DomeHolmes
2nd String
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- Sep 3, 2024
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I’ve been away from the board for a few days and have been reading that it was mostly the offenses fault, and some people say it’s mostly the defense’s fault. I usually rewatch the game with in a day or so, but it was so disheartening, I needed a few days.
After re-watching the game, the offense moved the ball and was competent on 80% of the plays. 2 fumbles, a pick, bad play calls, and a very close call on Ross Simmon’s elbow ruined an otherwise fairly competent game. Considering the production, the three points was an aberration.
The defense was a comedy of errors, all game long. We were fortunate Duke only had 38.
As I saw it, the big mistakes were as follows on offense and why they were failures.
-First and foremost, Willis only getting six carries after the first two series is coaching malpractice.
-the interception was not really about whether or not Ross Simmons ran the wrong route or Ricky‘s arm got hit. It’s about the fact that he had double coverage to his left on one receiver, and two open receivers with single coverage to his right, that he never looked at. It should’ve been an easy pitch and catch to the right for 5 yards.
-Willis‘s long run to the 6 yard line should’ve been a touchdown. He would’ve been tackled somewhere around the 2 yard line and probably would’ve fallen into the end zone, but for some reason, he cut left, into a defender, rather than stay on a straight line.
-then a terrible play call by Nixon on 2nd and 6, and no audible by Collins. We ran the read option to the opposite side of an unblocked linebacker who blew up the play. You cannot run a read option against an unblocked player wider than the defensive end on either side. Period. It was a bad call and should’ve been an Audible. Like the interception, it’s a sign that Ricky does not have enough experience to read a defense. Nixon shouldn’t have called it.
-the fumbles speak for themselves, and if Collins throws the ball 6 inches higher, Ross Simmons is down at the one.
On defense, it was clear to me that Heard, sparrow, Samuels, Tremble, Kerr and Long were exposed badly for their lack of experience/skill. And our DTs were pushed around. (Linebacker play was especially egregious, and most of the breakdowns were when Sparrow and Heard were in).
-Duke’s first touchdown drive from the 12, Sparrow has outside contain, but runs into the middle of the pile. He is stopped, (and held) by Duke OL. Easy touchdown through his gap. A holding would’ve been called if he saw the play and ran toward the RB (exposing the holding) but he never even saw the play.
-Long touchdown run. Again, Sparrow is in the game, and again he runs into a gap already occupied by two Syracuse defenders, leaving his gap exposed. Terrible play.
Dukes last touchdown. A comedy of errors on the entire team. Duke has a seven man front, an Hback, and one reciever in motion. Samuels does a half assed job following the receiver in motion, just jogging, and actually obstructs the view of Heard and the Safties, once the ball is snapped. Here again, Robinson is out coached. We have a six man front against seven linemen and an HBack. Deuce has the quarterback, and Samuels has the receiver so we are essentially 8 on the LOS, Leaving the middle vulnerable. Rooks attacks with a high pad level and gets absolutely destroyed. Because we only have three players backing up the six man D line, with Rooks out of the way, all they need to do is run one lineman to the second level for an easy TD. Heard makes a half assed attempt to tackle, and Long is out of position. Tremble is in position to blow up the play in the backfield, (the same way Duke did to us in the first quarter), but is hesitant and runs down the line of scrimmage rather than into the backfield. This is a lengthy description, but shows a terrible formation by Robinson, spreading out our defense against essentially an eight man front, which is coaching malpractice, and bad execution by multiple players.
So in my opinion, the offense had a lot of bad luck, but the problems are fixable and the three points was an anomaly. If “the ball bounced a little differently”, we might’ve had 28 points.
The defense was just more of the same, with too many inexperienced players, and bad coaching/playcalling by E Rob. The big problem we’ve had is not being able to tackle, the worse problem is not even being in a position to whiff on a tackle. That happened all day long. Our secondary was so ineffective, they did not have one PBU the entire game. (up until this game, we actually led the ACC in PBUs). Unlike the offense, we are not likely to improve.
