Angeli and Oline perspective

[DomeHolmes]

I’ve seen a lot of comments disparaging the performance of both. For this recap, I will make the assumption that Tennessee’s sixth ranked defense that returned seven starters is still an “elite” defense.

Last year Tennessee gave up 293 yards and 17 first downs per game. (Vs. and SEC schedule). Angeli, leading our Offense, put up 377, and 24 on them.

That 24 first downs (on average) would be good enough for ninth in the country last year.

We ran 84 plays (without going hurry up). We consistently moved the ball and got first downs.

Through Saturday, 84 plays per game is fifth in nation and FIRST among teams who played P4 teams (much less Tennessee). That is quite efficient and consistent.

We “earned” 31 points (it was a coaching decision not to take two extra points and an end of the game field goal). Only Ohio State did better than that last year against them. Alabama didn’t , Florida didn't, Oklahoma didn't, Arkansas didn't etc..

I watched seven elite defenses yesterday, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, Alabama and Tennessee. Angeli put up more yards against those elite defenses than any other of the 6 quarterbacks. And three had the luxury of playing at home. Also three are experienced Heisman front runners! (Nussmeier, Manning and Klubnik) And you expect Ohio State and Bama 5 star QBs to be good. Only Nussmeier and Castellanos managed the game better than Angeli.

Our 377 total yards was second of this group, only to FSU (382)

Angeli did all this while only being with the team for two months, playing in front of a hostile away crowd, WITH 9 NEW STARTERS ON OFFENSE. Angeli’s performance was very good considering the circumstances.

As for the o line, they held their blocks, and other than Weatherspoon, nobody got beat badly one on one. Four of the five sacks came from either A gap blitzes or A gap stunts. I have not watched the replay, but the one thing that stuck out is Collins immediately went to a double team and left his area when he did not see a defender. And that’s where the stunt or the blitz came from. I will also have to watch to see where the running backs were, I believe a few times the backfield was empty. But as far as one on one match ups, the line was not at all the sieve that some said it was.

It seemed to me that other than the lack of a quick release, Angeli ran the offsense very similar to what Dixon had Kyle doing last year. And as many have noted, Tennessee's defense was by far better than ANY we saw last year.

I don’t think Angeli gave anyone a reason (other than the fumble) not to believe it him

 

[RF2044]

I’ve seen a lot of comments disparaging the performance of both. For this recap, I will make the assumption that Tennessee’s sixth ranked defense that returned seven starters is still an “elite” defense.

Last year Tennessee gave up 293 yards and 17 first downs per game. (Vs. and SEC schedule). Angeli, leading our Offense, put up 377, and 24 on them.

That 24 first downs (on average) would be good enough for ninth in the country last year.

We ran 84 plays (without going hurry up). We consistently moved the ball and got first downs.

Through Saturday, 84 plays per game is fifth in nation and FIRST among teams who played P4 teams (much less Tennessee). That is quite efficient and consistent.

We “earned” 31 points (it was a coaching decision not to take two extra points and an end of the game field goal). Only Ohio State did better than that last year against them. Alabama didn’t , Florida didn't, Oklahoma didn't, Arkansas didn't etc..

I watched seven elite defenses yesterday, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, Alabama and Tennessee. Angeli put up more yards against those elite defenses than any other of the 6 quarterbacks. And three had the luxury of playing at home. Also three are experienced Heisman front runners! (Nussmeier, Manning and Klubnik) And you expect Ohio State and Bama 5 star QBs to be good. Only Nussmeier and Castellanos managed the game better than Angeli.

Our 377 total yards was second of this group, only to FSU (382)

Angeli did all this while only being with the team for two months, playing in front of a hostile away crowd, WITH 9 NEW STARTERS ON OFFENSE. Angeli’s performance was very good considering the circumstances.

As for the o line, they held their blocks, and other than Weatherspoon, nobody got beat badly one on one. Four of the five sacks came from either A gap blitzes or A gap stunts. I have not watched the replay, but the one thing that stuck out is Collins immediately went to a double team and left his area when he did not see a defender. And that’s where the stunt or the blitz came from. I will also have to watch to see where the running backs were, I believe a few times the backfield was empty. But as far as one on one match ups, the line was not at all the sieve that some said it was.

