Dino's Game 8 Press Conference for Va Tech: 11 AM

[bigmike]

Wish we had a guy like this for analytics. Who’s gonna argue with him/her on probabilities? Dino: “My analytics expert said……any questions?” Ok, let’s move on.

 

[javadoc]

at some point late in the 2nd half (maybe the 3rd Q stats) he was something like 5 carries for minus 3 yards. It was a graphic on the TV.

It was frustrating as hell that Clemson's D adjusted something at halftime - right? - and we had no answer for it. None, zip. Couldn't figure out a way to get rushing yards, as if we anticipated their adjustment but said, oh well, nothing we can do to counter. Is that Gilbert's fault?

 

[Bayside44]

It was frustrating as hell that Clemson's D adjusted something at halftime - right? - and we had no answer for it. None, zip. Couldn't figure out a way to get rushing yards, as if we anticipated their adjustment but said, oh well, nothing we can do to counter. Is that Gilbert's fault?

They're good? UGa didn't exactly get to them either.

Didn't like the kick. But can see us not getting it either. Heck watched Dallas not get half a yard in 4 tries yesterday.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

It was frustrating as hell that Clemson's D adjusted something at halftime - right? - and we had no answer for it. None, zip. Couldn't figure out a way to get rushing yards, as if we anticipated their adjustment but said, oh well, nothing we can do to counter. Is that Gilbert's fault?

I though we had the answer, just not the personnel.

 

[javadoc]

They're good? UGa didn't exactly get to them either.

Didn't like the kick. But can see us not getting it either. Heck watched Dallas not get half a yard in 4 tries yesterday.

But how do you go from ~150 yards in the first half to almost nothing after halftime? Did we lose OL personnel at the half? My guess is that Venables showed them something on the whiteboard at halftime and they did it, and it shut us down. And our coaches either couldn't figure out what it was, didn't anticipate it, couldn't get our guys to execute a countering strategy/technique, whatever. Not talking about the 4th down at the end. More of a suspicion that our offensive strategists are not earning their paychecks.

 

[721Comstock]

But how do you go from ~150 yards in the first half to almost nothing after halftime? Did we lose OL personnel at the half? My guess is that Venables showed them something on the whiteboard at halftime and they did it, and it shut us down. And our coaches either couldn't figure out what it was, didn't anticipate it, couldn't get our guys to execute a countering strategy/technique, whatever. Not talking about the 4th down at the end. More of a suspicion that our offensive strategists are not earning their paychecks.

Venables STACKED the box with 8-9 guys, and basically NOBODY playing more than 8-10 yards back.

You know the saying that "you take what the Defensive gives you"?

They were GIVING US 1-on-1 matchups on WR's, and DARING US to throw it.
We failed to execute on those attempts, but when a 4-5*-laden D is selling out to stop the run, and you try to run a few times and get STUFFED, then - you need to try to mix in other things.

Which is what we did.

We didn't execute well on those other things, because:
our QB isn't the greatest passer,
our WR's aren't awesome at getting off jams and/or getting open,
and even when they did, they were dropping catchable passes.

 

[690West]

Analytics should account for opponent, too. Clemson’s D isn’t Wakes for example.

Even though I'm in the camp that we should have gone for it, this point is not lost on me. In the second half, Clemson had tackled Tucker in the backfield on 5 of his 10 touches.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Even though I'm in the camp that we should have gone for it, this point is not lost on me. In the second half, Clemson had tackled Tucker in the backfield on 5 of his 10 touches.

The problem is Dino had no plan. He took a TO before 3rd down. He should have known what he would do if the 3rd down failed. Unless he was scared Shrader would run up to the LOS and spike it, there was no reason to take the TO with so much time left.

 

[690West]

The problem is Dino had no plan. He took a TO before 3rd down. He should have known what he would do if the 3rd down failed. Unless he was scared Shrader would run up to the LOS and spike it, there was no reason to take the TO with so much time left.

100%

 

[tbonezone]

Unless he was scared Shrader would run up to the LOS and spike it,

ugh...still too soon.

