In the open thread before the game, I outlined four specific areas where I thought guys really needed to step up tonight. Let's take a quick look at those objectives and see how they were carried out.
The goal was to not throw any interceptions, but Sean managed to throw five in tonight's game. Granted, all of them weren't his fault. So, are the guys who held up the "Canfield" sign last year going to stick with their man? Probably not. I feel sorry for the kid, but hopefully he'll get it going against the Bruins at home.
The O-Line did a much better job tonight than the last two weeks. Yvenson Bernard went for 128, a good sign after being stuffed under 100 for two weeks. Arizona State isn't a team that heavily rushes on pass plays, but the offensive line did a good job holding them off. At least, that's my hypothesis after listening to the game on the radio.
Sammie had a solid night. Not spectacular, but another step in the right direction. Of course, at some point this season, we need to get out of the "recovery" stage and get Sammie back to 100%. Only he knows when he'll be there, but there were some good signs tonight. He was cheering his team on from the sidelines when he was off the field, but also got it done on the field. He hauled in six passes for 102 yards, leading the Beavers in receiving.
Well, we definitely get a low grade in this category. I don't have a game tape to watch, (radio only games suck) but the big plays hurt us. Rudy Carpenter completed touchdown passes of 64, 43, 48, and 7 yards. Those kind of numbers usually only appear on the Rookie level of Madden, but Rudy was making things happen left and right tonight. We can't make giving up a plethora yards in the air a habit.
That's all for tonight. Maybe this game was a dream... Maybe not.
--JB--