Boston College Post Game Thread

[takethepoints]

Was this thinking the result of coaching in a run-heavy era of football?

I htink it was more that odd's teams always had a collection of roughnecks on D. Tech was pretty good on O during his time, but lights out on D.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I believe Presbyterian College hired him for this approach. 2-9 and coach fired in the off season. Yeah let's not. Oh that was in the mighty Pioneer league where he went 0-8.

My brother in law played for Presbyterian back in the day and made a point of going to every homecoming. That year Kelley was coach, they lost and the scores were astronomical. The first two games PC rolled up an FCS record in the first game of over 600 yards passing and won both games against outmatched opponents scoring a combined 152 points. The next nine games the aerial circus continued but in spite of record numbers of passing yards, total yards, and lots of first downs there were no wins. After the record setting performance of the first two games plus the oddity of no punting there was heightened national interest for the third game which PC lost to Campbell 72-0. It was all downhill from there. My brother in law said it was like watching a defense gassed in the fourth quarter the whole game. They gave up 55 plus points in 7 of the 9 losses.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

One of the picks was pure luck and ended up a BC TD. King had two TD passes dropped. That would have flipped those stats right side up... not to mention be a 21-point swing.

This is all true.

As we have said before, Tech would be a decent team if we ever but an entire game together in all phases. The current situation with one part or another breaking down is indicative of young teams.

 

[stinger78]

I htink it was more that odd's teams always had a collection of roughnecks on D. Tech was pretty good on O during his time, but lights out on D.

Yes, but that was a different era of run-first, ball control football.

 

[Root4GT]

Two thoughts having time to consider what I saw on a couple of examples yesterday:
1. We got no pressure on the QB all day long - 2 TFL. He's a fast and shifty QB, so you have to be careful, but you have to pressure the guy, or he picks you apart. I only saw a small handful of blitzes yesterday, and they weren't executed well and easily picked up. You give that guy time and he eats you alive. It looked like the plan was to just try to contain him, not attack him. That seems like a bad plan to me.
2. One of our CB (cannot recall which) actually turned on a receiver to go back, from the LOS, instead of backpedaling until the WR got 3 yards away. You backpedal early to be able to stop and break on the play/ball if he curls in front of you, and you turn to run with him as he approaches you. It requires loose hips and speed to do this. The WR simply curled in, caught the ball, and had 10-yards of open field. Very poor technique. In fact, I'd say our CB was so concerned he'd be outrun his plan was to keep the play in front at all costs. He did, but it was another BC first down.

These two examples were, sadly, all too emblematic of our defensive play yesterday.

The question is why this was happening. I surely don't know, but our plan appears to cover for skill deficits. If not, it seems like either poor coaching or poor execution. My expectation coming into this season was that we covered most of our talent gaps via the portal. Maybe not, and we just have some real gaps in talent. This doesn't explain how we play better every other week though.

I'm scratching my head.

I am curious as to why you thought our DL and LB play would be anything but bad? Only White, Thomas and Ace were good DL and LBs last year and they all left. The transfers in at LB had one nothing at their prior schools. The DL had no other players that were impact players besides White.

Our DL and LBs get washed out every game except against Wake. That says more about Wake tha anything else!

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I am curious as to why you thought our DL and LB play would be anything but bad? Only White, Thomas and Ace were good DL and LBs last year and they all left. The transfers in at LB had one nothing at their prior schools. The DL had no other players that were impact players besides White.

Our DL and LBs get washed out every game except against Wake. That says more about Wake tha anything else!

Yep. Our DL rarely seems to get much push on critical downs, whether a pass or a run.

 

[stinger78]

I am curious as to why you thought our DL and LB play would be anything but bad? Only White, Thomas and Ace were good DL and LBs last year and they all left. The transfers in at LB had one nothing at their prior schools. The DL had no other players that were impact players besides White.

Our DL and LBs get washed out every game except against Wake. That says more about Wake tha anything else!

More hope than anything else. Alas, it wasn't to be.

I have concluded that the Transfer Portal generally sends the starters from lesser teams upward to the better teams and the 3/4th string from the better teams downward. It's a second level reordering. Add in NIL and it's the accelerator.

 

[awbuzz]

Interesting response from KJ on the question about having only 10 guys on the field saying 'I personally don't want to answer that question". I don't know if he messed up on it or didn't want to call someone out for it or if it's something else entirely.

In part explains why the middle of the field was wide open for the 43 yard TD on 4th and 1.

 

[awbuzz]

I’m afraid this is spot on.

Deion type roster turnover may have been warranted, and our only hope, plus getting rid of a few more coaches. I don’t think it’s any secret that money was a major driver for the latter and we had to be judicious about who we kept and who we fired.

As to the former part of the equation, I’m not sure Tech is ready yet to process players out at the rate a non-academic football program would. And, to be honest, I’m not sure I’m ready for that either.

I know Collins is doing his rehabilitation tour now but I cannot imagine anyone hiring him ever again to coach. He is a program destroyer.

How many of Deion's transfers would have been admitted to GT? I'd bet less than 70% and would not have been surprised if only 30%.

 

[takethepoints]

I wanted to add one thing on our DL. I watched Duke v FSU last night and the contrast between Duke's DL and ours was shocking. Their whole DL was much faster and pulled off intricate stunts with relative ease. And, btw, spent a good part of the game in FSU's backfield.

This isn't likely to be due to differences in overall talent. I looked at Duke's 247 recruiting averages for 2019 - 2022. Their mean rank was 59th. Tech's was 44th. The main difference is Elko and, probably, an eye for the kind of player he can use effectively. I don't think TFG or Thacker have a similar talent and it remains to be seem if any of our D coaches can develop it.