 

[Bayside44]

But how do you go from ~150 yards in the first half to almost nothing after halftime? Did we lose OL personnel at the half? My guess is that Venables showed them something on the whiteboard at halftime and they did it, and it shut us down. And our coaches either couldn't figure out what it was, didn't anticipate it, couldn't get our guys to execute a countering strategy/technique, whatever. Not talking about the 4th down at the end. More of a suspicion that our offensive strategists are not earning their paychecks.

They put up 67 points the previous two weeks.

 

[Cheriehoop]

But how do you go from ~150 yards in the first half to almost nothing after halftime? Did we lose OL personnel at the half? My guess is that Venables showed them something on the whiteboard at halftime and they did it, and it shut us down. And our coaches either couldn't figure out what it was, didn't anticipate it, couldn't get our guys to execute a countering strategy/technique, whatever. Not talking about the 4th down at the end. More of a suspicion that our offensive strategists are not earning their paychecks.

The players seemed to get physically tired in the 2nd half. Shrader looked exhausted. The pounding seemed to sap SU.They were playing hard but it was a very physical game.

At one point , I think it was in the 3rd quarter, Elmore went out I believe. Was he dinged up? He had some great blocks in the first half.

 

[sufandu]

He had 5 rushes for 4 total yards the first 5 drives of the 2nd half. Given his talent he should get more than 1 rush per drive, even if he isn't getting many yards.

Both Tucker and Shrader can break a long run at any time. I rather have Tucker have 11 zero yard gains and one 40 yard gain than pass it 5-12 40 yards with no completions over 10 yards. The yards per play are the same but with the 40 yard run we have a chance to score. Heck he had 2 big runs in the first half. Why not hope for that to happen over hoping to pass the ball with Shrader, our WRs, our OL, and Clemson's D?

We cannot sustain a drive against Clemson so we needed a big play. That was more likely to come running the ball. Yes, we got the big pass play but that was in desperation and not running our normal O. Plus we got a bit lucky. Even with that big pass play it was 1 play out of 40 called pass plays. Tucker had 22 runs and we got 2 big plays out of it.

Look at the drives.

The first one we handed off to him and he lost yardage. Then we were playing catch up and got bailed out by a penalty. What should we do in the next 1st down play, hand it off to Tucker again? Maybe but then Gilbert gets blamed for being predictable, especially when it's clear Clemson is focusing on it. We tried to loosen up their defense with the pass. That's not the wrong thing to do. We just have to execute so defenses have to play us honest.

The second drive we got Tucker the ball on the first play with a pass and picked up a first down, so that doesn't show up in the stats you posted. The next 1st down play we handed off to Tucker who lost yards again. So now we were behind the sticks and punted.

The third drive we AGAIN started off by handing off to Tucker for no gain and were behind the sticks. We went 3 and out.

The fourth drive Shrader ran for a two yard gain. So yeah, we went away from Tucker. Probably not a bad idea to mix it up given the first three drives. Too bad nothing worked and we went three and out again.

The next drive we picked up 5 yards on a 1st down pass and then handed odf to Tucker, who picked up the first down. The next 1st down play we handed off to Tucker again for a 2 yard gain. We were behind the sticks again and ended up punting.

So on 4 of 5 drives we started off giving Tucker the ball. On 5 of 8 first down plays we got him the ball via either pass or run. It just didn't look like we got him the ball enough because we were getting stuffed and didn't sustain those drives.

On the last drive, we still started off by giving him the ball. We had 5 first down plays that drive and ran him on 3 of those. We had a false start on one that put us in 1st and 15 so went away from him but still tried to pass it to him on 2nd down.

Then the last set of downs we gave it to him on 3rd and 2 and he picked up one yard.

This idea that we didn't get Tucker the ball is completely inaccurate. We tried to get him the ball on almost every set of downs and started most sets of downs by getting him the ball.

 

[721Comstock]

Look at the drives.

The first one we handed off to him and he lost yardage. Then we were playing catch up and fot bailed out by a penalty. What should we do in the next 1st down play, hand it off to Tucker again? Maybe but then Gilbert gets blamed for being predictable, especially when it's clear Clemson is focusing on it. We tried to lossen up their defense with the pass. That's not the wrong thing to do. We just have to execute so defenses have to,play us honest.

