there were some bright spots

[Chip]

This is not good. Thursday night, no one bothering me, no chauffeuring ankle biters anywhere, can just sit and watch like the old days, and I said hell with this and went to bed. Terrible performance by me and then

Ha. Yeah I had the basement all to myself. No one bothered me except me. I did stay up, but a couple times I really thought about just going to bed.

 

[Newhouser]

I liked seeing Cam Jordan get some burn.

I agree and by the looks test he looks like an ACC receiver that every other team in the league has.

 

[PhatOrange]

had the oline protected better the WR were wide open.

they figured out a way to gain about 200 yds in the 4th

the D played pretty well missing some big pieces and on the field most of the first 3 quarters

Pitt at home is a different game if TD comes out of this in one piece

I'm not sure if I watched a different game last night or if you watched a different game last night but I think the OL gave DeVito as much time as he's had all season. Were they great? heck no but they were good enough. A lot of it was on Tommy. He held the ball and flat out refused to throw to open guys. He's not even seeing his check down Moe Neal who is literally standing right in front of him for easy 6, 7, 8 yard gains. What's he seeing??? I don't know what the issue in his head is but I think things are just happening to fast for him right now. He needs to start making better decisions. He's being talked to on the sideline and he's nodding up and down but things are not translating yet.

By the way 45 of those yards in the 4th came when DeVito man'd up and started running hard north and south. He needs to step up into the pocket and not run sideways, and he needs to start taking what the D gives him with his legs. His play early on was flat out bizarre.

The image below I took during the game last night. This was a 3rd and 7 in the 3rd Quarter. Live the first read was slant. Quick drop, let it rip. The receiver is WIDE open for the slant and nothing but green, DeVito eats the ball here and took a sack on the play. Why??? This was a microcosm of his play last night. The slant he got heat for in the endzone was 10x more covered than this ball is right here.

 

[shu 49]

I'm not sure if I watched a different game last night or if you watched a different game last night but I think the OL gave DeVito as much time as he's had all season. Were they great? heck no but they were good enough. A lot of it was on Tommy. He held the ball and flat out refused to throw to open guys. He's not even seeing his check down Moe Neal who is literally standing right in front of him for easy 6, 7, 8 yard gains. What's he seeing??? I don't know what the issue in his head is but I think things are just happening to fast for him right now. He needs to start making better decisions. He's being talked to on the sideline and he's nodding up and down but things are not translating yet.

By the way 45 of those yards in the 4th came when DeVito man'd up and started running hard north and south. He needs to step up into the pocket and not run sideways, and he needs to start taking what the D gives him with his legs. His play early on was flat out bizarre.

The image below I took during the game last night. This was a 3rd and 7 in the 3rd Quarter. You could tell the first read was slant. Quick drop, let it rip. The receiver is WIDE open for the slant and nothing but green, DeVito eats the ball here and took a sack on the play. Why ? This was a microcosm of his play last night. The slant he got heat for in the endzone was 10x more covered than this ball is right here.

View attachment 171315

That is perfect especially if he leads him a bit

 

[upperdeck]

oh i agree. i think much of it was him trying to not get hit

but even on this play its 6x5 blocking and we have 2 blocking air..

the first half i thought the recognition of throwing lanes was bad.

multiple guys running open he didnt see.

I think the first instinct is that we have enough blockers to handle this play. They are sending 6 so they are running single high man. Cant see the top of the route so maybe first read is deep? then the blocking breaks down and he doesnt check down.

i dont know what he is thinking. But if the blocking is holding up you dont want the first read to be check down.. But maybe with this oline we do since its going to be open for short gains and a broken tackle from big gains.

my bigger question is how did we mess up the oline protection on this play. we have a TE on the left so why is the center blocking that way and not sliding up? if he blocks right and slides up then TD steps up and runs or throws easily.

 

[Millhouse]

oh i agree. i think much of it was him trying to not get hit

but even on this play its 6x5 blocking and we have 2 blocking air..

the first half i thought the recognition of throwing lanes was bad.

multiple guys running open he didnt see.

I think the first instinct is that we have enough blockers to handle this play. They are sending 6 so they are running single high man. Cant see the top of the route so maybe first read is deep? then the blocking breaks down and he doesnt check down.

i dont know what he is thinking. But if the blocking is holding up you dont want the first read to be check down.. But maybe with this oline we do since its going to be open for short gains and a broken tackle from big gains.

my bigger question is how did we mess up the oline protection on this play. we have a TE on the left so why is the center blocking that way and not sliding up? if he blocks right and slides up then TD steps up and runs or throws easily.

yeah, this is a good illustration of how it's not either or. he needs to throw it and we have lineman doing the switched hands on knees doofy dance all by themselves

 

[upperdeck]

if you can only take shots when you max protect its gonna be tough.. we shouldnt be worried about taking short gains when you have the right numbers to protect.. its worse because its not 50/50 they will break down. its like 20/80.

