First time in the "Big House" - Quite an atmosphere, but not quite as big as I thought it would be. UT-Knoxville's stadium feels bigger to me. Michigan fans were nice, fairly reserved. Didn't feel like an intimidating place to play at all, but I'm sure it gets rowdier in Big Ten play.
The game, overall: Our guys were ready to play. As stock said, we didn't flinch. Our players, specifically our defense, even seemed to relish the crowd's cheers for Michigan and feed off the energy. This year's team clearly has a strong bond and really feels like they're on a mission....possibly to finish last year's business where we came up short 2 points in the Championship game.....
QB play....Asher looked good when our line held up. Really good. He reminds me of Mason Fine but with even better wheels. His ability to create when a play breaks down is game changing. He is a true dual threat kid and likely our starter for years to come in my eyes unless Randall Johnson starts playing out of his mind. From a potential standpoint, I feel like Asher has the ability to deliver a CUSA championship and 10+ win season if all things fall into place. Having a true dual threat QB at the G5 level is just so important. Cunningham might be the better true passer but his pocket presence left a lot to be desired and he clearly lacks the mobility Asher has. Asher is the clear #1, Cunningham can be back up, and Johnson is going to red-shirt and hopefully get things figured out.
RB....Not much to see here because we simply couldn't run the ball effectively unless it was Asher doing it. I did like the little bits of Jayy McDonald that we saw, and Zach Dobson continues to impress. Mobley left a bit to be desired as he just couldn't make anybody miss. I expected better from him, but to be fair it was Michigan. Terelle West has got to protect the ball better you cannot fumble in that situation you are a redshirt senior and should be setting the example.
OL...Overall, good, but some isolated incidents where they were just overwhelmed. To be expected with the opponent I suppose. I was very surprised Amir Luckett held his own as he is typically a sieve against Power 5 teams. Most of the issues were on the left side of the line from what I saw, specifically in pass pro. I didn't have a roster with me so I was a bit unclear on exactly who was playing at times. We will have a much better idea about this unit after the Tenn St. game.
DL...Pretty impressed. We lost some serious talent on the inside and didn't miss too much of a beat. If there was one weakness I would single out, it would be giving up runs between the tackles. Michigan seemed to get whatever they wanted inside the tackles (except in goal line). The Charbonnet kid carried the ball 8 times for 90 yards. That's 11 YPC which is just insane. Our base defense has got to get better between the tackles on expected run downs. Tennessee State will for sure test our interior this week after the Michigan performance. The Jordan Branch sack of Patterson was fantastic...great effort there from a freshman. The goal line stand was obviously amazing and unexpected. I feel like the parts are there we just need more refinement on the DL.
LB....Good as always. Khalil Brooks is a F'ing MAN. Anyone else remember the play where he destroys his block, gets back up, and nearly sacks the QB? That is one bad dude. They scored a TD on that play because our defender fell down, but it was great effort and great play from Brooks despite the TD. Cody Smith held his own in his first big start, and DQ Thomas is more than serviceable and will only get better. My only complaint with this group is the lack of pressure despite how much we blitzed. We did get 2 sacks and 3 TFL's but it just didn't feel like the pressure was there on Patterson when we blitzed most of the time. You simply cannot let a QB sit back and be that comfortable when you are playing man across the board in the secondary or he is going to pick you apart just like Michigan did with all those big passing plays.
Secondary....They weren't as bad as they looked. They do need to stop slipping and falling because that nearly ensures a wide open TD for the opponent, but they did about as well as they could given the circumstances. Our DB's have the toughest job of any position group on the team in our style of defense because they are consistently asked to play man coverage with 1 or sometimes 0 safety help over the top. Considering how much size they were giving up to Michigan WR's and the fact that we rarely pressured Patterson, they did about as well as they could. Quincy Riley, #4, really caught my eye and I won't be surprised if he earns himself a starting spot. Good looking athletic player with decent size and appears to have those good raw corner instincts. Really like what I saw from him.
Special teams....Michigan fans were growing restless with Ty Lee's consistent fair catches on kick offs. By the 3rd quarter there were audible boo's regarding the automatic fair catch. Punting was decent. Michigan did get a partial block on one and 2 others had very poor hang time but we had some difficult punt safe situations backed up into our end zone where he's just trying to get it off. We didn't give up any huge special teams plays so I suppose we did okay. There's certainly plenty of room for improvement though.
