Are we seeing technical progression? Would appear so the uneducated and inexperienced. IMHO if the answer to that is " Yes" , we`ll be hard to handle moving forward.
Agreed. I know our guys were bigger but you don't get those kinds of results without good technique. I don't want to say the OL has arrived from just one game against Vandy but they have improved and shown some of their potential.Watching the game I noticed not only did the O Line block really well but, they did so "technique wise".
That`s coaching, and that`s very encouraging for when they go up against better D lines later.Watching the game I noticed not only did the O Line block really well but, they did so "technique wise". I said earlier in a past thread that our O-Line would be fine. Did it take a challenge from Vandy to bring out the best in them? Could have. But, it shows me also what they are capable of when they work together as a sound unit. Definitely more focus on assignment blocking was practiced on this week. I said they would gell sooner or later. I hope they can remember this performance against the Commodores and have the same consistency throughout the year.
I like what you said here. A couple of things though:I love O Line threads! Relating the question to the Vandy game I just don't think any of us can make a determination quite yet. My gut feeling is that, because the dores have not played us in a while, they did not take on the personality of a true underdog against a decidedly much more powerful opponent and neither did their coaching staff. They were undefeated coming off a win against a historically good team out of conference and felt they were head an shoulders better than the Colorado State team that just played us tough to the end. Well, they just weren't ready for prime time and frankly I don't think they are a very good team.
We will know much more this weekend. All these games coming up consider us their number 1 rival. They will be ready. Let's see how our O Line fares against these teams that have been preparing for us since we beat them last year.
IMHO, that`s usually the caseVandy was good...but not that good. If our OL continues to improve then the sky's the limit. We can keep the ball and play defense with our offense. They hold the key to the castle...
Part of this is from having Irv Smith Jr. playing tight end more this year. O.J. Howard got a lot better at blocking from his junior to his senior years but Howard was not and never will be a true road-grader. Smith reminds me of Travis McCall, but with much more natural ability in regards to running and catching. He's about McCall's size and he is cut from the same cloth relative to his ability to lock up with someone and leverage them out of the play.Great question to ask in this thread. I've noticed that LT and RT plus TE are sealing their edge little better. They "finish" the play. That was the breakthrough they needed in allowing the play to develop. I'm confident that Daboll will feel little better and if we block better this weekend, we might see little more passing game develop enough to carry over to next week.