:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65163040/1171277104.jpg.0.jpg)
- How do we stop Ke’Shawn Vaughn? - He once was a Purdue Football Recruit - that did not go as planned and he ended up at Illinois, playing for two years before transferring to Vanderbilt. After sitting out a season, he had a magnificent junior year, totaling over 1,200 yards, 12 touchdowns while averaging 8 yards per carry in the SEC. Last week Vaughn was kept in check by..... Georgia - we are no Georgia, so how will we stop him? Expect a similar Blue Print to what we did against Boston College last year. My best guess is we will sell out to stop the run and we will see Cornel Jones for way more snaps than the 4 he got this past week - which is ridiculous. Vaughn will still get his, but it won’t be easy. Force Vandy to throw to beat us.
- Will there be more of a rotation on the defensive line? - We heard all off season that we have so much depth at defensive line, but we did not see much more than 5 guys all night against Nevada. George Karlaftis had a heck of an opening night, but played 77 of the 82 snaps on defense, by the 4th quarter, there was little to no pass rush. In my opinion, there needs to be a little bit more of a rotation on the defensive line - keep those guys fresh so an impact can be made in the 4th. We need Karlaftis and Barnes rushing the passer more in the 4th than in the 2nd. Rotation, please.
- Offensive Balance - In the first half the balance wasn’t all that bad. Horvath was avenging just under 4 yards per carry, we were moving the ball through the air, basically everything was working. But, the second half was much different, our only score came on a flea flicker trick play. This week, I want to see balance throughout the game. Overall, we threw the ball 52 times, while only rushing the ball 29 times, with 7 of the rushes comes from Elijah Tebow. I am fine with the pass first offense, but I would love to show a small commitment to the run. It seemed like we abandoned it in the second half this past week.
- Rondale Moore - Why Special Teams? - Our best player was gassed the entire second half. He does not need to be on special teams. I get it, he is our best player, but the drop off from he to the next player if he gets hurt on special teams is too drastic. Think of Tario Fuller who is now out indefinitely due to a broken jaw from a special teams drill. Rondale does not need people teeing off on him on Kick Return and Punt Return, these should be plays where he gets a rest.
- Running Back and the Running Game - I was a bit surprised to not see Kind Doerue get more carries, he had one. Zander Horvath did have 19, which is fine, but he is going to get you the tough yards in between the tackles, Doerue is more of a home run threat. Our second leading carrier was Elijah Sindelar, which is not great, as he is a pocket passer with a knee that has been repaired multiple times now. I would like to see more of Doerue but more consistency in giving Zander the ball as well.