As usual, here are my thoughts:
- Positive - Winning the Game
- Honestly, the only positive I can take away from last night's game was actually winning the game. It happens every season, we go into a game expecting to blow out the opponent and suddenly all hell breaks loose and your expectations drop to a point where you're just hoping for a W however ugly the means.
As an optimist, I look back to last night's game and say it's an improvement over last year's Oregon State debacle. The bottom line is we faced adversity in every possible way and came out victorious; that to me shows a fortitude that we lacked last season.
- Negative - JDB's Play
- Now I'm sure you're asking, how can you single out JDB's play amongst the myriad of negatives we had in last night's game? No, it's not because I'm on the "I hate JDB" bandwagon that seems to be full right now (I've been critical of JDB long before the bandwagon even existed), rather I see it being the most concerning negative simply because it can't be fixed immediately. The penalties, fumbles, etc. will all go away starting this Saturday because the coaching staff will address it all week during practice, but can JDB change his tendencies by October 27th (@ Oregon)? That I'm not so sure of.
I've always said that JDB is a good but not elite QB because he can't create something from nothing. He makes some jaw-dropping throws with his raw ability from time to time, but at the same time he breaks down when feeling pressured (i.e. curls up into a ball, hurries passes, etc.), locks onto receivers, chooses to force a pass rather than check down, etc. The criticism has NOTHING to do with being ungrateful or spoiled, it simply is what it is.
With that said, I still think Booty should be the starting QB and that we have a chance of winning a NC with him at the helm, we just have to achieve it in different ways (i.e. stellar defense play, maintaining running game, etc.). JDB is not going to carry us on his back like Leinart/Bush did in '04, if this team wins a NC it will have to be done corporately.
- Player of the Game - Chauncey Washington
- I'm very tempted to give the POG to Stafon since he carried for 16 more yards on 7 less carries, but Chauncey made all the pivotal runs like the 53 yarder before the half to set up the go ahead FG and key third downs in the 4th quarter. Stafon was the more consistent back, but Chauncey ran tough when we needed him.
- Play of the Game - Terrell Thomas Creating/Recovering Fumble
- With momentum on Washington's side, Terrell made up for his interference call by making one of the biggest plays of his career in stripping Anthony Russo of the ball on a punt return and then recovering it himself. It quieted the crowd and set up what would be the winning FG.
- Final Thoughts... - Moving Forward
- The injuries to Kristofer O'Dowd and Chilo Rachal are huge since it affects the only consistent offensive weapon in our arsenal, which is the running game. I think this puts more pressure on Steve Sarkisian's shoulders to get creative and start using our raw talent to beat teams. That to me means a lot more misdirection and isolation plays where our players are given a chance to do their thing one-on-one. I think Steve has done a great job at this point, I just think he needs to make a few tweaks to help JDB and our receivers along.
We can let out a big sigh that we have Stanford at home this Saturday. The game comes at a perfect time in that we can let some of our key players heal and also work on our execution. Bring on the obnoxious tree mascot.
