Still not sure what to make of this team and what the realistic outlook is. I don’t think ASU is going to be anything other than a lower end PAC 12 team but a road win is still a road win regardless of how it was accomplished. Would have preferred us to come out and make a statement but liked how we loosened up and put a stamp on it at the end.
The same head scratching a lot of us are doing over this teams prospects can extend to the QB position. We are two games in and none of the QBs have really grabbed the job. Gundy was probably the most productive in terms of points but was aided heavily by a strong running game, short fields and most notably Ollie Gordon. Not sure why we don’t get him involved earlier and more consistently. He is our best RB by a good margin. He needs 20-25 carries a game. I think at this point I would roll with Rangel and Gundy and let Bowman be your emergency veteran.
Offensively we just were able to wear down a depth deprived unit that sort of shot their wad early. You can take some positive from that. It hasn’t been pretty but it’s been effective enough. We were aided by fantastic field position all night. Six drives started on our own 40 or better (that is a wild stat!)
ASU has a true freshman QB, a ravaged OL and a coach who looked in over his head. Several poor coaching decisions and calls, drops, and just an overall lack of execution really helped us out tonight. I did like the pressure we were able to get as the game wore on but man our LBs hurt us and they will need to get better. We have to clean that up or we could be in for some trouble in conference play. The secondary is very hit or miss right now and safety play surprisingly has been maybe the biggest issue. The DL has been very good. Just solid and lots of bodies that can contribute. Really like what I saw tonight from them. The defense did settle in and make enough plays and at opportune times to provide some good glimpses of hope and I think they will continue to improve each week.
There is just not much excitement or fire to this team right now but that’s okay as long as we can keep winning. It’s been two wins but two pretty painful and heart burn inducing ones. We shouldn’t apologize for being 2-0 and I do think this group can improve but the OL and QB limitations might make for a nervy conference run. I don’t want to be to negative here because there are teams in our conference who would trade places with us in a heartbeat. We should always try to enjoy any and every Cowboy win so I’ll end with a few of my positives.
The same head scratching a lot of us are doing over this teams prospects can extend to the QB position. We are two games in and none of the QBs have really grabbed the job. Gundy was probably the most productive in terms of points but was aided heavily by a strong running game, short fields and most notably Ollie Gordon. Not sure why we don’t get him involved earlier and more consistently. He is our best RB by a good margin. He needs 20-25 carries a game. I think at this point I would roll with Rangel and Gundy and let Bowman be your emergency veteran.
Offensively we just were able to wear down a depth deprived unit that sort of shot their wad early. You can take some positive from that. It hasn’t been pretty but it’s been effective enough. We were aided by fantastic field position all night. Six drives started on our own 40 or better (that is a wild stat!)
ASU has a true freshman QB, a ravaged OL and a coach who looked in over his head. Several poor coaching decisions and calls, drops, and just an overall lack of execution really helped us out tonight. I did like the pressure we were able to get as the game wore on but man our LBs hurt us and they will need to get better. We have to clean that up or we could be in for some trouble in conference play. The secondary is very hit or miss right now and safety play surprisingly has been maybe the biggest issue. The DL has been very good. Just solid and lots of bodies that can contribute. Really like what I saw tonight from them. The defense did settle in and make enough plays and at opportune times to provide some good glimpses of hope and I think they will continue to improve each week.
There is just not much excitement or fire to this team right now but that’s okay as long as we can keep winning. It’s been two wins but two pretty painful and heart burn inducing ones. We shouldn’t apologize for being 2-0 and I do think this group can improve but the OL and QB limitations might make for a nervy conference run. I don’t want to be to negative here because there are teams in our conference who would trade places with us in a heartbeat. We should always try to enjoy any and every Cowboy win so I’ll end with a few of my positives.
- Alex Hale hit a 52 yard FG
- Defense locked down when it was needed
- Oliver showed some flashes tonight
- Jaleel Johnson was a nice surprise
- DL depth showed up and really took over defensively and ate up that patch work like as game wore on
- Gordon continued to show promise of potentially being a difference maker
- Stribling is a matchup problem
- Rangel threw the dagger game sealing TD
- Team won a tough game in a tough environment
