The Birds Eye View – S2F4

Season Two of the Weekly Newsletter covering the Cards most recent contest. Double clicking on the newsletter will allow for full screen viewing and zoom functionality on mobile device.

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I sat in it for a bit on Saturday, wrestled with it a bit more on Sunday, and finally couldn’t hold in the frustration any longer. I penned a post on Sunday highlighting a few of the reoccuring themes I seem to hear when the annual blunder comes strolling across the football calendar, and frankly, I’m over the excuse making and the “gotta get it fixed”. When my kid was picking their nose, or when my child wipes his mouth with his shirt at dinner, these are things we “need to get fixed.” But when you have grown men who can’t control their emotions and coaches getting paid millions of dollars to address problems the entire country can see over and over again each week, these aren’t “ah, shucks we’ll figure it out”, these are “we need to some real accountability for your actions” type things. Bonehead penalties are one thing, but a complete lack of preparation and wherewithal that allows the most talented receiver to consistently walk freely into the endzone is completely unacceptable. Blown coverage on a play happens time to time, it can’t happen multiple times each week consistently without there being major changes. And while we’re on a roll, the offense wasted so many possessions this week where they had a chance to seize momentum, from the back to back three and outs to start the game to the three and out that went backwards after the fumble recovery late. The lack of creativity when they were clearly taking away aspects of your offense was infuriating. I’m here until the wheels fall off but need to see some modifications.

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OFFENSE I shouldn’t have to preface this , because I feel like most people who read this already know I’m pretty fair in my assessment of the team, but let me be perfectly clear. It is hard to score touchdowns. It is hard to move the ball downfield. I get it. But when the guy sitting in Section 213 and the girl sitting on her couch at home can all see the play calls coming, and can all see where some of the holes are repeatedly, it’s disappointing that the million dollar staff can’t adjust. I think I called the QB keeper 3 times last Saturday before the ball was snapped, and even though Brohm wanted to establish the short game, it was evident early WF was dialed in to stop it. We must adjust. Scoring 27 points isn’t a throw away by any means, but after the second three and out to start the game, when the Cards punted at roughly the 8:51 mark of the 1st Quarter, they never punted again the rest of the contest. Non-scoring drives ended with: Interception, Half, Downs, Missed FG, and Missed FG, with the last three drives all ending within the 40 yard line. The opportunities were there to seize but seize them we did not. The quick math says we averaged 2yds/att on the ground, and while Linc wasn’t sharp in the air he was good enough to win. I’m not writing them off after one game, but I believe this was easily the worst game I’ve seen from the offensive line in this early season. Get it fixed.

DEFENSE If I spent 90% of 2025 praising the defense and poo-pooing on the offense, well, it’s only fair to call a spade a spade. This defense stinks. Not on a scale of past defenses, not on an arbitrary scale of what I hoped they would be, but on a scale called reality. We watch this group fail on nearly all three levels over and over. The vaunted defensive line is getting little to no pressure consistently, the veteran led middle is out of position often, and the secondary….bless their heart. My eyes tell me it’s bad, but the numbers tell me it’s even worse. I’ll wait right here while you slowly move your gaze down the page to the bottom right corner and witness the monstrosity of the “national rankings” for the respective categories. Those aren’t typos, those triple digit numbers in both the pass and the run. It stinks to be bad in one aspect of the game defensively, it’s borderline unbelievable to be this bad in both aspects. I’m not pointing the fill blame to Ivey and Ellis, but the boys need to get in the lab and figure some things out quick. In all three Power 4 opponents they have played one guy has gone for over 150 yards every time. Deuce Alexander (159 rec yds-Ole Miss), Kendrick Raphael (197 rush yds-SMU), and Carlos Hernandez (194 rec yds-WF). They are getting gashed week after week, and it’s unacceptable with the talent they have on this roster. Get it fixed.

SPECIAL TEAMS I gave the boys a little pat on the back, even though they missed an extra point last week. That was a sign of maturity for me, but unfortunately they decided to ‘yeet’ all good graces granted unto them one week later. Hilbert missing a 42 yarder is tough, but bringing in Keller cold to kick from 57 was a choice, and the announcers even said his kick angle was low before he lined it up (cue block sequence). If the missed FG’s were the sprinkles, the ice cream in the bowl was the false start on Lubin on their FG attempt to give them a first down and keep the drive alive, and then the staff telling Voth to move forward on the punt return, then watching the ball sail over his head and roll all the way to 4 yd line instead of getting it closer to the 23 with about 36 secs on the clock before half. Get it fixed.

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