Grading the Bucks--Week 2: San Diego State

Not a whole lot to take away from a game of this caliber...but here we go.

Offense: B+
The Bucks stepped on the throat of the inferior opponent from the start, even with their backup QB.  I love Kenny Guiton and I do believe that he is a top 4 QB in the entire B1G (maybe top 2), but pump the brakes.  This team needs Braxton--not against SDSU, but in the future.  Kenny G looked great, but he just doesn't have the reps to be confident against better competition (in all fairness, that only means NW, Wisc, and Mich from our schedule).  The only real downgrade is due to the let down in the second half.  I know the game was over, but 7 points in the half is a little disappointing.  It was a mental check-out...no biggie here, but Kenny needs to take every game rep as important.  RBs and WRs looked fine.  On to the next one.

Defense: A-
Pretty much ditto here for the defense, but even their second rate effort was almost enough to preserve the shutout.  The return of Roby was very nice and allowed Armani Reeves to look competent (on the second/third receiver).  SDSU had 37 total yards with about a minute left in the half.  That's enough to summarize the effort.

Special Teams: B+
Overall, pretty good effort, but you CANNOT commit a stupid penalty on a punt.  The roughing was another stupid penalty that won't hurt us here but may going forward.  Also, my "favorite" player (sarcasm alert), Christian Bryant, would really benefit from a Pop Warner introduction to tackling.  This is valid in the defense section but the one big return by the Aztecs was clearly aided by the standard 'kill-shot' levied by Bryant (that of course failed).  Get off the field and help the defense by preventing a good return.

Coaching: A-
I had no real problem with the playcalling, but substitutions were a little questionable.  Braxton is clearly the number one QB but has major problems staying healthy.  Kenny G is a more-than-serviceable backup, but after that...yeah.  With the game in hand and the Bucks checked out, why not preserve Kenny as he will almost surely be needed again and get the 3rd and 4th string QBs some game experience.  At most school's, this is no big deal, but the injury prone Miller makes this an important consideration.

Overall: A-
Big win.  Not terribly concerned about the lack of a monster blowout (even though a 35 point victory is nothing to sneeze at) due to the clear desire to finish the game quickly and go home.  Ont to the next one.