Louisiana Monroe

If you were one of the 20,000 potential Noles who were not in attendance on the lid lifter of 2011, you missed quite possibly the most glorious weather day in early September Seminole history. 85 wonderfully cool degrees with a 15 mile per hour breeze coming from the Capitol and washing over our tailgate party stopping your sweat glands in their tracks. Overcast skies prevented the sun from destroying my AC spoiled skin. Being lucky enough to sit on the home side meant that while this same orb was creating dancing reflections off of gold helmets and kickers shoes, it was no longer an impediment to my viewing enjoyment. We heard the smack of Karlos Williams destroying a kickoff wedge and Rick Trickett's hat hitting Bryan Storks' fanny. We saw the preacher consoling a spoiled JMac whose playing time has shrunk with the recent talent infusion, and watched Greg Reid and Telvin Smith perform a Broadway-ready routine before every kickoff. But I guess your living room was nice as well...

You flip through the channels and are arrested at the Carnivore Channel video of a tiger furiously hunting down a defenseless antelope and then mercilessly ravaging it. When you see this, is your first instinct to comment, "Man, if he had taken a better angle around that bush he coulda got him 20 yards back" or "I saw a Tiger 10 years ago that ripped out his intestine within 8 seconds. This Tiger is doggin it!". Well that was me. We are clubbing baby seals for sport and I am looking in the garage for a bigger bat. But time and a Sunday night replay made me feel better.

It has been said many times that in college football, the biggest team improvement will be from the first to the second game. Last year Oklahoma squeaked out a win in the opener against Utah State (and these poor beehive state bastards got robbed in Auburn this year too!), and then destroyed us. Well, our week two opponent just left their dignity and their undergarments in Orlando last week suffering a 62-bagel defeat to UCF. So I don't know how much we will learn this Saturday...but our offense has plenty of improvement to make.

EJ was nervous. He said it postgame, and it was obvious to all. The composure that he had in the number of big games he has played was not visible until his last drive in the 4th quarter. In Tally, the starting QB is the MAN, and you can't have your shoes fit like a Geisha trying on Bozo's. He was tentative in his reads, was generally inaccurate, and lofted too many long outs that will be going the other way against quality DB's. When he felt pressure, he just looked for #83 and slung it. He really needs a quality half of playing time this week to make everyone feel better that he will meet his enormous potential (read last weeks blog on Charley). There is good news around him however. His wideouts were terrific. For the first time in his career, Bert Reed fought for a ball. Rodney Smith was dependable and did not block like a kindergartner with mittens. Scooter, Dent and Shaw all made big plays. This might be a truly quality and deep group. Tough to judge the running game, when female ULM trainers were seen running through gaps on the snap. Pass protection was solid despite a steady diet of crazy blitzes. Spurlock was the weak link and it was his first game action in a year. He will get better, or his bell will get rung and Tiffany Amber-Theissen will not be able to save him. Loved the explosive suddenness of Dakota Freeman. He hits the hole faster than Paula Dean pulls butter out of her holster.

The defense shut em out. And it was a directional school. But good signs abound here. They ran the spread and tried to hurry...like an OU scout team. We got em lined up correctly and competed matching their speed. Our DT's were as good as advertised and indeed 7 deep. The middle was as open as Chick Fil-A on Sunday. The only running success to be had was when one of our new LB's had an assignment mix-up and you could tell from the 10 guys all staring at the culprit what happened. Two individuals really impressed me in person Saturday. Christian Jones and LaMarcus Joyner. CJ is looong and fast. He does not need a good angle to hawk down a QB or a RB in space. LJ is so good that the defense has completed shifted. He is now truly Mickey Mantle out in CF, and still makes every play. Twice a runner zipped through the middle and he was there to make the sure pop. Play over. Once a WR got open deep after torching G5, and the result was an INT. Love him at safety.

Yes, the average starting field position for our guests was the 14 and it is patently unfair the way Dustin's kickoffs are ridiculously high and yet land on the goal line and must be taken out, but the highlight of this special teams day was our precocious new manchild freshman safety Karlos Williams. This 6'2" 230 monster is an Ebola virus on kick coverage. He is fast killing and leaves his victims bloody and incapacitated. My fave was in the 4th when he launched himself at the 15 toward two dudes wearing the wrong colors trying to create a "wedge". He hit them both on around the 11 and said dudes went splat. One of them got hit so hard that he tried to mount Renegade and ride out of the stadium after they helped him to the sideline. Oh, and then did I mention that Karlos got up and made the tackle. Too bad we were offsides, because from the reaction on our sideline you would have thought we had just beat the Sooners in OT.

So, it is on to the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern. Hope the weather cooperates again, because the Carnivore Channel is running a weekend marathon and I think about 30,000 Noles that will be in Tally a week later are tuning in...Team Sickmon will be there to report back that which you might miss on ESPN6.