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Just got finished watching the game film of the first half and wanted to offer some thoughts...
First, for as poor as the passing offense was in the first half, and Kaaya in particular, at no point in time did I get the feeling that FAU was in this game. How refreshing to have a defense that can bail out a struggling offense from time to time!
As for specifics:
Kaaya - from the get-go, he looked uncomfortable. It seemed to me that he looked to be making the home-run play every down instead of taking what the defense was offering. When he missed, it was often high and deep. The playcalls were definitely there, but his timing was a half-step late. There was a slant to Coley that, had he thrown the ball a split-second earlier would have been an easy six. There were several wide-open crossing routes that were ignored. I think [MENTION=3]LuCane[/MENTION] said it best in a thread a few weeks back - Kaaya likes to look high-low, and when FAU took away the deep throw, his reads became slow and he got rattled.
That said, Richt made the move at about 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter to that RPO zone/bubble play and things finally got going. Great coaching move which allowed Kaaya to stop thinking and either handoff or throw it immediately and get into some semblance of a rhythm. By halftime it was 14-3 and still I never really thought FAU was in it.
Walton - dang, son, where did you come from? Yes, it was still only FAU but he ran with a purpose Saturday and hit the hole harder than I've seen in two years. Another hallmark of a good team is when your QB is struggling and it's 3rd and 8, you can give it to a guy who can will himself 9 yards and a first down. Walton and the defense certainly deserve the game ball. P.S. Yearby quietly put in another 100 yard game as a BACKUP.
The Defense - again, what a breath of fresh air this is. The "freshmen" LBs are grown men, folks. Our DTs are absolute havoc-causers. In fact, the entire D-line is making it possible for our young and battered secondary to look like ball hawks. There's an old football axiom on how to win a lot of games - run the ball, stop the run. Well, we're doing both at a high level right now and hopefully we can continue the trend when the schedule gets thicker.
In all, I think the first half of this game was frustrating, but not "scary", if that makes sense. I wanted a 35-0 halftime lead so we could bring in some 2nd and 3rd teamers, but at least we showed we could still control a game even with our QB having one of the worst days of his career. That's not nothing.
First, for as poor as the passing offense was in the first half, and Kaaya in particular, at no point in time did I get the feeling that FAU was in this game. How refreshing to have a defense that can bail out a struggling offense from time to time!
As for specifics:
Kaaya - from the get-go, he looked uncomfortable. It seemed to me that he looked to be making the home-run play every down instead of taking what the defense was offering. When he missed, it was often high and deep. The playcalls were definitely there, but his timing was a half-step late. There was a slant to Coley that, had he thrown the ball a split-second earlier would have been an easy six. There were several wide-open crossing routes that were ignored. I think [MENTION=3]LuCane[/MENTION] said it best in a thread a few weeks back - Kaaya likes to look high-low, and when FAU took away the deep throw, his reads became slow and he got rattled.
That said, Richt made the move at about 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter to that RPO zone/bubble play and things finally got going. Great coaching move which allowed Kaaya to stop thinking and either handoff or throw it immediately and get into some semblance of a rhythm. By halftime it was 14-3 and still I never really thought FAU was in it.
Walton - dang, son, where did you come from? Yes, it was still only FAU but he ran with a purpose Saturday and hit the hole harder than I've seen in two years. Another hallmark of a good team is when your QB is struggling and it's 3rd and 8, you can give it to a guy who can will himself 9 yards and a first down. Walton and the defense certainly deserve the game ball. P.S. Yearby quietly put in another 100 yard game as a BACKUP.
The Defense - again, what a breath of fresh air this is. The "freshmen" LBs are grown men, folks. Our DTs are absolute havoc-causers. In fact, the entire D-line is making it possible for our young and battered secondary to look like ball hawks. There's an old football axiom on how to win a lot of games - run the ball, stop the run. Well, we're doing both at a high level right now and hopefully we can continue the trend when the schedule gets thicker.
In all, I think the first half of this game was frustrating, but not "scary", if that makes sense. I wanted a 35-0 halftime lead so we could bring in some 2nd and 3rd teamers, but at least we showed we could still control a game even with our QB having one of the worst days of his career. That's not nothing.
