re: Did O provide an update on Emery or Price?

There was a notable difference in our offense after TDP went down. There was a stretch early where him and the OL were gelling and feeding off each other and staying in front of the sticks. It looked for a bit like we might have wound up wearing their asses out in the 4th, but 2nd and 2 turned into 2nd and 8 a lot more often, making it harder on Max, the inexperienced WRs, and E.

Speaking of E, no matter your opinion on how much he was involved in the offense last year or if you’re ready for him to kick rocks as soon as the clock hits 0:00 Saturday, he called a helluva fricking game against Florida. Came in with a great game plan too. I couldn’t believe he was catching so much shite on the Scoreboard. And then I realized I was on the Scoreboard.

But seriously, in the midst of all the bullshite going on around the program, we’ve got a true freshman QB making his 1st start ever and in the Swamp to boot. And that QB is limited currently with a pretty weak arm***, so E has to design and call plays that take advantage of his strengths and roll him out, effectively cutting the field in half. And not only our 2 best pass catchers, but our 2 best overall offensive players have quit in consecutive weeks. And then our top 2 RBs get hurt and are out for the rest of the game. And there’s a huge drop off from them to #3, so E had to adjust to calling plays with worse down and distances for a left-handed QB throwing to inexperienced WRs on crucial long 3rd downs.

I don’t know if it was the play design, play call, Max’s recognition, or just the WRs ability to separate, whatever—likely a combo of all of those—but I was super impressed with just how open our young guys were getting down the field. I haven’t re-watched the game, and I know there were a couple of drops, but we had some 1st and 2nd year dudes who have barely played getting open and making HUGE catches downfield past the sticks to keep drives going. Like make or break catches that kept us in the game.

Oh, and our starting RG got hurt also got hurt along the way. Speaking of, what’s the word on Hines? That did not look good. But I thought E and the entire offensive coaching staff was fantastic Saturday. Came in very prepared with a game plan that took advantages of our QB’s strengths, hid his weaknesses, and adjusted on the fly as the fog rolled in and our dudes went down. Cheers to E and our offensive players and coaches. Unbelievable job.


***I don’t want to be negative, but Max’s arm strength is gonna be a factor eventually, if not this week. I always laugh when people argue deep balls when discussing arm strength as if that matters even a fraction as much as being able to fit it into tight windows when they appear. I love Max—he balled his fricking arse off Saturday and seems to be a smart, poised, athletic gamer.

But he also seems to be a walking pick 6 waiting to happen. When teams see on film how weak his arm is (lack of velocity) and that we have to cut off half the field mostly to make up for it, corners are gonna start jumping those outs and taking em down the sidelines to the house. I was pretty surprised Florida didn’t do it, honestly. Hopefully we can get by Ole Miss, and he can figure out a way to get some more torque in his core and add velocity going into next fall. I love everything about him but this. But it matters, and I think TJ’s arm gives the offense a much higher ceiling. I’ve seen people invoking Burrow’s arm strength regarding Max, and even though Joe doesn’t have the strongest arm in the world, he’s currently on another planet than Max. But we only saw 4th and 5th year Burrow’s arm, so I’m hopeful Max can find some more velocity as he develops.

this is not a problem. there are plenty of scout team guys who can just suit up for a day on the sideline

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Minimum is 53. Saturday we started with 54 and by the end of the game we were at 48.

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You can play with less if you choose to.

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That was a terrible catch for the TD. Geez

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No such thing as a terrible catch for a TD.

Tre Bradford has better hands than Helaire

Please remove yourself from the list of those with the ability to judge such things

Could that be the case in practice, but the stage affects him mentally? Maybe

But his hands are not even in the ideal position to receive the ball in every chance I've had to witness

Hopefully they are ok , but for the Ole Miss game I'd rather Curry. He doesn't have break away speed,but that will help us eat clock.

He’s a TRUE FRESHMAN. These kids are going to make mistakes, cut him some slack.

Tried to tell y’all he had better hands