Jackson is not the answer

[Black Saturday]

The defense is not going to stone wall every team every game. Montana has a good team and were prepared to win. We did not move the ball. We have an all American QB and this is the production we get out of him? I didn't expect a superman effort, but I expected better than this.

I expected better than this also.I expected better from the coaching staff and expected better from the team. I expected this to be a nip and tuck APP Griz game. and where was all that speed and attack? Not a good debut at all. Maybe we're just not that good this year. A loss that you at least show up for is one thing but man............Well I hope the Griz keep the steam rolling and I'll look forward to their playoff win against NDSU. We better get to work!

Not so fast, Eastern Washington took down #25 Oregon State last night. That was a more impressive win than Montana beating APP or NDSU beating Kansas State.

I agree, APP has much work to do.

[MountainMan]

Jackson smashed his head on the ground after rushing for a first and it took two botched snaps in a row and three dazed plays to finally take him out. You have to be aware and know what's going on in real time. I was beyond unimpressed with Satterfield.

That head-hitting-the-ground thing looked pretty nasty to me. I'm not sure Jamal was not affected by that for the rest of the game.

[AppSt94]

The defense is not going to stone wall every team every game. Montana has a good team and were prepared to win. We did not move the ball. We have an all American QB and this is the production we get out of him? I didn't expect a superman effort, but I expected better than this.

Three years ago after the Wofford game and DP was hurt. JJ came in and played well. The question was asked if JJ should replace DP. I said no and you countered me with the fact that JJ was the future and the DP was not. Now you are saying essentially the same thing with your horse in that race. Come on man.

[Maddog1956]

I have read all of the posts on this subject and for those that are explaining Jamal's poor performance due to his knee surgery, that would tell me he shouldn't be in there until he is healthy. A coaching problem...every players is going to say "I'm ready"

Jamal looked awful tonight. He had very limited mobility and his decision making was extremely slow. For those indicating that his O-line did not offer much protection, it appeared to me that when Cam Bryant was in there, he wasn't rushed or flustered as much with the same O-line. He looked poised and actually was the one that finally got the offense moving. Cam moved the line because he was the "unknown", once they figured him out he gave had two game ending TO's. Our O-line offered almost no protection and our D almost never made their QB hurry and had trouble bringing them down.

I'm not convinced that Ricky Ferguson should be our #1 guy at RB. He is way too small to carry the load and is definitely no K-Rich. Not 5-6 plays in a row, no play calling this game.

On defense, Montana was picking us apart in both passing and rushing the ball. Law and Walton were impressive, but we need to keep offenses from getting 400 plus yards to win. They play almost a perfect game, they were practiced and prepared.

I'm not saying Scott can't be a HC (maybe even a great one) just that he better make some changes fast.

[MountaineerChemist10]

You realize he is coming off of ACL surgery last winter? Jeez give the guy a break. I'm as frustrated as anyone but Jamal is not the main problem right now

Exactly. This is just one game guys, plus our o-line was crappy @ blocking so it's not all of his fault. I blame our defense for allowing so many rushing yards & such big passing plays. This should be a huge wake-up call to the team

[firemoose]

You realize he is coming off of ACL surgery last winter? Jeez give the guy a break. I'm as frustrated as anyone but Jamal is not the main problem right now

Exactly. This is just one game guys, plus our o-line was crappy @ blocking so it's not all of his fault. I blame our defense for allowing so many rushing yards & such big passing plays. This should be a huge wake-up call to the team

As I said in another post the D is new and very young in the back 8 plus at the NT rotation. They didn't play as bad as people are saying. They spent most of the first half on the field and as a former player and coach I have to tell people that inexperience will show up more as a player gets tired. That's what we saw last night. We played a Top tier FCS program on their home field (88% winning percentage). This wasn't a no scholarship team at home.

There was a reason I didn't put a prediction in that thread. I honestly didn't know what to expect but I was not surprised. When 2/3's of your team are freshmen and sophomores and you are one of, if not the youngest, teams in the country with a completely new defense that ever the upperclassmen have to learn then expectations have to be tempered. I plan on reserving my judgments for a while.

[Seattleapp]

Three years ago after the Wofford game and DP was hurt. JJ came in and played well. The question was asked if JJ should replace DP. I said no and you countered me with the fact that JJ was the future and the DP was not. Now you are saying essentially the same thing with your horse in that race. Come on man

That was not me. I have never been impressed with Jackson. He is a good guy and decent quarterback, But the game we lost at Furman a couple years ago where he was flailing his arms and basically throwing a tantrum the entire game showed me what type of personality he had as a leader and I've been luke warm on him ever since. It's nothing personal, but all those stats against the Elons of the world don't mean nothing when you come out here on the big stage and get out played by your backup.

[Seattleapp]

Just an observation. Why do you suppose we were on the field so much on defense? Yes we could have gotten more stops, but our vaunted Air Raid offense did nothing. We couldn't sustain drives and we didn't execute.

[firemoose]

Just an observation. Why do you suppose we were on the field so much on defense? Yes we could have gotten more stops, but our vaunted Air Raid offense did nothing. We couldn't sustain drives and we didn't execute.

