This may end up being the perfect game for this team. Rutgers threw absolutely everything the possibly could at us in the 1st half, and found themselves ahead 17-14. Credit Greg Schiano - I think he coached a whale of a 1st half. The punt block was a great scheme, and the onside kick was a brilliant call. Still can't believe we recoved that. He also had their DL and front 7 ready to play - they played hard, and tough, and should be credited for that. The punt block TD changed everything about the 1st half, and I think that adversity will prove to be galvanizing for this team. In a way, we needed that kind of adversity (trailing 17-14 at half). It's going to make this team better down the road, IMO.
I've been vocal here that I'd like to see the passing game improve. And that really has nothing to do with the run game - I'd just like more creativity when we do pass it. At the half, the BTN reporter said Jim had adjustments, and I was skeptical. Well, Jim backed that up. The obvious offensive adjustment I observed was to utilize Donovan Edwards in the passing game. Had a big catch on the 1st drive in the 2nd half, and then caught the TD (what a catch, by the way!). Credit to Jim and staff for making good adjustments in the passing game at the half.
Jesse Minter...man, that guy was a home run hire. The Will Johnson INT was just beautiful. He brought pressure, which led to a quicker type throw. Instead of having Will Johnson in press man, he had Will backpedal so that the play was in front of him. The Rutgers QB tossed up a 50/50 type ball, which is what their preparation likely called for. Our DB's have struggled in those situations. As soon as Will started to backpedal, and as he threw the ball I was screaming "pick it!". Thanks to Minter's call, Will had the whole play in front of him, saw the ball thrown and broke on the ball to made the play. That is absolute beauty from a defensive perspective. Jesse Minter schemed up that INT. That doesn't happen if Will is playing press coverage.
One thing I noticed from a play calling perspective - every time we threw the ball on 1st down, we followed that up with a run on 2nd down. Unless I missed something, I think that was the sequence every time we threw on 1st down. I'd like to see the offensive staff be comfortable following up a 1st down throw with another throw. This aspect of the offensive game plan was very conservative. Hopefully they are trying to build up tendencies that they will ultimately break in Columbus?
And how about Michael Barrett? His mistake led to the game changing play (blocked punt TD). So what does he do? Goes out and makes a great INT in zone coverage, then follows it up with a tipped INT, ridiculous spin move, and a return TD. Congratulations to that kid for more than making up for the missed assignment on the blocked punt. Love to see that.
And on that note, it was awesome to see our defense force turnovers. The 1st and 3rd INT's were 100% our play calls, which is awesome. The 2nd INT on the tipped ball was more on Rutgers, but give Barrett credit for making the play. We've all seen too many missed opportunities to get an INT this year, and in years past. It was great to see 3 of these in the 2nd half.
The first half wasn't fun, but if we're looking long term I don't think this game could've gone any better. We faced real adversity on the road, made adjustments, and came out and played a ridiculously good 2nd half. The coaching staff now has plenty of ammunition to push this team and get even better.
I've been vocal here that I'd like to see the passing game improve. And that really has nothing to do with the run game - I'd just like more creativity when we do pass it. At the half, the BTN reporter said Jim had adjustments, and I was skeptical. Well, Jim backed that up. The obvious offensive adjustment I observed was to utilize Donovan Edwards in the passing game. Had a big catch on the 1st drive in the 2nd half, and then caught the TD (what a catch, by the way!). Credit to Jim and staff for making good adjustments in the passing game at the half.
Jesse Minter...man, that guy was a home run hire. The Will Johnson INT was just beautiful. He brought pressure, which led to a quicker type throw. Instead of having Will Johnson in press man, he had Will backpedal so that the play was in front of him. The Rutgers QB tossed up a 50/50 type ball, which is what their preparation likely called for. Our DB's have struggled in those situations. As soon as Will started to backpedal, and as he threw the ball I was screaming "pick it!". Thanks to Minter's call, Will had the whole play in front of him, saw the ball thrown and broke on the ball to made the play. That is absolute beauty from a defensive perspective. Jesse Minter schemed up that INT. That doesn't happen if Will is playing press coverage.
One thing I noticed from a play calling perspective - every time we threw the ball on 1st down, we followed that up with a run on 2nd down. Unless I missed something, I think that was the sequence every time we threw on 1st down. I'd like to see the offensive staff be comfortable following up a 1st down throw with another throw. This aspect of the offensive game plan was very conservative. Hopefully they are trying to build up tendencies that they will ultimately break in Columbus?
And how about Michael Barrett? His mistake led to the game changing play (blocked punt TD). So what does he do? Goes out and makes a great INT in zone coverage, then follows it up with a tipped INT, ridiculous spin move, and a return TD. Congratulations to that kid for more than making up for the missed assignment on the blocked punt. Love to see that.
And on that note, it was awesome to see our defense force turnovers. The 1st and 3rd INT's were 100% our play calls, which is awesome. The 2nd INT on the tipped ball was more on Rutgers, but give Barrett credit for making the play. We've all seen too many missed opportunities to get an INT this year, and in years past. It was great to see 3 of these in the 2nd half.
The first half wasn't fun, but if we're looking long term I don't think this game could've gone any better. We faced real adversity on the road, made adjustments, and came out and played a ridiculously good 2nd half. The coaching staff now has plenty of ammunition to push this team and get even better.
