Jacksonville State

I have three words to describe this game...

We lost halftime.

That is correct, my Seminole serfs, we were blown out of our own stadium by a predominantly Caucasian minstrel montage from Jacksonville, Alabama. Yes, it was "Meet the Crowd" night at Doak, but those of us that braved the tempest in Tallahassee stood up and cheered for a visiting band for the first time in my memory. Meanwhile, our Chiefs chose to play the same latin-inspired caca that they played at the Miami game. What did we do at Band Camp all summer? Should we not have - i dunno - six halftime shows ready? You wonder why the players were uninspired...heck the band took the day off!

Back to more important matters. Yes, children, my Louisville-dedicated rainsuit came through with flying colors again, and thanks to some more amazing last minute betty crockery from Head Chef Stansbury, the tailgate party went off without a hitch despite the Amazonion Rain Forest Chamber of Commerce weather we enjoyed. Being a marketing idiot, I also can not help but be slightly peeved that for the 27th consecutive game, our fabulous tailgate party did not win the coveted Publix Tailgate Party of the game that grants an associated $500 gift certificate. And for the 27th consecutive time, some big booster with one tent, a temporary grill, and scantily clad golden girl on retainer won the prize. Not happy.

oh yeah, we also played a lousy game and decided to start trying with a deuce left on the clock. Two scores and two clanks into the crossbars later, we were heading to the exits.

Honestly, there was not a whole bunch to be culled from this ark adventure. The defense actually did improve from game 1, and not just because of the competition. Kevin McNeil played much better, and looked like his off-season rust has cleared. I also really like seeing Dakoda Watson at DE in passing situations. He played DE in HS and his speed rush off the edge was better than anyone else on this team right now. And, I can not say enough about how talented young freshman Jacobbi McDaniel really is. He was the one who slung the QB like a waffle house hash brown and forced the game ending fumble. When he is in the game, the interior is simply better. It was also very encouraging to see solid DB play this week from Nick Moody and Dionte Allen. Both of these young guys were an improvement over their older starters. Finally, we have been waiting for all-everything Nigel Bradham to play like his press...and he is finally starting to do just that. Staying home on misdirections, chasing down supposedly fast skill guys and even laying out a 6'3" 235lb QB like so much fill dirt to end the game was wonderful to witness. He is getting it, and it could not come at a better time.

Offensively, this was a mess. Not because Christian played poorly. Quite the contrary, as he played pretty well again with great numbers and a career high in yards. This was a mess because on a track that pigs would slip, you have to be able to run the ball to win. Big nasty men in tight pants need to sumo the opposing smelly gentleman in directions they do not want to matriculate. The result is that comparatively tiny men squirt through said gaps and fall forward roughly 12 feet from the original battle trench. This process repeats itself like a Prell commercial three times and then striped guys on the sidelines carrying the funky poles get to jog with you towards the pretty girls in the wet shirts in the stands. The small guys with the cleanest uniforms get to kiss said pretty girls and spontaneous hugging erupts all over the gathering. None of this happened.

When we ran outside, our tackles had no angles on the LB's in their 3-4 defense. When we ran inside (which was better), the back did not cut backside properly to the right holes, and this hesitation meant too many short gains. The only back that truly hits the right holes with reckless abandon is Jermaine Thomas and he has been banged up since early in the Miami game. Rodney Hudson is playing at a ridiculously high level right now, and we should be able to pound it behind him this week inside. BYU plays the same 3-4 that JSU did, so I would look for much more downhill stuff as opposed to the sweeps that have failed in our first two games. It was great to see Caz continue as a weapon. He has already matched his 2008 catch total in two games and at 6'7" should be able to tower over safeties in between the hashes. I absolutely love Jimbo's pass offense. Every play has a recognizable series of three progressions that are almost always in Christians' view. With a cerebral QB - that we have - throwing to the right guy is so much easier than it has been with past coordinators. You have probably noticed more guys being WIDE open, and that is because the routes are tight and if coordinated create personnel mismatches. Think back to the Wake game last season and how confused our guys were and where we are now, and you can see why folks have so much optimism about our offense.

Finally, I sincerely hope that we spent just a minute or two of time on special teams this week. I would like to think that most touchdowns could be 7 point plays, and right now we are hitting that mark on a 50% clip. We also gave the other guys the ball immediately after their punter kicked the leather twice this week...not a Julia Childs recipe for success.

Almost everyone that watches the Nole program closely believed strongly that this team would be markedly better than the 2008 squad. It is time to take this from the Black Eyed Peas "I gotta feeling" to Green Days "21 Guns" and kick some Mormon ass...and then help them up and thank them for being such gracious hosts.

Go Noles!