Just that. I've made several posts that said the same thing. We got handled up front by a very good Griz front 7. I also said during the game that Jamal was not comfortable nor confident in the pocket. He had happy feet from the first series on. Personally I don't think he's gotten over injury in his mind and that leads to quick decisions and not going fully through your reads (as a former LB and defensive captain who made the d calls on the field I would have called straight up bull rushes and blitzes if I saw a QB dancing around like I saw last night because I would have seen he was rattled).

Until such time as he gets comfortable in the pocket and we can get some of the bigger freshmen and sophomores game experience and worked into the rotation to give him or Kam more time I think Satt needs to call more roll outs and quick screens to keep D lines from pinning their ears back. Make them think a little and you get just a second or two more time. Plus go man on man and let the backs pick holes instead of trying complex blocking schemes where assigment mistakes are more common. It's not an ideal solution but it does give you some time to get these young players more experience. They will get better with each and every game they play in but it's not going to happen overnight.

[AppSt94]

Three years ago after the Wofford game and DP was hurt. JJ came in and played well. The question was asked if JJ should replace DP. I said no and you countered me with the fact that JJ was the future and the DP was not. Now you are saying essentially the same thing with your horse in that race. Come on man

That was not me. I have never been impressed with Jackson. He is a good guy and decent quarterback, But the game we lost at Furman a couple years ago where he was flailing his arms and basically throwing a tantrum the entire game showed me what type of personality he had as a leader and I've been luke warm on him ever since. It's nothing personal, but all those stats against the Elons of the world don't mean nothing when you come out here on the big stage and get out played by your backup.

My apologies. I seem to recall someone (and I honestly though it was you) talking about JJ was the future and DP was not, so play JJ. Again, if it wasn't you, I am sorry. KB looked more poised and the offense seem to work with him. I wouldn't blame the hit on JJ has the problem has he wasn't doing anything before the hit. To your point about his tantrums and I stated this somewhere else ont his board. He is a lame duck QB and with nothing to play for in terms of a championship. He could have become frustrated and lost his composure. Or he could have become frustrated and tried to do too much. Only he knows. KB played well and I would not have taken him out. Sure he fumbled but it was a good hit and the defense is out there to make plays too. (Incendentally, I am not sure that the Montana player had control of the ball when he went out of bounds). The interception was underthrown but at least he went down field with the throw.

[AppSt94]

Just an observation. Why do you suppose we were on the field so much on defense? Yes we could have gotten more stops, but our vaunted Air Raid offense did nothing. We couldn't sustain drives and we didn't execute.

Just that. I've made several posts that said the same thing. We got handled up front by a very good Griz front 7. I also said during the game that Jamal was not comfortable nor confident in the pocket. He had happy feet from the first series on. Personally I don't think he's gotten over injury in his mind and that leads to quick decisions and not going fully through your reads (as a former LB and defensive captain who made the d calls on the field I would have called straight up bull rushes and blitzes if I saw a QB dancing around like I saw last night because I would have seen he was rattled).

Until such time as he gets comfortable in the pocket and we can get some of the bigger freshmen and sophomores game experience and worked into the rotation to give him or Kam more time I think Satt needs to call more roll outs and quick screens to keep D lines from pinning their ears back. Make them think a little and you get just a second or two more time. Plus go man on man and let the backs pick holes instead of trying complex blocking schemes where assigment mistakes are more common. It's not an ideal solution but it does give you some time to get these young players more experience. They will get better with each and every game they play in but it's not going to happen overnight.

I have to disagree with the statement of us getting handled up front. If you go back and look at the offensive output, we moved the ball well with KB. We had sustained drives at averages of 7 and 10 yards per snap. We didn't finish drives but that happens.

[asumike83]

Jamal played very poorly yesterday, there is no question about that. Still, I think it is unfair to say he is not a leader or a winner, especially after last season when he was repeatedly let down by a porous defense. I'd say Jamal was a huge reason for the wins against Georgia Southern and Montana a year ago. He also came up very big in the final minute of the game at Samford as well.

In the playoffs, he engineered a fourth quarter comeback and answered with another TD drive in overtime with the season on the line. Unless the blocked PAT was somehow his fault, I'm not sure how he could be blamed for App not advancing the playoffs last year either.

Yesterday was just a bad performance all around by the offense. Could not sustain a drive, left the defense on the field all day until eventually Montana just wore them down and pounded it out on the ground. The team has to get better, the performance was simply unacceptable. If Jamal is not 100%, Kam Bryant definitely played well enough to start in his place but he also had two costly turnovers.

Another factor in the struggles and the play-calling is that App really does not have a vertical threat to stretch the field consistently aside from Sean Price. Losing your deep threat two weeks before the season after relying on him all offseason puts everyone else in a very tough spot. Montana knew that, they played close to the line and completely eliminated the screen game. As poorly as App played, Montana played a near perfect game.

[firemoose]

I have to disagree with the statement of us getting handled up front. If you go back and look at the offensive output, we moved the ball well with KB. We had sustained drives at averages of 7 and 10 yards per snap. We didn't finish drives but that happens.

