Rez
Active Member
Our offense will move the ball, but we have to be smart. Nederland has an opportunistic, hungry defense that flies around and gang tackles really well. Their defensive line is very quick. Probably quicker than ours. I don’t think their d line is better than ours, but they are good and more than capable of getting to the backfield. Based only on the MLC game, I’d argue Nederland has better linebackers and a better secondary than us. Their secondary covers better, is more aggressive, and makes tackles in the open field better than us. That means we need to be a stubborn anaconda - Hold the ball, run in short yardage situations, and don’t try any unnecessary deep balls that might result in interceptions. Just strangle them from the first play.
I’m not “too” worried about our defense against Nederland. Our run defense has improved, and we have a way better d line than LC. If we force Nederland to try to win through the air, I feel good about our chances. Nothing against Sunday, but he’s not an extremely accurate passer. If he gets loose, he’s got some good wheels. That’s been a weakness for us - A qb that breaks containment is a massive problem for us. So we have to sniff it all out early. Overall, our secondary just needs to be good next week, not great. The real key will be leaving no room for Thomas. If there’s a tiny patch of green he can turn it into a runway. He’s also a lot stronger than his skinny frame might suggest. I’m guessing he squats at least 400 lbs? Doesn’t go down at first contact, and one of the smoothest runners I’ve ever seen. No one on our defense is fast enough to run him down, and he can outrun safeties who look like they have an angle on him. So we need an extremely disciplined assignment-based showing.
I think Lc’s o-line and d-line got tired in the second half. There was a stretch in the 3rd where it looked like Nederland was getting overpowered and Lc was bullying them, but the Nederland had more in the stretch. LC is not deep and it showed. Maybe 35-40 guys suited up. PNG doesn’t have that problem.
Nederland is far more disciplined and focused than last year. Last year they gifted us like three interceptions and they barely made a showing on defense. Sunday is still inclined to throw INTs, but the coaches are better about giving him passes he can complete, and Nederland overall has been better about protecting the ball.
We have to protect Bailey, and that means either avoid passing or only throw to fast-developing routes. Ned’s defense got to LC’s qb all night, especially in slow-developing pass plays. Nederland hit Marcos once where he was very slow to get up. This d-line is fast enough to get through our o-line if we make Conner sit in the pocket too long. We need to win and we need Conner healthy down the stretch. Nederland is dangerous on defense, and I’m actually concerned about them getting to the qb.
But, overall Thomas is their Roschon Johnson. They have a couple other weapons, but none can match him. If we keep keyed on him while not allowing Sunday to tuck it and get to the open field, I like our situation.
