Offensive Skill Players Stepping Up

[BearGB]

I think we are starting to begin to see players step up to help Dayne out, however it has seemed to take a while. To be fair, Armando has run hard and extremely well from the very beginning. Especially when Dayne went down against Michigan, though, I wanted to see Michael or Kyle tell Tommy or Nate - "Get the ball to me. I got your back." Now, don't take this wrong, I love both of those guys, and think the world of them. I just think both of them need to get that leadership swagger going where they crave the ball.

I do think it is slowly happening, though. We see Kyle not only being the guy who will always catch the ball when you need the first, but also the guy who can outrun the MSU defense for a 95 yard score! Michael has certainly shown flashes - obviously he just needs the complete confidence in himself that he really is THAT good! Look for him to want to make a statement this week. Theo is beginning to find the defensive seams as well!

What we still need to see just a little bit more of, though, is that extremely "confident," "can't bring be down" mentality that Golden had. I think 'Mando's got it, and I think Theo is getting it - but I'm excited to see him develop even more of it down the line.

Here's something to put a smile on everyone's face:YouTube - Golden Tate: Every Touchdown in 2009 - Highlights

Especially check out 5:10 against WSU (the catch), 5:45 against Navy (the leap), and from 9:00 on to see how silly he makes the Stanford secondary look. It's unbelievable. Unfortunately, sometimes its hard to appreciate someone like Golden until he's gone - what a guy!

 

[irish4ever]

Michael has certainly shown flashes - obviously he just needs the complete confidence in himself that he really is THAT good! Look for him to want to make a statement this week.

What Michael needs to do is HANG ONTO THE FREAKIN' BALL!!!!! 3 fumbles (2 lost) in 3 games .... nuff said!

 

[GEORGIA DOMER]

If he keeps this up he falls out of the first round!

 

[PANDFAN]

in my opinion, it seems that since Mike is now the #1 wr and target he feels like he has to do too much instead of just allowing what he is given. sure i would love for him to take it to the house everytime, but he is not concentrating (except 1x msu where he was switching hands) on catching the ball 1st before he is turning around seeing where to go...and then with the fumbles it then becomes a mental thing and then he is thinking too much instead of just doing what he does best...catching the ball and being dominant! once he has a big game(hoping this is it) i feel it will be all he needs to play fundamentally sound from there

 

[IrishLax]

By the time we play Utah, our offense will be scary good. I just hope USC doesn't get equally better before we play them at the end of the season.

 

[theclassickiller]

If he keeps this up he falls out of the first round!

I read a report that Kelly was putting petroleum grease on Floyd's gloves so that he would fumble alot and drop a lot of passes this year, thus decreasing his confidence making him want to stay another year for when we actually tear some **** up.

Which makes it pretty amazing when you consider the percentage of catches Floyd has made with grease on his hands.

I don't know, maybe I just made that up. Whatever.

 

[Jerry]

I think Floyd's 2 fumbles were kind of a fluke. That might sound stupid to some people but I just don't think it has to do with him trying to do too much or anything really mental. He caught the ball weird against Purdue and was hit right away forcing the ball out. Against MSU he caught the pass and the Spartan defender slapped the ball out instantly (that's why they called it incomplete). There isn't really anything you can do mentally to not have things like that happen once in awhile. Unfortunately for Floyd and ND it has happened twice in 3 games.

 

[IrishinSyria]

I think Floyd's 2 fumbles were kind of a fluke. That might sound stupid to some people but I just don't think it has to do with him trying to do too much or anything really mental. He caught the ball weird against Purdue and was hit right away forcing the ball out. Against MSU he caught the pass and the Spartan defender slapped the ball out instantly (that's why they called it incomplete). There isn't really anything you can do mentally to not have things like that happen once in awhile. Unfortunately for Floyd and ND it has happened twice in 3 games.

I agree...I watched the highlights of the Spartans one a few times and I can't see how he would have done anything differently.

 

[TinyT]

The problem with his fumbling, aside from the turnover, is that now teams with coaches with a darn, will specifically target the strip on Floyd. He is going to have to be really protective of the ball from now until he proves he can hang on.

 

[IrishInColumbus]

Floyd also fumbled at a crucial time against North Carolina his freshmen year too, and he was injured too often last year to have a chance at fumbling.

Against Michigan State, Kelly ran more go routes with Floyd, and Crist actually threw him the ball. I loved it. Floyd is a vertical receiver and can really only be utilized as such at this point. Let us remember, he ran and caught passes on only fades, goes, and comeback routes last season. Very little else mixed in.

Use Floyd to stretch the field vertically and hammer teams with Rudolph and Riddick. It's a recipe for success and Kelly knows it.

 

[Jerry]

The problem with his fumbling, aside from the turnover, is that now teams with coaches with a darn, will specifically target the strip on Floyd. He is going to have to be really protective of the ball from now until he proves he can hang on.

In a way though I could see that helping Floyd break tackles. If he catches the ball in the open field and a guy comes up trying to strip rather than wrap up Floyd has proven to be good a breaking the tackles of smaller db's.

Floyd also fumbled at a crucial time against North Carolina his freshmen year too, and he was injured too often last year to have a chance at fumbling.

Against Michigan State, Kelly ran more go routes with Floyd, and Crist actually threw him the ball. I loved it. Floyd is a vertical receiver and can really only be utilized as such at this point. Let us remember, he ran and caught passes on only fades, goes, and comeback routes last season. Very little else mixed in.

Use Floyd to stretch the field vertically and hammer teams with Rudolph and Riddick. It's a recipe for success and Kelly knows it.

Yeah, I was annoyed the first couple weeks because it seemed they weren't utalizing Floyd as a vertical threat at all. At least they were able to do that against MSU. But I hadn't really thought about the lack of Floyd cathing balls underneath in the past?? That's interesting. Hopefully he can work on his control of the football because it would be nice for him to be an all around receiver.