be good, though. And as the Senator and others have asked, where in the hell was the safety help? But hey - anytime you get a goal-line stand against a top-10 SEC team, you're obviously doing something right.

One other thing I noticed...other than Danielson, I truly think that Todd Blackledge is probably the best color-commentator on TV. But after seeing his "Taste of the Town" segment, I've come to the following conclusion - dude's a dork, a maybe a bit socially retarded as well. Also, for the record, I think Nessler is the best play-by-play guy out there.

Looking Ahead 

We've got an off week so I guess we'll all be looking forward to the 'Bama/A&M game. Should be a good one. Our Dawgs can continue to get healthy and rested and we'll start gearing up for North Texas. I don't know much about them other than they're called the Mean Green and they've had a lot of money pumped into the program lately (think a poor man's Oklahoma St.). A few years ago, they hired Dan McCarney, formerly the HC at Iowa St., and the team has posted more wins in his two years (9) than they did the previous four seasons.