We don't know that this program has officially 'turned a corner' or 'arrived' in terms of worrying about top 25s and winning the ACC, etc. But there is one inevitable takeaway thus far from each of the four games we've played: We played an opponent that had some issues somewhere, and we absolutely mauled them outside of the dismal third quarter at WMU. The fact that we're at a point where we can take advantage of a struggling or inferior opponent consistently is a clear sign that we have at least made some pretty good progress on the road back to some sort of football relevance.
Specific game thoughts:
OL and RBs played well. I'm not a huge Neal fan and not really a fan of strickland carrying the ball as a general rule, but both played well. Sucks that Howard fumbled but hopefully he learns from it. Still think he and Pierre just look more dangerous with the ball in their hands. OL was great -- good time to throw, huge holes for the running game, good push up the middle everywhere on the field including the red zone. UConn was clearly outmatched up front, but nice to see us give a team, any team, fits that way. It's been a while (2012?).
Scoop needs to be playing a slot receiver whenever possible. Dude really struggles on the outside and tackling in space. Had a real nice play in run support late and if someone can step up behind him, he could be a guy that we can use in a specific role to get the most out of him.
Not awesome to see the struggles in the last 9 mins of the second quarter and through a chunk of the third. A bit of a nitpick -- had a turnover, that happens; penalty on Dungey, it happens. But just looked a bit disjointed offensively for that 10-15 minute stretch which gave DeVito and co. a little less action on back end of this blowout. Not the worst thing in the world b/c it's tough to ask for military-like precision for 60 mins, but worth mentioning.
What to make of Sean Riley? Great to see Riley have a HUGE game. Really looked good and looked like a difference maker. But we've played two teams that clearly had no ability to match up talent-wise, essentially two FCS opponents in Wagner and UConn. In those two games, Riley has 12 catches for 174 and two TDs and four punt returns for 152 and a TD. Cool to see but it's hard to get super excited without seeing a bit more production against true FBS competition (He's got no punt returns and 4 catches for 27 yards total in the WMU/FSU games).
DL continues to look good. Not much more to say here. UConn actually ran the ball pretty well even if you took out Pindell's keeper but even so, they never looked like they could really put much sustainable together. DL set the tone and did a nice job.
Pindell is a good QB. Liked the UConn QB. Kid has a strong arm, looked decently accurate and made some plays with his legs. Sucks for him that there is nothing around him.
Dungey makes really good decisions in the run game. First of all, great to see Dungey play a game where he doesn't spend the whole time dishing out or absorbing huge hits. Got himself out of bounds at least three times, which was cool to see. But he also does a phenomenal job with that read option run play. Waits a long time with the ball in the RB's stomach before either letting him go or pulling it back and running. Puts a ton of pressure on a defense. Fun to watch.
Dungey/DeVito don't look super sharp throwing the ball. Four games in and the passing game still doesn't look quite right to me. Some of it is the lack of a true playmaker outside combined with OK but young and/or not elite slot guys. Not crushing either the QBs or WRs but it just doesn't look smooth. DeVito missed two deep balls and I didn't think the throw to Harris -- though it was the right read read -- was as good as the announcer did. Custis should have caught the deep ball but we just don't look great attacking the middle of the field and going over the top at this point.
Overall -- great to get another easy win and really sets up clemson as a gravy game, IMO. Hope above all eles that we come out of it healthy and ready to roll for October.
Specific game thoughts:
OL and RBs played well. I'm not a huge Neal fan and not really a fan of strickland carrying the ball as a general rule, but both played well. Sucks that Howard fumbled but hopefully he learns from it. Still think he and Pierre just look more dangerous with the ball in their hands. OL was great -- good time to throw, huge holes for the running game, good push up the middle everywhere on the field including the red zone. UConn was clearly outmatched up front, but nice to see us give a team, any team, fits that way. It's been a while (2012?).
Scoop needs to be playing a slot receiver whenever possible. Dude really struggles on the outside and tackling in space. Had a real nice play in run support late and if someone can step up behind him, he could be a guy that we can use in a specific role to get the most out of him.
Not awesome to see the struggles in the last 9 mins of the second quarter and through a chunk of the third. A bit of a nitpick -- had a turnover, that happens; penalty on Dungey, it happens. But just looked a bit disjointed offensively for that 10-15 minute stretch which gave DeVito and co. a little less action on back end of this blowout. Not the worst thing in the world b/c it's tough to ask for military-like precision for 60 mins, but worth mentioning.
What to make of Sean Riley? Great to see Riley have a HUGE game. Really looked good and looked like a difference maker. But we've played two teams that clearly had no ability to match up talent-wise, essentially two FCS opponents in Wagner and UConn. In those two games, Riley has 12 catches for 174 and two TDs and four punt returns for 152 and a TD. Cool to see but it's hard to get super excited without seeing a bit more production against true FBS competition (He's got no punt returns and 4 catches for 27 yards total in the WMU/FSU games).
DL continues to look good. Not much more to say here. UConn actually ran the ball pretty well even if you took out Pindell's keeper but even so, they never looked like they could really put much sustainable together. DL set the tone and did a nice job.
Pindell is a good QB. Liked the UConn QB. Kid has a strong arm, looked decently accurate and made some plays with his legs. Sucks for him that there is nothing around him.
Dungey makes really good decisions in the run game. First of all, great to see Dungey play a game where he doesn't spend the whole time dishing out or absorbing huge hits. Got himself out of bounds at least three times, which was cool to see. But he also does a phenomenal job with that read option run play. Waits a long time with the ball in the RB's stomach before either letting him go or pulling it back and running. Puts a ton of pressure on a defense. Fun to watch.
Dungey/DeVito don't look super sharp throwing the ball. Four games in and the passing game still doesn't look quite right to me. Some of it is the lack of a true playmaker outside combined with OK but young and/or not elite slot guys. Not crushing either the QBs or WRs but it just doesn't look smooth. DeVito missed two deep balls and I didn't think the throw to Harris -- though it was the right read read -- was as good as the announcer did. Custis should have caught the deep ball but we just don't look great attacking the middle of the field and going over the top at this point.
Overall -- great to get another easy win and really sets up clemson as a gravy game, IMO. Hope above all eles that we come out of it healthy and ready to roll for October.
