Give An Honest Assessment Of Your Team After Week 1

Defense decentish. Offense absolutely putrid. Its a Mark Stoops team. 3 to 4 wins.

Good:
Sellers
Linebackers
Defensive Line

Bad:
Offensive line
Wide receivers
Secondary

I think Elko was focused on getting Reed passing reps. We have 2 transfers that got separation and each had big contributions. Reed utilized the TE in the center of the field and only had 1 bad ball that should have been an easy TD to the most open receiver he will likely see this year. Simply threw it too hot on a rope and didn’t put touch on it to make a catchable ball.

RBs didn’t get a lot of use.

Defense- concerning but HALL from UTSA looked legit. Not sure if he is legit or we just made him look legit. Only 1 sack. So many near misses on INTs but came up empty there.

Special Teams- had a TD there so that is nice.

My takeaways from the Mizzou game...

1) Mizzou might have their most complete quarterback since Chase Daniel.

Beau Pribula's accuracy was NFL level quality and I have no concerns that this game was against a scrub. His first and second level throws were on time and on target. He also has very good mobility, although I haven't seen enough to determine his escapabilty. If he can spin away from pressure ala Brock Purdy, Mizzou is going to score points even if the offensive line remains suspect.

2) LT Cayden Green had two glaring miscues which resulted in big hits on Pribula. Was it a communication breakdown or Green getting exposed? I haven't seen a breakdown. Central Arkansas brought multiple blitzes from every direction, so it was a good tune-up for the meat of the season.

3) Weapon wise Mizzou is loaded. Wide receivers and tight ends were catching everything in sight, some of the spectacular nature. Marquis Johnson and Mississippi State transfer Kevin Coleman were outstanding, including an electric punt return from Coleman. They also look to have a top notch RB duo in Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts.

4) Defensively, Missouri did nothing fancy. Never blitzed once. That said, they unquestionably hit at least two home runs in the transfer portal - DE Damon Wilson from Georgia and LB Josiah Trotter. Wilson's get off was exceptional. Time will tell if the secondary is an Achilles heel or not.

I won't pretend to say this is a 10 win team again, but I don't see this squad imploding in losses like they did last year against Bama and A&M. Brady Cook was a great gutsy leader, but Beau Pribula has the kind of tools Cook simply lacked to bring a team from behind by carrying an offense on his back.

It's going to be an entertaining season for sure. And I hope your teams keep sleeping on us.

Alpha Dogs!

Defense looks improved, but I want to see them vs a true scrambling QB. That has been our kryptonite the past few years.

Offense was a tough call. Play calling looked very conservative most of the game. Hopefully it will get better as the O-line gels.

Overall, was very happy with the result.

We looked like a team that's breaking in a LOT of new pieces. The OL struggled early but got better in the second half. The defense gave up some long runs. Austin Simmons threw an ugly interception in the end zone after not seeing a basic lurk job by Georgia State's safety.

On the other hand, our receiving corps and running backs looked great. Our secondary only gave up 60-something yards passing. Our kicker is nails and our punter booted a ball 59 yards.

Early struggles were anticipated considering we lost our starting QB, RB, WRs, DLs, LB, and DBs. If we can go to Lexington and beat Kentucky this weekend and look good doing it, I'll feel much better. Otherwise, we look like an 8-win team at best

quote:

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Good:
Sellers
Linebackers
Defensive Line

Bad:
Offensive line
Wide receivers
Secondary

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Hard to argue with that, although I'll add our Special Teams to the looking "Good" category at the moment. Surprisingly good for that matter, imho.

Our punter averaged over 50 yards net and our kickoff, coverage, punt returns, etc., all looked outstanding. Our FG kicker was putting them through the uprights from 55-60 yards during warmups, like butter. And he was money in the game.

Our defense appears to be really good again.

Our offense could have used a cream puff or two or three to open the season.. That being said, we did some good things despite the results.

Things to work on.
1) Arch accuracy in the short game. When he sets his feet or is rolling out, the ball looks to come out pretty good, but when he tries to be a gunslinger, he needs some adjusting..

2) Red Zone continues to be a problem. I'm not sure of the solution here, but hopefully Sark can figure it out. We have a QB and a RB who should both be able to get downhill and into the endzone. Play calling needs to improve. Not scoring on 4th & Goal from the 1 yard line was the difference in the game. They scored on their 4th and goal, and we did not.

We are going to be hard to beat if we fix #1 and #2. TBD if that is possible.