sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Just some general thoughts today.
Our special teams were outstanding last season, but have regressed greatly this year. I cannot remember a season when our special teams units were called for so many penalties. It is astonishing. The penalty on the FG attempt, where Vet was really late getting on the field and there wasn’t time to get the ball snapped, was just another example.
Sean Riley was a really good put return guy last year but this year has been a disaster. He has let a ton of punt go where he had a lot of time and potential for a big return, and he has tried to catch a bunch of balls he should have let go. Lots inside the 10, some with someone right in his face. That happened last night. Just a senseless mental error by an experienced senior. This isn‘t his first fumble. It particularly hurt because our defense was really struggling. We finally got a stop and Sean‘s fumble gave them I’m effect a 40 yard gain. Props to Andre, who did great kicking FGs on a tough day to kick. And props to Pierce and Jordan for looking good returning KOs. Jordan is going to be our best KO return guy to a long time.
I like Elmore. Seems like a great guy and he is clearly a hard worker and a team guy. But I don’t understand why he is playing so much on offense. He isn‘t a very good blocker and does nothing else well. He can’t run the ball, he certainly can’t catch it, you can’t split him out...he is essentially a wasted body out there. Not good to be playing 10 on 11 so much. If you have to have an extra blocker out there, get a backup OL out there, or better yet, use Hackett or Benson. You don’t see other teams putting platers like Chris out there at a skill position. There is a reason why.
It was great to see Jordan get more playing time. I really liked seeing him split out wide. He is a special talent. He will thrive when he gets the ball in space. I think it will be far easier to get this done moving him to WR. Especially now, early in his career, when he is undersized and we have a bevy of other good RBs. We don’t have a bevy of good WRs. This needs to change.
I like that we are trying to do stunts with our defensive line now. It is one of those things good defenses do. It makes it harder for the OL and RBs blocking and has the potential to cause confusion and mistakes. But we repeatedly had our outside contain DE run sideways to the interior of the line, with no DT running outside to cover for the DE. And UL did a great job calling sweeps to the side abandoned by our DE. Good scouting by UL, given we only started this last week.
Thought UL did a lot of the same things Maryland did way back in September. Thought we still had no answer to these things. The UL QB was able to roll out whenever he wanted. He was able to run untouched into our secondary repeatedly. It looked like our defense put 8 men in the box and was completely keyed on stopping the UL RB and UL kept faking getting the ball to that RB and doing something else.
Contrast that to our offense. UL‘s defense clearly was geared towards stopping our running game, all game long. Their safeties played way up towards the line of scrimmage, just daring us to throw deep. And we kept running the ball, over and over, all game long. I understand the need to establish the run. I am down with running the ball a lot. I like that we are finally starting to call some playing plays with misdirection. But you need to mix in some play action at times. You have to keep the defense honest. You have to provide a mix of calls to make things difficult for the defense. We also never did anything but call simple running plays, even down 14 or 21 midway into the fourth quarter.
This offensive approach can’t be successfully against good defenses, or even mediocre ones. UL‘s defense isn‘t even mediocre. The only way they could stop us is by playing 8 guys in the box, going all in to stop the run and hoping we were foolish enough to run the ball. And we were. Repeatedly.
So props to UL for calling a good mix of plays. They got our secondary so worried about stopping the run that when they threw it deep to their speed guys, they were wide open. Our safeties again showed no discipline. Everything is related, and the regular failure of the DL to hold their ground led to the linebackers getting blocked and not able to make tackles, which led to the secondary being asked to make tackles over and over.
We got a lot of pressure on Cunningham and I think he was very banged up and not able to throw well let in the game. If we could only have stopped the run, we had a chance to win. But we didn‘t and we didn’t even try to make changes when it was apparent we had no answers to their run game in the second half. That is disappointing. But the bottom line is, we just don’t have decent depth at DT or LB and just don’t think bodies that are ready to play those positions right now. We have to find a way to get more depth and players who are bigger and ready to play. We don’t have it now and we are regularly paying the price, especially late in games and late in the season.
On the positive side, the reconfigured OL is doing a vastly better job run blocking and pass blocking. It is a shame we didn’t Bit the bullet and make the changes earlier. Again, our lack of depth at OL led to a major reconfiguration early where a couple of players need up playing out of their natural positions. The good news is that I think we are getting into a much better position with our OL in future years. Our depth for next season should be much better.
I don’t know what happened with Trish and the leg injury, where he got the long catch and went down, then looked in agony on the sidelines, then went back into the game. I don’t believe he had a catch after that injury and while the hold he had on that infamous block where Welch scored and the TD was taken away was devastating, it is apparent he was playing hurt. So I will give him a bit of a break on that. Though he didn’t have to hold on that play and as a veteran should have known better. Sigh.