It seemed to me that other than the lack of a quick release, Angeli ran the offsense very similar to what Dixon had Kyle doing last year. And as many have noted, Tennessee's defense was by far better than ANY we saw last year.

I don’t think Angeli gave anyone a reason (other than the fumble) not to believe it him

Great post.

As I have stated across multiple threads, while we wish that we could have done a little bit more yesterday to make the score a little more respectable, there were LOTS of positive signs from the offense yesterday.

And some things that can get "cleaned up," too, that will improve long term performance.

But the offense looks like we are going to move the ball and put up lots of points against most teams. If we can do that against one of the best defenses in the nation yesterday, we're going to be able to do it against most everyone to an even greater degree.

 

[Oakland]

I just posted this in Tomcat's thread, but this seems like a better place for it:

I thought the o-line talent looked pretty good, but our blocking scheme was ineffective against their front 7 schemes. I was really impressed when their 300 lb DT, paused at the LOS, then ran around our LT (who was busy blocking someone else) and tackled our QB for a sack. Impressed with that defensive play design and a 300 lb DT who is that mobile. Another sack was when we left their DE (or maybe a LB at the LOS) completely unblocked as Angeli rolled out right in front of him (very reminiscent of Brock Purdy's first career play with the 49ers when he was absolutely crushed - welcome to the NFL).

 

[Nick44]

I thought Angeli was solid, not great but not bad either. Some fixable things to clean up -

- Communication
- Putting the right amount of touch on passes
- getting rid of ball

Clean those 3 areas up and he can be really good for the next 2 years.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

I like the fact that things get changed when the plan does not work. The stunts started getting picked up better as the game went along. Backs and tight ends in a wing formation provided better protection. Roll outs and screens were also attempted. Love having a staff that makes adjustments.

 

[Dcuse]

I just posted this in Tomcat's thread, but this seems like a better place for it:

I thought the o-line talent looked pretty good, but our blocking scheme was ineffective against their front 7 schemes. I was really impressed when their 300 lb DT, paused at the LOS, then ran around our LT (who was busy blocking someone else) and tackled our QB for a sack. Impressed with that defensive play design and a 300 lb DT who is that mobile. Another sack was when we left their DE (or maybe a LB at the LOS) completely unblocked as Angeli rolled out right in front of him (very reminiscent of Brock Purdy's first career play with the 49ers when he was absolutely crushed - welcome to the NFL).

Saw a far different game than you. I was pleasantly surprised by the OL overall.

 

[DomeHolmes]

I like the fact that things get changed when the plan does not work. The stunts starting getting picked up better as the game went along. Backs and tight ends in a wing formation provided better protection. Roll outs and screens were also attempted. Love having a staff that makes adjustments.

Absolutely. Nixon is the best offensive coordinator we have had since Deleone innovated our freeze option. He calls a great game and makes adjustments. Hopefully we can keep him one more year with this team.

 

[UnknownOrange]

I’ve seen a lot of comments disparaging the performance of both. For this recap, I will make the assumption that Tennessee’s sixth ranked defense that returned seven starters is still an “elite” defense.

Last year Tennessee gave up 293 yards and 17 first downs per game. (Vs. and SEC schedule). Angeli, leading our Offense, put up 377, and 24 on them.

That 24 first downs (on average) would be good enough for ninth in the country last year.

We ran 84 plays (without going hurry up). We consistently moved the ball and got first downs.

Through Saturday, 84 plays per game is fifth in nation and FIRST among teams who played P4 teams (much less Tennessee). That is quite efficient and consistent.

We “earned” 31 points (it was a coaching decision not to take two extra points and an end of the game field goal). Only Ohio State did better than that last year against them. Alabama didn’t , Florida didn't, Oklahoma didn't, Arkansas didn't etc..

I watched seven elite defenses yesterday, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, Alabama and Tennessee. Angeli put up more yards against those elite defenses than any other of the 6 quarterbacks. And three had the luxury of playing at home. Also three are experienced Heisman front runners! (Nussmeier, Manning and Klubnik) And you expect Ohio State and Bama 5 star QBs to be good. Only Nussmeier and Castellanos managed the game better than Angeli.

Our 377 total yards was second of this group, only to FSU (382)

Angeli did all this while only being with the team for two months, playing in front of a hostile away crowd, WITH 9 NEW STARTERS ON OFFENSE. Angeli’s performance was very good considering the circumstances.

