Good morning all, I wanted to dive a little bit into my thoughts about last night’s game.
It was another fantastic night for Tahj Brooks and it felt like he was able to open up the defense even more than he usually does. This was partially because for the first time in a long time, Behren Morton looked like the gunslinger that he had been promised to be.
There was much more balance to this offense than I felt like we had seen in previous weeks. Compared especially to last week in Lawrence, the offense was more well-rounded and that allowed both run and pass games to succeed.
I mentioned it in my recap of the game last night, but Morton’s command of the offense just looked so much different. There was a certain power and velocity behind his passes that he was likely unable to tap into for several weeks. I was impressed with his footwork and his patience in the pocket and prowess outside of it, particularly in the first half. I think of the first long ball to Xavier White, the crazy back shoulder pass to Drae McCray and then the touchdown passes he threw.
So often this season Brooks has been a physical force, he is obviously quite good at using that style of running. As you on the broadcast heard, the announcer even noted he’s “the hardest man to tackle in football.” Tahj Brooks is damn near not human at this point.
I’m still trying to process the fact that this offense was able to burn more than five minutes of game clock which is just absurd and a testament to Brooks’ abilities.
Losing Jaylon Hutchings and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson were massive blows last night.
I’ll have to go back and look at the tape to see how Chapman Lewis fared in Rabbit’s absence, but as far as Dooda Banks, that was about as good of a performance as he could’ve had. Nevermind the blocked PAT, but forcing the pressure to get Plumlee into a bad ball that CJ Baskerville was able to snatch. I feel like many who are not as invested into this team as many of you are would likely have never heard of Banks, but heading into the season he was someone I was keeping an eye on. I would expect him to be a focal point on the defensive line next season, he’s got the frame to do it and he has been a solid piece in the rotation all year.
You can be mad about the defensive performance all you want, I’m not defending it, but I’m also not going to say it was unexpected. Everybody was fully aware of the beast of an offense that was rolling in here, and against a defense that is awful at limiting explosives, UCF was bound to get theirs. And they did, pretty much all night long. I know that aspect was something Tim DeRuyter had mentioned in the offseason they were looking at improving, so I will be interested to see how they attack that again next season.
All things considered, Tech was able to grab win No. 6 and that’s what matters at the end of the day. It’s another big week on the horizon and the Red Raiders are now without the stress of trying to attain bowl eligibility off their backs. See you in Austin, folks.
It was another fantastic night for Tahj Brooks and it felt like he was able to open up the defense even more than he usually does. This was partially because for the first time in a long time, Behren Morton looked like the gunslinger that he had been promised to be.
There was much more balance to this offense than I felt like we had seen in previous weeks. Compared especially to last week in Lawrence, the offense was more well-rounded and that allowed both run and pass games to succeed.
I mentioned it in my recap of the game last night, but Morton’s command of the offense just looked so much different. There was a certain power and velocity behind his passes that he was likely unable to tap into for several weeks. I was impressed with his footwork and his patience in the pocket and prowess outside of it, particularly in the first half. I think of the first long ball to Xavier White, the crazy back shoulder pass to Drae McCray and then the touchdown passes he threw.
So often this season Brooks has been a physical force, he is obviously quite good at using that style of running. As you on the broadcast heard, the announcer even noted he’s “the hardest man to tackle in football.” Tahj Brooks is damn near not human at this point.
I’m still trying to process the fact that this offense was able to burn more than five minutes of game clock which is just absurd and a testament to Brooks’ abilities.
Losing Jaylon Hutchings and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson were massive blows last night.
I’ll have to go back and look at the tape to see how Chapman Lewis fared in Rabbit’s absence, but as far as Dooda Banks, that was about as good of a performance as he could’ve had. Nevermind the blocked PAT, but forcing the pressure to get Plumlee into a bad ball that CJ Baskerville was able to snatch. I feel like many who are not as invested into this team as many of you are would likely have never heard of Banks, but heading into the season he was someone I was keeping an eye on. I would expect him to be a focal point on the defensive line next season, he’s got the frame to do it and he has been a solid piece in the rotation all year.
You can be mad about the defensive performance all you want, I’m not defending it, but I’m also not going to say it was unexpected. Everybody was fully aware of the beast of an offense that was rolling in here, and against a defense that is awful at limiting explosives, UCF was bound to get theirs. And they did, pretty much all night long. I know that aspect was something Tim DeRuyter had mentioned in the offseason they were looking at improving, so I will be interested to see how they attack that again next season.
All things considered, Tech was able to grab win No. 6 and that’s what matters at the end of the day. It’s another big week on the horizon and the Red Raiders are now without the stress of trying to attain bowl eligibility off their backs. See you in Austin, folks.
