2021 Fall Camp Starts Friday August 6th

[ImperialOrange]

There are many college QBs, every season, who can counter a pass rush by quickly finding an alternate receiver, by rolling away and making plays, or by being part of the run game to keep defenses off-balance.
Dungey could do these things - particularly by always being a threat to run. Helped the OL look good.
‘Open question with TD - have to see when the real action starts. It isn’t only whether the OL has improved.

Correct but not many, that aren't a run threat, can do it well. Last year's oline performance was historically bad... Maybe worse the GRob error levels. Granted there were a plethora of reasons.

Opposition had to spy Dungey and he'd still make them miss. That's not Tommy's game and that same defender that spied Dungey is now sitting on short routes. Remember how much worse it got with Tommy out? Safeties didn't even have to drop and corners and LBs jumping/dropping into every route.

The oline needs to help the oline look good, simple as. We've got absolute studs in the RB room and our oline needs to make them the run threat vs whoever is QB.

 

[storange]

Was the 2020 OL really all that different than the 2016 OL? Using ACC YPC and ACC Sacks per game they are nearly identical. And that is with the added benefit of Dungey rushing and eluding sacks. In fairness TD didn't play the whole season. Also in fairness he looked bad when he did play.

For me, the first question we need to answer is what can we expect from this year's OL. The 2nd question is which QB can have more success given that OL.

Can we realistically expect this year's OL to be as good as 2018's OL? That OL gave up 2.75 sacks per game in ACC games (9th best). Without Dungey that number likely is over 3 per game. He avoided sacks and our opponents were less likely to blitz given his running ability. Both make it easier on the OL and they still were 9th best.

So can TD succeed getting sacked 3+ times per game and hurried a few on top of that?

Was watching Camping World Bowl tape. Three of our biggest offensive plays came when ED avoided rush, including the absurd play to Moe Neal.

 

[RMH44]

You're not wrong but ED is the exception not the rule. Most QBs can't do much in any offense if the defense is on them in 3 seconds or less. DMac5 was out best prior and even he had more time than Tommy did last season. Honestly how TD didn't throw more INTs for self preservation is astonishing.

Hard to throw int's when you routinely throw the ball out of bounds (even on 4th down) or by stepping out of bounds behind the LOS = sack. Imo, at times, it appeared TD was more worried stats than taking a risk.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Hard to throw int's when you routinely throw the ball out of bounds (even on 4th down) or by stepping out of bounds behind the LOS = sack. Imo, at times, it appeared TD was more worried stats than taking a risk.

Saw that as well. Occasionally just have to grip it and rip it and give receiver a chance to make a play.

 

[RMH44]

Saw that as well. Occasionally just have to grip it and rip it and give receiver a chance to make a play.

...or use his strong arm and throw into a tight window once in a while. Trust his read...his arm...and his WR's.

 

[djorange1989]

TD seems like the QB Dino has wanted to succeed since he came on campus. Dino seems stubborn in some things and I wonder how stubborn he will be if TD flounders. IF we aren't running the ball well I don't think either QB will prosper, we just need to find one who doesn't hurt us or hurts us the least with dumb sacks, picks, etc.

Dino has tied his success to TD, like Frost has with Martinez at Nebraska. Looks like it is going to end badly for Frost, let's hope it gets better for Dino and our program. I do think he will have no problem putting in GS if TD looks bad out of the gate, we cannot afford to have even a mediocre September, let alone a bad one, or else the season will go down the tubes. if the OL proves to be serviceable and we can run the ball, TD can succeed. Fingers crossed

 

[ImperialOrange]

...or use his strong arm and throw into a tight window once in a while. Trust his read...his arm...and his WR's.

He did that quite well in early days and at some point became hesitant. The Tommy you're referencing is the one that beat FSU and UNC and I hope he's still in there despite the PTSD of beatings he's since taken.

 

[RMH44]

He did that quite well in early days and at some point became hesitant. The Tommy you're referencing is the one that beat FSU and UNC and I hope he's still in there despite the PTSD of beatings he's since taken.

