In my mind, this season hinged upon our ability to be proficient at QB, DL, and DB. I felt decent about everything else...LB being a bigger question than OL, WR, or RB in my mind.
QB
After this, I'm done with the QB discussion until Saturday. My opinion has been made clear. I trust skip will put the best guy in...I just happen to think we already know who that is. That said, if we can improve upon what we saw Saturday (either through a Freshman gaining experience or a Senior stepping his game up), we should be fine there. We don't have a Driskell, but I've endured seasons of quarterbacks that were far worse than what we saw against the best defense we'll face all year.
DL
This was the most pleasant surprise from Saturday for me. Arkansas had a lauded OL and our defensive front gave them fits. We showed scheme creativity and discipline. I was very impressed. JF is clearly the star of the position, but the pieces that Skip and crew have put around him have us well positioned to compete for a conference title. We're gonna be fine on the DL.
DB
I don't know how, but I had forgotten how good Xavier Woods is. He's an NFL caliber safety and he showed it last night. Sneed and Grogan (I guess he's more of a linebacker) showed out as well. We need to be better tackling, but we were always in position...which has not always been the case under Skip. Coach Baker seems to be really owning his system and putting his guys in a position to be successful.
Are we where we need to be? Not yet. That said, we went toe to toe with the most talented team (on paper) that we'll play this year. That means there are no sure losses on the schedule...feels good to say that. My record prediction is trending up. MTSU, WKU, and USM are on notice.
How Bout Them Dawgs!