TN State.....This is far from a guaranteed win. This game is closer to a coin flip than anything else. TN State has serious talent on their roster and is stocked full of Power 5 transfer talent and a few NFL prospects. If our players overlook them even in the slightest, we will lose.
The game, overall: Our guys were ready to play. As stock said, we didn't flinch. Our players, specifically our defense, even seemed to relish the crowd's cheers for Michigan and feed off the energy. This year's team clearly has a strong bond and really feels like they're on a mission....possibly to finish last year's business where we came up short 2 points in the Championship game.....
QB play....Asher looked good when our line held up. Really good. He reminds me of Mason Fine but with even better wheels. His ability to create when a play breaks down is game changing. He is a true dual threat kid and likely our starter for years to come in my eyes unless Randall Johnson starts playing out of his mind. From a potential standpoint, I feel like Asher has the ability to deliver a CUSA championship and 10+ win season if all things fall into place. Having a true dual threat QB at the G5 level is just so important. Cunningham might be the better true passer but his pocket presence left a lot to be desired and he clearly lacks the mobility Asher has. Asher is the clear #1, Cunningham can be back up, and Johnson is going to red-shirt and hopefully get things figured out.
RB....Not much to see here because we simply couldn't run the ball effectively unless it was Asher doing it. I did like the little bits of Jayy McDonald that we saw, and Zach Dobson continues to impress. Mobley left a bit to be desired as he just couldn't make anybody miss. I expected better from him, but to be fair it was Michigan. Terelle West has got to protect the ball better you cannot fumble in that situation you are a redshirt senior and should be setting the example.
OL...Overall, good, but some isolated incidents where they were just overwhelmed. To be expected with the opponent I suppose. I was very surprised Amir Luckett held his own as he is typically a sieve against Power 5 teams. Most of the issues were on the left side of the line from what I saw, specifically in pass pro. I didn't have a roster with me so I was a bit unclear on exactly who was playing at times. We will have a much better idea about this unit after the Tenn St. game.
DL...Pretty impressed. We lost some serious talent on the inside and didn't miss too much of a beat. If there was one weakness I would single out, it would be giving up runs between the tackles. Michigan seemed to get whatever they wanted inside the tackles (except in goal line). The Charbonnet kid carried the ball 8 times for 90 yards. That's 11 YPC which is just insane. Our base defense has got to get better between the tackles on expected run downs. Tennessee State will for sure test our interior this week after the Michigan performance. The Jordan Branch sack of Patterson was fantastic...great effort there from a freshman. The goal line stand was obviously amazing and unexpected. I feel like the parts are there we just need more refinement on the DL.
LB....Good as always. Khalil Brooks is a F'ing MAN. Anyone else remember the play where he destroys his block, gets back up, and nearly sacks the QB? That is one bad dude. They scored a TD on that play because our defender fell down, but it was great effort and great play from Brooks despite the TD. Cody Smith held his own in his first big start, and DQ Thomas is more than serviceable and will only get better. My only complaint with this group is the lack of pressure despite how much we blitzed. We did get 2 sacks and 3 TFL's but it just didn't feel like the pressure was there on Patterson when we blitzed most of the time. You simply cannot let a QB sit back and be that comfortable when you are playing man across the board in the secondary or he is going to pick you apart just like Michigan did with all those big passing plays.
Secondary....They weren't as bad as they looked. They do need to stop slipping and falling because that nearly ensures a wide open TD for the opponent, but they did about as well as they could given the circumstances. Our DB's have the toughest job of any position group on the team in our style of defense because they are consistently asked to play man coverage with 1 or sometimes 0 safety help over the top. Considering how much size they were giving up to Michigan WR's and the fact that we rarely pressured Patterson, they did about as well as they could. Quincy Riley, #4, really caught my eye and I won't be surprised if he earns himself a starting spot. Good looking athletic player with decent size and appears to have those good raw corner instincts. Really like what I saw from him.
Special teams....Michigan fans were growing restless with Ty Lee's consistent fair catches on kick offs. By the 3rd quarter there were audible boo's regarding the automatic fair catch. Punting was decent. Michigan did get a partial block on one and 2 others had very poor hang time but we had some difficult punt safe situations backed up into our end zone where he's just trying to get it off. We didn't give up any huge special teams plays so I suppose we did okay. There's certainly plenty of room for improvement though.
TN State.....This is far from a guaranteed win. This game is closer to a coin flip than anything else. TN State has serious talent on their roster and is stocked full of Power 5 transfer talent and a few NFL prospects. If our players overlook them even in the slightest, we will lose.
