Rewatched the game - very nice win - some observations
Great win - wire to wire domination - NIU hopefully was an unfortunate aberration
Purdue - horrible in every aspect of the game and no adjustments - hard to believe Card played at TX
CBS coverage, although announcers aren’t pro-ND - head and shoulders above NBC, does NBC own a high def camera?
Love - best player on the field - good to see someone realized that, Price is solid but not at that level - Love has physical attributes combined with patience and great game vision
QB - RL is a game manager, is a runner and scrambler first and a passer (under 20 yards) second if at all, watch the drive for TD before half - guy missed two easy open TD throws - stack the box and make him throw (112 pass, 100 run), he’ll get hurt at some point given the running
SA is the anti-Leonard pass first, throws a good ball (eg great toss to Jayden Harris), seems to progress better through reads, somewhat mobile but can’t rely on him running a lot, needs to throw ball away rather than take sack, faster Ds will pose a problem for him
Pass O - Evans and Raridon could make a potent combination, other TE contributed as well - still looking for the receiver threat it seems but will be difficult o/s possession given RL arm strength and tendency to pull the ball and run rather than move through progressions
OL - Injuries could be our undoing, but played well especially given injuries
Def - Traore could be special; D showed up and out played PU, hopefully Bothelo is ok, still concerned about our DL - LB and secondary are solid future seems bright here
ST - Australian punters are over rated, but that’s kicker seems like he is legit
Denbrock pretty clearly decided he needed to be more “hands on”
Replies to: Rewatched the game - very nice win - some observations
I like Angeli he has plusses and a few minuses. He knows how to play the position is a fairly
accurate passer, is mobile enough but sometimes holds the ball too long. Don't forget he has played mostly against poor competition but he is a gamer, it appears. However, I think he needs to play more because he has never disappointed. I was surprised at how Minchey looked. He looks quick and fast, and throws the ball decently well too. I am not sure of his knowledge of how to play the position and the one long pass he throw where there was interference was a bit short, so his accuracy and touch might not be as far along as Angeli's.
Carr excites me at QB. He looks like he could play today and his reputation and feedback from practices is higher than any QB that we have had in a long time.
The thing about Leonard is his arm is strong, just not accurate right now, but he is capable of making big plays against big teams because of his legs which should open things up downfield on a broken play. He definitely needs to see the field better to achieve this but he has played some tough competition and though Purdue was not competitive yesterday he did give us success early when Purdue was still trying hard to play their best when you know they were truly up for a program changing chance type game. He took the pysche right down though.
If Leonard can use those legs to get out of the pocket AND
Keep his eyes downfield AND throw and accurate ball, he would be top tier.
But I don’t think u learn that at the end of college. U either can do it or not. And u definitely don’t develop it midseason.
I agree. He can scramble; he can make scripted throws from the pocket; not both
If we had the most dominant defense in all of CFB, he’d probably be a little weak but ok for the job.
Can’t imagine being a highly recruited WR and thinking “I want to play with Riley Leonard”
Thankfully it’s only one season. Very easy to see why he’s been injured so much.
100%. Leonard had more fire yesterday, but he’s not a passer at all
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2 very valid points to consider, well said
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