So I decided today with a clear head I would rewatch the game just to figure out what the hell happened. Saturday night I was too invested to really see what was happening, but after another look I came away with a few thoughts.
First. It seems that our youth is what killed us. On both the Southern touchdown before half, and I believe the second long score in the second half, our secondary just completely blew coverages. In addition, Drew Barker made some very glaring mistakes that an experienced quarterback doesn't make. That fumble in the second half came from trying to do too much. He just has to take the loss there. On the interception, he locked onto that receiver the second the ball was snapped and simply under threw it. Richardson (also young) has to do a better job of making sure that ball doesn't get picked.
Second. It amazes me how quickly our crowd turned on our team. As soon as they scored the opening touchdown of the second half, it seemed like the boo birds and groans came out in full force. Even if the thought of blowing what was left of our lead hadn't entered somebody's head on our team, the Commonwealth crowd made sure that they knew we fully expected them to blow this lead. You know what that leads to? Overthinking things, panic, and consequently defensive lapses. I get that it is frustrating, but pissing and moaning about every 4 yard run our defensive gives up just further compounds the struggles of a young team.
Third. Southern Miss is a very good team. Are they in conference USA? Yes. However, they are loaded with veterans who have been in big game situations many times before. When a play needed to be made, they made it. Not once in the second half did we get lucky with them dropping a pass, or having a miscommunication. Once the crowd started to turn, there was blood in the water.
Fourth, I haven't looked up the penalty numbers but there were a few very obviously blown calls. A couple of the pass interference calls were atrocious. One was commented on by the analyst and obviously uncatchable. The backbreaking catch that was ruled out of bounds but still gave them a first (and consequently a field goal) in the fourth quarter was OPI. Homeboy grabbed Westry's jersey and pulled him past coming back to the ball, Westry grabbed on for dear life. In addition, I saw numerous holds by Southern Miss go uncalled. Sour Grapes? Maybe. I saw what I saw though.
On the positive side, it looks to me like we do in fact have an explosive offense. When we were playing loose, it looks like our receivers are going to be damn hard to cover. If Barker can limit the mistakes (and maybe look at more than one option), then I think that they can be good enough to carry us through games.
Another bright spot was the new linebacker Jones. Kid was all over the place on defense.
Like everybody, I thought about flinging myself off a ledge on Saturday night. This loss was horribly frustrating. The reason it was so frustrating wasn't because we got beaten down by a vastly more talented team. It was because we beat ourselves with correctable mental errors and inexperience; all of which will get better as the season progresses. I know everyone is tired of hearing about the future and want results now, but we ran off our veteran QB and lost our veteran DT to god knows what weeks before the first game. We should also have Tubman and Hatcher in key defensive roles this year. Losing key veterans like that is a lot harder for us to overcome than the more prominent football schools because it's so hard for us to get them here in the first place.
I'm ranting I guess, but I mainly wanted to say that even with the loss I have hope for the future. There was an unbelievable amount of pressure on those kids going into the Southern Miss game and now that pressure is gone. Southern Miss came in and played like they had nothing to lose, and now neither do we. It's much easier being the hunter than the hunted. I look for us to keep it competitive in the Swamp on Saturday, and to steadily progress as the season goes on. You all can jump ship if you want to, but don't come crawling back if we start winning. I was born a Kentucky fan, I will die a Kentucky fan.
First. It seems that our youth is what killed us. On both the Southern touchdown before half, and I believe the second long score in the second half, our secondary just completely blew coverages. In addition, Drew Barker made some very glaring mistakes that an experienced quarterback doesn't make. That fumble in the second half came from trying to do too much. He just has to take the loss there. On the interception, he locked onto that receiver the second the ball was snapped and simply under threw it. Richardson (also young) has to do a better job of making sure that ball doesn't get picked.
Second. It amazes me how quickly our crowd turned on our team. As soon as they scored the opening touchdown of the second half, it seemed like the boo birds and groans came out in full force. Even if the thought of blowing what was left of our lead hadn't entered somebody's head on our team, the Commonwealth crowd made sure that they knew we fully expected them to blow this lead. You know what that leads to? Overthinking things, panic, and consequently defensive lapses. I get that it is frustrating, but pissing and moaning about every 4 yard run our defensive gives up just further compounds the struggles of a young team.
Third. Southern Miss is a very good team. Are they in conference USA? Yes. However, they are loaded with veterans who have been in big game situations many times before. When a play needed to be made, they made it. Not once in the second half did we get lucky with them dropping a pass, or having a miscommunication. Once the crowd started to turn, there was blood in the water.
Fourth, I haven't looked up the penalty numbers but there were a few very obviously blown calls. A couple of the pass interference calls were atrocious. One was commented on by the analyst and obviously uncatchable. The backbreaking catch that was ruled out of bounds but still gave them a first (and consequently a field goal) in the fourth quarter was OPI. Homeboy grabbed Westry's jersey and pulled him past coming back to the ball, Westry grabbed on for dear life. In addition, I saw numerous holds by Southern Miss go uncalled. Sour Grapes? Maybe. I saw what I saw though.
On the positive side, it looks to me like we do in fact have an explosive offense. When we were playing loose, it looks like our receivers are going to be damn hard to cover. If Barker can limit the mistakes (and maybe look at more than one option), then I think that they can be good enough to carry us through games.
Another bright spot was the new linebacker Jones. Kid was all over the place on defense.
Like everybody, I thought about flinging myself off a ledge on Saturday night. This loss was horribly frustrating. The reason it was so frustrating wasn't because we got beaten down by a vastly more talented team. It was because we beat ourselves with correctable mental errors and inexperience; all of which will get better as the season progresses. I know everyone is tired of hearing about the future and want results now, but we ran off our veteran QB and lost our veteran DT to god knows what weeks before the first game. We should also have Tubman and Hatcher in key defensive roles this year. Losing key veterans like that is a lot harder for us to overcome than the more prominent football schools because it's so hard for us to get them here in the first place.
I'm ranting I guess, but I mainly wanted to say that even with the loss I have hope for the future. There was an unbelievable amount of pressure on those kids going into the Southern Miss game and now that pressure is gone. Southern Miss came in and played like they had nothing to lose, and now neither do we. It's much easier being the hunter than the hunted. I look for us to keep it competitive in the Swamp on Saturday, and to steadily progress as the season goes on. You all can jump ship if you want to, but don't come crawling back if we start winning. I was born a Kentucky fan, I will die a Kentucky fan.
