You have to tip your hat to Coach Fisk - seems motivated and competent.

Is there a presser with Plough floating out there somewhere?

Didn't see one.

usually today at noon

Here is my not-so-expert analysis. Sorry for being late to the party, and I have read nothing else that has already been stated:

-Portland State is better than anticipated. Their QB is very good, their fronts were physical, and they had a couple good skill players. That little WR was outstanding.

-PSU lost the game as much as the Aggies won it. Either the Head Coach or Offensive Coordinator got spooked in the 3rd quarter and they played not to lose. By the time they tried to shift gears in the late 4th, they were in panic mode and pressing.

-I didn't notice any huge adjustments at the half on either side of the ball. Davis bounced in and out of a 4-3 (with #31 as the adjustor) and a 4-2 Nickel with 5 DBs. Sat in 2-high secondary shell the entire game.

-Cleeland was a first time starter for most of the first half. He was throwing fastballs on every pass and the game seemed to be really sped-up. His arm slot was pretty low from what I could see. Different dude in the second half, he showed why Plough/Shelton handed him the keys. Some of the second half throws were pretty spectacular.

-Offensive Line held up pretty well.

-TEMPO is so critical to Aggie Offensive success. Must win on 1st & second downs in order to avoid the 3rd & 10s and preserve the tempo.

My beef list as a fan:

-I would have run the ball a lot more.
-I would have played some Cover 3 or 3 Roll coverages to take away the easy flat throws that turned into big runs after catch. Also would have helped with the QB Bash runs that gashed the Ags at times (If you want an explanation of Bash later, let me know. Might make for good, midweek filler content).
-The Corner and Nickel Corner play was surprisingly suspect at times. Anyone not wearing #11. Why were they playing so soft in some of the 3rd and medium and 2nd and long situations? Nickel coverage was concerning at times.

I love all your analysis. Please add Bash and any other type of analysis as midweek filler content or earlier. I come with no football background, and I sometimes would need to watch some YouTube videos to understand terminologies like Cover 3 or 4-2 Nickel.

I would add that special teams looked explosive but still some early season stuff to clean up. I thought the blocking was tenacious and they played with real juice. Maybe just too much at times, which I believe is where those penalties came from on the long returns.

Agreed, they looked improved to me as well. The early punts, like the first 3, were line drives which absolutely hoses your coverage team. Hence, TD #2. Overall, the intensity was there and they just need to clean up some of the antics after the play and behind the ball carrier.

I actually have to work some today, so I'll bang out a Bash intro tomorrow

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kc_aYzYTiJQ

Perez was in on some very important running downs in the second half, even late. Couldn't figure that out, was wondering if there was something up with Fisher.

my only gripes on the special teams were the 2 penalties that wiped out two great punt returns (one for TD -> that COULD have been a back breaker), and the kick off out of bounds after we cut the lead to one score - i believe they scored on the short field that drive. that was so reminiscent of last year. probably the only time i raised my voice watching the game!

I think they like Perez when we need short yardage. Fish is a flashier runner but not necessarily a bruiser.

You may be right, but they are the same size.

was skeptical that a freshman coming from a run first hs offense would be able to operate at a high level out the gate but that second half was extremely impressive and the ball really jumps out of his hand.

I did not know Cleeland’s H.S. team’s offensive strategy (run first) until the announcer calling the game said so. Now it makes sense why his high school numbers weren’t that impressive. But man does he throw a beautiful ball (also mentioned on the Griz board so not just my biased assessment) and he has the biggest arm I have seen at UCD in a long time. Moroski threw a pretty ball but it didn’t jump out of his hand like Cleeland.

I admit I have never seen Kollock throw a ball (nor Cleeland prior to Saturday). Kollock is really built so I expect he has quite an arm too.

CP threw I believe a 45-yard dart into the back of the endzone last year on a rollout in not-ideal circumstances.