The second drive we got Tucker the ball on the first play with a pass and picked up a first down, so that doesn't show up in the stats you posted. The next 1st down play we handed off to Tucker who lost yards again. So now we were behind the sticks and punted.

The third drive we AGAIN started off by handing off to Tucker for no gain and were behind the sticks. We went 3 and out.

The fourth drive Shrader ran for a two yard gain. So yeah, we went away from Tucker. Probably not a bad idea to mix it up given the first three drives. Too bad nothing worked and we went three and out again.

The next drive we picked up 5 yards on a 1st down pass and then handed odf to Tucker, who picked up the first down. The next 1st down play we handed off to Tucker again for a 2 yard gain. We were behind the sticks again and ended up punting.

So on 4 of 5 drives we started off giving Tucker the ball. On 5 of 8 first down plays we got him the ball via either pass or run. It just didn't look like we got him the ball enough because we were getting stuffed and didn't sustain those drives.

THANK YOU.

I’m glad somebody was watching the same 3rd quarter I was.

run tukker moar!!!!

 

[Cusefan69]

Not saying it was contemplated but again at the end of the game our oline was a whose who of walking wounded to include Bleich, Servais and Davis. Those were the ones who were visibly limping. Though Bleich didn't do much in the second half, pretty sure Ellis was in most snaps at that point. Not sure how conditioned Ellis is, would imagine he had some fatigue setting in with the rest of the line going up against Clemson. Simply put our oline was running on fumes almost and that's not a knock. They all battled and represented well for themselves.

 

[rrlbees]

Not saying it was contemplated but again at the end of the game our oline was a whose who of walking wounded to include Bleich, Servais and Davis. Those were the ones who were visibly limping. Though Bleich didn't do much in the second half, pretty sure Ellis was in most snaps at that point. Not sure how conditioned Ellis is, would imagine he had some fatigue setting in with the rest of the line going up against Clemson. Simply put our oline was running on fumes almost and that's not a knock. They all battled and represented well for themselves.

ellis played the whole game for Bleich after about the middle of the 1st quarter.

 

[David321]

Dino said he reads all the stuff on the internet, wonder if he ever lurks on here?

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Look at the drives.

The first one we handed off to him and he lost yardage. Then we were playing catch up and got bailed out by a penalty. What should we do in the next 1st down play, hand it off to Tucker again? Maybe but then Gilbert gets blamed for being predictable, especially when it's clear Clemson is focusing on it. We tried to loosen up their defense with the pass. That's not the wrong thing to do. We just have to execute so defenses have to play us honest.

The second drive we got Tucker the ball on the first play with a pass and picked up a first down, so that doesn't show up in the stats you posted. The next 1st down play we handed off to Tucker who lost yards again. So now we were behind the sticks and punted.

The third drive we AGAIN started off by handing off to Tucker for no gain and were behind the sticks. We went 3 and out.

The fourth drive Shrader ran for a two yard gain. So yeah, we went away from Tucker. Probably not a bad idea to mix it up given the first three drives. Too bad nothing worked and we went three and out again.

The next drive we picked up 5 yards on a 1st down pass and then handed odf to Tucker, who picked up the first down. The next 1st down play we handed off to Tucker again for a 2 yard gain. We were behind the sticks again and ended up punting.

So on 4 of 5 drives we started off giving Tucker the ball. On 5 of 8 first down plays we got him the ball via either pass or run. It just didn't look like we got him the ball enough because we were getting stuffed and didn't sustain those drives.

On the last drive, we still started off by giving him the ball. We had 5 first down plays that drive and ran him on 3 of those. We had a false start on one that put us in 1st and 15 so went away from him but still tried to pass it to him on 2nd down.

Then the last set of downs we gave it to him on 3rd and 2 and he picked up one yard.

This idea that we didn't get Tucker the ball is completely inaccurate. We tried to get him the ball on almost every set of downs and started most sets of downs by getting him the ball.

The drive I have the biggest issue with is the 1st drive. The other drives aren't that bad. Although I would argue that a 2nd and 9 is still a running down for us given our talent.