Did you notice the stuff UL was doing on defense, especially in the second half, especially when we got into their territory? They intentionally delayed getting their defensive personnel out on to the field as late as possible. The refs would stand over the ball, preventing Syracuse from snapping the ball, until the UL defense was completely into position. That is okay but not when UL delayed things to excess.
in a key sequence, Syracuse was driving for a TD that I believe would have gotten them within a TD of the lead sometime early in the fourth quarter. It was 3rd and short. SU substituted its short yardage package in. UL delayed getting its defensive replacements in very late. The ref didn‘t allow Tommy to even begin to get the call in until there were only 11 seconds left on the clock. Then UL shifted, Tommy tried to audible and he didn’t have time. We ended up getting a delay of game call against us when we should have gotten a big gain.
Then in 3rd and 7, UL lined up an LB wide at the LOS, and Tommy either didn’t see him or forgot about him. He blitzed, completely unblocked. I saw the hot route WR run into the space the LB vacated but Tommy froze/panicked and took an awful sack. That killed that drIve and played a key role in securing the victory.
Should a defense be allowed to pull this kind of a stunt? No question Tommy has to be aware of the clock and he should have been able to get the play off. Hell, I think he should have stayed his play call before the ref got out of the way. If the refs are going to facilitate this kind of garbage, why not? I understand that the defense has to have a chance to react to what the offensive personnel is, but there have to be limits to how long they get. Not sure, but we probably were just as guilty here, as Lynch regularly takes an extremely long time to get plays and personnel on the field.
That might be my biggest problem with Lynch. His indecisiveness, which gets noticeably worse in key situations, is tough to take. It seems like the bigger the situation, the most indecisive he is and the more conservative he gets. DCs know it and are taking advantage of it. You can’t be so predictable today. Teams do metics, they know tendencies, we can’t be playing into their hands like this.
More passes to Hackett, Penson and Jordan. Less passes to Riley. Get the ball into the hands of people who can make plays. Riley can’t beat anyone in the open field. It looks like N Johnson had his PT take away, which is good because he can’t get open or beat anyone either.
And what the hell was up with the shoes Cordy was wearing? He struggled to keep on his feet all game long. Kyle Fetterley what the hell? Did you give him banana peel shoes to wear?
Sad to lose to UL. Their offense is quite good but their defense is awful. We could have and probably should have won this game. The good news is that in the ACC, there is 1 great team, a bunch of good ones (and a couple bad ones). As we have found, the difference between winning and losing is not great and it won’t take enormous changes to get to a winning season next year.
Get well soon Hof. And all the other guys banged up too.
Our special teams were outstanding last season, but have regressed greatly this year. I cannot remember a season when our special teams units were called for so many penalties. It is astonishing. The penalty on the FG attempt, where Vet was really late getting on the field and there wasn’t time to get the ball snapped, was just another example.
Sean Riley was a really good put return guy last year but this year has been a disaster. He has let a ton of punt go where he had a lot of time and potential for a big return, and he has tried to catch a bunch of balls he should have let go. Lots inside the 10, some with someone right in his face. That happened last night. Just a senseless mental error by an experienced senior. This isn‘t his first fumble. It particularly hurt because our defense was really struggling. We finally got a stop and Sean‘s fumble gave them I’m effect a 40 yard gain. Props to Andre, who did great kicking FGs on a tough day to kick. And props to Pierce and Jordan for looking good returning KOs. Jordan is going to be our best KO return guy to a long time.
I like Elmore. Seems like a great guy and he is clearly a hard worker and a team guy. But I don’t understand why he is playing so much on offense. He isn‘t a very good blocker and does nothing else well. He can’t run the ball, he certainly can’t catch it, you can’t split him out...he is essentially a wasted body out there. Not good to be playing 10 on 11 so much. If you have to have an extra blocker out there, get a backup OL out there, or better yet, use Hackett or Benson. You don’t see other teams putting platers like Chris out there at a skill position. There is a reason why.
It was great to see Jordan get more playing time. I really liked seeing him split out wide. He is a special talent. He will thrive when he gets the ball in space. I think it will be far easier to get this done moving him to WR. Especially now, early in his career, when he is undersized and we have a bevy of other good RBs. We don’t have a bevy of good WRs. This needs to change.
I like that we are trying to do stunts with our defensive line now. It is one of those things good defenses do. It makes it harder for the OL and RBs blocking and has the potential to cause confusion and mistakes. But we repeatedly had our outside contain DE run sideways to the interior of the line, with no DT running outside to cover for the DE. And UL did a great job calling sweeps to the side abandoned by our DE. Good scouting by UL, given we only started this last week.
Thought UL did a lot of the same things Maryland did way back in September. Thought we still had no answer to these things. The UL QB was able to roll out whenever he wanted. He was able to run untouched into our secondary repeatedly. It looked like our defense put 8 men in the box and was completely keyed on stopping the UL RB and UL kept faking getting the ball to that RB and doing something else.
