Jacksonville State recap - 7 things

1) Etling is the guy. No, he's not some savior. He's not extremely talented and he's not going to be a guy that can carry us this season. He will undoubtedly struggle at times. However, his footwork in the pocket, decision making, and ability to check down were all noticeable improvements at the quarterback position. His stats weren't overwhelming, but the offense definitely felt different with him in the game. I think everyone is excited to see what he can do next week against a stronger opponent.

2) I don't see too many people piling on Harris, which is a good thing. There's a chance we might need him again at some point this season, so hopefully he can stay ready. If you remember, Harris said all of the right things after the New Mexico State game in 2014, when Jennings struggled. Hopefully he keeps that same positive mindset as the backup. I couldn't really find him on the sideline tonight while at the game, but hopefully he wasn't sulking.

3) Malachi Dupre. Wow. I thought about starting a thread about him, but I didn't want to compromise the admins. But I won't hold back in here. If people thought that dude was a 1st round draft pick, they are out of their god damn minds. Weak route running, dropped balls, doesn't come back to under-thrown balls, and he simply just doesn't fight. He's soft, and I hope some of his snaps are given to other receivers as long as this continues.

4) I thought the defense was okay. There were a lot of open receivers tonight, but I guess when a team spreads you out as much as they did, that's gonna happen sometimes. Still, we got away with a few things that we shouldn't have. 368 yards looks a little bit better when you consider that they got 76 of those on one play, but I'm still waiting for us to look dominant on that side of the ball.

5) Tre White is a beast.

6) I'm not going to pretend that I know how good of a team Jacksonville State is going to be this season. I know they were in the FCS championship game last year, and that they returned their quarterback from that team. However, I think it's fair to guess that they are a pretty decent team. Obviously, based on the players they've had transfer there, they have talent. When you consider that we didn't have Fournette, and that we were essentially breaking in a new QB, "only" a 21-point win isn't too concerning to me.

7) We have to find ways to get Travin Dural the ball more. The guy is too talented to have 1 catch in any game.