[BB73]

I just watched last Saturday's game again, specifically looking at what Doug Datish did on every offensive play. I did this because I noticed in JT's presser this week that Datish was one of a handful of players that rated a winning performance in the coaches' post-game evaluations. In fact, he was awarded the Offensive Player of the game.

On about 25 rushing attempts, there were only a couple of running plays where it seemed that his assignment wasn't executed successfully. There were a few plays where he got off the line and hit linebackers and even safeties. On the play where Pittman got to the 1 yard line late in the game, Datish was on the right side (Hamby lined up as LT), and Doug walled off a man to help create a huge hole. On Troy's QB sneak 2 plays later, he quickly dove very low to help flatten the left side of the line.

On passing downs, he was performing different types of blocking assignments. There were cut blocks timed with short QB drops, combination blocks, and 1-on-1 dropbacks. There was only one time in pass protection where his man got near Troy Smith. Troy was flushed on the play and gained 7 yards on 1st down, so it didn't hurt the drive.

I know that many of us (including myself) have stated a preference to have somebody else starting at tackle. Well, I just want to say that last Saturday Doug Datish played an excellent game, and deserved his Offensive Player of the Game award.