 

[JSOrange97]

Armstrong started looking like midseason Whitner yesterday.
Still needs to wrap up and get to the carrier quicker though. He’s getting there.

It seemed he got better as the game went on.

 

[PhatOrange]

oh i agree. i think much of it was him trying to not get hit

but even on this play its 6x5 blocking and we have 2 blocking air..

the first half i thought the recognition of throwing lanes was bad.

multiple guys running open he didnt see.

I think the first instinct is that we have enough blockers to handle this play. They are sending 6 so they are running single high man. Cant see the top of the route so maybe first read is deep? then the blocking breaks down and he doesnt check down.

i dont know what he is thinking. But if the blocking is holding up you dont want the first read to be check down.. But maybe with this oline we do since its going to be open for short gains and a broken tackle from big gains.

my bigger question is how did we mess up the oline protection on this play. we have a TE on the left so why is the center blocking that way and not sliding up? if he blocks right and slides up then TD steps up and runs or throws easily.

No no no, you misunderstood. At times when DeVito started running he could dump it to Moe who's literally in front of him as the safety valve. I swear Moe's doing jumping jacks 10 yards away and DeVito has his eyes closed or something.

Live, the above play first read I thought was slant. If first read is deep then they're idiots because there are no linebackers to take the slant away. It's 3rd and 7 here. I'll have to check pre-snap see what it looked like to TD but I think this was pretty basic.

I don't know why the protection is your biggest question on this play. Yes looking at the line we have a guy on the top right unblocked (two actually because the RT whiffed his block - I can't blame the center here) and this is also good call by NC State b/c they rushed the extra guy on the slot side so 'maybe' they are actually in the passing lane and TD cant's see the Slot WR? But again, this play is a quick hitter, 2 step drop and throw. He appears to be looking right at him. It's an RVA throw he's done 1000x and it's open. The unblocked guy on the right is still 3 or 4 yards away. There is no way imo that his vision is so impeded here he can't see it. THROW IT, he instead took a sack on this.

 

[TheCusian]

I've been a huge TD proponent, but in the first half he played scared IMO

 

[PhatOrange]

yeah, this is a good illustration of how it's not either or. he needs to throw it and we have lineman doing the switched hands on knees doofy dance all by themselves

Thing is NC State rushed 3 on the top side against only 2 blockers. (what I don't know is pre-snap if that guy blitzed or if they were 5 DL at the snap.) There's no RB to help with that extra guy. I don't know how the line shifts over there to account for the extra guy. If Servais turns right he's doubling a guy who's being handled. It's a basic defensive call by NC State. Empty backfield rush the extra guy on the 2 man side. That's partially why the call is (or should be) a quick hitting slant that is clearly open, and no linebackers in the middle.. If TD is not reading slant as the first option here it points to his lack of awareness. (Or maybe it's on Lynch.)

 

[Doc5120]

Another positive - team didn’t quit despite the adversity and awful first three quarters. Still got some fire left in them.

The team may not have, but did Taj?

 

[upperdeck]

I agree that i dont know what the first read was. just saying if its not the slant then I get it breaking down.. But if you trust the oline then the first read can be the deep and check down to the slant since that will still be open.

if creating pressure with 5 on 6 is just simply to run 2 around the end then we are lost. the only place the extra can come from is the end so you have to have a protection call on for that.. even if they run a stunt it can be handled since we had more bodies.


to me I wish we just took the slant like you say because our oline is in fail mode most of the time. if teams are going to send 6 in this spot and man up then we need to have a play or 2 that works and make them stop sending the 6.

I really think Harris/jackson would kill it in these spots. Riley stepped up last night finally too

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I said in pre season that Td will need his hot reads when blitzes are coming and with Ed we didn’t have to have hot reads cause he was a tank. We do none of that stuff. Our playcalling is useless. I also noticed and maybe it was cause he was injured but Td does not like throwing to his left much. Does anyone else see that or is it just me.

They always tell QBs not to throw across their body when rolling out. DeVito doesn't make that throw ever.

Which... might need to be reconsidered. It's definitely there. I think he's got the arm to make the throw.

 

[bigmike]

I think TD has a bright future, but it seems to me at this point when he runs to buy time (almost always to the right) he never seems to find anyone open.

 

[Chip]

No no no, you misunderstood. At times when DeVito started running he could dump it to Moe who's literally in front of him as the safety valve. I swear Moe's doing jumping jacks 10 yards away and DeVito has his eyes closed or something.

Live, the above play first read I thought was slant. If first read is deep then they're idiots because there are no linebackers to take the slant away. It's 3rd and 7 here. I'll have to check pre-snap see what it looked like to TD but I think this was pretty basic.

