Feel like a good time to hand out some grades by unit (Part II will have more individual focus and lingering questions) as we get into the teeth of the sked. The grades may look a little lower than some/most people might like, but keep two things in mind: 1) I'm using C/C+ as somewhere in the neighborhood of average -- which is to say not bad but not particularly good. 2) We still don't totally know what type of competition we've faced (more on that later).
With that said:
Offense
QBs: A-
I'm not giving this grade based as much on play solely (that would be more in the B range) as I am based on how integral they've been in our wins. Dungey's play against WMU was good, but he obviously didn't throw the ball as well as we would have liked. That said, he was the best player on the field by about three miles and single-handedly seemed to deliver us that win. He was also solid against Wagner (five touchdowns is a big day) and then DeVito comes in after two subpar performances and keys a big win over FSU to give us our first 3-0 start in forever. Redshirt frosh in a big spot with no safety net (Dungey really banged up) after struggling in his first two opportunities, plays really solid football. I'll take it. UConn was more of the same from Dungey -- probably his best passing effort to date. Still room for improvement from both guys here, but still feel like this is our best unit on offense.
RBs: C-
I'm not going down into the D-range b/c ultimately Neal has been relatively dependable, Strickland has 5 TDs and has made a couple plays in the passing game and Howard has infused some optimism here. That said, we have to get better here. Neal does a nice job of getting what's there but just doesn't run through much contact -- in short yardage or in the open field. Strickland is a slot receiver playing RB in my mind -- runs a little upright and doesn't show a lot of burst or power. Howard is the key here. Didn't touch the ball in Game 1, but has 23 carries for 186 the past three. Need to see more of him, IMO. Maybe not amazing top-end speed, but looks so much more dangerous every time he touches the ball. My guess would be that we'd see he and Neal as the primary ball carriers at some point in the second half of the season.
WRs: D+
This grade looks ugly but the play has been pretty brutal here. Custis has been alright -- not exceptional but solid enough, the drops (1 each) against FSU and UConn not withstanding. Hopefully they are just blips. Riley broke out like crazy against UConn but he has literally been invisible against FSU and WMU, who are pretty clearly our two best opponents to date. Still a bit skeptical that he's a true every down type target for us. Butler's drops have been tough (though he did a nice job against FSU). We may see some improvement, but my guess is that if this grade improves it's going to be because we see more the freshmen (Nykeim Johnson anyone?), Pierce and maybe the RBs in the passing game (Strickland most notably). Nice to see Pierce make a couple plays vs. FSU. More of that please.
OL: B
Not going to grade individually b/c I'm not that good at understanding assignments and grading, etc. But my rule of thumb in judging whether an Oline is really good or not is how often you hear about the other team 'stacking the box.' Really good lines, especially in an offense that can throw the ball a little, create holes and get to the second level a lot. We've been pretty solid at generally moving the football but we've still had trouble playing physically in the red zone and the pass protection has been OK, not great. UConn may have been this group's best game to date. Just waiting to see it get done against a quality opponent which it seems like we might have coming up ...
Defense
DL: A-
This group won the FSU game by nearly killing Francois and then backed it up with another great performance vs. UConn. The depth is awesome -- even without studying tape I can remember all the starters as well as Jonathan, Black and Berry making plays. Really nice group that has been dominant.
LB: C-
The defense as a whole has played pretty well outside the atrocious third quarter vs. WMU but the big plays point straight to LBs and DBs and my guess is those things could be exposed in a big way if they're not cleaned up by noon on Saturday. I like Guthrie, he's played solid but gotten burned with a couple bad angles that led to big plays. I think Armstrong has been consistent but not not much of a playmaker and Whitner has been really active but struggled with angles at times as well. Overall think this group, especially when we face the big boys, is a little below average.
DB: C
Scoop needs to be playing inside against the slot whenever possible (this actually happened vs. UConn quite a bit, from what I could tell). he's solid there, but he really struggles downfield and when he gets singled up on a short pass on the outside. This group could really use Trill to come along quickly. Frederick has been good, I don't think he's been exceptional (perhaps people who actually break down film would disagree with me, which is fine). Love Cisqo and can live with the mistakes -- he's learning. He's a total ballhawk and I love the aggressiveness. But he is learning on the fly. Foster is solid. Coley got caught on that draw by Pindell last weekend. Just need these guys to tighten things up.
Specials: A+
Guess we gave up a return against FSU and missed one 40+yard field goal but those are literally the only blemishes for this group. Hoftrichter is a weapon, Smyzt has been outstanding, coverage has been really good (Custis working hard as the gunner last weekend), returns have been outstanding, Cordy was really aggressive fielding short punts -- which is as big as a big return at times -- and the big guys Shy/Ruff/Hackett/Elmore have been outstanding on teams trying shorter kicks. Really impressive overall performance here.
