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Shepherd 2022
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Quick take from Saturday's media day scrimmage. Bagent was on point making quick decisions and firing strikes to his receivers. R. Beach did not dress for the scrimmage but did not appear too beat up. Marlon Cook seemed to have great chemistry with Bagent. Christian Etchinson appears to be back in the QB2 role. It's a much different offense with him in the backfield. The revamped offensive line looked decent in the pass protection but will still need to work on run blocking. Of course, running behind Joey Fisher never hurts. Ronnie Brown appears to be the RB1 with an absolutely loaded stable of guys behind him. The offense with Bagent at the helm won't skip a beat this year.
Special teams gets a huge upgrade with the addition of NDC long snapper. Everything looked so much crisper on all kicks. The punting looked much improved as well. I look for special teams to be better than last year which definitely wasn't a strength.
Finally we get to the rebuilt defense which is going to be a work in progress. It's a very young defense. Like years past, they are speedy but undersized up front. The linebackers and DT'S are the area of concern just because of their lack of experience. They'll get better as they get experience. The secondary could be vastly improved and the addition of D1 transfer McDowell at safety will make a huge difference in pass coverage downfield. My overall take is this team's games will resemble last year's team until the defense finds its footing.
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A tale as old as time ... if a team blows the the chance to take a commanding lead when the opportunity presents itself, strap in for a probable head-scratching heartbreaker. Shepherd failed to convert from two yards out to take a 20-0 lead, and Cal. took advantage by scoring quickly after. Shepherd not only squandered a chance for a commanding lead, they squandered the lead and nearly lost the game. An elite team takes a commanding lead and squeezes any hope from its opponent. Cal is a solid team, but not great. "Good enough" to possibly win.
The Good:
- Again, against the odds, Shepherd found a way to win a game they probably should have lost
- Limited Cal. to 2.1 yards per carry
- Clutch 42-yard FG to force overtime
- Subsequent XP attempts were good kicks
- Defense getting it done when it mattered the most down the stretch
The Bad
- Run game, hard to say it was abandoned because it seemed to never get started
- 160+ yards in penalties
- Bagent and WRs not on the same page regarding numerous changes made at the line - would expect this in week one
- Gave up 5 sacks,
- Too many passes off (too high, behind WR, etc.) for a Harlon Hill winner (rattled and rushed because of the sacks?)
- First XP attempt didn't look blocked, it looked like it was simply kicked ground level into the back of Shepherd's linemen
- Play calling toward the end of the game. Once Shepherd was within one score, with the ball, decent time on the clock, and timeouts, it seemed so many plays/pass attempts were swing-for-the-fences, home-run type plays opposed to methodically moving down the field. This meant Shepherd was faced with 3rd and 10, 4th and 10 opposed to 3rd and 4-to-6 or 4th and 1-to-2 yard downs.
*Also, failing to try FG attempt on second-to-last series in attempt to tie the game ... and then repeating the same play with the same pass to the same corner of the end zone and arguing for a defensive holding call that by that point everyone figured the officials weren't calling.
- Coach McCook's response to the on-field reporter after the game left me wondering if he realized the score, that a FG would tie it. The response sounded like he thought the only option was to get the ball into the end zone--unless he was trying hard to say he had zero confidence in his kicker
Hopefully this is the scare the team needs to re-align their focus. Kutztown seems to be playing strong 4th quarter football to the point they don't lose a game like this (last year's playoff game notwithstanding). Shepherd should be concerned that Cal. just proved Shepherd is beatable, and showed a bit of the manuscript to get it done. Of course, no one is as good at beating Shepherd as Shepherd is at beating itself. Time for a sigh of relief, and time to get to work if the Rams aspire to reach the post-season, let alone another national semi-final run.
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Looking forward to the weather possible dictating a bit of the game flow this weekend. Seems like this has become a seasonal routine for our offense in that we grow as the season goes on into a more balanced attack and the running game develops as the season goes on. Would like to see a bit of more of Hartman and hopefully 25 carries in total between both Ronnie Brown and Hartman this weekend. At some point Tyson's magic is going to run out and the Rams need to find a way to put games away when we can by running it down other teams throats.
Brown is incredibly explosive, I'd even say the most electric player they've had in the backfield since Dervon Wallace. At some point he's got to take the tough 2-3 yard gain and put his nose in there instead of looking for the home run and taking a loss at times. Hartman hits the hole quickly and with his pads behind him. Would like to see a bit more of him in that role to help the offense sustain some drives to help the Ram defense. Once they can establish a consistent run game, it's only going to make the best player in the country more lethal in the passing game AND probably unlock Beach to be the underneath threat with the ball in space that he was last year.
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Couldn't agree more. Tough to win cold weather games with 11 and 25 yards rushing. And it certainly is from a lack of trying. Maybe the weather today "forces" a more balanced attack. Although Ernie and the OC like slinging the ball around in lower percentage situations like 3rd and 2. Looking forward to seeing the secondary take on another tough QB...Rams win 31-21
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As I said before, I was totally impressed with what I saw of Hartman in high school. The fact that he's taking a few carries away from Brown speaks volumes.
Another thing. I don't care where Shepherd plays, who's doing the home streamcast, my choice would be the TV10 guys on YouTube. They are professional, they provide an even-handed broadcast, and most important, they do their homework to know BOTH teams.Last edited by jrshooter; 10-01-2022, 11:25 AM.
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