Second viewing thoughts and grade report: Central Florida

We won 34-7. With consistent QB play we would have won 56-0. I feel that strongly. UCF is a decent Conference USA team. But we were better in every area. Their highly-touted secondary -- pfft...ours is better. In fact I think we might be better at every position than we were last year with one exception. (Guess which one?). That said, watching this game back these are the few things I picked up.

Offense: B-

The offensive line played very well. They had push on nearly every play. The pass protection was very good. Tennant and Ramsey continued their solid play. They controlled their men and really didn’t make any obvious mistakes. Lapham played well. Getting nick picky, but Claiborne and Castonzo both had a few lapses. Castonzo got sucked in on helping Ramsey pass block and didn’t release on a delayed blitz to his side. Rossi spelled Claiborne a bit and looked good too. Although it wasn’t text book, the line play showed how the zone should work. We dominate up front, get space and push off the line and a back like Harris finds the soft spots.

Last year the Wide Receivers had the best QB in the country and proceeded to drops tons of catchable balls. This year things are a little more scatter shot and now the guys have hands of glue. Momah’s two drops were the only real mental errors. Everything else they held on to or couldn’t get to. Momah may have had a dropped those two, but he also made some nice plays, including coming back and catching Crane’s deep ball. Gunnell made some nice plays. Purvis remains a steady hand (I wish we could get him more touches). Anderson’s catch was in garbage time. Jarvis is also maturing. The big day belonged to Robinson. He made a bunch of tough catches in traffic and took some big hits. His TD was a beauty. He out fought two guys and then turned on jets I didn’t know he had. He's always been dependable, but never shown that sort of breakaway speed. Let's hope he can do that in ACC play.

Too often we assume that a good running game is all about a star back or just great offensive line. Reality is not that simple. For example, Jeff Smith was running behind the same line and getting a similar push as Montel Harris. But Harris showed that balance, burst, patience and vision are all part of the package. In addition to his more fluid and natural running, Harris also showed good hands and instincts in the passing game. McCluskey continues to be a nice change of pace and pounder, although he didn’t find any big holes this week.

For his first snaps, Dominique Davis played well. His throws over the middle were better and delivered with more authority than Crane’s. On the out routes and deep balls, his delivery wasn’t as sharp. He threw the passes effortlessly, but they lack velocity. Both his deep throws were slow and forced his targets to cut back and come back to the ball. He ran well. His two big mistakes -- which didn’t really cost us -- were his inability to anticipate and escape a delayed blitz and his passes that could a have been picked up. He is not a miracle player who will save the season, but his poise and aggressiveness certainly changed the feel of the offense. Perhaps his success allowed Crane and Logan to open it up. I certainly am glad he played and hope he gets even more time against URI. No savior, but he is an alternative.

Chris Crane told his teammates that the first half Chris Crane is gone. Was I the only one who didn’t love the second half Chris Crane all the much either? He turned the ball over three times, but there were six other passes that could’ve and should’ve been picked off. Many of Crane's decisions were poor and many of his passes were off target. He still had a breakdown with Momah during one of the redzone drives. This game could have been a total disaster. That said, there was some improvement and signs of life. We haven’t turned a corner, but saw a glimpse that there may be a corner way way down the road. The good things: he ran well and may start to realize that running is better than forcing something downfield that isn’t there. In between his terrible throws and his horrible offbalance throws, there were some good ones. Don’t let the postgame spin fool you. This was another bad performance. Things are not hopeless, but Crane is not good. He will cost us games in the future.

As a Steve Logan apologist let me start with the two areas that had me screaming in anger. The first was our first foray into the redzone. He knows what Crane can and cannot do at this point, so why is he giving him plays dependent upon sharp passes. Give Crane some rollout options that he can run on. The second time where I thought our resident genius outsmarted himself was when we were pinned on the one yard line. Two weeks ago in a similar position Crane took a horrible safety. I know Logan is not conservative, but in that area we should have run it three straight times and punted. Instead we throw?!? Of course it ended up in a INT. Those gripes aside I was happy with the play calling. We showed fewer looks but got the ball into a variety of receivers. I thought Davis’ package was well balanced. The best part was Logan and Jags concluding at halftime that Chris Crane is not a “game manager.” They know what they have and decided to open things up and take the good with the bad. This will certainly scare us going forward, but hopefully we’ll get enough big plays to offset that.

Defense: A

Raji played well again. He is really setting the tone for the rest of the D. Brace was limited in snaps, but picked up his play in the second half. Scafe had his best game of the year. He was partnered with Raji often and was up for the challenge. On the goal line stand, Scafe got really low and busted up their interior. Ramella had a solid game. Giles was active. Newman looked good. If he just improves his quickness and/or ability to disengage his blocker, he’ll be closing in on some sacks soon. True Freshman Kaleb Ramsey got on the field for the first extended time and played well. Willette made a few plays.

While the DLine rotated frequently, the Linebackers continue to have a shorter rotation. Toal looks fully healthy and was very active. He definitely anticipated where to be and made play after play. McLaughlin didn’t get attention, but he also had a great great game. Solid tackling throughout. Herzy played well. Francois played well. Akins had a few miscues, but overall played well and in two positions. Thompson made a play in special teams.

The defensive backs all played well. The maligned Anderson looked very good in run support. He also added an INT. Fletcher continues to play beyond his years. He also showed a willingness to mix it up in stopping the run. Davis is also very aggressive. Rollins had many positive plays including his pick. It was a great example of reading the QB and then closing quickly. Johnson got on the field, but didn’t make a big play.

No complaints about Spaz so far. In fact, I liked his second half adjustments. In the first half we went primarily base. In the second half we showed a variety of looks and got more aggressive. I also think Spaz and Siravo deserve some kudos for how well the defensive backs have played so far. Our anticipated weakness has looked very good early in the season.

Special Teams: B-

The one kick off return was a thing of beauty. Smith used his blockers and then exploded. Hopefully there is more to come from him.

The first two punts were good with decent punt coverage. The last two were pure shanks. I am hoping it was just freshmen jitters.

The kickoffs were a mixed bag. Bennett got most deep. He skulled a few others (the announcers attributed it to the wind?). What concerned me more was the kick off coverage. We did not get nearly enough pressure on the return men. I don’t know if Bennett’s kicks need more air or if we don’t have the right guys on the kick team, but it wasn’t good.

Steve Aponavicius bounced one off the uprights. On the others he was fine. I think we just have to take it for what it is.

Overall: B+

In my quick recap, I said the score was misleading. This grade is misleading too. A few more Crane mistakes and this could have been a loss. I think this is a very good team with an Achilles Heel. So the grade shows that the team is good but not great.