Yes, we could have scored 40 (but didn't); yes, the defense was obviously the problem--but I do have concerns about Heupel's system.
For one thing, the novelty of our system will certainly wear off--and already is. Teams will practice for it, everybody's seen it--and I think it's effectiveness might erode, depending on the quality of the talent we have. And, a lot of times in recent games, we seem not to be playing as fast as earlier in the year. Hooker is looking to the sideline for calls, the officials are slow to spot the ball; the tempo seems to have slowed somewhat.
Beyond that, we had to earn everything we got last night except for the one TD throw to the tight end. Otherwise, we did not confuse South Carolina; they covered Hyatt and all our receivers pretty tightly all night. South Carolina's offense created a lot more confusion and problems for us than our offense created for them. Our play-calling was a ton of the usual Hooker short drops and passes of 7-20 yards. Hey, nothing wrong with that if you're completing them and moving the ball, which we mostly did. It seems like a system that will be very dependent on excellent receivers--and a real play-making back.
Impossible to argue with our offensive success this year. We'll see if we can maintain something close to this level in the next few years.
