Here are my quick five thoughts from the press box. Feel free to add some, etc.
1. I actually liked the play-calling. None of us are ever going to like an offensive coordinator's complete game-log of calls, but Kevin Brown was aggressive for most of the game on first and second downs. He "pitched backwards" so to speak by not making Sturm only throw on the third down. Mixing the calls up allowed the offensive line to have one of its better days in a while. Sturm ended up 25-of-37 for 252 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. That stat line won Eric Soza a lot of games.
2. JaBryce Taylor is officially the No. 1 wide receiver for UTSA. He had seven catches for 85 yards and a long of 31. He led the team in all three of those categories. It is crazy that David Morgan didn't record his first catch until late in the first half, but the offense had a lot of success using him as a decoy to make room for Aaron Grubb in the first half. The offense tried to force it to Morgan late and it cost them with two failures on fourth down inside the red zone late in the game.
3. The special teams mistakes can't happen. Mistakes happen, but there were four or five special teams plays that changed the outcome of the game.
4. UTSA is incapable of creating pressure without blitzing, especially if the second DL unit is on the field. Davenport missed by a step on about five sacks. The issue was there was no penetration up the middle so Washington could step up away from Davenport/Neill and move left or right after the initial move in the pocket. This allowed him time and his receivers made some plays. UTSA continues to get killed on third down. At one point, ODU was 6-of-9 on third down. I think they finished just under .500 on third down conversions.
5. That is about what UTSA is as a football team. A few flashes of positive play, some individual talent on display and a whole lot of unforced mistakes that leave you shaking your head in frustration. It was penalties that killed UTSA today, but it was a few little things here and there that lingered. Not being ready for the second onside kick after ODU attempted one earlier was bad. UTSA didn't give up any points, but Derrick Dick trying to catch the punt he muffed was bad. Execution decides a lot of football games and ODU simply executed two or three more times over 60 minutes and that was the difference.
1. I actually liked the play-calling. None of us are ever going to like an offensive coordinator's complete game-log of calls, but Kevin Brown was aggressive for most of the game on first and second downs. He "pitched backwards" so to speak by not making Sturm only throw on the third down. Mixing the calls up allowed the offensive line to have one of its better days in a while. Sturm ended up 25-of-37 for 252 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. That stat line won Eric Soza a lot of games.
2. JaBryce Taylor is officially the No. 1 wide receiver for UTSA. He had seven catches for 85 yards and a long of 31. He led the team in all three of those categories. It is crazy that David Morgan didn't record his first catch until late in the first half, but the offense had a lot of success using him as a decoy to make room for Aaron Grubb in the first half. The offense tried to force it to Morgan late and it cost them with two failures on fourth down inside the red zone late in the game.
3. The special teams mistakes can't happen. Mistakes happen, but there were four or five special teams plays that changed the outcome of the game.
4. UTSA is incapable of creating pressure without blitzing, especially if the second DL unit is on the field. Davenport missed by a step on about five sacks. The issue was there was no penetration up the middle so Washington could step up away from Davenport/Neill and move left or right after the initial move in the pocket. This allowed him time and his receivers made some plays. UTSA continues to get killed on third down. At one point, ODU was 6-of-9 on third down. I think they finished just under .500 on third down conversions.
5. That is about what UTSA is as a football team. A few flashes of positive play, some individual talent on display and a whole lot of unforced mistakes that leave you shaking your head in frustration. It was penalties that killed UTSA today, but it was a few little things here and there that lingered. Not being ready for the second onside kick after ODU attempted one earlier was bad. UTSA didn't give up any points, but Derrick Dick trying to catch the punt he muffed was bad. Execution decides a lot of football games and ODU simply executed two or three more times over 60 minutes and that was the difference.