Contrast that to our offense. UL‘s defense clearly was geared towards stopping our running game, all game long. Their safeties played way up towards the line of scrimmage, just daring us to throw deep. And we kept running the ball, over and over, all game long. I understand the need to establish the run. I am down with running the ball a lot. I like that we are finally starting to call some playing plays with misdirection. But you need to mix in some play action at times. You have to keep the defense honest. You have to provide a mix of calls to make things difficult for the defense. We also never did anything but call simple running plays, even down 14 or 21 midway into the fourth quarter.
This offensive approach can’t be successfully against good defenses, or even mediocre ones. UL‘s defense isn‘t even mediocre. The only way they could stop us is by playing 8 guys in the box, going all in to stop the run and hoping we were foolish enough to run the ball. And we were. Repeatedly.
So props to UL for calling a good mix of plays. They got our secondary so worried about stopping the run that when they threw it deep to their speed guys, they were wide open. Our safeties again showed no discipline. Everything is related, and the regular failure of the DL to hold their ground led to the linebackers getting blocked and not able to make tackles, which led to the secondary being asked to make tackles over and over.
We got a lot of pressure on Cunningham and I think he was very banged up and not able to throw well let in the game. If we could only have stopped the run, we had a chance to win. But we didn‘t and we didn’t even try to make changes when it was apparent we had no answers to their run game in the second half. That is disappointing. But the bottom line is, we just don’t have decent depth at DT or LB and just don’t think bodies that are ready to play those positions right now. We have to find a way to get more depth and players who are bigger and ready to play. We don’t have it now and we are regularly paying the price, especially late in games and late in the season.
On the positive side, the reconfigured OL is doing a vastly better job run blocking and pass blocking. It is a shame we didn’t Bit the bullet and make the changes earlier. Again, our lack of depth at OL led to a major reconfiguration early where a couple of players need up playing out of their natural positions. The good news is that I think we are getting into a much better position with our OL in future years. Our depth for next season should be much better.
I don’t know what happened with Trish and the leg injury, where he got the long catch and went down, then looked in agony on the sidelines, then went back into the game. I don’t believe he had a catch after that injury and while the hold he had on that infamous block where Welch scored and the TD was taken away was devastating, it is apparent he was playing hurt. So I will give him a bit of a break on that. Though he didn’t have to hold on that play and as a veteran should have known better. Sigh.
Did you notice the stuff UL was doing on defense, especially in the second half, especially when we got into their territory? They intentionally delayed getting their defensive personnel out on to the field as late as possible. The refs would stand over the ball, preventing Syracuse from snapping the ball, until the UL defense was completely into position. That is okay but not when UL delayed things to excess.
in a key sequence, Syracuse was driving for a TD that I believe would have gotten them within a TD of the lead sometime early in the fourth quarter. It was 3rd and short. SU substituted its short yardage package in. UL delayed getting its defensive replacements in very late. The ref didn‘t allow Tommy to even begin to get the call in until there were only 11 seconds left on the clock. Then UL shifted, Tommy tried to audible and he didn’t have time. We ended up getting a delay of game call against us when we should have gotten a big gain.
Then in 3rd and 7, UL lined up an LB wide at the LOS, and Tommy either didn’t see him or forgot about him. He blitzed, completely unblocked. I saw the hot route WR run into the space the LB vacated but Tommy froze/panicked and took an awful sack. That killed that drIve and played a key role in securing the victory.
Should a defense be allowed to pull this kind of a stunt? No question Tommy has to be aware of the clock and he should have been able to get the play off. Hell, I think he should have stayed his play call before the ref got out of the way. If the refs are going to facilitate this kind of garbage, why not? I understand that the defense has to have a chance to react to what the offensive personnel is, but there have to be limits to how long they get. Not sure, but we probably were just as guilty here, as Lynch regularly takes an extremely long time to get plays and personnel on the field.
That might be my biggest problem with Lynch. His indecisiveness, which gets noticeably worse in key situations, is tough to take. It seems like the bigger the situation, the most indecisive he is and the more conservative he gets. DCs know it and are taking advantage of it. You can’t be so predictable today. Teams do metics, they know tendencies, we can’t be playing into their hands like this.
More passes to Hackett, Penson and Jordan. Less passes to Riley. Get the ball into the hands of people who can make plays. Riley can’t beat anyone in the open field. It looks like N Johnson had his PT take away, which is good because he can’t get open or beat anyone either.
And what the hell was up with the shoes Cordy was wearing? He struggled to keep on his feet all game long. Kyle Fetterley what the hell? Did you give him banana peel shoes to wear?
Sad to lose to UL. Their offense is quite good but their defense is awful. We could have and probably should have won this game. The good news is that in the ACC, there is 1 great team, a bunch of good ones (and a couple bad ones). As we have found, the difference between winning and losing is not great and it won’t take enormous changes to get to a winning season next year.
Get well soon Hof. And all the other guys banged up too.
