Just some thoughts of the Tulsa game:

I thought I would mention everyone's favorite topic first whether John Beck has "it" or not. I think from what I have watched over the last two or three years is that it has less to with John Beck have "it" and more to do with the team not having "it". Remember the Utah game of '03 when 3-0 seemed insurmountable? There was a feeling in the stadium that was palpable. Everyone felt it including the team. I hope this game was one step closer to the team finding "it". Beck has been impressive with his completion percentage. He has learned how to throw the "right pass" rather than just the accurate pass i.e. the TD pass to Matt Allen.

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Unsung heroes:

The Whole Defense:
They have been overshadowed by the re-emergence of the offense but they held a better offensive team than Arizona to one more point (I don't count the last touch down).

Dan Coats
Watch him when he blocks. He pushes the defender to the sideline. The defender is always back peddeling. He is one of the reasons we ran the ball so effectively.

Matt Allen
He made a couple of big blocks on the Curtis Brown run. Nothing less than spectucular down field blocking. Also on the long pass to McKay Jacobson, McKay was open because he beat his man and the safety had slid over to help leaving McKay open.

Haolo Paongo (sp?)
The main pass rush was coming from the middle, although he only recorded one sack (and a forced fumble) he had good push up the middle. Not bad for a former walk-on.

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The Pass Rush
In the second half for a good portion of the time we only sent three in and dropped eight in coverage. This seemed very effective as the Smith had a harder time throwing the ball. I think part of the reason this was effective was because Tulsa did a good job picking up our blitzes and Smith made his reads quickly and found the open man.

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Why Criddle works as cornerback
The way the defense is set up Robinson plays on the field side (from far hash mark to side line) and Criddle plays boundry side (from near hash mark to sideline). He does not have as much field to cover and it plays to his physical nature because he does better at shedding blockers. Whereas Robinson is not as physical on the field side.

Some ideas, would love to hear your feedback.