As for the o line, they held their blocks, and other than Weatherspoon, nobody got beat badly one on one. Four of the five sacks came from either A gap blitzes or A gap stunts. I have not watched the replay, but the one thing that stuck out is Collins immediately went to a double team and left his area when he did not see a defender. And that’s where the stunt or the blitz came from. I will also have to watch to see where the running backs were, I believe a few times the backfield was empty. But as far as one on one match ups, the line was not at all the sieve that some said it was.

It seemed to me that other than the lack of a quick release, Angeli ran the offsense very similar to what Dixon had Kyle doing last year. And as many have noted, Tennessee's defense was by far better than ANY we saw last year.

I don’t think Angeli gave anyone a reason (other than the fumble) not to believe it him

Trying to figure out how to inject this into my veins. Hell yeah

 

[PhatOrange]

I’ve seen a lot of comments disparaging the performance of both. For this recap, I will make the assumption that Tennessee’s sixth ranked defense that returned seven starters is still an “elite” defense.

Last year Tennessee gave up 293 yards and 17 first downs per game. (Vs. and SEC schedule). Angeli, leading our Offense, put up 377, and 24 on them.

That 24 first downs (on average) would be good enough for ninth in the country last year.

We ran 84 plays (without going hurry up). We consistently moved the ball and got first downs.

Through Saturday, 84 plays per game is fifth in nation and FIRST among teams who played P4 teams (much less Tennessee). That is quite efficient and consistent.

We “earned” 31 points (it was a coaching decision not to take two extra points and an end of the game field goal). Only Ohio State did better than that last year against them. Alabama didn’t , Florida didn't, Oklahoma didn't, Arkansas didn't etc..

I watched seven elite defenses yesterday, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, Alabama and Tennessee. Angeli put up more yards against those elite defenses than any other of the 6 quarterbacks. And three had the luxury of playing at home. Also three are experienced Heisman front runners! (Nussmeier, Manning and Klubnik) And you expect Ohio State and Bama 5 star QBs to be good. Only Nussmeier and Castellanos managed the game better than Angeli.

Our 377 total yards was second of this group, only to FSU (382)

Angeli did all this while only being with the team for two months, playing in front of a hostile away crowd, WITH 9 NEW STARTERS ON OFFENSE. Angeli’s performance was very good considering the circumstances.

As for the o line, they held their blocks, and other than Weatherspoon, nobody got beat badly one on one. Four of the five sacks came from either A gap blitzes or A gap stunts. I have not watched the replay, but the one thing that stuck out is Collins immediately went to a double team and left his area when he did not see a defender. And that’s where the stunt or the blitz came from. I will also have to watch to see where the running backs were, I believe a few times the backfield was empty. But as far as one on one match ups, the line was not at all the sieve that some said it was.

It seemed to me that other than the lack of a quick release, Angeli ran the offsense very similar to what Dixon had Kyle doing last year. And as many have noted, Tennessee's defense was by far better than ANY we saw last year.

I don’t think Angeli gave anyone a reason (other than the fumble) not to believe it him

Great post. Collins did get blown up once by a DT but it happens. I thought the line was decent.

 

[The Ack]

I’ve seen a lot of comments disparaging the performance of both. For this recap, I will make the assumption that Tennessee’s sixth ranked defense that returned seven starters is still an “elite” defense.

Last year Tennessee gave up 293 yards and 17 first downs per game. (Vs. and SEC schedule). Angeli, leading our Offense, put up 377, and 24 on them.

That 24 first downs (on average) would be good enough for ninth in the country last year.

We ran 84 plays (without going hurry up). We consistently moved the ball and got first downs.

Through Saturday, 84 plays per game is fifth in nation and FIRST among teams who played P4 teams (much less Tennessee). That is quite efficient and consistent.

We “earned” 31 points (it was a coaching decision not to take two extra points and an end of the game field goal). Only Ohio State did better than that last year against them. Alabama didn’t , Florida didn't, Oklahoma didn't, Arkansas didn't etc..

I watched seven elite defenses yesterday, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, Alabama and Tennessee. Angeli put up more yards against those elite defenses than any other of the 6 quarterbacks. And three had the luxury of playing at home. Also three are experienced Heisman front runners! (Nussmeier, Manning and Klubnik) And you expect Ohio State and Bama 5 star QBs to be good. Only Nussmeier and Castellanos managed the game better than Angeli.

