That was fun. A lot of questions answered and I’m personally excited to see this on film, but let’s jump into some immediate thoughts.
-Morton played a pretty dang good first half. About all you can ask for. Was 15-19 with two drops and four touchdowns. I thought he handled pressure better than he did in Pullman and the ball to Eakin might’ve been his best in his career. Excited to see it on tape.
-The offensive architecture was really exciting. Tech was diverse in the run game, did some fun things off of it, and really excelled when pushing the ball downfield. Tech was better in pass pro, and it comes back to Morton handling it better than he did last week.
-Brooks was great. Exactly what you want from him. Looked as fresh as he has been and was really able to make an impact on the game early.
-I thought your receiving corps overall was better than it has been, and that’s really saying something. Douglas had a couple of drops, but I’m very much still a believer. Kelly was himself and Eakin had his best game of the year. Want to shoutout Jordan Brown as well; he looked dang good but it’s kind of in that Hudson convo for me, how can he get on the field consistently?
-Love how Tech utilized the tight ends. Tharp had a shot at a TD while Conyers and Miller got one. Each did some good things in the blocking game as well. Personally, still want more Conyers.
-The defense played a much better game. Turnovers are key there, thanks captain. Got a little lucky with the tips and such, but it all amounts to what it became.
-Tech’s pass rush was better, still not game wrecking, but are we expecting it to be with the current injury state? Don’t know, but it was better today. I thought Isaac Smith had some nice pressures, despite the penalty. Your DTs played well too, especially Dooda and Carroll. Excited to see the PFF charting on that.
-The secondary had some issues still. Ups and downs I think. Jalon Peoples continues to struggle from a busts perspective while the fit on the screen that went for 75 yards was extremely frustrating. Young group but could be worse.
-Finally, linebackers, much, much better game. I personally thought this group was the worst on the defense through two games, and they bounced back really well. Better fits in the run game, more disciplined against RPO/PA. Love it.
-Impressed with Hammond, Williams, Dickey and Hudson. Freshman class is gonna be fun. Particularly impressed with Hammond’s polish, more Monday on that.
-Overall, excellent day. Absolutely love it. Let’s carry a similar offensive identity into next week and play as good, if not better, defense next week. Impressed, but do it again.