I don't know why the protection is your biggest question on this play. Yes looking at the line we have a guy on the top right unblocked (two actually because the RT whiffed his block - I can't blame the center here) and this is also good call by NC State b/c they rushed the extra guy on the slot side so 'maybe' they are actually in the passing lane and TD cant's see the Slot WR? But again, this play is a quick hitter, 2 step drop and throw. He appears to be looking right at him. It's an RVA throw he's done 1000x and it's open. The unblocked guy on the right is still 3 or 4 yards away. There is no way imo that his vision is so impeded here he can't see it. THROW IT, he instead took a sack on this.

There was a play where Tommy rolled out right, eyes downfield (or so I thought) and Hackett was literally doing jumping jacks, no one near him. Doing the I'm open wave from Ace Ventura.

Tommy threw the ball into the 10th row. Credit him for not throwing it to a defender standing on the sidelines I guess.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

There was a play where Tommy rolled out right, eyes downfield (or so I thought) and Hackett was literally doing jumping jacks, no one near him. Doing the I'm open wave from Ace Ventura.

Tommy threw the ball into the 10th row. Credit him for not throwing it to a defender standing on the sidelines I guess.

I think those interceptions messed with his head, and mow he's just not taking the risk.

 

[OrangeDW]

As a Giants/Cuse fan I feel like I’ve been watching opponents eat us alive with slants for years, meanwhile the Giants slants get deflected or batted up in the air off receivers hands for INT’s, and Cuse doesn’t even bother throwing them.

It’s bizarre how much better DeVito looked last year. I thought he’d make some mistakes by being overly aggressive and would get some picks, but would also make a ton of big plays with his arm and put constant pressure on the defense.

 

[elimunelson]

Tommy has an NFL arm, will he add an NFL head to it????

I think future is bright w him. He's clearly injured

 

[Trueblue25]

Lets keep the ball rolling

Harper’s making me feel a little better about Black and Ruff departing. He’s quick to the qb though missed an addtional sack or two last night.

Berry continues to play well.

Coley had some missed tackles last night BUT I think he’s the hard hitting safety and play maker we deserve alongside a ballhawk like Cisco. They’d complement each other well.

 

[PhatOrange]

I agree that i dont know what the first read was. just saying if its not the slant then I get it breaking down.. But if you trust the oline then the first read can be the deep and check down to the slant since that will still be open.

if creating pressure with 5 on 6 is just simply to run 2 around the end then we are lost. the only place the extra can come from is the end so you have to have a protection call on for that.. even if they run a stunt it can be handled since we had more bodies.


to me I wish we just took the slant like you say because our oline is in fail mode most of the time. if teams are going to send 6 in this spot and man up then we need to have a play or 2 that works and make them stop sending the 6.

I really think Harris/jackson would kill it in these spots. Riley stepped up last night finally too

I stand corrected on a couple of things. First it was 3rd and 8, not 7. 2nd, we did not have an empty backfield. We're in a straight 1 RB set with no TE. It's T, G, C, G, T. The RB is actually laying on the ground at the top because he completely and utterly whiffed his block on the top most guy who's running free. The RB is Moe Neal and it was an unbelievable lack of effort on his part. In the frame the guy it appears he missed is not actually the guy he missed. It's the kid closest to DeVito. As a coach, my head would have exploded over that.

The guy in the center of the frame with no one to block is actually the guard D Davis. For some reason he blocks down and he appears to be wrong. It forces the Tackle to block down leaving 2 guys free on that side and because Moe missed his block. Regardless of the OL here, imo the play completely blew up because Moe missed his block.

The play itself is clearly a called slant (which happens to be a little crossing pattern), DeVito is staring right at it and does not pull the trigger. EVEN with the breakdowns noted above TD still has ample time to make the throw and does not. (the play is at the 10:40 mark of the 3rd Q if anyone wants to take a look) I can't post screen shots because youtube tv must have some logic embedded as it blacks out the screenshot.

...and the play before on 2nd and 8 DeVito gets flushed out of the pocket and has to throw it away because Servais got beat like a drum and pushed back 10 yards. There just so much blame to go around right now, it's a complete mess.

 

[kuethstheman]

we have a qb who has his sights on the NFL and only thinks about his stats...doesn’t look like he cares about winning or losing.

Not buying that. It doesn't even make sense.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I think those interceptions messed with his head, and mow he's just not taking the risk.

I wonder about that too. To me he seems to lack confidence that open people are really open and that some db isn’t going to swoop in and intercept probably because he’s been shocked by it happening previously (maybe a WR stopping or turning etc that he didn’t anticipate or just a plain bad pass). It’s making him reluctant to throw questioning his own judgement.

 

[syrBossHogg]

Trishton Jackson with another 100 yard + TD game.

 

[Trueblue25]

Fanbase turns on him.
Had a bad game.
Offense could not get going.
Blitzed relentlessly.

0 interceptions, 0 fumbles. 29 of 39 for 300 yards and a TD.

accumulator or not, its impossible not to see a silver lining once he can take his skills and develop a better feel for the college game