 

[alagold]

Again, fascinating. So a team would obviously game prep each for a particular opponent each week even with onside kicks. Probably had audibles too depending on how receiving teams lined up.

Seems like in the future a lot of teams might capture lightning in a bottle for a one year dynasty.

see TCU this yr

 

[tsrich]

One of the picks was pure luck and ended up a BC TD. King had two TD passes dropped. That would have flipped those stats right side up... not to mention be a 21-point swing.

That was not a good pass. King did not put the ball on the outside where it should have been. Our WR also didn’t fight for the ball either. And the DB made a great play

 

[Root4GT]

I wanted to add one thing on our DL. I watched Duke v FSU last night and the contrast between Duke's DL and ours was shocking. Their whole DL was much faster and pulled off intricate stunts with relative ease. And, btw, spent a good part of the game in FSU's backfield.

This isn't likely to be due to differences in overall talent. I looked at Duke's 247 recruiting averages for 2019 - 2022. Their mean rank was 59th. Tech's was 44th. The main difference is Elko and, probably, an eye for the kind of player he can use effectively. I don't think TFG or Thacker have a similar talent and it remains to be seem if any of our D coaches can develop it.

Duke’s DL is good. Makes ours look like trash in comparison

 

[stinger78]

I wanted to add one thing on our DL. I watched Duke v FSU last night and the contrast between Duke's DL and ours was shocking. Their whole DL was much faster and pulled off intricate stunts with relative ease. And, btw, spent a good part of the game in FSU's backfield.

This isn't likely to be due to differences in overall talent. I looked at Duke's 247 recruiting averages for 2019 - 2022. Their mean rank was 59th. Tech's was 44th. The main difference is Elko and, probably, an eye for the kind of player he can use effectively. I don't think TFG or Thacker have a similar talent and it remains to be seem if any of our D coaches can develop it.

We lost 2-3 of our top DL over the past two seasons. I know Domineck and Ivey would have made a difference. Didn’t Akelo Stone leave, too? That’s a big hit to take for a group that is thin to start with. Also, Sylvain is out for the season.

 

[GTBandit22]

Duke’s DL is good. Makes ours look like trash in comparison

Kind of an example of the portal hurting us vs on offense.
Senior Ivey and Domineck would be our starting ends, with Stone as at least the 3rd DT. Doesn’t help that we lost Yondo as well.

 

[GTBandit22]

We lost 2-3 of our too DL iver the past two seasons. I know Domineck and Ivey would have made a difference. Didn’t Akelo Stone leave, too? That’s a big hit to take for a group that is thin to start with. Also, Sylvain is out for the season.

Jinx

 

[stinger78]

Kind of an example of the portal hurting us vs on offense.
Senior Ivey and Domineck would be our starting ends, with Stone as at least the 3rd DT. Doesn’t help that we lost Yondo as well.

What do they say about great minds?

 

[leatherneckjacket]

Rewatched the entire game because I am a masochist.

The BC DBs played the best game of the year and even then we had plenty of missed opportunities. Our WRs dropped way too many passes. When they didn't King would be slightly off on his passes. Not sure if the break hurt the offense's rhythm, but King and the receivers were out of sync all game.

How do you come out on the field to start the fourth quarter with only ten guys against a third and one? Horrible.

Why do our LBs and safeties all flow to the same gap? On the 4th and 1 TD run, no one covers the cut back hole while three defenders run towards the primary hole.

Also, the defense quit after the second interception. No way you give up a TD in two plays right there. Pitiful effort from the front seven.

Finally, some of our DL are really slow off the snap and end getting pushed backwards against a single blocker really easily. We need to be more explosive off the snap to force double teams and create disruption in the backfield.

 

[4shotB]

More hope than anything else. Alas, it wasn't to be.

I have concluded that the Transfer Portal generally sends the starters from lesser teams upward to the better teams and the 3/4th string from the better teams downward. It's a second level reordering. Add in NIL and it's the accelerator.

I am starting share this opinion. Seems like effective transfers (K. White here, J. Gibbs at Bama) were productive at their previous schools, Guys who slide “down “ from larger schools, even if they are from the so called factories, can be much more hit or miss. The measurables will be there but effectiveness may or may not be. Same risk that you have recruiting HS kids.

 

[stinger78]

Finally, some of our DL are really slow off the snap and end getting pushed backwards against a single blocker really easily. We need to be more explosive off the snap to force double teams and create disruption in the backfield.

You are a masochist, LNJ. Ha!

I have seen the same thing re: filling gaps. First, a DL has to be either a 1-gapper or a 2-gapper. One or the other. The best can do both, but you have to be able to do one. A 1-gap DL is a penetrator who shoots into the gap and penetrates, holding that gap. A 2-gap DL is a guy who plays face up on the OL and holds his ground, able to cover both gaps. IMPO, this is pretty rare in CFB. You see this a lot with the 3-4 NT, and when it happens it frees the LB to do a lot of mayhem-creating things. 1-gap DL are fine, you see it a lot with the 4-3, but the LB have to fill the open gaps. Problem is, I cannot remember the last real 2-gap DT we had. But that's fine a 4-3 is a great D.

We're running a 4-2 though, and that seems to be a problem to me. Our DL do not penetrate well and when they do, the LB do not fill particularly well. The reason, IMHO, our Will LB are all playing at 214-217 pounds. That's no better than 6 DBs. Ken Swilling played SS at about that weight, if not heavier. Moala, at Sam, is 230 and he cannot do it alone. His backup is Efford who is 219. Filling a gap, these guys are going up against OL who outweigh them by 80-100 pounds. If you're going to run a 4-2, you'd better put the meanest **** on your team at LB, and they better be guys who can fill a flipping gap.