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#22 Tulsa at Navy Early Predictions

I’d like to point out the growth that JC Santana had shown. The kid really played well against Tulane. Honestly this receiver corps isn’t bad. They’re not burners nor are they giants. But they have good hands and they run clean routes. Sleep, Crawford, Johnson, and Santana have all had big games for us at some point.
Honestly, all of our WRs have shown moments of brilliance. There's still a few too many drops for my liking. My son's GK coach says catching is all about focus on the ball. I think that's the same thing for football. I will say I think some of the routes are cleaner and our OC has some interesting route combinations that tend to confuse defenses, especially zones. We've seen a high number of wide open deep routes the last couple of seasons as the CB comes off to cover the underneath route (which is usually just a WR standing on the LOS near the sideline), the safety gets drawn up into the middle of the field by the signature slant route, and a WR who feigns a post and hits back on the sideline for a streak. Monty has seen something in SMUs coverages, especially in zone, where their philosophy leaves that guy wide open almost every time.

With the exception of Stokes, they do all need to work on ball security a little more. Santana, Johnson, Rogers all seem too susceptible to having the ball knocked out by a rather weak poke at it. I also want to see more of Stewart. He, IMO, is a big time possession guy who can get you the tough catch in traffic.
 
Tulsa 31
Navy 17

Hot take: When Brin is QB1 the next 2 years you all will want him yanked once he has a bad game like you want Smith yanked now.
 
No prediction, but I'm with Henry Kendall on this one. I don't feel great about our chances. I'd wager quite a bit that one of their top three game plan objectives is to get under our skin from the opening kick. Our guys will retaliate and talk their trash, which translates to about an extra 80 yards worth of penalties on top of our usual.
 
No prediction, but I'm with Henry Kendall on this one. I don't feel great about our chances. I'd wager quite a bit that one of their top three game plan objectives is to get under our skin from the opening kick. Our guys will retaliate and talk their trash, which translates to about an extra 80 yards worth of penalties on top of our usual.

Are you saying they’ll try to “Dougie” us? Those Navy guys are all out of the same mold. I miss Dougie. Not!!!!
 
Are you saying they’ll try to “Dougie” us? Those Navy guys are all out of the same mold. I miss Dougie. Not!!!!
Yeah, that's a no win situation for us. It's uncool to trash talk guys who may be fighting the war from 300 ft below the ocean's surface in a tuna can. You can't retaliate with trash talk and you can't thrash them in the media and call them out for trash talking because no one would believe it whether or not it is happening. Gillespie needs to get all over guys like Allie Green and Akayleb Evans because those 2 talk a lot of gas. Player too at times. Navy doesn't need any help sustaining drives with stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and late hits.
 
Yeah, that's a no win situation for us. It's uncool to trash talk guys who may be fighting the war from 300 ft below the ocean's surface in a tuna can. You can't retaliate with trash talk and you can't thrash them in the media and call them out for trash talking because no one would believe it whether or not it is happening. Gillespie needs to get all over guys like Allie Green and Akayleb Evans because those 2 talk a lot of gas. Player too at times. Navy doesn't need any help sustaining drives with stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and late hits.

Evans would be an easy pick for All Conference if he would look back for the ball on occasion vs always reading the WR eyes. He's had several PI's called on him simply because he wouldn't look back for a second.
 
Evans would be an easy pick for All Conference if he would look back for the ball on occasion vs always reading the WR eyes. He's had several PI's called on him simply because he wouldn't look back for a second.
Both of them are great in 1 v 1 coverage, but what you state is the truth. If they'd turn their heads they'd get a ton more INTs and PBUs and fewer flags. They frustrated the crap out of one of the best WRs in the country in September. I love their physicality but they do tend to take it a bit far and draw flags. They'll both get shots in the NFL.

Navy will be a different test for them. They'll have to be disciplined to stay on their WRs beyond the initial option look. The other key will be whichever safety (Martin, Williams, Powers) is tasked with covering the TE in pass coverage. Navy has been extremely effective hitting the TE over the middle for about 25 yards off their triple option play-action look. Many times the TE is so wide open you question whether or not he ran onto the field from the sideline after the play started.
 
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Yeah, that's a no win situation for us. It's uncool to trash talk guys who may be fighting the war from 300 ft below the ocean's surface in a tuna can. You can't retaliate with trash talk and you can't thrash them in the media and call them out for trash talking because no one would believe it whether or not it is happening. Gillespie needs to get all over guys like Allie Green and Akayleb Evans because those 2 talk a lot of gas. Player too at times. Navy doesn't need any help sustaining drives with stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and late hits.
As well as JC, he does a lot of stupid crap like dancing his way into the end zone , made a heck of a play last week, now he needs to act like he has been there before
 
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As well as JC, he does a lot of stupid crap like dancing his way into the end zone , made a heck of a play last week, now he needs to act like he has been there before
I'm OK with kids having fun with the game as long as it is within the rules...and I have no idea what those even are anymore. Seems there is more latitude with the celebration as long as it is done as a celebration of your team vs directing a taunt at an opposing player.
 
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I'm OK with kids having fun with the game as long as it is within the rules...and I have no idea what those even are anymore. Seems there is more latitude with the celebration as long as it is done as a celebration of your team vs directing a taunt at an opposing player.
You just never know when the refs will “ Justin Hobbs us” I’m all for them having fun and playing with a chip on their shoulder, just don’t give the refs a reason
 
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