That or we make a statement. We really haven't played a close game yet, despite losing at Knoxville.
What he said.
Except we're banged up. Will Lee be back at OT? If so, is he playing at 80, 90, 100%? Same with A. Marshall. If we can't get to the edge against their speed, we really need Shamire to be 100% in order to attack them up the middle.
We’re much better up the middle this year so that kinda neutralizes his speed to the edge. If we mix up our blocking assignments and keep him guessing, that could further do the trick. I just hope we can take him out of the play at least 50% of the time.
We've played teams with fast LB's in the past and still won lol....... we will get a better idea against Miami of course, but until we see that we can't get to those guys on blocks I don't think we have a rude awakening. JMO.
Didnt say 'we aren't that good'. I just think the 396 ypg rushing we are averaging is skewed somewhat by the injury circumstances of those we've played. The OL is good but razor thin, and injured guys don't play as well hurt as they do healthy. We went 3 and out in 3 of the first 4 drives against UNC, and were making their very banged up defense look good until we wore them down late, thanks to our defense constantly putting them back on the field with short possessions and turnovers. If the OL injuries truly are minor, and our guys can get rested and healthy in two weeks, that would make a huge difference.
We lost the game last year precisely because Miami's speed blew the play up deep in the backfield and got two scoop and scores. Miami only outgained Duke by 60 yards, but beat them 31-6. Remember the 4th and 1 where Duke went for it early and Miami not only stopped it but sacked them for like a 10 yard loss. This is the kind of big play difference you have when you can put the kind of speed on the field that Miami, VT, Clemson and UGA can. We have countered this in past against Clemson and Miami (2014) by running right at them and wearing them down. If we can have success doing that, we might open up a few big plays outside, but in general, we aren't going to be successful blocking those teams on the edge from what I've seen in past experience.
