Western Kentucky Recap: Surprises and Nonsurprises.

The thing to keep in mind about this kind of opener is that you really are damned no matter what happens. No matter how badly you blow away a team that last year was mediocre even in I-AA, it will never be enough. However, I was glad that the starters generally took care of business. I can't wait until the first reall game next week. Until then, here's a quick look at what I found surprising (and not) this afternoon. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments.

Surprises

1) Joe T. looked more mediocre than I expected, and that scares the hell out of me. 7-17 is not good, even if you are victimized by 4 legitimate drops. Even the passes he completed were mostly a little high, a little low, or a little behind the receiver. Cox looked far sharper in terms of getting the ball where we need it to be. At least until his boneheaded interception, which was a G-Day game flashback. Stafford looked good, more athletic than I expected and his pocket presence was good too. I said before the game that I would put his chances of playing in the 40-50% range. Color me wrong. Of course, offenses usually look a little off the first couple of times out, so I'm not terribly alarmed. And I'm still certain that Joe T. is your starter against Lesser Carolina. However watching Joe T. left me with a vague, uneasy feeling which was only enhanced by watching the Tennessee, UAB and Tech games later (it's currently halftime in Atlanta, so I'll be back with more of those games, plus Auburn, later). We could be in for a rough ride, gang.

2) Mikey Henderson is legit. I thought he would contribute, but I had no flipping idea it would be like that. I will, of course, be awarding him the 1st annual Xavier Carter Memorial Dumbass Special Teams play of the year award for the first punt return. I admit it, I swore at the guy for a solid 3 minutes after he inexplicably let go off the ball at the 3 yard line. In hindsight (and aided by replay) I don't think he was showboating, just genuinely excited. I'm glad we got that out of the way today rather than next Saturday, when it could really have hurt us. Now, the important stuff: Thomas Flowers has officially lost his job as punt returner. He will not likely get a chance to supplant Henderson unless Henderson's lingering hamstring injury hangs around, or Mikey is kidnapped by freedom fighters from the Peruvian hinterlands. Yeah, the WKU punter outkicked his coverage on the second punt, but still, repeat after me-Mikey Henderson is officially badass. Please govern yourselves accordingly. I am extremely excited that we finally have a guy back there who's a legit threat to take it to the house every time he touches it. That is huge for our inexperienced quarterbacks, who will need somebody to make the first guy miss and get the ball out of bad situations.

Now, some nonsurprises . . .

1) Martrez Milner dropped a touchdown pass. Is there really anyone who didn't believe that Martrez would get wide-ass open and then proceed immediately into his impersonation of a fainting goat in the endzone? Tripp Chandler to starter watch will begin in 5,4 3, . . .

If I see Martrez Milner do this one more time when the ball is gently lofted in his direction . . .

2) We were forced to play reserve offensive linemen and it cost us points. OK, I didn't think it would happen with Seth Watts doing his Rowdy Roddy Piper impersonation in the endzone for a safety. But somehow I knew that one of the younger o-linemen would have a bust at a critical time. Again, however, this is the time for boneheaded mental letdowns. Not next week. Not October 7. Let's hope things improve, and remeber that we'll be in slightly better shape from a depth perspective after next week.