Trying to loosen up the D will not ever happen with our QB, WRs, and OL. So IMO that IS the wrong thing to do. We cannot execute. I guess I have no faith in our pass game, while you have some faith. What you are saying makes sense if you think we can do better than 50% passing.

1st Drive
We give Tucker the ball on 1st down and lose yardage. I don't expect him to get it the next 2 plays. We gain the first down. Next set of downs we could have given him the ball on 1st down. 2nd down was a run, but was that designed or a scramble? 3rd down I don't expect a Tucker run. Next first down is a sack, so I don't expect Tucker to get it after that. So out of 3 first downs Tucker got it once. On the only 2nd down he could have ran, he did not get the ball. So that is 1 out of 4 possible plays we gave it to Tucker. That isn't enough.

Also my issue was pre down 10 points.

1st downs we gave it to Tucker 4 out of 7 times and only 3 were runs. I don't think we should hand it off to Tucker every 1st down but certainly over 50% of the time. And the combo of Shrader runs (where were they too?) and Tucker runs should be close to 2/3 of the time. That is the situation we unfortunately are in. Calling four 1st down passes out of seven plays isn't a recipe for success with this team.

There is no reason what so ever in a close low scoring game we should call 40+ pass plays with only 22 Tucker runs and <5 Shrader runs. We should play to our strengths.

 

[Cusefan69]

ellis played the whole game for Bleich after about the middle of the 1st quarter.

So I was roughly correct. I will take roughly correct given how my memory works now and days. So Ellis got his first serious sustained game time action against Clemson. I like it. Strongest steel forged by hottest fire kinda stuff.

 

[tbonezone]

Dino said he reads all the stuff on the internet, wonder if he ever lurks on here?

i believe he may be lurker known as 4THANDSHORT. session usually times out before he finishes his post.

 

[BrooklynCuse]

i believe he may be lurker known as 4THANDSHORT. session usually times out before he finishes his post.

Isn’t his handle TwoPointConversionDelayofGame ?

 

[sufandu]

The drive I have the biggest issue with is the 1st drive. The other drives aren't that bad. Although I would argue that a 2nd and 9 is still a running down for us given our talent.

Trying to loosen up the D will not ever happen with our QB, WRs, and OL. So IMO that IS the wrong thing to do. We cannot execute. I guess I have no faith in our pass game, while you have some faith. What you are saying makes sense if you think we can do better than 50% passing.

1st Drive
We give Tucker the ball on 1st down and lose yardage. I don't expect him to get it the next 2 plays. We gain the first down. Next set of downs we could have given him the ball on 1st down. 2nd down was a run, but was that designed or a scramble? 3rd down I don't expect a Tucker run. Next first down is a sack, so I don't expect Tucker to get it after that. So out of 3 first downs Tucker got it once. On the only 2nd down he could have ran, he did not get the ball. So that is 1 out of 4 possible plays we gave it to Tucker. That isn't enough.

Also my issue was pre down 10 points.

1st downs we gave it to Tucker 4 out of 7 times and only 3 were runs. I don't think we should hand it off to Tucker every 1st down but certainly over 50% of the time. And the combo of Shrader runs (where were they too?) and Tucker runs should be close to 2/3 of the time. That is the situation we unfortunately are in. Calling four 1st down passes out of seven plays isn't a recipe for success with this team.

There is no reason what so ever in a close low scoring game we should call 40+ pass plays with only 22 Tucker runs and <5 Shrader runs. We should play to our strengths.

So we should keep running against the best run defense we're going to see when they expect us to run and are stuffing us? Isn't that what people were complaining about when we were stubbornly doing it against a different team (maybe FSU?) earlier in the season? We can't only hand it to Tucker. We just can't. It won't work.

Where were Snrader's runs? They were bottled up. Clemson didn't have to overcommit the way other teams have to stop Tucker, so Shrader didn't have the room he has had, and the players that were spying him were better players than the ones that tried to do in previous games. How many of his runs in previous games came off of called pass plays where he took off after not seeing guys open? He wasn't able to do that against Clemson because they're Clemson.

