Here's my review of yet another tight game:
- Positive - Strong Defensive Play
- The defense led the way once again and shutdown the Wildcats in the 2nd half. With this game, the 1st team defense has only allowed two teams to score more than 15 points this season - that's a very impressive stat. At times in the 1st half, the defense looked a little shaky, but adjustments were made and Arizona was only able to get inside SC's 40 once in the 2nd half.
Leading the way for the defense was Kevin Ellison with 9 tackles and 1 forced fumble. The defense recovered 3 fumbles total which gave SC the win in the turnover battle (3-2).
- Negative - Wide Receiver Play
- For some reason our receivers continue to struggle to get any separation. I had a nice corner view of the action on Saturday and Cason/Fontenot were stuck to our receivers like glue for most of the game. I guess I have to give some slack to our young receivers since they did line up against one of the top CB duos in the nation, but it's not like they're lacking in talent. Our receivers need to step their game up plain and simple.
- Player of the Game - Joe McKnight
- Players like Kevin Ellison had more complete games, but without Joe's punt return and 59-yard run, we might have come out of the Coliseum with a loss. They were the game-changing plays needed to spark SC's comeback.
- Play of the Game - Joe McKnight's Punt Return
- Up until Joe's punt return the crowd was completely out of it and the team looked sluggish. After Joe caught Keenyn Crier's punt and broke it left up the sideline for a 40-yard return, the entire dynamic of the game changed. The crowd was suddenly up on their feet jumping up and down with a sense of urgency and players on the sideline were waving their towels telling the crowd to get louder. You just felt that the offense was going to do something good on the drive and Mark responded with a 25 yard TD pass to Fred Davis that sent the spark into a full blaze.
- Final Thoughts... - Sanchez's Gutty Performance
- Last week I wrote in my "Why I believe Mark..." post that the offense needed a leader/playmaker over experience/efficiency, and I think Mark's performance on Saturday exemplified that. He didn't put up impressive stats, but he made plays (often from nothing) when the offense needed one and the team/fans seemed to feed off his enthusiasm and leadership late in the game. His pass to Fred Davis in the 4th quarter was excellent as he looked right to freeze the safety and then hit Fred perfectly in stride. In the last drive, Mark scrambled for two 1st downs which forced Arizona to burn all their time-outs, set up a chip shot FG, ate up 6 minutes off the clock, and left Arizona with less than a minute to try and tie the game.
When you consider that Mark hadn't taken a single snap with Matt Spanos all week, had a o-line that had only one true starter protecting him in his 1st start ever, and a receiving corp that was tightly covered by an elite CB duo, it makes Mark's plays all that more impressive. Personally I would like to see Mark get another start next week since I think he's poised to have a breakout performance. I trust the coaches to make the right decision...
Many are predicting the game against Notre Dame this week to be close, but I'm predicting the opposite: we will win by at least 2 TDs; I think our offense matches up well against their defense. Plus Stafon is expected to return which will take some pressure off our QB and receivers. I was wrong with Arizona, but I have a good feeling about this one...
