Thoughts a day after seeing the game in person and no replay:
Defense:
- Secondary showed out. There were a couple of times the receiver was open, but the throw was off. Other than that, they played really well. They kept short routes in front of them and closed quickly. Open field tackling is very much improved. I only remember one missed tackle by the secondary. Also, tackling technique is much better - the secondary was wrapping up and not trying to shoulder chuck players down (especially one on one). If this continues, it will be huge in limiting big pass plays. We know what we have in Malik - elite run support safety, played well in pass coverage. DB of the night for me was DeShawn Jones. He played really well, stayed with his man, got a pick, and really closed out and tackled well. Rankin showed himself a serviceable backup and I'm glad he got his redemption pick - that will go a long way to cement in his head that mistakes don't make the player - you keep playing.
Linebackers - Didn't notice too much. A few blitzes. Thought Jacob Roberts played a really good game. Hazen got washed a few times, but on the whole, decent effort from the corps.
Line - got pressure (and played really well against the run) early, but seemed to wear down over the course of the game. I'm not sure we have the size and depth for this to be a reliable unit. There is some quickness though, so I expect this year to be a little feast/famine and marked by inconsistency.
Offense:
Mitch - uneven game. Clawson seemed a little frustrated by his play in the post game. He managed the game fine. Needs to make reads more quickly, or learn to just take off. Of the sacks he took, I think only one was really on the OL, most were his internal clock/decision making. It looks to me that he needs to expand his idea of what "open" is, especially with the receivers we have. a quarter step at this level is open and trust the receivers to make a play. Don't know what he saw on the pick-6. He has the defender in the air and tried to slip it past him, but the defender quick jumped and got there in time. but regardless, the lane wasn't open. I think he has good tools and not a bad night for his second start ever. Initially was a little concerned that his hesitancy was that the receivers weren't getting separation, but I think Mitch just needs to trust them more.
Line - This is concerning. They weren't awful, but they weren't good against a team they should dominate. I think a lot of it is that we don't do a lot of drive blocking, which mitigates size/strength advantages and puts more pressure of the RBs to have patience and hit holes as soon as they open (making the RBs more reactive rather than running hard at where they are trusting a hole to be once they get there).
RBs - Claiborne will be good (16 carries, 80 yards). Ellison has a sub par game (10 carries for 20 yards). I am missing Will Towns. I like his size paired with Claiborne's speed. Claiborne's blocking has improved a ton since last year, which hopefully will get him more run.
WRs - Was hoping to see more of the second unit, but we have good receivers. Grimes has improved a ton and can be trusted. Banks is next man up in the tall, contested catch position we've had. He had a great game.
TE - 3 catches for Hite and showed speed I didn't know he had. Would love it if he filled the Serigne role.
Special teams
3 KOs deep in the endzone, 2 shallow endzone, 2 out of the endzone that weren't returned past the 25. Good showing.
Punts - first couple were end over end and shortish, but Mora settled in.
PR - Morin is great - unfortunate for the one punt to bounce off our helmet of our guy who was pushed into the Morin, so spatial awareness to work on
KR - Key can be dangerous back there.
Dennis was perfect.
Overall, I think our return game looked better than it is b/c Elon's kicker hit them low and gave us time to return it, but overall, ST were a strength.