Jitters. That's the consistent bell bring rung by every secondary member I've talked to in the aftermath of the Colorado State game. I don't need to tell you how rough things were for the CBs and safeties. The Rams made it rain through the air for a lot of the game, while Colorado's DBs struggled to combat it. Mikial Onu's two picks were godsends and I think after halftime, the bolts got tightened, but yeah, overall, shockingly ineffective performance(s) by the DBs.
Now that game one is over, I have noticed a good blend by the DBs of owning up to those mistakes and knowing what they need to address this week. That plus confidence in themselves. The jitters are out, now it's time to turn in respectable performances, starting with Nebraska on Saturday.
“I took our off-day (Sunday) to watch the game — I watched the game probably three times," Mekhi Blackmon said. "I didn’t play good at all. There were a few positives I could take from it. But my open-field tackling has to get better, my eye discipline has to get better, but the jitters are out. Game one is over.”
“As players, we’ve just to watch more film and study more. Coaches gave us the plan, we knew what we had to do, and we just need to capitalize and make plays.”
Blackmon cut right to the chase when I was talking with him and I liked his self-accountability.
“The jitters are over with, for real," Blackmon continued. "That shouldn’t have even been an excuse from day one."
Remember what Mel Tucker said after the game — he wasn't particularly surprised by any aspect of the team's performance vs. CSU. I think he understood that coming out, there would be some unavoidable jitters for guys new to a starting role.
As Mikial Onu put it,
“The biggest thing was first-game jitters, first and foremost. (CSU) came out with some looks that we weren’t seeing consistently in practice. The first game, you’ve got to get settled in. There’s people jumping around, your head’s everywhere so the biggest thing for us is to settle down.”
He also owned up to having missed some assignments during the game, downplaying his two picks, which again I appreciated.
"He has experience, he's played in big games and he's a steadying force and just a presence in out secondary. He's an older guy who is consistent and you need to have that. You need to have guys who can make calls, settle other people down, help make adjustments and make plays." — HCMT.
I liked Onu from the first time I talked to him in early August. Everything Tucker has said about him is correct. He's a great combination of a playmaker, veteran and leader. Colorado is lucky to have him.
Onu talked today about upping the physicality among the DB corps while also addressing how to better communicate with the defense.
“After physicality, communication is probably the most important thing for us to improve on," he said. "Us being a new secondary, I’m a new guy, Aaron (is new) to starting at safety, the same with Mekhi — we have to get used to communicating and getting comfortable with each other back there. When games are going fast, you have to be able to look for calls and listen even though it’s loud. That’ll get better in time, but we’ve definitely harped on that this week and I think we’ll see an improvement this game.”
Ending point: CU's DBs know what they did wrong last week and are eager to show Saturday that similar performances will not be the identity of the position group.
My question to you all: You buy it? Were jitters the main culprit against CSU or put simply, did the talent/ability level of the secondary just reveal itself this early into the season?
Now that game one is over, I have noticed a good blend by the DBs of owning up to those mistakes and knowing what they need to address this week. That plus confidence in themselves. The jitters are out, now it's time to turn in respectable performances, starting with Nebraska on Saturday.
“I took our off-day (Sunday) to watch the game — I watched the game probably three times," Mekhi Blackmon said. "I didn’t play good at all. There were a few positives I could take from it. But my open-field tackling has to get better, my eye discipline has to get better, but the jitters are out. Game one is over.”
“As players, we’ve just to watch more film and study more. Coaches gave us the plan, we knew what we had to do, and we just need to capitalize and make plays.”
Blackmon cut right to the chase when I was talking with him and I liked his self-accountability.
“The jitters are over with, for real," Blackmon continued. "That shouldn’t have even been an excuse from day one."
Remember what Mel Tucker said after the game — he wasn't particularly surprised by any aspect of the team's performance vs. CSU. I think he understood that coming out, there would be some unavoidable jitters for guys new to a starting role.
As Mikial Onu put it,
“The biggest thing was first-game jitters, first and foremost. (CSU) came out with some looks that we weren’t seeing consistently in practice. The first game, you’ve got to get settled in. There’s people jumping around, your head’s everywhere so the biggest thing for us is to settle down.”
He also owned up to having missed some assignments during the game, downplaying his two picks, which again I appreciated.
"He has experience, he's played in big games and he's a steadying force and just a presence in out secondary. He's an older guy who is consistent and you need to have that. You need to have guys who can make calls, settle other people down, help make adjustments and make plays." — HCMT.
I liked Onu from the first time I talked to him in early August. Everything Tucker has said about him is correct. He's a great combination of a playmaker, veteran and leader. Colorado is lucky to have him.
Onu talked today about upping the physicality among the DB corps while also addressing how to better communicate with the defense.
“After physicality, communication is probably the most important thing for us to improve on," he said. "Us being a new secondary, I’m a new guy, Aaron (is new) to starting at safety, the same with Mekhi — we have to get used to communicating and getting comfortable with each other back there. When games are going fast, you have to be able to look for calls and listen even though it’s loud. That’ll get better in time, but we’ve definitely harped on that this week and I think we’ll see an improvement this game.”
Ending point: CU's DBs know what they did wrong last week and are eager to show Saturday that similar performances will not be the identity of the position group.
My question to you all: You buy it? Were jitters the main culprit against CSU or put simply, did the talent/ability level of the secondary just reveal itself this early into the season?
