This season's journey to the postseason and Frisco, Texas has 12 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 make progress. Following each game this will be the only place to find the thoughts about it. As great as the destination can be, enjoy the weekly pit stops along the way!
A week removed from the gravel road experience in Tennessee brought another bumpy Saturday in front of several of the Universities premier persons.
Charmar Brown will get many of the flowers for this weeks win.
As well he should with three touchdowns and his first 100 yard game.
But his achievement may not have been possible if not for Cam Miller once again surgically operating with the ball.
Miller had already been operating at a 72.6 completion % but he dusted that with a 17/19 day (89.4%). Now that the team has a lead back (and a capable second option in Barika Kpeenu) he won't have to be as much of a running threat which should help him maintain and improve on those gaudy stats. Defenses won't be able to write that option off because of how well he's done on keepers earlier this year but not having to count on him for volumes of carries is a great development for the longevity of the season!
Bryce Lance continued to be the primary receiving target for Miller, which begs the question of how the offense will go when Braylon Henderson and Raja Nelson are cleared to return. Will this coaching staff let that much passing happen?
We will get the answer down the road
Likewise with the improvement or liability of the defense.
With the exception of the 72-yard touchdown run they mostly bottled-up Towson while getting noteworthy individual plays from Loshiaka Roques, Marcus Sheppard, Jailen Duffie & Enock Sibomana. It's enough to make me think that they will keep coming together as conference season, and the biggest games within in, loom ever larger. Replicating today's effort should be enough for a win at Illinois State but with North Dakota and SDSU less than a month out they need to continue raising the bar from today's level of solid defense.
When the odd break down does happen it will help that the special teams continue to find ways to be much more than solid. After the Tennessee Doink came the emergence of Jackson Williams with his first touchdown in his third game since arriving from Omaha! With just one game remaining on his redshirt cushion, his status is near the top on the list of priorities for the coaching staff. While the success wasn't as great as under Klieman, Williams is another one that Entz deserves credit for, for the record.
Maybe some of you want every game to be like Tennessee State. I can see where you're coming from if you do.
But weekly blowouts can only do so much in preparing the team for the inevitable challenges of the best in the Valley and the deep run into the postseason that we all want. Getting tested now and prevailing as they have is for the best so keep enjoying the ride!
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