This is a new feature for me; after I returned from the game my wife had multiple observations about the game from watching on TV that I'm going to address here. Note: my wife has been watching football for 22 years.
1) Thompson is a head case. He is not waiting for plays to develop and if he was so calm and collected in the first couple games, why isn’t he now?
Well, maybe some of this is true. After his fumble he was noticeably upset and separated from his teammates a bit before returning. He seems to be making poor decisions and forcing things, the throw on the INT is an example. He also doesn't seem to have much burst running the ball, especially on the edge. He did seem to stay in the pocket more today than he did last week, which was an improvement. For the most part I think he's a competitive kid that is struggling with the problems we've seen the last two weeks similar to us fans. IMO, the players bought into the hype after the Mississippi State game and coming back to reality is probably tougher for them than it is for us.
2) We need more catchers. Thompson’s go to guy is Malik, the first game we had other catchers when Malik was dropping balls.
First, the opponent was Nicholls. That's a big part of it. Second, Malik then earned his trust and showed that he is the biggest play maker on this team. Thompson isn't stupid; he can remember hitting the big plays in the big win over OSU two years ago because Pringle got behind OSU's secondary over and over. He also knows that outside of Knowles, there probably isn't another guy on this team right now capable of doing the same thing. Its nice to believe we can win like we did in Starkville with no play longer than 25 yards, but even if you are a ball control offense you need some chunks. We've shown that getting behind schedule destroys this offense and it would be nice to have that guy that will go get you 40+ yards on any given snap. (Also when I asked her about "catchers" she realized they are called receivers)
3) Gilbert can not run straight up the middle, he just bounces off people. Where is the power in A power gap?
The offensive line is struggling and today Baylor's strong front 3 took away our power run game in the 1st half. We responded with some decent running plays on inside zone in the 2nd half, but then turnovers and settling for a FG took away our chances to stay in the game. Clearly Big 12 opponents are figuring out ways to stymie the Messingham offense and the power running game that K-State needs to establish to win games. I thought the adjustment to G power that worked well at MSU might be an answer, but so far OSU and Baylor have shown that might not be the case. (We've reviewed it's called A gap power - she's decided that remembering it's alphabetical will help).
4) The TE somehow needs to learn how to run. See that one play where Lenners got knocked over and Thompson had no one to throw at the touchdown area.
No doubt, Lenners is a limited athlete that simply isn't going to be a playmaker at TE. He's fine at the spot, but without playmakers at other spots, not having a TE that can go do something special limits this offense even more, especially since they are a big part of what K-State does. Even more glaring to me was the drop on the throw that was slightly behind him in the first half. Honestly, even a guy like Wheeler could develop into a more playmaking guy with more impact at that spot, but right now we simply don't have it. (She really wants a Kelce on the team)
5) We are really good at recovering our own fumbles, but we need to stop fumbling.
Clearly Gilbert's ability to take care of the ball is becoming an issue, we got lucky twice today. The offense has done a decent job of taking care of the ball, but the 3 turnovers the last two weeks were really tough to overcome. Last week it led to an early score for OSU and this week it took away any chances we had to get back into the game in the 2nd half.
I'm happy to be married to a wonderful woman who wants to be interested in what I'm passionate about and in reality much of what she says has truth to it. This team clearly has some major issues to work on during another bye week and the next game vs TCU may make or break this season.
1) Thompson is a head case. He is not waiting for plays to develop and if he was so calm and collected in the first couple games, why isn’t he now?
Well, maybe some of this is true. After his fumble he was noticeably upset and separated from his teammates a bit before returning. He seems to be making poor decisions and forcing things, the throw on the INT is an example. He also doesn't seem to have much burst running the ball, especially on the edge. He did seem to stay in the pocket more today than he did last week, which was an improvement. For the most part I think he's a competitive kid that is struggling with the problems we've seen the last two weeks similar to us fans. IMO, the players bought into the hype after the Mississippi State game and coming back to reality is probably tougher for them than it is for us.
2) We need more catchers. Thompson’s go to guy is Malik, the first game we had other catchers when Malik was dropping balls.
First, the opponent was Nicholls. That's a big part of it. Second, Malik then earned his trust and showed that he is the biggest play maker on this team. Thompson isn't stupid; he can remember hitting the big plays in the big win over OSU two years ago because Pringle got behind OSU's secondary over and over. He also knows that outside of Knowles, there probably isn't another guy on this team right now capable of doing the same thing. Its nice to believe we can win like we did in Starkville with no play longer than 25 yards, but even if you are a ball control offense you need some chunks. We've shown that getting behind schedule destroys this offense and it would be nice to have that guy that will go get you 40+ yards on any given snap. (Also when I asked her about "catchers" she realized they are called receivers)
3) Gilbert can not run straight up the middle, he just bounces off people. Where is the power in A power gap?
The offensive line is struggling and today Baylor's strong front 3 took away our power run game in the 1st half. We responded with some decent running plays on inside zone in the 2nd half, but then turnovers and settling for a FG took away our chances to stay in the game. Clearly Big 12 opponents are figuring out ways to stymie the Messingham offense and the power running game that K-State needs to establish to win games. I thought the adjustment to G power that worked well at MSU might be an answer, but so far OSU and Baylor have shown that might not be the case. (We've reviewed it's called A gap power - she's decided that remembering it's alphabetical will help).
4) The TE somehow needs to learn how to run. See that one play where Lenners got knocked over and Thompson had no one to throw at the touchdown area.
No doubt, Lenners is a limited athlete that simply isn't going to be a playmaker at TE. He's fine at the spot, but without playmakers at other spots, not having a TE that can go do something special limits this offense even more, especially since they are a big part of what K-State does. Even more glaring to me was the drop on the throw that was slightly behind him in the first half. Honestly, even a guy like Wheeler could develop into a more playmaking guy with more impact at that spot, but right now we simply don't have it. (She really wants a Kelce on the team)
5) We are really good at recovering our own fumbles, but we need to stop fumbling.
Clearly Gilbert's ability to take care of the ball is becoming an issue, we got lucky twice today. The offense has done a decent job of taking care of the ball, but the 3 turnovers the last two weeks were really tough to overcome. Last week it led to an early score for OSU and this week it took away any chances we had to get back into the game in the 2nd half.
I'm happy to be married to a wonderful woman who wants to be interested in what I'm passionate about and in reality much of what she says has truth to it. This team clearly has some major issues to work on during another bye week and the next game vs TCU may make or break this season.