Our 377 total yards was second of this group, only to FSU (382)

Angeli did all this while only being with the team for two months, playing in front of a hostile away crowd, WITH 9 NEW STARTERS ON OFFENSE. Angeli’s performance was very good considering the circumstances.

As for the o line, they held their blocks, and other than Weatherspoon, nobody got beat badly one on one. Four of the five sacks came from either A gap blitzes or A gap stunts. I have not watched the replay, but the one thing that stuck out is Collins immediately went to a double team and left his area when he did not see a defender. And that’s where the stunt or the blitz came from. I will also have to watch to see where the running backs were, I believe a few times the backfield was empty. But as far as one on one match ups, the line was not at all the sieve that some said it was.

It seemed to me that other than the lack of a quick release, Angeli ran the offsense very similar to what Dixon had Kyle doing last year. And as many have noted, Tennessee's defense was by far better than ANY we saw last year.

I don’t think Angeli gave anyone a reason (other than the fumble) not to believe it him

Love this analysis, thanks. I was encouraged by the O yesterday just off the eye test but this gives some really great context. Kudos!

 

[qdawgg]

Thanks for putting these numbers together. I wasn’t down on the offense overall after the game. There were things I wished had gone better but every team playing a real opponent this week (and most weeks) will struggle at points against a really good defense. Alabama doesn’t count for the prior statement because their ranking is based on the desire for them to be better than they are.

D is my concern. We’re going to need the offense to largely carry the team again just like last year. The D isn’t improving because the scheme and play calling isn’t going to change.

 

[dwilmont44]

If I remember correctly (which is a big if) I feel like the OL improved a lot last year throughout the season.

Not sure if it was guys getting better, McCord getting more comfortable, better play designs or what. Hoping we can see a similar improvement here.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

McCord had elite ability to read, make a good choice, and get the ball out in a very short amount of time. It made things hard for defenses and helped out our offensive line a ton.

We may never see that again. Angeli looks to be good at those things, but not elite like McCord, who was borderline supernatural (at the college level). Good news is, it looks like the ball can move well enough in this offense and doesn't require super powers from the QB.

 

[orangencpolice]

I also am on the “offense train”. The offensive line played well and the mistakes they made will get fixed as the season continues. Overall I think the offense played as well as they could against one of the best defenses in CFB (to be determined). I think the receivers played well other than getting more separation. Johntay showed us that he is “that guy” and can compete with just about anyone.

The defense needs a lot of work. I don’t understand why at least two true Freshman started yesterday. With Coach Erob being the recruiter that he is, starting Freshman blows my mind. I hope our defense can make it through the season without any serious injuries. Fingers crossed.

 

[Cuse On 3]

Well said Holmes

 

[MadNY3]

I thought Angeli was solid, not great but not bad either. Some fixable things to clean up -

- Communication
- Putting the right amount of touch on passes
- getting rid of ball

Clean those 3 areas up and he can be really good for the next 2 years.

Agree on Angelini being solid/good. But two of those three areas - touch, getting rid of ball - aren’t clean-up things done between weeks. That is skill.

 

[SUskibum]

Angeli ranked 13 out of 61 P4 QBs in lowest time to throw, it was one of his few redeeming qualities this game, per PFF.

Watching it, I thought he held it too long also, (even Fran mentioned), but the data doesnt support it.

It was really the 2 (almost 3) turnovers and the 5 sacks (that he probably holds some blame for due to incorrectly reading some of the blitz packages)

He did rate at the bottom of the pack for completion percentage and adj completion percentage. So really he needs to be more careful with the ball and get back to the accuracy he was known for.

 

[nocohalo]

The OL looked fine, surpassed my expectations especially against a team like TN. TN was supposed to 2000 Ravens like in their run defense according to their fans but we were able to dictate the LOS quite often in the rushing game. I watched all the TN youtube shows and several of them thought Cuse wouldn't even get close to 100 yards on the ground. Then watching the post game shows they were gassing us up trying to feel better about themselves and acting like they didn't just spend a whole week criticizing our "question marks" on offense.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I’ve seen a lot of comments disparaging the performance of both. For this recap, I will make the assumption that Tennessee’s sixth ranked defense that returned seven starters is still an “elite” defense.

