Saquon Barkley is REALLY good. He showed how a running back with a burst and good vision can make an OL look better and buy a struggling QB some time, ultimately making him look better. The difference between Barkley and Lynch is day and night. Barkley looked at his options and was able to take it up the gut or know when to bounce it outside, being equally effective both ways. I loved the way he was directing his lead blockers too; I actually had to laugh when that one personal foul was called on Mangiro for blocking below the waist, because I'm pretty sure Barkley pushed Mangiro in the back as he was steering his blocking, in turn causing the penalty.
Troy Reeder played a heck of a game and has a chance to be another in the long list of storied LBs at LBU. Very impressed with him for his first start.
Hack did much better once the Buffalo D had to start honoring the run. He still tends to lock in on certain receivers during phases of the game. I saw this a couple of times in the game where he had several passes in a row to the same receiver. It happened with Geno, Gesicki and Godwin for sure that I can remember (My wife even noticed it). Even the announcers, as inept as they were, picked up on him locking in on receivers and not progressing through reads. And I'm only basing this off of scenarios where he wasn't under pressure...not bashing him, just making an observation. And is it me or when he steps up in the pocket, does it seem like he should take another step or two to avoid the outside rush? (Mainly an observation/question from the Temple game.) He continues to struggle with accuracy in the short passing game, which I'm sure was effected by the rain. Having said this, he threw a couple of nice deep balls.
The return games are so much better with the talent we have this year. Yeah, I know it was Buffalo, but I like the aggressive nature and speed of our returners. We finally have a threat in this phase of the game and the ability to flip the field. It's a lot more exciting to watch as opposed to the fair-catch fest we had last year.
Carl Nassib plays inspired and disruptive football. Love his story from walk-on to where he is now. I hope he gets a chance in the NFL. Johnson and Zettel were...well Johnson and Zettel, what we now expect from them.
There's hope for our game against Rutgers next week, if the D builds on their performance from today with the young LBs continuing to improve and Barkley plays like he did this week buying Hack some time and helping out the OL. Rutgers depleted secondary and us playing at home should help as well.
Lastly, I felt bad for Andrew Nelson. I wish him the best and a speedy recovery if the injury does turn out to be severe.
Troy Reeder played a heck of a game and has a chance to be another in the long list of storied LBs at LBU. Very impressed with him for his first start.
Hack did much better once the Buffalo D had to start honoring the run. He still tends to lock in on certain receivers during phases of the game. I saw this a couple of times in the game where he had several passes in a row to the same receiver. It happened with Geno, Gesicki and Godwin for sure that I can remember (My wife even noticed it). Even the announcers, as inept as they were, picked up on him locking in on receivers and not progressing through reads. And I'm only basing this off of scenarios where he wasn't under pressure...not bashing him, just making an observation. And is it me or when he steps up in the pocket, does it seem like he should take another step or two to avoid the outside rush? (Mainly an observation/question from the Temple game.) He continues to struggle with accuracy in the short passing game, which I'm sure was effected by the rain. Having said this, he threw a couple of nice deep balls.
The return games are so much better with the talent we have this year. Yeah, I know it was Buffalo, but I like the aggressive nature and speed of our returners. We finally have a threat in this phase of the game and the ability to flip the field. It's a lot more exciting to watch as opposed to the fair-catch fest we had last year.
Carl Nassib plays inspired and disruptive football. Love his story from walk-on to where he is now. I hope he gets a chance in the NFL. Johnson and Zettel were...well Johnson and Zettel, what we now expect from them.
There's hope for our game against Rutgers next week, if the D builds on their performance from today with the young LBs continuing to improve and Barkley plays like he did this week buying Hack some time and helping out the OL. Rutgers depleted secondary and us playing at home should help as well.
Lastly, I felt bad for Andrew Nelson. I wish him the best and a speedy recovery if the injury does turn out to be severe.
