...::He said.

.She said::...

...::THE OFFENSE

SHE SAYS::...

Well, I can't complain too much about a victory, and the offense sure showed
what many fans had expected during the first half. Quarterback Sean Canfield
was poised, the wide receivers made some outstanding catches (including a beauty
by freshman Darrell Catchings), the offensive line opened up holes for Yvenson Bernard
and gave Canfield time to throw, and Bernard was once again juking his
way into the endzone.

The Beavers had a balanced attack going well into the second quarter and dominated
the time of possession for the first half (10+ minutes in the first and second
quarter). We saw some great drives and watched the Beavers build a 31-3 first
half lead before a Canfield interception led to seven Wildcat points late in
the second quarter.

For all that went well in the first half, things simply went stagnant in the
second half, where the Beavers managed only 44 total offensive yards. The three
and outs, allowed Arizona to dominate the time of possession in the second half.
Luckily the Beavers defense held tough and the Beavers did not give the ball
away to self-destruct down the stretch.

I am as baffled as the next guy as to what happens to the Beaver offense in
the second half that seems to halt any momentum, but offensive performances
like that against the better teams that await the Beavers during the second
half of the season could spell trouble.

Many who sit around me were a little perplexed to see Lyle Moevao take over
at quarterback in the third quarter, but I like the decision by Riley to pull
Canfield out to settle him down and let him observe the action for a time. Canfield
is young and still has a lot of learning to do. His interceptions were ugly
and a little step back may have preserved his confidence.

The Beavers seem to do very well with the early scripted plays, maybe that
is the answer…script the first and third quarters and the Beavers could
build a fifty point lead.

SHE SAYS-GRADE: C

The offense looked quite smooth and relaxed all the way up to the point of
the ugly screen pass interception. From that point on, it was a conservative
O. None of the creative play calling that we saw in the first half materialized
in the second half.

In the first half alone, I saw an offset I run twice in the first two plays,
an empty backfield with Bernard split out wide, a sweet reverse to James Rodgers,
and several more regular I formations. None of these formations/plays do I recall
seeing before Saturday's game. What that tells me is these plays are a surprise
to the defense. And guess what? They all went for positive yardage.

The second half was more of the traditional one back or offset back formations
and the results were less then spectacular.

The Offensive Line dominated for the most part. The quarterbacks usually had
plenty of time to throw, and once or twice Canfield had a silly amount of time
to pass.

This is going back a couple of years, but I'd sure like the QB to sell the
fake handoff better. I'm not sure what the point is to do the little shoulder
fake.

All in all a nice offensive effort, but still much to work on.

HE SAYS-GRADE: B-



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