Game 1 #NIUvsGT Predictions

Margin of Victory

  • GT by 14+

    Votes: 181 81.5%
  • GT by 7-13

    Votes: 30 13.5%
  • GT by <7

    Votes: 5 2.3%
  • NIU by <7

    Votes: 3 1.4%
  • NIU by 7-13

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • NIU by 14+

    Votes: 3 1.4%

  • Total voters
    222
  • Poll closed .

Heisman's Ghost

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Congrats to our NIU visitors. Well deserved win. In all seriousness. More sarcastically - Looking forward to hearing how elite you are from our current coach.
NIU deserved to win. They were well prepared, had a gutsy quarterback who made plays and were clearly tougher on the lines. Very disappointing but about what you can expect from Collins. This may be the final nail in the coffin at the end of the year but his buyout will probably save him.
 

cthenrys

Ramblin' Wreck
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NIU deserved to win. They were well prepared, had a gutsy quarterback who made plays and were clearly tougher on the lines. Very disappointing but about what you can expect from Collins. This may be the final nail in the coffin at the end of the year but his buyout will probably save him.
Yep. Outplayed us from the start. NIUs coach has the same talk about culture and love for his program - he just doesnt suck once the game starts.
 

Techster

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18,235
Just an FYI...NIU has lost their past 6 games against P5 opponents by an average of 20 points. Their new HC is 5-13 overall. NIU was 0-6 last COVID abbreviated season...the least amount of points scored against them was 30. They have a young roster.

If we don't beat NIU like rented mules, it could be a long season for us. There's a reason Vegas has us as 18 point favorites.

It's going to be a LOOOONG season for us.

So frustrating to see all the talent we have not playing up to it. Gonna call it a night because what a let down from our coaches.
 

randerto

Jolly Good Fellow
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Alpharetta
NIU deserved to win. They were well prepared, had a gutsy quarterback who made plays and were clearly tougher on the lines. Very disappointing but about what you can expect from Collins. This may be the final nail in the coffin at the end of the year but his buyout will probably save him.
The play that told me a lot about the decision-making was the 4th and 2 at their goal line. Our coach decides to bring in the FG team (which was conservative but understandable). Then he changes his mind (for no apparent reason) and wastes a timeout (which was sorely needed later) to bring the offense back on the field for the missed attempted pass and turnover on downs. How do you change your mind and waste a timeout there - shows a lack of solid/confidential decision-making by the coach.
 
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randerto

Jolly Good Fellow
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Alpharetta
And then to watch our D rotations completely confused our kids when NIU was running a fast-tempo offense - they looked completely unprepared for a fast-paced offense. Also a terrible look on that last NIU drive when Swilling and Carpenter kept screaming at each other over a busted coverage play - to the point of it impacting how they performed on the next play...

On a very positive note - I saw very few penalties called on GT - so there ya go - an area of huge improvement!!!
 

BuzzDraft

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
227
The play that told me a lot about the decision-making was the 4th and 2 to go at the goal line. Our coach decides to bring in the FG team (which was conservative but understandable). Then he changes his mind (for no apparent reason) and wastes a timeout (which sorely needed later) to then bring the offense back on the field for the missed attempted pass. How do you change your mind and waste a timeout there - shows a lack of solid/confidential decision-making by the coach.
Comedy GOLD, Jerry comedy GOLD!

Seriously, he allowed the chorus of boos from the fans to pressure him to call the timeout and send the offense back out. The ACCN announcers especially Hasselbeck were stunned and withering in their criticism.

Old saying, if you listen to the fans in the stands you will soon find yourself sitting with them.
 

awbuzz

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Staff member
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Marietta, GA
whoever picked the GT < 7 needs to be immediately voted off the island.

Go Away GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers
Guess they were still overly optimistic...☹️
 

awbuzz

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Marietta, GA
The play that told me a lot about the decision-making was the 4th and 2 at their goal line. Our coach decides to bring in the FG team (which was conservative but understandable). Then he changes his mind (for no apparent reason) and wastes a timeout (which was sorely needed later) to bring the offense back on the field for the missed attempted pass and turnover on downs. How do you change your mind and waste a timeout there - shows a lack of solid/confidential decision-making by the coach.
My comment to those in my area last night was that I hope that he didn't do it only because the fans started booing.
 

orientalnc

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My comment to those in my area last night was that I hope that he didn't do it only because the fans started booing.
The optics were very bad and that has been something Collins has focused on too much in my opinion. I hope that was not the reason for his decision.
 

4shotB

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Retired Staff
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It sure looked that wat. From the start Collins has looked like the dog who caught the car and doesn’t know what to do with it. That was a pretty strong example

Frankly I got that same sense after the quick halftime interview coming out of the locker room. I sensed a bit of panic in that. I know it's a quick 30 second thing but I really did not get a sense of having a definitive plan of attack for the second half.
 

