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Doing these defensive studies is so difficult because so much of the action is out of the picture. I had forgotton to set my DVR before leaving the house for the game, so I had to rely on the ESPNU replay at 4am. Well, that is an abridged version of the game, so this writing will be as well.
FSU has a lot of speed on the offensive side of the ball. That much is pretty evident. Cook makes many of our guys look slow in pursuit. They spread you out, throw a bunch of different formation looks at you, and force you to get aligned quickly. They have good looking OLs, especially at the OT position. Those guys can play, especially in pass protection. The G-C-G position was strong too, but more so in the run blocking phase. One thing that jumped out at me was how much better their skill guys are blocking than ours when they go max protect. I don't think Golson will say he had a good game if you ask him. He made some good throws under duress and made some plays with his feet, but he also threw to the wrong guy a few times and rushed some throws without needing to. He is a good player and never really put himself in danger of a TO. The play we picked in the EZ was still a good throw IMHO. I would have tried it too if I saw the play developing like that. Free Shoes gave us a lot of help, let's be honest. We played well overall. Without a doubt it was our best 60 minute effort of the season. However, they just hurt themselves so badly with false starts, holding calls, and ill-timed snaps.
We tried some new stuff on D and we got up in their faces a little. It was pretty risky stuff, considering DJW was out, but heck, that is what we have been asking for, right? Our safeties played a prominent role in run defense with one lined up very shallow much of the time. Our CBs pressed a lot and proved to be up for the challenge. They missed every deep shot they took that I saw, never making us pay, seeming content to work us in the intermediate game and dump offs. I was surpised by that, given how well they protected. We gave them some 4-3. We mixed in some 3 man front in addition to the normal 4-2-5. At times we saw Gotsis at DE and Gray actually roaming the middle, probably in an effort to spy the speedy Cook. We ran some stunts and some blitzes with varying levels of success. Every once in a while Gotsis would beat a guy and get in there, but we still struggle to get pressure without numbers.
Along the DL, Gotsis is the only guy who really ever flat out beats a guy and fights his way past. He got probably 5 good licks on Golson during the game and disrupted more plays than that. Our DEs were really no match for their OTs. The occasions they did get in there were on ill-timed surprise snaps that caught them more off guard than us. The effort level was high, but they were ineffectual mostly. Gamble is physical enough, but lacks good feet. Jabari faces a lot of doubles and really seems to be tasked with taking up space and holding ground, rather than using his wild lateral abilities. On the whole I would say that we appeared to execute better with the DL and LBs plugging up the run lanes. They hit a few creases, but not a ton. I really liked Gotsis at DE when he was in there. He gave their OTs a run for their money and beat them straight up a couple times.
I got really POed looking at the film at one situation that we screwed up badly earlier in the game only to repeat the same mistake in their last drive helping to set up their ill-fated FG attempt. They hit one of their bigger plays when we came with 3 for pressure, dropping 8 into coverage and NOBODY picked up Cook coming out of the backfield. He had tons of room to run. How does that happen with 8 guys in coverage and their most explosive player releasing from the backfield? Having done it once, you would think we would have learned our lesson and corrected it on the sideline. Well, that 25 or so yard play, with under 30 seconds to go, that put the outcome into jeopardy for us, was the same darned thing. They saved it for us when we showed the 3 man front, and we repeated the same mistake. That nearly cost us and it ticks me off.
I like watching Law Austin play. As the nickel, he is in the picture more often than the other DBs. He lacks the speed to really stay with the fastest of players, but he plays very decisively and closes quickly on plays around him. Golden was the lucky recipient of Austin's last moment lunging breakup of a pass that looked like a sure TD when the ball was on the way.
When you sum it all up, getting help from FSU or not, giving up under 300 yards and 16 points, in a game where their offense inherited a 22 yard field and a 2 yard field in separate drives, is a pretty darned good day's work. In many ways it reminded me of UGA 2014. Make no mistake, this was a very hard fought battle out there. It wasn't pretty on either side, but it was a slug fest.
