The students filled four entire sections (3 middle and one south of the band) on Saturday. It was the general admission areas and the end zones that were less crowded than Southern Utah. With work, you could maybe expect to fill one more section with students, but I have been impressed in these first two games with how active the student section has been and the turnout was better than the games I attended last season. We've already out-drawn both the opener and game 2 by nearly 4k fans per. It's more of a community/alumni attendance issue thus far, the students have shown up. I agree wholeheartedly, the late starts can be rough but I think they're entirely necessary in September.

Asking a lot for kids/families to turn down the money that is being thrown around in CFB, which makes what Lan and Rex did by staying all the more admirable. Probably harder to keep a player who has already earned their degree than it is to keep someone who is still working on it but who knows. It all comes down to the individual situation and who the decision maker is. That being said, both Cofield and Vargas are going to be FBS targets, especially Drew. It is hard to find Corners while RBs are a bit easier to come by. Let's hope he's happy and he's looking big picture at the degree.

Rex will be interesting if indeed he has another year to play. Probably comes down to what the NFL scouts/projections will tell him as much as anything. Porter is a great FCS linebacker, but I don't know that the demand will be the same as the others. If I were betting, he'd be most likely to stay of the guys we're talking about.

Poly went hard in the portal to save the HC's job. He's a good guy and an accomplished coach; it is really hard to win there though. Their schemes haven't changed from last year when we shredded their D. Big question will be their QB. If Kelly is the guy they're not as good as when the Pitt kid is in there. That WR is a dude. BIGGER question is our health up the middle of the defense: Rex, Porter, and Nate. Fortunately, this is not a power run team we're facing and it will come down to our pass rush (STRENGTH) and secondary (also a strength). Poly played well for the first half vs. Sac when turnovers generated scores and great starting field position; will we get the kickoff team fixed? I like the Ags by a similar score to the Weber game, maybe 38-21/24 or so.

This is a good Aggie team for certain. Like every other top program in college football, it will come down to health and quality depth. The Ags are beat-up. Prayers for Rex (and the Weber QB), that was not good. Plough probably hasn't slept since, but it's part of the game. Porter left for the locker room before Rex did. The Middle LB #8 also left the game in the 4th quarter so they finished with two back-ups at LB for the last 6-8 minutes, but his didn't appear to be too serious.

Our offense is explosive at times. We are really running the football well with the two RBs. The play action game can be expanded as another way to get CP onto the perimeter and to give him the option to pass short or run, which seems to be the M.O. outside of the deep crossers Plough loves. Keep feeding those RBs; a power run game with tempo is extremely effective and probably wears a D out faster than throwing with tempo.

Kickoff coverage is a glaring issue. We're fortunate the D played so well, we were giving up great starting field position to Weber (and SUU if memory serves me well). They have to have a wind plan for kickoffs, you can't kick it to the 25 or so and expect the ball not to be returned for great starting field position. Both big returns came when we kicked into that wind. The Punter adjusted, why not the Placekicker?

Winning is hard and we're doing a lot of it. Plough is spot-on in keeping the focus on the week in front of them, and he doesn't like the team from the south so he'll have them ready. Kids need to execute at a higher level more consistently to get where we want to be. The next four before the Top 25 gauntlet are improved and all inspired.

Looking at Weber-Butler highlights (with a little Weber-McNeese sprinkled in), I don't know if it's my computer or that the Wildcats look slow. The QB is skilled, big TE, but overall team speed on O doesn't impress. Butler, with zero scholarships, has several drives in the 4th quarter to take the lead and can't get it done. One Weber TD is on a gimmick where they lined the Offensive Tackle up in the slot and hit the TE on a pop pass from the OT's spot. 52 of the Tailback's 195 yards came on a run late in the 4th where he can't outrun the Butler secondary. Defensively, they look light. Aggies ROLL in this one.

Angel Eyes is the bad guy, right?

Great breakdown, thanks for your work with that. With regard to the Weber stats vs. Butler, they are the equivalent of the University of San Diego (basketball schools with non-scholarship football). Weber's run game vs. Butler is less indicative of a strong rushing attack than it is the discrepancy between a Big Sky front vs. a Pioneer front 7 or 8. If I were betting, I would guess that Weber tries to follow the Southern Utah blueprint IF the personnel matches.

Plough, like most high-level offensive playcallers with a young QB, scripted some easy throws and get it out quick concepts. CP's misses were on several of the 49'er-esque concepts with what looked like deep over routes, etc. if I'm not mistaken. He missed long on both so he may have just been excited and that's a good place to miss. His scrambling ability and his knack for extending plays is big-time. We're talking about a very young QB in a very complex Offense. It will take time and has he grows more comfortable with his internal clock, he'll complete those balls. Right now, as a young dude, things are still moving really fast for him at times when he needs to be settled.

Man, I do not have a great feeling right now. Sorry to be a buzzkill. It was a beautiful night, tremendous support, and we won. However, I left with too many questions (like "what is my password?" that's why I'm now Pacifico2). My biggest concerns at this juncture, in no particular order: rushing defense, QB inaccuracy downfield, rushing defense, coverage miscues, and rushing defense. They basically ran one play down our throat all night...

Fitz' interview was honest. "When you play bad in two out of three phases, you're not going to win the game, Spencer."

Water tower looks great

On to Weber

I'm an idiot. Forgot my password and which email account I used. Might have been overserved in pre-game Saturday. Oh well, I've rallied!

UNC, Idaho State, and NAU are all much improved. Kudos to those coaching staffs, they're all pretty good.

Cal Poly-Sac will tell us a lot.

Not sure that Weber will bring the horsepower that Southern Utah did. I was really impressed with their running game throughout. Physical team. And they ran the same concept for two of their TD and two big first downs and we were nowhere to be found in coverage. Need to clean some things up defensively. On the bright side, our RBs played exceptionally fast, the OL was physical, and the QB progressed.

Cheers-