OK, the concept termed BASH means "back away". It is typically paired with gap scheme runs (Counter, Power) but teams will also run Inside/Outside Zone with it. On BASH, the RB is running away from the blocking scheme and the QB is reading a key, typically the Defensive End. So, the O-Line is blocking the designated run scheme for the QB, the RB is running flat and fast, sort of like a jet sweep, and the QB will take 1-2 shuffles and read his key. If the key steps down towards the blocking scheme, he simply hands the ball to the RB running wide. If the key comes upfield or widens, the QB takes his shuffles, pulls the ball, and follows the OL blocking scheme as the ball carrier. If I recall, Portland State was running Power Bash but I'm not 100% on that. Imagine the OL blocks Power to the right. The RB is aligned on the QB's left. On the snap, the OL blocks Power right, but they leave the frontside DE, the man a TE or Fullback would typically block, they leave him unblocked. The back sprints flat and fast to that side (right). The QB shuffles to his right, reading that unblocked DE. If he widens at all, or tries to feather it, the QB pulls the ball and runs behind the pulling Guard. If the DE steps down with the Tackle's down block, the ball is handed to the RB and he's out the door around the end. In essence, it's just another way that modern teams get to old fashioned option football.

So why did we start so poorly? Is the focus on the O line, and lack of running plays to Fish to move the chains? Did we come out emotionally flat, and / or lack team leaders? The turnaround was great, but thats a big wake up call from a previously 1-10 team, and for a program that labels itself elite.

I'll add something to all of the theories, and that is, the pressure to be great, to live up to the hype and the pre-season ranking. Those things can cause teams to play tight, and that was my read on the first half. Every time the Ags took a step forward, they'd take two steps back with a penalty, a drop, or a big play by PSU. It took a miscue on special teams by the Vikes for the Aggies to find joy and play free. Once they did that, it was a tangible snowball of momentum.

After missing the game I finally watched the replay and tried to look for the momentum shift, improvement in different aspects of the game, successful vs unsuccessful plays etc, seeing if I could avoid emotional reactions to what I saw since I knew how the game would turn out.

To my untrained eye I'm honestly not sure there was AS big of a shift between the first and second half as the score would indicate except maybe DL and LB play (or more specifically, better run defense and more TFLs). First half seemed more like a death-from-1000-cuts type deal with all the penalties, batted passes, a mix of genuine drops and bad throws, and then poor run defense. Feels worth pointing out that despite his poor stats in the first half Cleeland generally avoided sacks or putting the ball at risk of interceptions, except for the tipped passes.

What I was not able to detect / still have questions about:

• Was the OL giving Cleeland more time in the second half compared to the first?
• Where was Gbatu in the first half? Was he always covered or was the script to use him as a diversion and target Fisher/Jones/Hennessy? (I remember the 2018 team did that after Doss got a ton of preseason hype)
• Cleeland was under center way more than any Davis QB I've seen since the Gould era. Was there some concern that he wasn't seeing the defense well enough from shotgun or am I reading (pardon the pun) too much into it?

From my point of view at the game it looked like PSU came out in ball-control offense after halftime (trying to limit our number of possessions). This allowed us to key the run and get some TFL and stops. I thought it was a bad move.

First half was rust / new guys on defense, and QB1 getting his feet wet. Nothing more to it than that IMO. Coaching still great, talent still all over the place. Missing some key guys as well.

hype)
Cleeland was under center way more than any Davis QB I've seen since the Gould era. Was there some concern that he wasn't seeing the defense well enough from shotgun or am I reading (pardon the pun) too much into it [\quote]
I noticed that too. Maybe a simpler formation for a first game new QB. No RPO just hand it off or not (fake handoff at most but no option). It was noticeable seeing Fisher lining up 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage in that formation.

it seemed like they ran the outside stretch play exclusively from under center …..until he faked and threw the long pass to the TE that set up the second TD.

Better for the Running Back if the QB is under Center on Wide/Outside Zone play. He's running to a specific aiming point and the field of vision is better than coming flat from the opposite side of the QB. That's why everyone in the NFL runs it that way and most college teams that run it from the Gun aren't very effective. Pistol works more similar to under Center, which Plough has used a lot in the past.

it just seemed obvious what was coming….until he play faked and hit the big pass

Definitely. If I recall, he will also call some quick passes and screens from under Center. I'm sure they self-scout their own tendencies, which aren't many this early in the season.