Well here it is more than 24 hours after the Tigers opened the season with a 37-14 victory over Middle Tennessee and with some time to reflect here are some thoughts. First of all, CJ Spiller's kickoff return for six will be one of those things that 20 years from now 200,000 people say they were in the building when it happened. I really believe it will be one of those football plays that will go down in Tiger lore. All I could say afterwards was "Wow!". Now all of Tiger nation holds its breath to see how serious his toe injury is. Could it be that for two seasons in a row that the Tigers will have to go against Georgia Tech without the services of their best player? We may not know the answer to that question until Wednesday.
The one two punch of Spiller and Jacoby Ford has to scare special team coaches to death. I don't know that I would ever kick a punt to these two guys and I know I would squib kick every time on kick offs. Enjoy the kick off and punts returns you saw Saturday in the Valley because I don't know that you will see many more.
The debut of Kyle Parker went about as I expected it would. I tried to tell everyone that would listen that the separation between Kyle and Willy Korn was significant and I think we all saw that. Parker's stats could have been much better if not for the dropped passes, but 9-20 for 153 yards and two touchdowns sure did look good. The plays that he made with his feet might have been the most impressive of the night. As for Willy, all I can say is poor guy. It is like someone has a voodoo doll and just sticks him with pins whenever he enters a game. Dabo and Billy Napier now have a big job ahead of them of keeping Willy's head straight. These type of things have got to play with your mind. Hopefully he will be able to get something positive going.
The Tigers piled up 202 yards rushing, but I am not sure any of us are convinced this team is ready to line it up and knock folks off the ball. I loved the formula of running the ball 40 plus times and game and throwing it 20 to 25 times per game, especially with an inexperienced quarterback. Jamie Harper and Andre Ellington are going to be really good. It was also good to see Rendrick Taylor get in there and pound the football. It would have been better if Rendrick and the offensive line could have gotten it in the end zone from just two yards out in the second quarter.
Speaking of the offensive line, well they were at times offensive but at other times I thought they looked good. Consistency is the big thing. You can't play one series well and then get beat on the next. That is part of the problem when you play young guys. At some point in time this group has got to gel or at least that is the hope.
Defensively Brandon Maye, D'Andre McDaniel and the boys rock some Blue Raiders. Three interceptions to go along with three sacks and only seven points given up. The aggressive style was just what all of us expected out of Kevin Steele. It should be real interesting to see how the D plays against an offense that as Dabo says "plays inside a phone booth". Disciplined, stay at home, be true to your assignments will be the order of the day against Georgia Tech.
It wasn't the perfect opener against Middle Tennessee, but the 37-14 victory gives the coaching both things to build on and things to get on the team about.
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