Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = Talent Is Destiny
That was proven once again in our game yesterday against the Aggies...I've said this a 1,000 times at least and will undoubtedly say it again a lot but that's the long and short of it when you review a game like yesterday's contest...Texas A&M had more talent than we did across the board...end of story...
If you'll remember, I asked that very question earlier in the week because on paper at least the Aggies had more talent, it appeared to me, than we did based on team recruiting and individual ratings and rankings over the past five years...
Over the past five years, the Aggies national class average ranking is 14 while our average class ranking is 34 or a 20 point difference, which is obviously a lot and on an individual basis, their average star ranking 3.4 while ours is 3.0, and when you start counting 4 and 5 star players they have a 3-1 advantage or thereabouts, and actually more than that since they have several 5 star guys while we really do not (because you should weigh a five star guy more heavily in my opinion, so its more like a 4-1 advantage)...
Christian Kirk had a 79 yd punt return for a TD and a 66 yd TD reception as we all know and was clearly worthy of those five stars he got as a recruit and his performance had a lot to do with the final outcome...
Myles Garrett, who was a one man defensive wrecking crew as a DE, was also a five star guy who has lived up to his billing and may be a top draft pick when he turns pro...the other DE end, D Hall, was a four star guy, as was Q Cunningham, who was another Valley player (Hamilton HS) who picked the Aggies and he looked like a legitimate Devil-backer to me...
Put Kirk, Garrett, Cunningham and Hall on the Sun Devils team and how good would they make us..??
Pretty darn good if you ask me...the Aggies had a bunch of four and five star guys beating us up all night long...five star guys like Kirk are called "difference makers" for a reason as they make a difference in games on a regular basis...
So, in the end, it really didn't matter what sort of game plan the Devils had, whether we had a new Special Teams coach, that Ballage was unable to play, whether we played on the road in a hostile environment or whatever other excuses we all may want to make or debate about, as the Aggies had superior talent and it showed without a doubt in the game...
Their defensive line ate up our offensive line all night and they weren't blitzing on almost every down like we had to...they forced 2 fumbles, had 9 sacks, had 14 TFL and basically had Berco off balance the entire night...when we can start doing that with our front four down lineman on defense we'll move up in the overall scope of things...
I knew we would have a difficult game given the talent disparity and the fact they were playing essentially a home game in Houston and it is a credit to our staff and team the way they hung in there for over three quarters but the dam finally broke, as it almost always does when you have that sort of disparity in talent...
I honestly thought our OL would play better than that and that our special teams wouldn't give up another long TD and that our defense wouldn't give up another long TD on either a run or pass but we did so it was like Deja Vu all over again in that respect...
The good thing is that we are not going to see another DL like the Aggies had the rest of the season IMO and we now have two home games to get ready for the Trojans, who also have a bunch of four and five star guys on their roster and UCLA isn't too shabby either, even playing a true freshman at QB...
It's time to regroup and put everything in perspective...we still have a very good chance to have another 10 or more win season, even if we most probably won't be in the playoff picture...it certainly isn't the end of the world but just a sobering reminder that talent trumps just about everything else at the end of the day...
And, most of the PAC isn't more talented than our Sun Devils...
G'day mates...Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = Talent Is Destiny
That was proven once again in our game yesterday against the Aggies...I've said this a 1,000 times at least and will undoubtedly say it again a lot but that's the long and short of it when you review a game like yesterday's contest...Texas A&M had more talent than we did across the board...end of story...
If you'll remember, I asked that very question earlier in the week because on paper at least the Aggies had more talent, it appeared to me, than we did based on team recruiting and individual ratings and rankings over the past five years...
Over the past five years, the Aggies national class average ranking is 14 while our average class ranking is 34 or a 20 point difference, which is obviously a lot and on an individual basis, their average star ranking 3.4 while ours is 3.0, and when you start counting 4 and 5 star players they have a 3-1 advantage or thereabouts, and actually more than that since they have several 5 star guys while we really do not (because you should weigh a five star guy more heavily in my opinion, so its more like a 4-1 advantage)...
Christian Kirk had a 79 yd punt return for a TD and a 66 yd TD reception as we all know and was clearly worthy of those five stars he got as a recruit and his performance had a lot to do with the final outcome...
Myles Garrett, who was a one man defensive wrecking crew as a DE, was also a five star guy who has lived up to his billing and may be a top draft pick when he turns pro...the other DE end, D Hall, was a four star guy, as was Q Cunningham, who was another Valley player (Hamilton HS) who picked the Aggies and he looked like a legitimate Devil-backer to me...
Put Kirk, Garrett, Cunningham and Hall on the Sun Devils team and how good would they make us..??
Pretty darn good if you ask me...the Aggies had a bunch of four and five star guys beating us up all night long...five star guys like Kirk are called "difference makers" for a reason as they make a difference in games on a regular basis...
So, in the end, it really didn't matter what sort of game plan the Devils had, whether we had a new Special Teams coach, that Ballage was unable to play, whether we played on the road in a hostile environment or whatever other excuses we all may want to make or debate about, as the Aggies had superior talent and it showed without a doubt in the game...
Their defensive line ate up our offensive line all night and they weren't blitzing on almost every down like we had to...they forced 2 fumbles, had 9 sacks, had 14 TFL and basically had Berco off balance the entire night...when we can start doing that with our front four down lineman on defense we'll move up in the overall scope of things...
I knew we would have a difficult game given the talent disparity and the fact they were playing essentially a home game in Houston and it is a credit to our staff and team the way they hung in there for over three quarters but the dam finally broke, as it almost always does when you have that sort of disparity in talent...
I honestly thought our OL would play better than that and that our special teams wouldn't give up another long TD and that our defense wouldn't give up another long TD on either a run or pass but we did so it was like Deja Vu all over again in that respect...
The good thing is that we are not going to see another DL like the Aggies had the rest of the season IMO and we now have two home games to get ready for the Trojans, who also have a bunch of four and five star guys on their roster and UCLA isn't too shabby either, even playing a true freshman at QB...
It's time to regroup and put everything in perspective...we still have a very good chance to have another 10 or more win season, even if we most probably won't be in the playoff picture...it certainly isn't the end of the world but just a sobering reminder that talent trumps just about everything else at the end of the day...
And, most of the PAC isn't more talented than our Sun Devils...
G'day mates...Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