He hasn't been the same since the 2018 ND game.

 

[ImperialOrange]

He hasn't been the same since the 2018 ND game.

None of us really have

 

[TheCusian]

Was the 2020 OL really all that different than the 2016 OL? Using ACC YPC and ACC Sacks per game they are nearly identical. And that is with the added benefit of Dungey rushing and eluding sacks. In fairness TD didn't play the whole season. Also in fairness he looked bad when he did play.

For me, the first question we need to answer is what can we expect from this year's OL. The 2nd question is which QB can have more success given that OL.

Can we realistically expect this year's OL to be as good as 2018's OL? That OL gave up 2.75 sacks per game in ACC games (9th best). Without Dungey that number likely is over 3 per game. He avoided sacks and our opponents were less likely to blitz given his running ability. Both make it easier on the OL and they still were 9th best.

So can TD succeed getting sacked 3+ times per game and hurried a few on top of that?

In 2020 we started our FB as guard and had zero depth, no camp, bad OL coach, almost forfeited the season due to OL depth. Rex and TD got sacked a ton, started a true freshman who got injured by bad protection.
In 2016 we had a brand new system and went with tempo for the first time.

As for your questions, I expect the our new OL coach will be a god send along with our RB room. The running game is helpful to sack numbers no matter who it comes from. Eric ran a lot and sometimes those got counted as sacks. TD won't do that as much, but will prob hold the ball too long, even if he's improved in that regard.

Some of it is betting on TD to have learned to hand pressure a bit better (it's his 3rd year, so I think it's possible) while still keeping his INT's down.

* As always, Shrader is the wild card and if things go sideways it will be nice to see him as #2. And even Lamson/Morgan as #3. A QB injury or poor play at the position won't tank the season. The equation is always OL+QB+Screens/Short passes/Running if you want to be an efficient offense. Last year we were missing all three, outside of Tucker making something out of nothing

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

almost forfeited the season due to OL depth.

You listened to that ACC Football podcast with Mink previewing Cuse too, huh?

 

[kcsu]

Was watching Camping World Bowl tape. Three of our biggest offensive plays came when ED avoided rush, including the absurd play to Moe Neal.

We didnt have an O during the camping bowl if not for ED. The O was a hot mess. Lets hope to God that Dino has it figured out this season.

 

[baggerbob]

He did that quite well in early days and at some point became hesitant. The Tommy you're referencing is the one that beat FSU and UNC and I hope he's still in there despite the PTSD of beatings he's since taken.

Notre Dame showed how to beat TD, and he hasn't gotten better since then. His problem is not physical talent, it is whether or not he has the ability to react to the defense, and occasionally, create something out of nothing.
That is what good QB's do, and TD hasn't shown that ability. Plays break down, and as the leader he has to make something out of nothing.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Notre Dame showed how to beat TD, and he hasn't gotten better since then. His problem is not physical talent, it is whether or not he has the ability to react to the defense, and occasionally, create something out of nothing.
That is what good QB's do, and TD hasn't shown that ability. Plays break down, and as the leader he has to make something out of nothing.

Honestly think its a confidence thing. He obviously has a confident demeanor but he doesn't play like it currently. That said, the talent discrepancy most weeks isn't what it is going up against ND. Schedule sets up nicely this year, if he can start rolling a bit and things are working he has the tools to beat the big boys... he just has to feel the same.

 

[upperdeck]

as bad as that ND went. we also dropped 2-3 tds passes that would have made the game at least interesting in the 2nd half.

 

[Orijinal]

I've said it before and I will say it again. TD was beginning to improve his pocket presence just before his injury (in fact he got injured while he was scrambling).

I fully believe TD is beginning to put it all together and he may surprise some of you this year. If I am wrong, so be it. But I don't think I am.

 

[JRHEETER]

I've said it before and I will say it again. TD was beginning to improve his pocket presence just before his injury (in fact he got injured while he was scrambling).

I fully believe TD is beginning to put it all together and he may surprise some of you this year. If I am wrong, so be it. But I don't think I am.

