LOS

[4shotB]

The biggest problem on Off is a poor running game.Of course that is mainly the Oline.Today we have a huge amount of pass yds but 3 for 15 on 3rd/4th and then redzone breakdowns.That is because of no running.
Key and/or Pat ought to be called out.

I agree with your post. However, on the last sentence, they are (at least by the fan base). However, exhorting in and of itself has never been an effective management tool (in my experience). These guys, including the HC, are fully aware of the stakes in this game.

 

[TaxJacket]

If you can't see clear progress by the OL since 2019 then you are blind. Yes, our OL is still a problem, but not nearly the problem it was in 2019. We are miles better, but not good enough yet.

Idk, yesterday was the worst line performance I've seen in 10+ years here (when we weren't playing Clemson or UGA)....

 

[cthenrys]

If you can't see clear progress by the OL since 2019 then you are blind. Yes, our OL is still a problem, but not nearly the problem it was in 2019. We are miles better, but not good enough yet.

I’ll bite. I don’t see that our OL is significantly better than 2 years ago. We didn’t get significant push or protect very well against NIU or KSU and yesterday was a disaster. Where am I missing the improvement ?

 

[LongforDodd]

Ok. It’s not talent and it’s not coaching. What is it?

Who said it wasn’t talent? It is!

 

[TruckStick]

It's coaching. The teams we are losing bad to have similar talent but better coaching. This has been consistent.

Just go back and look at the NIU postgame presser from their coach.

Anyone who tries to argue the contrary is burying their head in the sand and ignoring the obvious.

Let a coaching staff bury your team into the ground long term and see what happens. FSU, Tennessee, etc. the list goes on..

There is a reason a new coaching staff all the sudden can make a team with the same talent look like a championship contender.

A few good examples come to mind... I'm sure we all have some.

Even Tennessee and Auburn look drastically different this year overall with roughly the same kids.

Bryan Harsin will look like a great hire sooner than later. Everybody works with roughly the same ingredients except for the elite. It takes a good chef to make a good meal out of it.

 

[smokey_wasp]

I’ll bite. I don’t see that our OL is significantly better than 2 years ago. We didn’t get significant push or protect very well against NIU or KSU and yesterday was a disaster. Where am I missing the improvement ?

Going from all time historically bad to merely bad is an improvement, though I can see how it's easy to miss. We are still aways from average. It's like going from making zeros on tests to 40's and 50's. Still a solidly failing grade but it's improvement over complete futility.

 

[cthenrys]

Going from all time historically bad to merely bad is an improvement, though I can see how it's easy to miss. We are still aways from average. It's like going from making zeros on tests to 40's and 50's. Still a failing grade but it's improvement.

Where do we rank in the conference for OL line play ? Got to be dead last, given the yards Holmberg and Durant are putting up. This Saturday will tell us something but I don’t think we could be worse than we are now.

I guess the historic transformation marches on - completion date TBD.

I just miss being relevant. Seems a very long road to getting there.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

Going from all time historically bad to merely bad is an improvement, though I can see how it's easy to miss. We are still aways from average. It's like going from making zeros on tests to 40's and 50's. Still a solution dly failing grade but it's improvement over complete futility.

I get your point, but I made 40's and 50's on tests where the curve meant I got a "B". GT was a crazy place before it went away from being a grade deflation school. When profs were told that their junior year students must have a 2.4 GPA in their class, the tests must be made such that this is possible.

 

[smokey_wasp]

Where do we rank in the conference for OL line play ? Got to be dead last, given the yards Holmberg and Durant are putting up. This Saturday will tell us something but I don’t think we could be worse than we are now.

I guess the historic transformation marches on - completion date TBD.

I just miss being relevant. Seems a very long road to getting there.

It's a long road but we are on it. The UNC game still happened and I expect another one or two like it this year. And I expect a comfortable win against Duke.

 

[danny daniel]

I have been watching the game rerun and especially the line. We seemed to have 3 problems with the Oline. 1. we got physically whipped one on one. Probably talent and coaching. 2. Due to injuries we played at least 3 players not normally considered starters, but "above the line". They got tricked and made some mistakes. Unfortunate situation and some poor coaching prep. 3. We got out schemed and we did not adjust. Pitt came hard at us with 6 (and sometimes 7) against our 5. It killed our run game. I did not see much adjustment. All on the poor coaching.

On D we just kept doing the same thing hoping for a better outcome. Coaching problem with scheme and lack of adjustment/experience.

 

[grandpa jacket]

It's a long road but we are on it. The UNC game still happened and I expect another one or two like it this year. And I expect a comfortable win against Duke.

