What Have I Missed?
Certainly, it's a tough season. Much tougher than anyone expected. But I want to assure everyone that my lack of recent posting has nothing to do with my disappointment in the season. I'm not jumping off the bandwagon when things are going rough. It's like I told a colleague of mine: I rooted for them for fifteen years when they weren't any good and I'm not going to stop now. Other things have kept me from posting: family-related obligations, an illness I've had difficulty shaking, and a recent surge in activity for the band that I'm a part of. Yet I'm hoping that this post will get me back on the horse so to speak.
Since my last post the UNC game, the Navy game, Morgan State, and yesterday WVU have came and went. I'll keep my posts about the first three of those games very brief.
UNC: RU's rushing defense was great in the first half. Offense stunk. Special teams pretty bad with the exception of the kicking game. Teel played the worst game I've seen him play since his freshman year.
Navy: RU played hard but the offense couldn't make enough plays. Running of Brooks and Martinek were bright spots. Teel threw the game away at the end and embarrassed himself on national television. That's a tough day.
Morgan State: Hard to get excited about dominating a bowl subdivision school but I'm sure it was a good confidence booster. Teel played well and that's important if the team is going to make something out of this season. And the defense was stellar, but that's pointing out the obvious when the result of the game is a shutout.
Which brings me to WVU. The Scarlet Knights played their hearts out on the road at a very difficult place to play. The defense was up to the task of containing Noel Devine and Pat White. Brooks ran hard again and Kenny Britt played perhaps the guttiest game of any RU receiver that I've ever witnessed--or watched on television as the case may be.
The killer about this game is that if RU had played at the same level in the first three games as they played yesterday they would be 4-1 right now instead of 1-4. It was a hearty effort that I believe will be good enough to win at least a handful of games over the course of this season. The schedule is tough, but it seems we could still salvage 5 or 6 wins. Based on the expectations at the start of the season that would be a disappointment, sure, but based on where they are now it wouldn't be so bad.
I've seen some negative press about 2009 recruits starting to jump ship. Really, we're only talking about 1 or 2 guys at this point and one of them, Desmond Clark, would likely find himself behind two sophomore tailbacks at the start of next season. So, regardless of RU's record, I could see a tailback recruit wanting to go elsewhere with the young depth the Knights have for the foreseeable future. I would like to think that any recruit who changes at this point in the season truly weigh his options. If the class stays together they are going to be something special regardless of what the record is this year or next.
I'm looking forward to next week's showdown with Cincinnati! The Bearcats are tough at home but the Knights are capable of pulling it out.
DD
Since my last post the UNC game, the Navy game, Morgan State, and yesterday WVU have came and went. I'll keep my posts about the first three of those games very brief.
UNC: RU's rushing defense was great in the first half. Offense stunk. Special teams pretty bad with the exception of the kicking game. Teel played the worst game I've seen him play since his freshman year.
Navy: RU played hard but the offense couldn't make enough plays. Running of Brooks and Martinek were bright spots. Teel threw the game away at the end and embarrassed himself on national television. That's a tough day.
Morgan State: Hard to get excited about dominating a bowl subdivision school but I'm sure it was a good confidence booster. Teel played well and that's important if the team is going to make something out of this season. And the defense was stellar, but that's pointing out the obvious when the result of the game is a shutout.
Which brings me to WVU. The Scarlet Knights played their hearts out on the road at a very difficult place to play. The defense was up to the task of containing Noel Devine and Pat White. Brooks ran hard again and Kenny Britt played perhaps the guttiest game of any RU receiver that I've ever witnessed--or watched on television as the case may be.
The killer about this game is that if RU had played at the same level in the first three games as they played yesterday they would be 4-1 right now instead of 1-4. It was a hearty effort that I believe will be good enough to win at least a handful of games over the course of this season. The schedule is tough, but it seems we could still salvage 5 or 6 wins. Based on the expectations at the start of the season that would be a disappointment, sure, but based on where they are now it wouldn't be so bad.
I've seen some negative press about 2009 recruits starting to jump ship. Really, we're only talking about 1 or 2 guys at this point and one of them, Desmond Clark, would likely find himself behind two sophomore tailbacks at the start of next season. So, regardless of RU's record, I could see a tailback recruit wanting to go elsewhere with the young depth the Knights have for the foreseeable future. I would like to think that any recruit who changes at this point in the season truly weigh his options. If the class stays together they are going to be something special regardless of what the record is this year or next.
I'm looking forward to next week's showdown with Cincinnati! The Bearcats are tough at home but the Knights are capable of pulling it out.
DD
Comments