FSU has a lot of speed on the offensive side of the ball. That much is pretty evident. Cook makes many of our guys look slow in pursuit. They spread you out, throw a bunch of different formation looks at you, and force you to get aligned quickly. They have good looking OLs, especially at the OT position. Those guys can play, especially in pass protection. The G-C-G position was strong too, but more so in the run blocking phase. One thing that jumped out at me was how much better their skill guys are blocking than ours when they go max protect. I don't think Golson will say he had a good game if you ask him. He made some good throws under duress and made some plays with his feet, but he also threw to the wrong guy a few times and rushed some throws without needing to. He is a good player and never really put himself in danger of a TO. The play we picked in the EZ was still a good throw IMHO. I would have tried it too if I saw the play developing like that. Free Shoes gave us a lot of help, let's be honest. We played well overall. Without a doubt it was our best 60 minute effort of the season. However, they just hurt themselves so badly with false starts, holding calls, and ill-timed snaps.
We tried some new stuff on D and we got up in their faces a little. It was pretty risky stuff, considering DJW was out, but heck, that is what we have been asking for, right? Our safeties played a prominent role in run defense with one lined up very shallow much of the time. Our CBs pressed a lot and proved to be up for the challenge. They missed every deep shot they took that I saw, never making us pay, seeming content to work us in the intermediate game and dump offs. I was surpised by that, given how well they protected. We gave them some 4-3. We mixed in some 3 man front in addition to the normal 4-2-5. At times we saw Gotsis at DE and Gray actually roaming the middle, probably in an effort to spy the speedy Cook. We ran some stunts and some blitzes with varying levels of success. Every once in a while Gotsis would beat a guy and get in there, but we still struggle to get pressure without numbers.
Along the DL, Gotsis is the only guy who really ever flat out beats a guy and fights his way past. He got probably 5 good licks on Golson during the game and disrupted more plays than that. Our DEs were really no match for their OTs. The occasions they did get in there were on ill-timed surprise snaps that caught them more off guard than us. The effort level was high, but they were ineffectual mostly. Gamble is physical enough, but lacks good feet. Jabari faces a lot of doubles and really seems to be tasked with taking up space and holding ground, rather than using his wild lateral abilities. On the whole I would say that we appeared to execute better with the DL and LBs plugging up the run lanes. They hit a few creases, but not a ton. I really liked Gotsis at DE when he was in there. He gave their OTs a run for their money and beat them straight up a couple times.
I got really POed looking at the film at one situation that we screwed up badly earlier in the game only to repeat the same mistake in their last drive helping to set up their ill-fated FG attempt. They hit one of their bigger plays when we came with 3 for pressure, dropping 8 into coverage and NOBODY picked up Cook coming out of the backfield. He had tons of room to run. How does that happen with 8 guys in coverage and their most explosive player releasing from the backfield? Having done it once, you would think we would have learned our lesson and corrected it on the sideline. Well, that 25 or so yard play, with under 30 seconds to go, that put the outcome into jeopardy for us, was the same darned thing. They saved it for us when we showed the 3 man front, and we repeated the same mistake. That nearly cost us and it ticks me off.
I like watching Law Austin play. As the nickel, he is in the picture more often than the other DBs. He lacks the speed to really stay with the fastest of players, but he plays very decisively and closes quickly on plays around him. Golden was the lucky recipient of Austin's last moment lunging breakup of a pass that looked like a sure TD when the ball was on the way.
When you sum it all up, getting help from FSU or not, giving up under 300 yards and 16 points, in a game where their offense inherited a 22 yard field and a 2 yard field in separate drives, is a pretty darned good day's work. In many ways it reminded me of UGA 2014. Make no mistake, this was a very hard fought battle out there. It wasn't pretty on either side, but it was a slug fest.
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