1st, I've got to give credit to the staff for coming into the ball game with a solid offensive plan. Now, that plan wasn't what I expected, but it made sense and even though in middle stretches of the game we were ineffective, I think its a solid base to build on.
Positives:
#1) The plan was clear going in; take pressure off a young QB with a clear commitment to the running game and let our defense and special teams take over. This plan was working well until the 3rd quarter. Then we had some defensive breakdowns and momentarily our special teams had the answer we needed before they let OSU out of the gate on their KO return following. We finally had to open it up at the end, and it worked beautifully. Now, it may not have been the plan some prefered, but it was a clear plan for this game and after Baylor that was a nice change.
#2) Use of FB-type players at FB. Great move to get a solid blocker with some size to lead the way for Patton. Raymer got rocked several times, but he consistently got his guy sealed. Great use of a scrappy tough Kansas kid. I also liked the use of Roland for a snap at the goalline, but not the playcall there. I'm glad it appears the staff is rethinking this position in this offense.
#3) Great mix of the running game. We still held to a lot of this staff's staples, stretch zone and inside zone, but we also pulled guards, ran counter, and incorporated some power football with our zone stuff. Plus the aforementioned use of a legit FB. Again, this was the plan that I didn't expect, but it was a solid plan and I hope to see this mixed with some of the passing aspects we saw late to give our offense some diversity.
#4) Young stars in the making; Freeman and Patton were solid. Both played great games, secured the football, then when asked to make plays they made them. I think we need to be careful to get too far ahead of ourselves b/c I'm sure these guys will have game(s) later this year where they struggle, but the signs are there that QB and RB could be solid for quite a while at K-State. The young o-line played well also.
Concerns:
#1) Please use your 6-6, 240# QB on the one yard line. No reason 3rd and 4th down shouldn't have both been sneaks IMO. Give the kid a chance there.
#2) Please don't run a delay counter on 4th and 1. OSU sniffed it out well. I liked the play action to the TE on 3rd down even though we didn't quite get it. Probably needed a little better play-fake to freeze the defender that was able to make the play there.
#3) I would've liked to see us open up the passing game for one series earlier in the ballgame. After giving OSU double tight-I formation for 4 or 5 series in a row, come out with 3 wide and test their secondary a little.
#4) Still would like to see more shifts/motion, though we did some of that with our double-tight stuff. Noticed we got a couple procedures though when we shifted and used motion, so maybe our guys aren't quite ready for it either.
Overall though, even with concerns, very pleased with our offense this saturday. Showed that we can run the ball a little and hopefully the last 2 series will give both Freeman and our staff some confidence in the passing game. This was great win for the Cats that I have to admit I had given up on with 5 minutes left in the ballgame.
