Got about few minutes until we head over to the USA to talk to coach McCasland and his players. So let’s jump into a little bit about last night before it is entirely old news. Elongated bullet points here, so stick with me on this.
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- I talked about it a bit last night, but man, oh man, where would this team be without Tahj Brooks and Rabbit. Just an outstanding performance from both of those guys. It was really frustrating there for a while waiting for Rabbit to finally get a pick and the man got two. And what more can be said about Tahj Brooks that hasn’t already?
- Defensively as a whole did a solid job against the run, Emani Bailey is no slouch and even though he scored twice, I thought they did a good job of containing him otherwise. Continuing on defense, what concerns me moving forward is their ability to limit explosive plays, which was something that TCU was able to expose last night. The one drive where the Horned Frogs were in third-and-long three times is glaring, and that will undoubtedly be something that the staff looks at to try and resolve. Whether it be blown coverages or not bringing the QB down out of a scramble, that is still an area of that side that needs to improve.
- Rabbit will get the glory from the secondary but something does need to be said about the performance of his co-stars. In their first games with a position switch, Tyler Owens looked solid at STAR and CJ Baskerville was impressive at boundary safety. Baskerville looked way more comfortable being able to patrol the entire unit and he made some big hits to lead the team in tackles. Also should be noted that Mo Horn got a lot of playing time last night, something Tim DeRuyter had mentioned on Monday. His hard work is being rewarded and I was overall satisfied with the defensive backs.
- The front four played a strong game and they were shouted out in postgame by the head coach. Tony Bradford made some big tackles at the line of scrimmage, Joseph Adedire was working the right tackle when they were lined up opposite of each other, and even a young guy like Dylan Spencer made a play or two.
- The bye week really did come at the perfect time, and even by his own admission of not being 100 percent, Behren Morton played extremely efficient. Were there a couple balls put in harm's way, yes, but there were also several passes where he showed his arm talent. I also think some credit needs to go to the receivers, who finally stepped up and proved their worth. Coy Eakin picked up some great YAC, as did X White.
- Though there were some coaching decisions that left a little bit to be desired, the reason these were not nearly as noticeable is because the execution as a whole was on point. This offense looked in sync, and whether you chalk that up to snaps being on target, the quarterback being healthier, or even just flat out effort, it was a good product on the field last night.
Founded by a Red Raider, All Hands Craft Cocktails is proud to announce their partnership with RedRaiderSports.com. Try these bar strength, ready-to-drink vodka cocktails at Jones AT&T Stadium this football season or find them at a retailer near you. Cheers.