Last year Tennessee gave up 293 yards and 17 first downs per game. (Vs. and SEC schedule). Angeli, leading our Offense, put up 377, and 24 on them.

That 24 first downs (on average) would be good enough for ninth in the country last year.

We ran 84 plays (without going hurry up). We consistently moved the ball and got first downs.

Through Saturday, 84 plays per game is fifth in nation and FIRST among teams who played P4 teams (much less Tennessee). That is quite efficient and consistent.

We “earned” 31 points (it was a coaching decision not to take two extra points and an end of the game field goal). Only Ohio State did better than that last year against them. Alabama didn’t , Florida didn't, Oklahoma didn't, Arkansas didn't etc..

I watched seven elite defenses yesterday, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, Alabama and Tennessee. Angeli put up more yards against those elite defenses than any other of the 6 quarterbacks. And three had the luxury of playing at home. Also three are experienced Heisman front runners! (Nussmeier, Manning and Klubnik) And you expect Ohio State and Bama 5 star QBs to be good. Only Nussmeier and Castellanos managed the game better than Angeli.

Our 377 total yards was second of this group, only to FSU (382)

Angeli did all this while only being with the team for two months, playing in front of a hostile away crowd, WITH 9 NEW STARTERS ON OFFENSE. Angeli’s performance was very good considering the circumstances.

As for the o line, they held their blocks, and other than Weatherspoon, nobody got beat badly one on one. Four of the five sacks came from either A gap blitzes or A gap stunts. I have not watched the replay, but the one thing that stuck out is Collins immediately went to a double team and left his area when he did not see a defender. And that’s where the stunt or the blitz came from. I will also have to watch to see where the running backs were, I believe a few times the backfield was empty. But as far as one on one match ups, the line was not at all the sieve that some said it was.

It seemed to me that other than the lack of a quick release, Angeli ran the offsense very similar to what Dixon had Kyle doing last year. And as many have noted, Tennessee's defense was by far better than ANY we saw last year.

I don’t think Angeli gave anyone a reason (other than the fumble) not to believe it him

Put it another way, if you put last years SU team out there we still lose - but maybe it’s a 1 score game. 45-38 type affair. And the strip fumble is something that Kyle was prone to as well because he also couldn’t avoid sacks very well.

Put mcnabb back there and maybe we avoid those 2 turnovers and get to OT. 45-45. But I think you’re seeing the problem. Offense is not the matzo ball hanging like a dark cloud over the 2025 season.

 

[upperdeck]

One thing that none of the numbers can tell us is how well Angelli processed the field.

We saw some evidence that Tenn DBs were in pretty tight coverage on contested throws. TV doesn't tell us the rest of the coverage story.

We don't know if he was making reads fast or slow because we don't know which reads he was taking. For all we know read 1-2-3 were covered and that is why he held on too long.

We don't know if he was making the wrong reads

Some of this gets cleaned up by the coaches. Only time will tell.

Reality is that you can have very little time to throw and still have an easy throw on some plays.

 

[CbusCuse]

I thought the line looked a little questionable. Not horrible but not exactly good. But when you play against a squad that gets only 4 and 5 stars and was a top 10 defense last year, that isn’t exactly unexpected. The question is how good was their front 7 this year. Most were saying their defense lost some high end pieces from last year and wouldn’t be as good, but I don’t think that’s true, But they did get quite a few injuries on the D-line during the game so not sure how that affected what they had out there either.

Angeli’s completion perentage and his adjusted percentage were not all that great in that game but I’m not sure it has a lot to do with him. I still need to do a rewatch but I think Angeli was pretty accurate. I think he needs to try to improve his pocket awareness. Through 120 passes attempts in his career and he has now taken 12 sacks. A sack per 10 attempts is not too good. I like what he brings as a QB but I do think he needs to improve on that. That was just his second career start so considering that, no reason he can’t get better.

It seemed like every play last season McCord had a quick check down pass as an option. Even if it wasn’t a completion it was an outlet to at least get rid of the ball and not take a sack. It seemed like we had some of those, like the first play on offense to Nixon, but not quite as many. Either that or Angeli wasn’t always reading when he needsd to do it and executing it.

All in all this game ultimately came down to our defense not being able to get stops. That big run at the end of the half where we had the RB dead to rights in the backfield was a killer.