Written by: Danny Talbert
Costly penalties, dropped balls and high snaps were just some of the ways LC shot themselves in the foot tonight. Although it was not the result we wanted, the Panthers mistakes are all fixable and can be improved by next week.
Some of the mistakes that were made tonight were costly penalties that killed the drives or allowed Berry to continue theirs. These were things like not being lined up, holding and face masks. Another issue for tonight was that we constantly started inside their own 15 due to the returners not being able to handle the catch properly or choosing to take it out of the end-zone, instead of allowing a touchback. Reducing the penalties and the bad decisions on kick returns can be fixed to improve for the season ahead.
Although the game did not go our way, it was not all bad for LC tonight. QB Jaden Mann showed how athletic he is by scrambling and scrapping for yards throughout the game. The offensive line created huge holes for the running backs to get through multiple times. When the wide receivers were able to get the ball, they constantly showed how talented they are by high-pointing the passes and juking the defensive backs. After giving up great field position to Berry, the defense came up big by getting an interception and again by forcing a fumble inside their own 20-yard line. But most importantly, the Panthers never showed any quit tonight. Good character and perseverance cannot be taught, and the Panthers tonight showed both of these things. Each snap they took, they left all of it on the field and never pointed fingers.
As I mentioned in the beginning, a lot of the mistakes made are to be expected in a first game of the season, and they are very teachable. Also at this point, it was Berry's third game of the season (including scrimmages), so they had time to clean up these problems.
I am looking forward to seeing how the players and staff can learn from tonight to improve for next week. It is not always about the loss but how you respond to it.
Next week the team travels to Virginia to play Ferrum on Sept. 16. The game begins at 12 p.m. to stream click here.
