Need more consistency with the WRs, they struggled to get open against ND (probably one of, if not THE best secondary in the country to be fair), and not much of a vertical passing attack. All eyes on JoJo here the next two weeks - I get he missed most of camp, but if he’s out there, he needs to be more explosive and reliable.
Bell needs to be better on the OL. I was going to post a long thread blasting his slow footwork and how he continuously got beat Saturday, but it’s game 1 and I’m choosing to focus on the positives for now. He graded poorly on PFF in both run and pass blocking. Need to build his confidence up some more, but here’s two examples on the two TD throws where he gets absolutely cooked.
At this point, he is nowhere close ready for the NFL. I can find at least 4 more videos of some slow footwork and lack of bend.
Most glaring need is a diverse run game, and a more efficient one. Only 2.9 ypc against an ND front that’s barely T25 in the country. Marty brown probably worked for 30% of those yards after contact too, need to be much better at getting push at the LOS.
On the Defensive side, we have to tackle better. I was shocked how poor our tackling grade was against ND, but after rewatching the game, it’s valid. Tons of missed tackles (and yet they still played very well overall). Toure missed a bunch, and Poyser as well. Need those two to continue getting better week over week.
Lastly, need more from Justin Scott. Out snapped nearly 2-1 by Moten (who played very well), but this DL will go to the next level if Scott can become an all-conference type interior lineman.