Auburn vs San Jose State: The View From 102

Last night I posted a traditional recap of the game, so this morning I'm going to add to that with some personal thoughts and observations on the game, the stadium, and the experience as a whole.

The Awesome:

This thing.

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The Good:

Running the football. CAP converted on his 3rd and short opportunities this Saturday as opposed to the two against Arkansas in the first half. Granted, we're talking two completely different levels of team, but I think you can't discount the threat Marshall is and how that frees up some of those running lanes for CAP and Corey. On that same note, Corey Grant looks great running the football outside or inside. Roc Thomas showed off his "B-button" that Gus spoke about in preseason, but unfortunately had the ball stolen from him on his last carry.

Redzone defense. SJSU made three trips into the redzone, I believe. They came away with six total points. Their one TD was on the busted coverage deep pass early in the 1st quarter. Redzone defense was a staple of Auburn's last year, and hopefully it will be the same this year (last weekend notwithstanding).

Interceptions. Who didn't scream their head off when Trovon Reed made that pick? It's over 12 hours late, but I'M GOING TO NEED A HARUMPH OUT OF YOU! GIVE THE BLOG MANAGER A HARUMPH! I was thrilled to see Trovon come down with that one. Jermaine Whitehead is playing like a ball-hunter out there with two straight weekends with INTs and ALMOST coming up with 1-2 more, last night.

Montravius Adams. He's two games into his sophomore career and Sacktravius Adams is playing like a man possessed. One sack, three tackles for loss. The defensive line as a whole played well. SJSU did not get much in the run game, and what they did get was mainly on a few QB draws.

The Bad:

Big Plays and Busted Coverage. Still some busted coverage problems and leaving receivers wide open. Arkansas and SJSU both missed opportunities that could have kept the games much more interesting. Also those big QB draws to extend drives and big plays like the long TD given up and one long pass play that left Jonathon Jones alone on an island.

Fumbles: CAP had one last week, Marshall has struggled with fumbles at times, and Roc just had the ball straight stolen out of his hands.

Marshall's Passing. Hopefully this was just due to the level of the game. Marshall has often seemed to be at his best when there is something really on the line (MSU, Texas A&M last year).

Any talk of QB Controversy. The guy behind me spent much of the night saying "Put Johnson in there. He needs to be the QB." I respectfully disagree. Right now Marshall is what drives that zone read. JJ does have the better arm by far, but that threat to run is what makes the offense so dangerous right now. Though Johnson showed great decision making last night with tucking the ball and running on his rushing TD.

The Ugly:

Jordan-Hare Stadium issues. Last week it was the game clock not working. And the elevator issue. This weekend it was the scoreboard stuck on the rotating schedule. Someone told me they tried to put the stats up, but they couldn't clear last week's from the board. Shouldn't that be something checked and taken care of well before the game starts? Jordan-Hare is in obvious need of some serious upgrades. I don't know what it will take, what all is needed, what the exact problems are, etc. But there are issues. And they're embarrassing for one of the top teams in the SEC. The HD scoreboard was amazing when it debuted, but now it's way out of date, and the north endzone scoreboard is high-school level. Maybe even middle-school level with the way many high schools are, now. I realize these are issues we can't really take care of during the season, but they need to be a priority as soon as the clock strikes zero against Samford on 22 November.