Persa: Overall, he was very good. He completed 19 of 21 passes for 222 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. He also carried the ball 17 times for 82 yards, and if you exclude his 3 sacks, he was even better. He threw the ball accurately, and he showed a good ability to work outside of the pocket. However, I have one complaint: He generally looked very uncomfortable within the pocket. Because of this fact, the 'Cats rarely used a conventional pocket in the second half, instead opting for moving pockets or bootlegs. It is fairly clear Persa will be a different type of quarterback than Kafka, running more option plays and spending far less time in the pocket.
The Running Backs: No improvement from last year. None. If anything, it was a regression; although I have trouble believing that's possible. Arby was awful, just mind-numbingly awful. I still have hope for him this year, but this kind of performance won't even come close to cutting it. He tended to try to make too much happen. If he could not find a hole, he attempted to reverse field, but, consequently, he lost yards. To his credit, I saw one play that displayed his potential. He made a couple moves to pull a six yard run out of seemingly nowhere, but that kind of play needs to be the norm. Schmidt was ok, but far from spectacular, carrying the ball 13 times for 44 yards. He never did anything great, but he at least consistently got positive yards. Simmons only got 3 carries for 14 yards, so he had too small a sample size to really analyze.
Ebert: Jeremy Ebert was the go-to receiver, and he was awesome. He made 5 catches for 99 yards, and a couple of those catches were not easy. On top of that he showed very good route running ability. He also had a 12 yard rush on a reverse. No complaints at all with his performance.
The Defense: Remember when I said that teams wouldn't be able to run against NU? Apparently I was very, very wrong. Vandy got 192 yards on the ground, 5.1 yards per play. They are not a bad running team, but 192 yards is unacceptable. Our defensive line and linebackers were simply dominated by their offensive line. However, even more discouraging is the fact that we allowed 240 passing yards. Vandy only managed 146.3 yrds/game last year. Our defense simply must improve.
Brandon Williams: In terms of punting, he appears to be a big step up from Demos, averaging 42.4 yards per punt, and showing at least some ability to place the ball in the red zone effectively. He even boomed a 59 yarder. However, he failed in his holding role, fumbling the snap on a crucial PAT.
The Crowd: This may seem like an odd point of analysis, but I needed to make note of the extensive Northwestern support at the game. 3 sections of the stadium were more purple than gold, and these masses of purple did an exceptional job of cheering on their team. As one Vandy fan said about some of the Northwestern faithful, "They're damn vocal." Good job guys, but can you all please show up for home games?
The Stadium: Seriously Vandy, can't you keep your stuff working? The instant replay system broke in the first quarter, thus making official reviews impossible. Then later, the air horn they sound after scores and turnovers would not turn off for several minutes. One of the less pleasant sounds I've ever had to endure.
The Personal Foul at the End of the Game: This was a serious point of contention. During Northwestern's final drive, Persa scrambled on third down and was stopped short of a first down. A Vandy player, however, was called for a personal foul helmet to helmet, giving the 'Cats the first down and the ability to down the ball to run down the clock. Vandy fans thought this was a bad call and were, to say the least, furious. However, after watching the replay 20-30 times, I believe the correct call was made. You can view the following screenshot and this video to decide for yourself.
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