FINAL: Brenham 45, PN-G 14

[1970]

I didn’t feel too bad about the Crawford loss until Nederland beats them on the road (uh oh)

Man I did, and I still do. It may have been a turning point for our season, for the players and coaches too, and I think Coach J as much as admitted it. We should have beat Crawford, but we beat ourselves.
As far as Nederland's win, I predicted that last week. That game was sort of a trap game for Crawford, plus they had more penalties in that game than we had in our game with them. They aren't that good to begin with. Flashy but not good.

Brenham on the other hand is a good, big, physical team that simply wore us down, like our '22 and '23 teams used to do to other good teams. District will be more interesting this year, but we'll see how the team bounces back, especially for MCM.

 

[Rez]

Man I did, and I still do. It may have been a turning point for our season, for the players and coaches too, and I think Coach J as much as admitted it. We should have beat Crawford, but we beat ourselves.
As far as Nederland's win, I predicted that last week. That game was sort of a trap game for Crawford, plus they had more penalties in that game than we had in our game with them. They aren't that good to begin with. Flashy but not good.

Brenham on the other hand is a good, big, physical team that simply wore us down, like our '22 and '23 teams used to do to other good teams. District will be more interesting this year, but we'll see how the team bounces back, especially for MCM.

We could have beaten Crawford just by being willing to run the ball. But our OC panics every time a play isn’t successful and he defaults to passing. He seems to think we need an even bigger play to make up for the last not-big play. So he pulled us into a “who is faster and more talented” contest with a team who was faster and more talented. And I understand as well as anyone our o-line isn’t what it used to be. Nederland’s isn’t good either. What pushed Nederland over the edge was being stubborn and not letting up. Crawford stuffed them and they just ran it again. They didn’t immediately try for a 40 yard passing td just because they got stuffed on the last run play. Crawford would have been begging for mercy even with our bad o-line if we were simply willing to USE our bad o-line. At a minimum we might have extended drives and burned clock, making their comeback a little harder.

All of that being said, our o-line coaching needs to be better. What we’re doing now isn’t sophisticated at all. They just stand up straight and push. The d-line is through the gaps before they even stand up. Size isn’t an excuse. Their technique is simply bad. The slowest pulls I’ve seen in years.

I wish we hadn’t have lost the two o-line coaches we had in 2022-2024.

 

[Usedtocould]

We don’t have the personnel (IMHO) to run the offensive scheme we run
I’m not a fan of the read option offense I feel like sometimes it works in spite of itself if you have amazing OL and QB especially
To me you lose a player
I say just line up the QB and run him or pass (as an alternative to read option) because the QB and RB are working on the same plane of momentum
As opposed to deep back formation the QB and RB are in actual opposite vectors or at least perpendicular for instance a play action enables things like bootlegs etc or counter plays

There’s almost no counter option in the RO one exception is our Gohlke back pass jet sweep (more like a wing T sweep)
With our lack of size in the OL we need way more counter movement
Right now we have all the disadvantages of the 40s VEER (sp?) offense but less of the advantages

Our defense looks amazing for the first quarter or half but maybe due to fatigue we lose control (not sure)
I didn’t feel too bad about the Crawford loss until Nederland beats them on the road (uh oh)
We have a very good gain percentage with counter and the H back sneaking out of the backfield
I’m not doubting one of the best if not the best coaching team in HS I’m still believing here.

When a play action can be (which I’ve seen used lately very effectively)
A duck and head nod as if the QB is running
Is Just as good as pretending to hand off to a back who is even with you to start out with —
(That’s confusing let me try again)
In the Read Option
Where the back is standing next to you
Yes it’s a play action to fake the handoff
But it’s not much better than if the QB just fakes like he himself is running

From my observation (I only watched the Brenham first half) but that’s the first game I’ve missed and I usually go back and watch the video even after being there in person)
Our handoff is getting pinched from the outside by basically unblocked DE on usually both sides (and the middle is clogged at the same time)
Our RB has about .3 seconds to pick a route and that’s usually right into a defender or the packed middle
The team is doing pretty well if we don’t include handoffs we move the ball generally pretty well
Seems like the Brenham game turned on the incredible athletic play where the LB jumped the curl and intercepted
One or two plays seem to turn the tide for good

We will beat all district opponents easily except for Nederland

 

[Usedtocould]

BUT….
Are we limiting our options during the “preseason” and even district ?

Maybe so …

I still trust the process and I’m a JJ lifer he’s a legend and I’ll follow him down the path (trail if you will)

 

[ScalpEmIndians]

I can agree with almost everything everyone is saying here. The most unexpected thing and possibly the scariest thing I’ve gathered from speaking to a couple starters is there is zero heart and zero fight from an unsettling number of players. Absolutely no fight to stand back up and punch back when scored on. Zero problem with taking a butt whooping. Just laughs and jokes on the bus ride home. To me, the 22-25 teams just refused to quit. We found ways to fight back and win the close ones. Without that toughness and grit to claw your way back, you had better score 50 a game cuz otherwise teams that can hang around will eventually beat you.
Thats being said, that Brenham team was one of the biggest high-school teams I’ve ever seen at nearly every single position. We simply don’t have the size we’ve had in the past and it’s not getting any better the next couple years either.

 

[Pngindian99]

I could see PNG winning the next 6. I can see what they are trying to do, This being a new concept with many new players maybe after getting it right we will still have a good season. Playing these type of preseason game will toughen you up and show you what you have to do to be the best you can be. Season will start now against Santa Fe.

what they aren’t doing is tackling and winning lines of scrimmages.

 

[IndianFan]

To their credit, the defense does hold their own and does tackle. When a team is playing against an elite back, that tends to make any team look bad at times. Put that guy on the PNG O and he’d still break big runs.

 

[NDNzeke]

I can agree with almost everything everyone is saying here. The most unexpected thing and possibly the scariest thing I’ve gathered from speaking to a couple starters is there is zero heart and zero fight from an unsettling number of players. Absolutely no fight to stand back up and punch back when scored on. Zero problem with taking a butt whooping. Just laughs and jokes on the bus ride home. To me, the 22-25 teams just refused to quit. We found ways to fight back and win the close ones. Without that toughness and grit to claw your way back, you had better score 50 a game cuz otherwise teams that can hang around will eventually beat you.
Thats being said, that Brenham team was one of the biggest high-school teams I’ve ever seen at nearly every single position. We simply don’t have the size we’ve had in the past and it’s not getting any better the next couple years either.

I am not sure about this, but I think it is possible that some of what you are describing is due to a lack of confidence. If you are convinced you cannot do it, why try? And it’s easier to laugh about it afterwards if you did not have that much hope to begin with. That is the other side of having a very tough pre-district schedule. It shows you where you need to improve, but it can also damage the team’s confidence unless they can pull a few tough games off. Hopefully winning in district play will turn that around.

 

[Sethndn2]

Learn from it. Fix what can be fixed.

There is potential for FBC and Brenham b2b games in late November/early December. PNG isn’t owed a regional finals appearance — but I’m not counting out any Jeff Joseph led team.

 

[IndianFan]

With all due respect, claiming to understand the psyche of the players is a slippery slope. And no doubt that coach Joseph would be disappointed to hear fans saying that. But I’m sure the ‘geniuses’ out there who scan this forum for material to repeat elsewhere are happy to read it.

I seriously doubt that the entire team can be labeled in that way.

The Indians are going to come back strong. They just played an extremely talented team that will go deep into the playoffs.