The journey to Texas has 11 pre-scheduled stops with only one break between now & late November. There will be twists, turns & trouble along the route but through it all the Herd will progress. Following each game that progress will be analyzed. As great as the destination is, enjoy the weekly pit stops along the way!
172 real-time minutes from kickoff to final horn. About 100 more than were necessary for the outcome to become glaringly obvious. Similar to last Saturday, how the victory took shape showed all the depth that has been spoken of these over the last few months and that they may have some new tricks in the bag for next Saturday's midnight madness.
Cam Miller connecting with Zach Mathis on the fourth play of the opening drive backed-up the success in the opener and was enough for him to be the leading receiver in the game, but he finished with exactly no more catches than that. As the closest thing the team has to Christian Watson it would be nice to get him a little more involved. Granted, his long injury history may mean limiting his usage is the right choice for the stretch run of the season but a second target doesn't seems like it would have ruined everything.
The final score of the game can't be classified as a new "trick" but Dawson Weber doing what hadn't been accomplished since 1925 was absolutely a wrinkle, especially when held up alongside all the non-offensive scores from the season opener. There may be more legitimate touchdown threats on this team than players who can't score. Maybe every D1 school could boast that but it should not be taken for granted! Entz & Rohl should really ratchet it up and get an eligible tackle a touchdown one of these upcoming games.
Another great development that we had not seen yet this season was Cole Payton getting Quincy Patterson snaps as a sub for Cam Miller and not just being the second half replacement. Considering how well it work (he had the team lead in rushing yards) it won't be the last time we see that either!
On the other end, two scores on only six touches by Hunter Luepke is not one of the new things, but once again showed how rare his skill-set is so don't take the Human Rhino for granted.
The one area of concern that reared it's head again this week was Will Cardinal missing his second field goal attempt. It's possible that they will never in a win or lose situation depending on his foot but it's teetering on the edge of being a trend, which should not just be swept aside.
Two kicks is also still a minute sample size from which to draw any conclusions. That applies across the roster. With as small as the sample sizes were again today across the board there is still plenty to learn as the journey continues but there should be no doubt, if there was any before, that it's going to be a FUN ride!
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