305jacket
Jolly Good Fellow
- Messages
- 477
And I am nowhere near as worried as I was about this season before watching them. The game by game improvement of this team was incredible.
Those first 4 games, even though we were 4-0, we played bad. Even against Miami, we didn't play well, we did just what we needed to do to win. (Side note: I had dinner with Miami starting QB Brad Kaaya last week, and he told me that he had a tough time playing at Bobby Dodd. He said with the whiteout and and the night game, it really felt like a big time game and the fans showed up and made it tough for them to execute. I thought that was worth sharing, as I found that very interesting.) The Duke game was so rough to watch, there were some VERY bad calls in that game, but still no excuse, we played poorly. I almost felt like skipping the UNC game, the defense was so bad. You would watch plays, and our linebackers would fall for no reason, take wrong paths, absolutely no penetration. There was one play, a 4th down that UNC went for, and they caught a 40 yard TD over DJ White. Couldn't help but think if it happened later in the season, as DJ developed into a playmaker, if he knocks that pass down, we win.
The Pitt game was the obvious turning point of the season, going in without Laskey I thought the season was over. I was ready to wave the white flag, and then out of nowhere, 28-0 first quarter lead. DJ White ran down the RB 80 yards for the touchback and the rest was history. Every single game from there on out we improved.
Go watch the first 3 drives against FSU and the 3rd quarter against MSST. Those 2 teams were ranked #1 at some point this season, and were big physical Defenses with top NFL talent, and we dominated them. We executed our plays, and it was due to everyone getting comfortable with their roles, and Justin Thomas' dynamic playmaking ability.
I was very skeptical about the coming year, losing Smelter and Waller, because they bailed us out of a couple 3rd and longs that I don't think we convert without them. Losing Days/Laskey will hurt a lot as well, I am not worried about the AB situation anymore, Andrews is severely underrated, amazing blocker. Snoddy was also our most lethal RB, so it would be great to have him back.
Defensively, we will certainly miss Nealy and Isaiah but if we could recover from losing Jerry and Jemea last year, we should be just fine. We have so much experience in the secondary, that I actually don't expect to regress in turnovers as much as everyone else expects us to. We will excel in being in the right place at the right time.
I am sure that next year's team will be better than last years, but........
our record wont be as good. Replacing GaSo and NCCST with ND and FSU is no joke.
I expect another 9-3 record, but I think we beat Clemson in the ACCCG.
Question I wanted to ask: If you could allow for one graduating senior to return, who would it be?
Tough choice between Synjyn and DeAndre for me. But I would lean Days. (Who would have thought to say that midway through the season!).
Love this team and I can't wait for that Thursday night when toe meets leather.
Those first 4 games, even though we were 4-0, we played bad. Even against Miami, we didn't play well, we did just what we needed to do to win. (Side note: I had dinner with Miami starting QB Brad Kaaya last week, and he told me that he had a tough time playing at Bobby Dodd. He said with the whiteout and and the night game, it really felt like a big time game and the fans showed up and made it tough for them to execute. I thought that was worth sharing, as I found that very interesting.) The Duke game was so rough to watch, there were some VERY bad calls in that game, but still no excuse, we played poorly. I almost felt like skipping the UNC game, the defense was so bad. You would watch plays, and our linebackers would fall for no reason, take wrong paths, absolutely no penetration. There was one play, a 4th down that UNC went for, and they caught a 40 yard TD over DJ White. Couldn't help but think if it happened later in the season, as DJ developed into a playmaker, if he knocks that pass down, we win.
The Pitt game was the obvious turning point of the season, going in without Laskey I thought the season was over. I was ready to wave the white flag, and then out of nowhere, 28-0 first quarter lead. DJ White ran down the RB 80 yards for the touchback and the rest was history. Every single game from there on out we improved.
Go watch the first 3 drives against FSU and the 3rd quarter against MSST. Those 2 teams were ranked #1 at some point this season, and were big physical Defenses with top NFL talent, and we dominated them. We executed our plays, and it was due to everyone getting comfortable with their roles, and Justin Thomas' dynamic playmaking ability.
I was very skeptical about the coming year, losing Smelter and Waller, because they bailed us out of a couple 3rd and longs that I don't think we convert without them. Losing Days/Laskey will hurt a lot as well, I am not worried about the AB situation anymore, Andrews is severely underrated, amazing blocker. Snoddy was also our most lethal RB, so it would be great to have him back.
Defensively, we will certainly miss Nealy and Isaiah but if we could recover from losing Jerry and Jemea last year, we should be just fine. We have so much experience in the secondary, that I actually don't expect to regress in turnovers as much as everyone else expects us to. We will excel in being in the right place at the right time.
I am sure that next year's team will be better than last years, but........
our record wont be as good. Replacing GaSo and NCCST with ND and FSU is no joke.
I expect another 9-3 record, but I think we beat Clemson in the ACCCG.
Question I wanted to ask: If you could allow for one graduating senior to return, who would it be?
Tough choice between Synjyn and DeAndre for me. But I would lean Days. (Who would have thought to say that midway through the season!).
Love this team and I can't wait for that Thursday night when toe meets leather.