Techster

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18,235
Going to keep this here because there's no reason to start another thread to review such a debacle...and this one is ALL on our coaches. We just got outcoached by non-P5 staff that went 0-6 last year and lost to every P5 program by an average of 20 pts. Seriously, no team (on an all MAC schedule) scored less than 30 points on NIU last season...and we broke that streak for them.

POSITIVES:

1. Our receivers are getting open. A lot of them were WIDE open. Saw it a lot last season as well. Unfortunately, we are not finding them, or our QBs are making horrendous throws. Sims made the reads during his short time in the game, but he was throwing them short. Sims should have had at least 2 TD passes.

2. Our RBs are who we thought they were. That is, they are REALLY good. Gibbs should have had 100+/- yards receiving to go with his almost 100 yards rushing...unfortunately he was underthrown by Sims in the first half on what would have been a TD, and Yates completely missed him wide open in the end zone in the 2nd half. Mason had 96 yards rushing. Smith's one touch would have gone for 100 yards if we started at the goal line...no one was catching him but he ran out of room. Like I said last year, Smith deserves more carries...he is the most explosive back we have, and he's gotten added size and strength.

3. I thought we would be able to run against NIU, and I was right. We had almost 300 yards (273 actual) rushing against NIU. Just our RBs alone accounted for over 200 yards. Our running game was doing their part in this.

4. Jordan Yates is a gamer. He's missing some reads and not seeing some wide open receivers (see Gibbs in the end zone), but he keeps our offense moving. He took some shots that would have probably sent a lot of QBs to the sideline, but he dusted himself off and kept playing. He doesn't have Sim's physical talents and arm strength, but you can tell he understands our offense and how to keep the chains moving. Sims needs to get that part down because if he does, Sims is an All ACC QB.

5. Speaking of Sims, good to see him rooting on Yates. He seemed genuinely happy for Yates and I think it helped our offense.

6. Malachi Carter can be as good as he wants to be. The tools are there...it's just consistency. That drop in the second half to keep the chains moving was a bad drop...certainly below his level of talent.

7. Our defense actually was not as bad as we think. Did they have some breakdowns? Yes...especially in the 4th quarter. But this loss was not on them. From the 10 minute mark in the 2nd Qtr, to the last minute in the 4th quarter, they kept a clean sheet. Had our offense did their job, no one is talking about our defense today. NIU barely had 300 yards, and their QB was kept to 136 yards of passing. The one negative is our defense allowd NIU's RB to rush for 144 yards...that should not be happening with such a big talent disparity.

8. Kyric McGowin looked good as well. We just didn't find him, or we underthrew him. He's going to be really good for us.


NEGATIVES:

1. By my count, we left 27 points on the field. Underthrown balls for TDs, not seeing wide open receivers in the end zone, and missing FGs. This game should not have been close at all...but somehow, we allowed NIU to hang around long enough and they took advantage of it. Hats off to NIU players and coaches...they did their jobs, we did not.

2. Does anyone know if Thacker or CGC calls the defense? I'll be honest, I've seen what CGC can do at UF and Miss St. This does not have the hallmark of a CGC defense. I'll give CGC credit in that he gives his assistants jobs to do and he seems to give them rope to do their jobs...but at some point we need to see it.

3. I see Patenaude getting a lot of flack for this game, but IMO, I think his schemes are actually good. His players have to execute. We rushed for almost 300 yards, and should have had almost that many yards passing. Our receivers were running all over the secondary wide open...but our QBs either did not find them, or threw bad balls. Of course, execution of plays is ultimately his responsibility, so he's not getting a pass there (no pun intended). At the end of the day, it's about execution....and we were not good at executing. If players are not performing to a level that keeps this offense productive, then he needs to pull those players. Even if it's our star QB.

4. For all the 4 stars we have in the secondary, we are pitifully slow back there. This will be an issue against better teams... and I think it will be magnified. We've got a LOT of guys that look like Tarzan in the secondary, but run like Jane in high heels.

5. I didn't see it last season, but this year, Gibbs is visibly showing frustration. Several times our QBs missed a read or made a bad throw Gibbs just threw his hands in the air and put his head down. I think if the wheels come off this season, I would not be surprised at all to see Gibbs take advantage of the portal. I honestly would not blame him either.

6. Our coaching...WTF. We get on our players for development issues, but really some of our coaching decisions haven't improved either. It's hard to blame players for mistakes when our coaches are still making dumb decisions. Like others have said, the time for hype and marketing has passed. It's time to show results. CGC has the roster to challenge for the Coastal, but right now, it looks like our coaching deficiencies will keep us from that.

Losing to NIU isn't the end of the world, and there's a LOT of football to be played. However, if our coaches don't turn this ship in the right direction, this could go bad quickly. Time for CGC to walk the walk...he's certainly talked enough.
 

MidtownJacket

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Staff member
Messages
4,862
At least this was out of conference. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’m disappointed and plan to type up a post later with some optimism, but right now I’m still processing it all. I suppose there is something positive about him staying consistent in his press conference but the choices in game the CGC is ultimately responsible for leave me feeling not super great about the direction we are headed in.
 
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