About what was expected

[The Ack]

I'm concerned ERob may not have the schematic chops to adjust to our talent. Its only one game but I expected better. We have to find creative ways to put teams under pressure. I don't know what our plan was or what assignments may have been missed but Tenn. never seemed to be under pressure or thrown out of rhythm. If we want to punch above our weight, thats a key ingredient.

 

[gmoney44]

They didn’t embarrass themselves.

Four big plays made a huge difference.

Clean some stuff up and I’m encouraged

Ya. No surprise. I figured we would move the ball on them but we would

I think we will be fine offensively...unless Cook is out for a while. Willis is a monster. OL was good running the ball, but can't give up that many sacks.

Defensively we just don't have the dudes to compete at a high level. Tackling was atrocious. Nobody on that side of the ball flashes. I'm more worried about the schedule. Even the "winnable" games like Duke will be extremely tough with their QB and Diaz defense. GT beat a very improved Colorado defense on the road. Our schedule is a meat grinder and I just don't know if our defense will hold up.

the delayed blitz killed us today. We have some work to do there.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

I can't say it's what I expected, but rather more like I feared.

I expected a dropoff on the offensive side. I also expected us to be decent offensively, and we actually were. So no real problem there. We performed pretty much as I expected on O. Don't get me wrong; we have a fair amount to improve on, but it was pretty much what I expected. I see some hope.

Last year, we ranked in the lower reaches of the ACC defensively. The fact that it was against a somewhat lightweight schedule made it even worse. I expected some legit improvement on that side of the ball (because it was a necessity) but, sadly, feared we would be exposed against a good team. That turned out to be true.

So, in the end, I think I saw about 50/50 expected/feared. We have a lot to address on D, we knew that coming into the season, and I had hoped that I would have been more pleasantly surprised than I was.

 

[orange_in_VA]

I'm concerned ERob may not have the schematic chops to adjust to our talent. Its only one game but I expected better. We have to find creative ways to put teams under pressure. I don't know what our plan was or what assignments may have been missed but Tenn. never seemed to be under pressure or thrown out of rhythm. If we want to punch above our weight, thats a key ingredient.

Shafer beat so many teams with better talent than us as DC because his scheme was chaotic and threw teams off balance and forced turnovers. Geno Smith never beat a Shafer defense in college. Tony White had a system that sent rushedms from all over on occasion. Erob just doesn't blitz, like ever. It's mind boggling to watch as a former linebacker and appreciater of good defensive schemes.

 

[Comstock44]

ERob needs to go!

 

[PAcuse]

Everyone needs to go rewatch the Ohio game from week 1 last year and chill.

 

[CanadianSU]

Everyone needs to go rewatch the Ohio game from week 1 last year and chill.

Or literally 90% of games this week. Some reallllll bad football out there

 

[The Ack]

Everyone needs to go rewatch the Ohio game from week 1 last year and chill.

I was at that game and agree in theory. The competition level was vastly different, but I don't think Fran wants the fans to watch the Ohio game from last year and be chill about today's result. And thats why I love Fran tbh.

 

[USMCSnyper]

Kinda what I expected, but still disappointed, as a fan. Hopefully after playing Tennessee, others wont seem as daunting.

We still give up big plays and tackle poorly. That is not DART.

 

[RF2044]

They didn’t embarrass themselves.

Four big plays made a huge difference.

Clean some stuff up and I’m encouraged

Feel somewhat the same.

But there were some glaring issues.

The good news is that very few teams we'll face have the defensive talent Tennessee has [or the pass rush]. So clean up a couple of things, as you say, and this team could still pop.

 

[PAcuse]

I was at that game and agree in theory. The competition level was vastly different, but I don't think Fran wants the fans to watch the Ohio game from last year and be chill about today's result. And thats why I love Fran tbh.

I was also at the Ohio game.
I am talking to the clownshow that wants to fire coaches or saying we are only winning 4-5 games.
Of course we should all be upset about the lose but not insane.

 

[Surfan06001]

The problem is I don’t know to what extent the problems in D are fixable

 

[SUbear]

I am not sure that giving up 45 points and 500 yards - 246 rushing is anything to be encouraged about.
We did play hard and Tennessee will wake up in the morning knowing they were in a football game.
Agnelli has a ways to go but he did throw for 57% and 274. He has a couple of games to get his bearings but that's it.
So far EROB has been underwhelming and if Nixon is poached away Fran has his job cut our for him.
I don't see any reason to change my 7-5 forecast but I also don't see any reason to improve it either.

