C
cachevalleycougarAs for execution, there were some blown assignments by the O-line and missed tackles by our defense at times. If Hall only gets sacked twice, doesn't lose that fumble, and our defense is bring down the ball with the first hit, we have a much different game.
With that said, what this team doesn't seem to have regularly enough is "playmakers." We haven't really had playmakers all year. Unga in the UNLV game, Hall/Clawson in the OU game, Johnson in the SDSU game...that's about all that comes to mind for me. Unga and Pitta are consistently good, but not "playmakers." Clawson, Pendleton and Rich make sporadic exciting plays, but aren't consistent "playmakers." Hall is makes great throws regularly, but isn't a "playmaker."
Looking at the 2006 team, there were a number of playmakers week in and week out: JRob, Cameron Jensen, Brian Kehl, John Beck, Harline, CB, Fui. Not only were there playmakers, but they played with A LOT of emotion. Watch all the game clips from 2006 on JustAnotherDumb - that team was SO FUN to watch!! They were so intense and excited and fun!
We have a lot of good, solid players this year. But we don't have game changers. There's not the same emotion and excitement. And that's not really something you can coach or develop. It's either there or it's not. Saturday was the perfect time for Chambers to step up - we needed a deep threat, and we even went to him a couple times, but he came up empty. Saturday would have been a great time for Rich/Johnson to lay the wood on somebody and cause a turnover...didn't happen. Logan and Bradley could have come up with a couple deflections and big stops, but they didn't. The o-line could have controlled TCU's pass rush and given Hall time to pick apart the defense....nope. Unga was the only bright spot on the WHOLE team!
Anyways, better execution could have made a good difference, but without "playmaking" and some real emotion out on the field, we still would have lost to TCU.
With that said, what this team doesn't seem to have regularly enough is "playmakers." We haven't really had playmakers all year. Unga in the UNLV game, Hall/Clawson in the OU game, Johnson in the SDSU game...that's about all that comes to mind for me. Unga and Pitta are consistently good, but not "playmakers." Clawson, Pendleton and Rich make sporadic exciting plays, but aren't consistent "playmakers." Hall is makes great throws regularly, but isn't a "playmaker."
Looking at the 2006 team, there were a number of playmakers week in and week out: JRob, Cameron Jensen, Brian Kehl, John Beck, Harline, CB, Fui. Not only were there playmakers, but they played with A LOT of emotion. Watch all the game clips from 2006 on JustAnotherDumb - that team was SO FUN to watch!! They were so intense and excited and fun!
We have a lot of good, solid players this year. But we don't have game changers. There's not the same emotion and excitement. And that's not really something you can coach or develop. It's either there or it's not. Saturday was the perfect time for Chambers to step up - we needed a deep threat, and we even went to him a couple times, but he came up empty. Saturday would have been a great time for Rich/Johnson to lay the wood on somebody and cause a turnover...didn't happen. Logan and Bradley could have come up with a couple deflections and big stops, but they didn't. The o-line could have controlled TCU's pass rush and given Hall time to pick apart the defense....nope. Unga was the only bright spot on the WHOLE team!
Anyways, better execution could have made a good difference, but without "playmaking" and some real emotion out on the field, we still would have lost to TCU.