The WRs have to do what WRs are supposed to do against a defense like Clemson or the offense doesn't work. We're not imposing our will on them by running non-stop. We're not 1995 Nebraska.

Tucker got 22 carries. We didn't lose because he didn't run it enough. We lost because other players need to do better. Scholarship WRs need to catch the ball when it hits their hands.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

So we should keep running against the best run defense we're going to see when they expect us to run and are stuffing us? Isn't that what people were complaining about when we were stubbornly doing it against a different team (maybe FSU?) earlier in the season? We can't only hand it to Tucker. We just can't. It won't work.

Where were Snrader's runs? They were bottled up. Clemson didn't have to overcommit the way other teams have to stop Tucker, so Shrader didn't have the room he has had, and the players that were spying him were better players than the ones that tried to do in previous games. How many of his runs in previous games came off of called pass plays where he took off after not seeing guys open? He wasn't able to do that against Clemson because they're Clemson.

The WRs have to do what WRs are supposed to do against a defense like Clemson or the offense doesn't work. We're not imposing our will on them by running non-stop. We're not 1995 Nebraska.

Tucker got 22 carries. We didn't lose because he didn't run it enough. We lost because other players need to do better. Scholarship WRs need to catch the ball when it hits their hands.

We ran it fine the first half. Were they not playing the run then?

How can Shrader be bottled up if he never even has runs called? Where are the read options and designed runs?

Tucker and Shrader can bust a long run at any given moment. Unless you don’t have them run in the first place which plays into Clemson’s hands. Like I said before 11 zero yard gains and one 40 yard gain is a better strategy for this squad against Clemson. Given Tucker’s talent he eventually will break one.

it is insane that you think limiting the runs of the best RB in football is a sound strategy, especially given our QB, WRs, and OL. The rate of success is higher giving it to Tucker than via the air.

The talent gap of our passing game vs their passing D is emense but those players should just be able to execute no issue? That is all we have to do? Easy peasy. All of our talent is running. At least we have a shot at success even if it is 1 in 10.

 

[sufandu]

We ran it fine the first half. Were they not playing the run then?

How can Shrader be bottled up if he never even has runs called? Where are the read options and designed runs?

Tucker and Shrader can bust a long run at any given moment. Unless you don’t have them run in the first place which plays into Clemson’s hands. Like I said before 11 zero yard gains and one 40 yard gain is a better strategy for this squad against Clemson. Given Tucker’s talent he eventually will break one.

it is insane that you think limiting the runs of the best RB in football is a sound strategy, especially given our QB, WRs, and OL. The rate of success is higher giving it to Tucker than via the air.

The talent gap of our passing game vs their passing D is emense but those players should just be able to execute no issue? That is all we have to do? Easy peasy. All of our talent is running. At least we have a shot at success even if it is 1 in 10.

They made adjustments in the second half. You don't think Venebles is going to adjust?

Shrader didn't choose not to run. On the plays against other teams where he made guys miss and busted a run, he wasn't making Clemson guys miss and was throwing the ball away. The plays weren't there to be made on the ground against Clemson the way they had been previously.

I didn't advocate for taking the ball out of Tucker's hands. If he doesn't lose yards on the first down runs, he gets more carries. You mentioned earlier you still think 2nd and 9 is a running down. What about 2 and 12 or 2nd and 10 or 1st and 15?

Tucker got 93 of his yards on two carries in the first half. He had opportunities for those long runs because he was also getting 4 yard gains and 7 yard gains and 8 gains. And Shrader was completing passes to keep drives going and keep Clemson's defense honest. Tucker had his 54 yard run on the first play of a drive. His 39 yard run came on play 9 of a 10 play drive that included 3 pass completions that picked up first downs and smaller runs for positive gains that kept us on schedule and made Clemson's defense play honest. The long run doesn't happen without the pass completions or the smaller positive gains. And neither of those were happening in the second half.

Look at the play by play on espn.com. We didn't just stop giving Tucker the ball in the second. The passing game executed better in the first half and Clemson played better run defense in the second.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Szmyt told Dino he could hit a 48 yarder.

Notice he didn’t say he could make a 48 yarder. It’s all about language.