QB Controversy
I hereby declare the QB controversy over. Alan Bowman looked fantastic this past Saturday. He might not have the strongest arm. He might not have the prettiest throwing motion. But he absolutely puts the ball where it needs to be, and on time. Also, he finds the correct check-down better than any of our recent QBs, and that includes Mahomes.
Here is the big difference between what I've seen of Bowman this year and Shimonek last year: Shimonek had a big arm and was very accurate. He could make every throw required of him. But he did not trust the timing of the route, or that his receivers would break open. He would wait until a receiver was open to throw the ball. By then, he was having (or choosing) to leave the pocket, or something worse. Bowman trusts his throws and the ball, especially on those out patterns, is right on the receiver as he comes out of the break. That is something we don't usually see out of a true freshman quarterback.
Now here's the difficult part: he is not going to always play as well as he did this past weekend. He is a freshman after all. He will struggle, and I wouldn't be surprised if that struggle came on the road in his first Big 12 game this weekend. The team will have to make plays in the run game and on defense to support those down times, which are coming. I promise. So that leads me a bit to my next point
The Run Game
We struggled a bit moving UH's very good defensive line off the line of scrimmage early in trying to establish a run game. It loosened up later in the game, partly due to our OL play improving, partly due to the UH DL losing steam, but also partly because of the emergence of Ta'Zhawn Henry as a true playmaker. I have been excited about this kid ever since he committed to us, and so far he has not disappointed with his touches. I am hoping that Ward returns this weekend, as I believe having Ward and Henry as a one-two punch will really be a nice catalyst for balance for our offense. At this point, I believe that Henry has surpassed the potential of both Trey King and DeMarcus Felton. I'm not sure if Henry is ready to carry the entire load yet, but I think having him as a change of pace for Ward can be lethal.
The Game Plan
The loudest cry from both fans and detractors alike of Kliff Kingsbury has been that he needed to grow up as an all-around football coach. He needs to do things that helps the whole team and not just the offense. Personally, I saw a lot of things in this Houston game to suggest he is doing just that.
Early in the game, the run game was not going anywhere. Two years ago, this result would have led to Kingsbury abandoning it altogether. And while we did have more pass attempts, and more of our success came through the air against Houston, Kingsbury stuck with the ground game. This paid off in the end as the Houston defense tired.
Also, I saw a difference in the first half, where when faced with 4th and long from the 35 yard line, Kingsbury elected to punt instead of try to pick up a first down in no-man's-land on offense, or try a risky 52 yard field goal, where a miss would give Houston good field position. The punt was poor, and the net result was only 15 yards, but the intent was to flip the field and trust the defense to come up big against the powerful Houston offense.
These things, as well as the recent trend to defer to the second half and huddle more often, are things we did not see early in his career.
I hereby declare the QB controversy over. Alan Bowman looked fantastic this past Saturday. He might not have the strongest arm. He might not have the prettiest throwing motion. But he absolutely puts the ball where it needs to be, and on time. Also, he finds the correct check-down better than any of our recent QBs, and that includes Mahomes.
Here is the big difference between what I've seen of Bowman this year and Shimonek last year: Shimonek had a big arm and was very accurate. He could make every throw required of him. But he did not trust the timing of the route, or that his receivers would break open. He would wait until a receiver was open to throw the ball. By then, he was having (or choosing) to leave the pocket, or something worse. Bowman trusts his throws and the ball, especially on those out patterns, is right on the receiver as he comes out of the break. That is something we don't usually see out of a true freshman quarterback.
Now here's the difficult part: he is not going to always play as well as he did this past weekend. He is a freshman after all. He will struggle, and I wouldn't be surprised if that struggle came on the road in his first Big 12 game this weekend. The team will have to make plays in the run game and on defense to support those down times, which are coming. I promise. So that leads me a bit to my next point
The Run Game
We struggled a bit moving UH's very good defensive line off the line of scrimmage early in trying to establish a run game. It loosened up later in the game, partly due to our OL play improving, partly due to the UH DL losing steam, but also partly because of the emergence of Ta'Zhawn Henry as a true playmaker. I have been excited about this kid ever since he committed to us, and so far he has not disappointed with his touches. I am hoping that Ward returns this weekend, as I believe having Ward and Henry as a one-two punch will really be a nice catalyst for balance for our offense. At this point, I believe that Henry has surpassed the potential of both Trey King and DeMarcus Felton. I'm not sure if Henry is ready to carry the entire load yet, but I think having him as a change of pace for Ward can be lethal.
The Game Plan
The loudest cry from both fans and detractors alike of Kliff Kingsbury has been that he needed to grow up as an all-around football coach. He needs to do things that helps the whole team and not just the offense. Personally, I saw a lot of things in this Houston game to suggest he is doing just that.
Early in the game, the run game was not going anywhere. Two years ago, this result would have led to Kingsbury abandoning it altogether. And while we did have more pass attempts, and more of our success came through the air against Houston, Kingsbury stuck with the ground game. This paid off in the end as the Houston defense tired.
Also, I saw a difference in the first half, where when faced with 4th and long from the 35 yard line, Kingsbury elected to punt instead of try to pick up a first down in no-man's-land on offense, or try a risky 52 yard field goal, where a miss would give Houston good field position. The punt was poor, and the net result was only 15 yards, but the intent was to flip the field and trust the defense to come up big against the powerful Houston offense.
These things, as well as the recent trend to defer to the second half and huddle more often, are things we did not see early in his career.
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