I should have clairifed I was talking more about when Jamal was in than when Kam was in. Jamal was dancing, Kam stepped up in the pocket to buy more time. He was also an unknown and made the d-line think a little more, at least for his first series or two. And he is more of a running threat that Jamal. But when 4 players are more than 5 yards into your backfield and you are a spread team then your line is getting pushed around. Jamal didn't step up in the pocket when that happened and he didn't set his feet to throw. Kam did and the results showed.

[hapapp]

Just an observation. Why do you suppose we were on the field so much on defense? Yes we could have gotten more stops, but our vaunted Air Raid offense did nothing. We couldn't sustain drives and we didn't execute.

Just that. I've made several posts that said the same thing. We got handled up front by a very good Griz front 7. I also said during the game that Jamal was not comfortable nor confident in the pocket. He had happy feet from the first series on. Personally I don't think he's gotten over injury in his mind and that leads to quick decisions and not going fully through your reads (as a former LB and defensive captain who made the d calls on the field I would have called straight up bull rushes and blitzes if I saw a QB dancing around like I saw last night because I would have seen he was rattled).

Until such time as he gets comfortable in the pocket and we can get some of the bigger freshmen and sophomores game experience and worked into the rotation to give him or Kam more time I think Satt needs to call more roll outs and quick screens to keep D lines from pinning their ears back. Make them think a little and you get just a second or two more time. Plus go man on man and let the backs pick holes instead of trying complex blocking schemes where assigment mistakes are more common. It's not an ideal solution but it does give you some time to get these young players more experience. They will get better with each and every game they play in but it's not going to happen overnight.

I don't purport to know the answer to how to free things up, but as an observation Jamal seems to be very inaccurate when he tries to throw on the move. The QB position is obviously the most visible position on the field and when things don't go well, the first thing fans do is call for a change. I think it is a bit hasty at this point, but I do want to see more of both of them in games to see if, in fact, one performs better than the other.

[ELCubano1]

I have read all of the posts on this subject and for those that are explaining Jamal's poor performance due to his knee surgery, that would tell me he shouldn't be in there until he is healthy. A coaching problem...every players is going to say "I'm ready"

Jamal's slow decision making had nothing to do with his knee nor did his lack of poise

Jamal looked awful tonight. He had very limited mobility and his decision making was extremely slow. For those indicating that his O-line did not offer much protection, it appeared to me that when Cam Bryant was in there, he wasn't rushed or flustered as much with the same O-line. He looked poised and actually was the one that finally got the offense moving. Cam moved the line because he was the "unknown", once they figured him out he gave had two game ending TO's. Our O-line offered almost no protection and our D almost never made their QB hurry and had trouble bringing them down.

Again, Cam was better able to move the ball than Jamal. He outperformed Jamal.

I'm not convinced that Ricky Ferguson should be our #1 guy at RB. He is way too small to carry the load and is definitely no K-Rich. Not 5-6 plays in a row, no play calling this game.

We need a bigger back. This offense has typically been predicated on a one back system. If Satt is going to stick to that and have one back getting most of the reps, I don't feel Ferguson should be that back. My opinion...

On defense, Montana was picking us apart in both passing and rushing the ball. Law and Walton were impressive, but we need to keep offenses from getting 400 plus yards to win. They play almost a perfect game, they were practiced and prepared.

Exactly my point...and we were unprepared and played horribly...both!

I'm not saying Scott can't be a HC (maybe even a great one) just that he better make some changes fast.

The changes should come quick and fast and we should all expect changes in personnel to occur.

[Boone Goon]

First, it's Kam with a 'K'.

Second, Kam also tore his ACL last season.

Third, I think JLJ is our best option to win this year, but the gap between him and Kam is much smaller than we all thought. That is a great thing for this season and an even better thing for next.

Fourth, I would like to know more about JLJ's "upper body injury". Depending on what it is let him sit out this week against A&T and have the bye week to get fully healthy.

[T-Dog]

I don't get the hate for Ricky Ferguson. Eric Dickerson wouldn't have had a good game with that o-line against that Montana d-line. In the times he managed to get decent blocking, he looked good.

[Lhardware]

Jackson is not Armanti and never will be. Having said that we still need a quarterback that has sharp quick skills that can assess the situation and take charge. Jackson does not seem to have that. IF you match quickness and mental agility with a good athlete you've got it. We need to develop that.

[RankinApp]

I don't get the hate for Ricky Fergerson.

Who is hating on Ricky (12 rushes for 59 yards)? I thought him and Cox (made yards rushing and receiving) were two of the bright spots last night.

[AtlAppMan]

Quick Comparison between our two QBs against Montana:
JLJ
13-21-0 89 yds
Long 16 yds
Avg/Attempt 4.2 yds
Avg/Comp 6.8 yds
Avg yds/drive 15.8 yds

KB
8-12-1 116 yds
Long 35 yds
Avg/Attempt 9.7 yds
Avg/Comp 14.5 yds
Avg yds/drive 49 yds/drive

As far as I know all other things were equal, same O-line, receivers and running backs while both were playing against the same defense.