It’s always nice to start off your season with a confident win. Regardless of the opponent it always feels nice to see your team come out and play well, and that is certainly what the Frogs did on Saturday.

Yes, it was against Southern, but let’s break down what was good, what needs work, and some exciting details of the game:

The Good:

• I was really impressed with the receiving core today. The QB’s really shared the love in this game, with a total of 10 players recording a catch on the day, and 4 of them hauling in touchdown receptions. New faces made plays, including Derius Davis, Al’Dontre Davis, Ni’Jeel Meeking, and Taye Barber.
• We need to take a second to seriously talk about Shawn Robinson’s fantasy football value. The man put up 227 total yards of offense and 5 touchdowns in basically one half of play. Now, I’m not the best at math, but if my calculations are correct, I believe that means that Shawn is...good? I know I’m not breaking any internet forum threads by saying that, but it was really good to see him come out and make those intermediate throws with ease. After the Texas Tech game, I was concerned with him not being able to really lock in on those throws that weren’t deep home run balls. However, you give someone an entire offseason with the one’s and he’ll show you what he’s really made of. Once Shawn settled down, he really looked good. We’ll need to see how he does in the coming weeks to properly evaluate him, but boy do I like what I see so far.
• Linebacker depth. Linebacker depth. Linebacker depth. Garrett Wallow, Jawuan Johnson, Ty Summers (technically DE, but he can still be used in a myriad of ways), Ben Wilson. All look like good players. Not much else to say, but I’m always here for more depth in the middle of the defense.
• Special teams looked great as well. (Side note: it was really good to see Turpin involved in the offense, making plays, as well). On the opening kickoff, Jalen Reagor had a strong return, giving TCU great field position to start the game. Turpin of course did Turpin things on kick offs, and I can’t not mention Emari Demercado’s first collegiate touch being a return all the way into Southern territory. Of course, I can’t forget Derius Davis who did his best Turpin impression and made a house call in the 3rd quarter on a return.
• Healthy running backs are also a very good thing. I was nervous because I didn’t know how Anderson would return from his leg/foot injury last year, but he appeared to be his same old self. Making plays, cutting, and jetting around the outside. Sewo looked good too, using his sneaky speed for his size and using said size to bulldoze through players. Also s/o Emari Demercado for leading the team in rushing in his very first appearance. Can confirm that I am a fan.

The Bad

• Considering the Frogs won 55-7, this is really picking nits. However, you hate to see the Frogs give up what appears to be their weakness for as long as I can remember - that’s the deep ball. To be fair, it was a play action deep pass that resulted in Southern’s only touchdown/score of the day, but more skilled teams are going to try and expose that weakness more and more as the season goes on. Let’s hope that this was just a hiccup.
• Other than his early game jitters, Shawn played really well. However, I did have one nit to pick on one of his touchdown passes - But Mason, how can you have a nit to pick with a touchdown pass? A touchdown pass is a good thing? - to that I say you are absolutely right. A touchdown pass is a good thing. However, on his TD pass to Taye Barber, he eyeballed him pretty hard. While it was not for very long, it was still enough time for a more skilled safety or defensive back to read his eyes and potentially make a play on the ball. I’m concerned for plays like that against teams like Ohio State - who is known for their DB’s - or Texas, who have a solid group of defensive backs as well. Don’t worry though, I’m not going to get upset every time Shawn throws a tuddy.

Play of the Game:

Keeping up with last year’s MMQB tradition, I will be awarding a weekly play of the game award to a player, for a particular play that stood out to me. This week, I wanted to give the reward to a fresh face that made plays and his name known in this one. The play of the game for week one goes to Derius Davis on his return for a touchdown late in the game. Here’s to more plays from the true freshman. (Start at 2:17).

Next week: The Battle for the Iron Skillet

On Friday the Frogs travel down the highway to take on the Ponies of the Southern Methodist variety, and I’m sure coach P will have the boys in purple prepared, but this game always frightens me a little bit because it is the other team’s super bowl. Plus you never want to be one of those teams that is better than it’s performance in a game against a lower tiered team. Let’s keep the momentum rolling into next week ladies and gents.