I hope so.

nothing would make me happier to see TD kill it.

If TD could be vastly better than he has been and meets what we all thought he would be here we will be doing great this season. If he could get some looks to get drafted into the NFL that would be fantastic too.

However, I just don’t see it. But I’m hoping to be wrong

 

[ImperialOrange]

as bad as that ND went. we also dropped 2-3 tds passes that would have made the game at least interesting in the 2nd half.

Back to having faith in your WRs or lack there of and why he locks in on Taj. Hopefully a couple other WRs earn his trust and he can play a bit looser vs trying to make perfect throws on no throw at all. We need some catch radius guys not named Taj to step up AND how demoralizing must the Taj drops be for Tommy when they occur? Need another Ish/Erv/Lemon type to step up. Riley was a lite version of that but not as physically gifted as those 3. Ish didn't see 50:50 balls as 50:50, Erv had glue for hands, and Lemon ran beautiful routes and always seemed to find space (rumour has it he's still running free in the Missouri secondary to this day).

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

We got more QB interviews.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

 

[rrlbees]

Tommy seems very loose.

 

[Jake]

He did that quite well in early days and at some point became hesitant. The Tommy you're referencing is the one that beat FSU and UNC and I hope he's still in there despite the PTSD of beatings he's since taken.

I'm also guilty about waxing poetic about these two games. I went back and looked at his completions.

Against FSU: 5 bubble screens. 2 Fades to Custis. Two first read hot reads to slot receiver. 1 quick flare to RB and that TE back of the end zone throw to Ravian Pierce. Not a second read all day long.

Against UNC: More of the same. Both TDs came on first reads to Johnson (looked like he may have initially looked off the safety) and to Pierce on that same TE play. A couple more fades to Custis. More hot reads to the slot receiver. I did see two check down completions. One was a very nice toss to Taj on 1st and 10. The other was on 3rd and 17 to Strickland.

The Physical throws he made were impressive...but he wasn't exactly dissecting the defense apart with complex reads. We hoped that would come with more experience, and we just haven't seen the progression you would hope for.

2019 and 2020 were filled with anxious and panic filled throws. I hope much can be chalked up to the play of the OL, but i'm skeptical.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Tommy seems very loose.

He's also extremely polished in interviews - very good at giving non-answer cliches. This isn't a bad thing - it's what the Athletic Department has trained him to do.

 

[syrBossHogg]

I'm also guilty about waxing poetic about these two games. I went back and looked at his completions.

Against FSU: 5 bubble screens. 2 Fades to Custis. Two first read hot reads to slot receiver. 1 quick flare to RB and that TE back of the end zone throw to Ravian Pierce. Not a second read all day long.

Against UNC: More of the same. Both TDs came on first reads to Johnson (looked like he may have initially looked off the safety) and to Pierce on that same TE play. A couple more fades to Custis. More hot reads to the slot receiver. I did see two check down completions. One was a very nice toss to Taj on 1st and 10. The other was on 3rd and 17 to Strickland.

The Physical throws he made were impressive...but he wasn't exactly dissecting the defense apart with complex reads. We hoped that would come with more experience, and we just haven't seen the progression you would hope for.

2019 and 2020 were filled with anxious and panic filled throws. I hope much can be chalked up to the play of the OL, but i'm skeptical.

Plus he came in late vs UNC when their game plan was revolved around Dungey. At least he didn’t lose us the FSU game that year

 

[Chip]

Hard to throw int's when you routinely throw the ball out of bounds (even on 4th down) or by stepping out of bounds behind the LOS = sack. Imo, at times, it appeared TD was more worried stats than taking a risk.

I think it was the Maryland and Clemson game back to back INTs. Maybe not so much from a stat perspective but that they were both killers. Maryland, it set them up for a quick TD as things got out of hand. Clemson we had the momentum from the INT, he gave it right back, and then Clemson scored a long TD. It was from the "you can't make this up" set of plays in our Syracuse fanhood.

After that, all of his passes when running right came out much quicker and traveled much further into the bleachers.