So the offense was unfortunate, but the defense sucked. Again.
After re-watching the game, the offense moved the ball and was competent on 80% of the plays. 2 fumbles, a pick, bad play calls, and a very close call on Ross Simmon’s elbow ruined an otherwise fairly competent game. Considering the production, the three points was an aberration.
The defense was a comedy of errors, all game long. We were fortunate Duke only had 38.
As I saw it, the big mistakes were as follows on offense and why they were failures.
-First and foremost, Willis only getting six carries after the first two series is coaching malpractice.
-the interception was not really about whether or not Ross Simmons ran the wrong route or Ricky‘s arm got hit. It’s about the fact that he had double coverage to his left on one receiver, and two open receivers with single coverage to his right, that he never looked at. It should’ve been an easy pitch and catch to the right for 5 yards.
-Willis‘s long run to the 6 yard line should’ve been a touchdown. He would’ve been tackled somewhere around the 2 yard line and probably would’ve fallen into the end zone, but for some reason, he cut left, into a defender, rather than stay on a straight line.
-then a terrible play call by Nixon on 2nd and 6, and no audible by Collins. We ran the read option to the opposite side of an unblocked linebacker who blew up the play. You cannot run a read option against an unblocked player wider than the defensive end on either side. Period. It was a bad call and should’ve been an Audible. Like the interception, it’s a sign that Ricky does not have enough experience to read a defense. Nixon shouldn’t have called it.
-the fumbles speak for themselves, and if Collins throws the ball 6 inches higher, Ross Simmons is down at the one.
On defense, it was clear to me that Heard, sparrow, Samuels, Tremble, Kerr and Long were exposed badly for their lack of experience/skill. And our DTs were pushed around. (Linebacker play was especially egregious, and most of the breakdowns were when Sparrow and Heard were in).
-Duke’s first touchdown drive from the 12, Sparrow has outside contain, but runs into the middle of the pile. He is stopped, (and held) by Duke OL. Easy touchdown through his gap. A holding would’ve been called if he saw the play and ran toward the RB (exposing the holding) but he never even saw the play.
-Long touchdown run. Again, Sparrow is in the game, and again he runs into a gap already occupied by two Syracuse defenders, leaving his gap exposed. Terrible play.
Dukes last touchdown. A comedy of errors on the entire team. Duke has a seven man front, an Hback, and one reciever in motion. Samuels does a half assed job following the receiver in motion, just jogging, and actually obstructs the view of Heard and the Safties, once the ball is snapped. Here again, Robinson is out coached. We have a six man front against seven linemen and an HBack. Deuce has the quarterback, and Samuels has the receiver so we are essentially 8 on the LOS, Leaving the middle vulnerable. Rooks attacks with a high pad level and gets absolutely destroyed. Because we only have three players backing up the six man D line, with Rooks out of the way, all they need to do is run one lineman to the second level for an easy TD. Heard makes a half assed attempt to tackle, and Long is out of position. Tremble is in position to blow up the play in the backfield, (the same way Duke did to us in the first quarter), but is hesitant and runs down the line of scrimmage rather than into the backfield. This is a lengthy description, but shows a terrible formation by Robinson, spreading out our defense against essentially an eight man front, which is coaching malpractice, and bad execution by multiple players.
So in my opinion, the offense had a lot of bad luck, but the problems are fixable and the three points was an anomaly. If “the ball bounced a little differently”, we might’ve had 28 points.
The defense was just more of the same, with too many inexperienced players, and bad coaching/playcalling by E Rob. The big problem we’ve had is not being able to tackle, the worse problem is not even being in a position to whiff on a tackle. That happened all day long. Our secondary was so ineffective, they did not have one PBU the entire game. (up until this game, we actually led the ACC in PBUs). Unlike the offense, we are not likely to improve.
So the offense was unfortunate, but the defense sucked. Again.
