All or Nothing
Pass or Fail
Right or Wrong
Good or Bad
Get it?
š
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"
There's no denying that the game changed when Cam Miller was given the chance. In 18.5 minutes he was the cog that got the offense working. It already has brought about questions regarding Patterson & Miller moving forward. What can't be overlooked is the drastic alteration of style between the two. Patterson has terrific mobility for his size & a cannon of an arm. He has not, however, been able to consistently dial it back for short & intermediate passes. Missouri State's game plan was based on the two strengths of Patterson and Miller presented a wild card that they weren't able to adjust to on the fly. Given a week of preparation the same sort of success may not have happened. So absolutely enjoy & laud the young man for getting the team back from the brink of defeat but take it easy with the calls for a switch off today's small sample size.
The primary target for both QBs again this week was Christian Watson. The Watson experience once again had a drop that's tough to reconcile but then he had one of the best catches the Dome will ever see. If it's not included in Randy Moss's signature segment then the "better" ones will need to be seen to be believed. If not for one of several questionable calls by an official his line would have been nearly doubled but he still hit triple digits in only four catches. Would like to see the highs without so many of the lows but if he can continue to develop a rapport with the starting quarterback then even better things may lie ahead!
Watson's long-time running mate also made a late break through which had been awaited. It would take a lot of film watching & inside knowledge of play calls to potentially identify why the switch flipped as it did but to help every aspect of the offense improve hopefully it wasn't just a flash in the pan by Phoenix Sproles!
From start to finish the defense had it's worst game of the season so far. Some credit for that goes to the prolific offense that Petrino has put together, lead by a quarterback who showed traits that are hard to handle at every level of the game. As the game went on they showed increasing success at limiting the Bears attack, culminating in a five series stretch during which they gave up two first downs and 43 net yards. They've been historically good so far this season and regained that form when it was most needed today.
The catalyst for the late domination was Jasir Cox. He has officially come into his own and is proving to be the team's breakout player of the year. Returning his interception for a score would put an end to the one thing the defense hasn't done this year. They did get the safety against Towson but otherwise have not yet scored. In addition to the near pick six he added one of the five sacks so he's doing it all right now!
It's also past time that a certain specialist gets mentioned. Jake Reinholz nailed both of his attempts today, including a career-long-tying hit from 46 today. Over the last four games he's 9/10 including three from 45 or 46. NDSU has had some great specialists over the years and he's moving into the same stratosphere as many of them!
But for all the positives, there were also negatives
Officiating is a tough job, much tougher than the average fan likes to admit or may even recognize. But today's crew putrid beyond excuse. Numerically there's a reasonable proximity between the total of flags & yards each against team but questionable non-targetting & non unsportsmanlike conduct calls while calling Braylon Henderson for taunting took it over the top. The UC flag against MS was picked despite visible evidence of the player talking at NDSU's sideline in a taunting manner. Won't go so far as to say there is an anti-NDSU bias on that crew, no possible way to know that, but there was a discernible tilt against them in the decisions that were made.
Now to get off that soapbox, it was another suspect showing by the ball carriers. 35 carries for 154 yards is a solid output and nearly double the discernible impact during the game. If a mere three carries had gone differently they would have barely cracked 100 yards and even that many would have been a mild surprise. Maybe if Miller gets the nod against Indiana St. their ability to traverse will be improved but that would come at the risk of not using the leading rusher once again this week. In just three carries TaMerik Williams showed some juice but that's not nearly enough of an opportunity to make an impact. The limitations extended to all others who stepped on the field as none of the runners had more than eight carries. The coaches are paid to figure it out but there doesn't seem to be a solution forthcoming.
Because of how dramatically things shifted when the quarterback change was made Patterson could also be included on this side of the divide but some credit needs to be given to Mo. St. defense and the wild card element that was introduced is also key in the shift, so I'm not going to belabor the point.
Comments