09-10-2023, 02:23 PM
9. Special teams won't grade well giving up a touchdown, obviously. But to some extent that's taking your lumps. The broadcast was comparing Zachariah Branch to Reggie Bush, Devin Hester, John Ross, and DeSean Jackson and I don't think that's hyperbolic. This is a transcendent talent. Obviously it's very bad we let him burn us, but we weren't the first even as young as his career is and we will be far from the last. As for the punt coverage total, Weselman and his boys had a 33 yard net punt with 67 yards to work with (would be disappointing but a dodged bullet when kicking to Branch), what would have been a net of 38 even after a big Branch return but due to a penalty was a brobdingnagian more than flipping of the field (net of 66), the 75 yard touchdown return by Branch, a net of 33 on a touch back (not ideal). Once the backups came in, Weselman had a net of 39 and Flintoft got bailed out on a touchdown return by a holding call that turned it into a field flipping net of 51 and then ended his night with a 37 yard net to the 15. Through two weeks, we're #124 in net punting, so obviously that's horrible but let's see how it looks when we get the season in the book and others have to face Branch. In other parts of special teams, I never feel like we have the athletes to make returning kicks worth it as opposed to taking the fair catch, which is depressing, but Farrell at least was two for two on getting us out past where a fair catch would have put us. Karty of course made his only attempt but it was a step back in the Groza campaign to only get one chance and to not get to showcase at all on a decently sized stage.
10. Game balls: Connor McLaughlin, Gaethan Bernadel, Bryce Farrell, Paul Williams
11. We need to put this game behind us, show that it's not who we are, and improve. If Taylor's ethos of mindfulness and process is going to have any substance, it starts with showing that you can bounce back from this kind of humiliation and not let the off-season gains in confidence and buy-in be erased. If they can be erased after one loss they weren't gains in the first place. We've failed the first test on how we respond to in-game adversity (ok, maybe give response to adversity a C- since we did tie the second half) and now get the first test on how we respond to in-season adversity. I talked up top about how a game like this sets a baseline for how low we've fallen. I'm mindful of the comparison with our last rebuild, though it's asking a lot to even palely imitate that, much less repeat it. Still, in 2007, Harbaugh's Pac-12 opener against UCLA had an abysmal 3.22 yard per play differential against a far worse Bruins team than this 2023 USC team, with a point differential Sagarin would calculate as befitting the #166 team. (People forget how horrible Harbaugh's team was at the start) For what it's worth, we can't compare apples-to-apples until the season is done but heading into last night Sagarin would have viewed last night's result as befitting the #191 team. Obviously playing like the #191 team in the country cannot prompt any encouragement, but we can hope it's a low point that gets built from. On September 15, Harbaugh's team bounced back viciously, dispatching San Jose State with a beatdown befitting the #1 team in the country. I don't expect that against Sacramento State, but we do have a chance to bounce back. That's what I want to see next week, a bounce back, and because wins will be very hard to come by this year and there's no substitute for winning in building legitimate confidence (and only so much you can spin a loss), a win. I think it's reasonably close to a toss-up, probably the same amount of nerves I had heading into Hawaii.
10. Game balls: Connor McLaughlin, Gaethan Bernadel, Bryce Farrell, Paul Williams
11. We need to put this game behind us, show that it's not who we are, and improve. If Taylor's ethos of mindfulness and process is going to have any substance, it starts with showing that you can bounce back from this kind of humiliation and not let the off-season gains in confidence and buy-in be erased. If they can be erased after one loss they weren't gains in the first place. We've failed the first test on how we respond to in-game adversity (ok, maybe give response to adversity a C- since we did tie the second half) and now get the first test on how we respond to in-season adversity. I talked up top about how a game like this sets a baseline for how low we've fallen. I'm mindful of the comparison with our last rebuild, though it's asking a lot to even palely imitate that, much less repeat it. Still, in 2007, Harbaugh's Pac-12 opener against UCLA had an abysmal 3.22 yard per play differential against a far worse Bruins team than this 2023 USC team, with a point differential Sagarin would calculate as befitting the #166 team. (People forget how horrible Harbaugh's team was at the start) For what it's worth, we can't compare apples-to-apples until the season is done but heading into last night Sagarin would have viewed last night's result as befitting the #191 team. Obviously playing like the #191 team in the country cannot prompt any encouragement, but we can hope it's a low point that gets built from. On September 15, Harbaugh's team bounced back viciously, dispatching San Jose State with a beatdown befitting the #1 team in the country. I don't expect that against Sacramento State, but we do have a chance to bounce back. That's what I want to see next week, a bounce back, and because wins will be very hard to come by this year and there's no substitute for winning in building legitimate confidence (and only so much you can spin a loss), a win. I think it's reasonably close to a toss-up, probably the same amount of nerves I had heading into Hawaii.