Angeli was spotty at best, his turnovers gave T great field position, where our defense had no chance. Basically gave them twenty one points.

 

[orange_in_VA]

The problem is I don’t know to what extent the problems in D are fixable

The problem is, even if that's true we arent trying anything. Sell out on the pressure like Shafer did and force mistakes, even if you get burned a few times. Do something good instead of doing everything bad. "We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas" - ERob

 

[Scotch]

Tackling by the defense was awful. Too many players not wrapping up. The best example is the long run before the touchdown by Tennessee before the end of the first half. The play should have been made for a loss of yards.

That was a backbreaker. If we could have gone into halftime 24-14 the entire game feels different.

The D needs work but that's a really good rushing attack. Without the two turnovers in our own end it doesn't get so out of hand early. Thought the offense did some really nice things and Willis is a beast as expected.

 

[SUbear]

Shafer beat so many teams with better talent than us as DC because his scheme was chaotic and threw teams off balance and forced turnovers. Geno Smith never beat a Shafer defense in college. Tony White had a system that sent rushedms from all over on occasion. Erob just doesn't blitz, like ever. It's mind boggling to watch as a former linebacker and appreciater of good defensive schemes.

But does he not blitz by desire or do we not have the players capable of blitzing effectively, I believe it may be the later.

 

[orange_in_VA]

But does he not blitz by desire or do we not have the players capable of blitzing effectively, I believe it may be the later.

Shafer sent the house with 5'9 safeties and dudes that ran 4.8 40s. Lmao. Scheme it up. No excuses

 

[IthacaBarrel]

the defense was bad last year and for the life of me I don’t know why anyone would think game 1 this year it would be better considering what we lost. Fran, EROB, and Nixon are all recruiters first. You have a defensive staff and defensive head coach but none of them have any real coordinator experience other than the linebacker coach. The really good offensive coaches will expose these guys every time.

Just my opinion.

 

[The Ack]

I was also at the Ohio game.
I am talking to the clownshow that wants to fire coaches or saying we are only winning 4-5 games.
Of course we should all be upset about the lose but not insane.

Agree with you completely. But this year is about perception in a way, and building momentum. And what the top end of this program can be. This is just one game, but a really good litmus test of where we are. The O wasn't great but put up 26 vs an O/U of 50.5 with a 13.5 spread against an SEC team. I'd say the O acquitted itself well. But the D was as porous as the Ohio game last year and although a better opponent, still a disappointment and fair to be critical of the D. I don't think thats insanity to be critical of the D coaches given the trajectory of the program and where Fran wants us to be.

 

[SUbear]

the defense was bad last year and for the life of me I don’t know why anyone would think game 1 this year it would be better considering what we lost. Fran, EROB, and Nixon are all recruiters first. You have a defensive staff and defensive head coach but none of them have any real coordinator experience other than the linebacker coach. The really good offensive coaches will expose these guys every time.

Just my opinion.

If the QB keeps giving away the ball9(3x) inside our thirty, there is no defence that can compensate for that. The defence must improve but it was not the major problem today. Without the poor offensive performances, we would have had a competitive game, not saying we wou;d have won.

 

[SU91]

I was also at the Ohio game.
I am talking to the clownshow that wants to fire coaches or saying we are only winning 4-5 games.
Of course we should all be upset about the lose but not insane.

A 4-5 win season is easily a possibility.

 

[C Bomb]

Today wasn’t close

To NCSU’s blowout score last year? I agree today wasn’t close, but there’s much to build on. Hopefully injuries aren’t that bad

 

[PAcuse]

A 4-5 win season is easily a possibility.

so is 7-8
It's week one, is what I'm basically saying...

 

[SU91]

so is 7-8
It's week one, is what I'm basically saying...

Agree. I’m praying for 7. Dreaming of more. Bracing myself for fewer than 6.

 

[orange_in_VA]

With this schedule all we really need is to make a bowl game to keep momentum going. Anything more than 6 wins is a bonus. The team is super young.