I'll tackle coaching in Part II.
With that said:
Offense
QBs: A-
I'm not giving this grade based as much on play solely (that would be more in the B range) as I am based on how integral they've been in our wins. Dungey's play against WMU was good, but he obviously didn't throw the ball as well as we would have liked. That said, he was the best player on the field by about three miles and single-handedly seemed to deliver us that win. He was also solid against Wagner (five touchdowns is a big day) and then DeVito comes in after two subpar performances and keys a big win over FSU to give us our first 3-0 start in forever. Redshirt frosh in a big spot with no safety net (Dungey really banged up) after struggling in his first two opportunities, plays really solid football. I'll take it. UConn was more of the same from Dungey -- probably his best passing effort to date. Still room for improvement from both guys here, but still feel like this is our best unit on offense.
RBs: C-
I'm not going down into the D-range b/c ultimately Neal has been relatively dependable, Strickland has 5 TDs and has made a couple plays in the passing game and Howard has infused some optimism here. That said, we have to get better here. Neal does a nice job of getting what's there but just doesn't run through much contact -- in short yardage or in the open field. Strickland is a slot receiver playing RB in my mind -- runs a little upright and doesn't show a lot of burst or power. Howard is the key here. Didn't touch the ball in Game 1, but has 23 carries for 186 the past three. Need to see more of him, IMO. Maybe not amazing top-end speed, but looks so much more dangerous every time he touches the ball. My guess would be that we'd see he and Neal as the primary ball carriers at some point in the second half of the season.
WRs: D+
This grade looks ugly but the play has been pretty brutal here. Custis has been alright -- not exceptional but solid enough, the drops (1 each) against FSU and UConn not withstanding. Hopefully they are just blips. Riley broke out like crazy against UConn but he has literally been invisible against FSU and WMU, who are pretty clearly our two best opponents to date. Still a bit skeptical that he's a true every down type target for us. Butler's drops have been tough (though he did a nice job against FSU). We may see some improvement, but my guess is that if this grade improves it's going to be because we see more the freshmen (Nykeim Johnson anyone?), Pierce and maybe the RBs in the passing game (Strickland most notably). Nice to see Pierce make a couple plays vs. FSU. More of that please.
OL: B
Not going to grade individually b/c I'm not that good at understanding assignments and grading, etc. But my rule of thumb in judging whether an Oline is really good or not is how often you hear about the other team 'stacking the box.' Really good lines, especially in an offense that can throw the ball a little, create holes and get to the second level a lot. We've been pretty solid at generally moving the football but we've still had trouble playing physically in the red zone and the pass protection has been OK, not great. UConn may have been this group's best game to date. Just waiting to see it get done against a quality opponent which it seems like we might have coming up ...
Defense
DL: A-
This group won the FSU game by nearly killing Francois and then backed it up with another great performance vs. UConn. The depth is awesome -- even without studying tape I can remember all the starters as well as Jonathan, Black and Berry making plays. Really nice group that has been dominant.
LB: C-
The defense as a whole has played pretty well outside the atrocious third quarter vs. WMU but the big plays point straight to LBs and DBs and my guess is those things could be exposed in a big way if they're not cleaned up by noon on Saturday. I like Guthrie, he's played solid but gotten burned with a couple bad angles that led to big plays. I think Armstrong has been consistent but not not much of a playmaker and Whitner has been really active but struggled with angles at times as well. Overall think this group, especially when we face the big boys, is a little below average.
DB: C
Scoop needs to be playing inside against the slot whenever possible (this actually happened vs. UConn quite a bit, from what I could tell). he's solid there, but he really struggles downfield and when he gets singled up on a short pass on the outside. This group could really use Trill to come along quickly. Frederick has been good, I don't think he's been exceptional (perhaps people who actually break down film would disagree with me, which is fine). Love Cisqo and can live with the mistakes -- he's learning. He's a total ballhawk and I love the aggressiveness. But he is learning on the fly. Foster is solid. Coley got caught on that draw by Pindell last weekend. Just need these guys to tighten things up.
Specials: A+
Guess we gave up a return against FSU and missed one 40+yard field goal but those are literally the only blemishes for this group. Hoftrichter is a weapon, Smyzt has been outstanding, coverage has been really good (Custis working hard as the gunner last weekend), returns have been outstanding, Cordy was really aggressive fielding short punts -- which is as big as a big return at times -- and the big guys Shy/Ruff/Hackett/Elmore have been outstanding on teams trying shorter kicks. Really impressive overall performance here.
I'll tackle coaching in Part II.
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