I dont expect a comfortable win against anyone.

 

[TromboneJacket]

This is reasonable, and I appreciate the point. But then these struggles are attributable to youth, not directly to the scheme rebuild. Of course, you could say that we are young because of the rebuild, and in that sense the rebuild can excuse the poor play of the OL. If that is the argument, then I won't dispute it, but I will say that it still doesn't explain the lack of improvement in our OL play since 2019.

That would be my argument. Not only were CPJ’s linemen generally a poor scheme fit, but Collins had to basically miss out on his first year of OL recruiting because he was hired late in the cycle. Our starters from left to right are a grad transfer, an injury-prone center-to-guard conversion, a guard-to-center conversion, another grad transfer, and a COVID true freshman. Not generally a winning recipe. However, I will say that they should be playing better than they were yesterday. I really hope that as the season goes on, they’ll get better cohesion and coordination and that their execution will improve.

 

[g0lftime]

That would be my argument. Not only were CPJ’s linemen generally a poor scheme fit, but Collins had to basically miss out on his first year of OL recruiting because he was hired late in the cycle. Our starters from left to right are a grad transfer, an injury-prone center-to-guard conversion, a guard-to-center conversion, another grad transfer, and a COVID true freshman. Not generally a winning recipe. However, I will say that they should be playing better than they were yesterday. I really hope that as the season goes on, they’ll get better cohesion and coordination and that their execution will improve.

You forgot the TE. We actually have one now.

 

[WreckinGT]

There is a lot of hyperbole in this post, so you clearly have an axe to grind. Feel free to keep grinding. Next year will be better, and so will the year after that. CGC will still be the coach, and Key will likely still be here as well. In the meantime I suggest some Pepto, as your unrealistic expectations are likely to give you an ulcer.

There was no hyperbole at all and I have no axe to grind. I’m not sure why you think criticizing poor performance is some incredibly emotional act. It isn’t. It’s actually pretty normal. I will question you on the things will get better line though. Are you actually sure that the line will be better next year when Cochran, Cooper, and Johnson are gone? Are you absolutely certain that those that couldn’t beat them out this year will be better than them next year with the same coaching? If so, why? What have you seen that suggests the guys not playing now are going to be great next year?

 

[slugboy]

I have been watching the game rerun and especially the line. We seemed to have 3 problems with the Oline. 1. we got physically whipped one on one. Probably talent and coaching. 2. Due to injuries we played at least 3 players not normally considered starters, but "above the line". They got tricked and made some mistakes. Unfortunate situation and some poor coaching prep. 3. We got out schemed and we did not adjust. Pitt came hard at us with 6 (and sometimes 7) against our 5. It killed our run game. I did not see much adjustment. All on the poor coaching.

On D we just kept doing the same thing hoping for a better outcome. Coaching problem with scheme and lack of adjustment/experience.

It’s fantastic when someone takes a second look at a game, especially an awful one.

I’m not sure how late in the week we knew Cooper would be out, or how many reps Vaipulu had been getting. The coaches are reportedly high on him, but freshmen vs upperclassmen matchups often go badly. One weak point on the line can kill your offense. Two years ago, we would often lose two battles on the line, and that really showed.

I need to go back and look myself

 

[stinger 1957]

I too believe our OL recruiting has some real problems, and I too believe CBK knows how to coach or he wouldn't have been in Tuscaloosa as long as he was and O'Leary it seems promoted him, although that part did not work out if i remember correctly. I don't know what you do about the massive amounts of holding that Narduzzi teams seem to get by with, he must know how to politic well.
I do believe we have to get bigger recruits at DT and SDE. Last week during his press conference prior to the GT game Narduzzi commented we were not very big.
When we hired CGC my biggest concern was what we were going to do with all the small OLs and DLs that were almost all FR and SO that CPJ had left us with, we had been recruiting like an Academy team. I have from the beginning thought our rebuild was a 4 year proposition and I still believe that and it could take 5 years for it to show up, I say this primarily because of the OL and DL. All IMO of course and I've been wrong before.

 

[ibeattetris]

Going from all time historically bad to merely bad is an improvement, though I can see how it's easy to miss. We are still aways from average. It's like going from making zeros on tests to 40's and 50's. Still a solidly failing grade but it's improvement over complete futility.

I think people have forgotten how truly putrid we were on offense in 2019. We are night and day better (which is astounding because offense is still poor imo).

 

[cthenrys]

I think people have forgotten how truly putrid we were on offense in 2019. We are night and day better (which is astounding because offense is still poor imo).

Based on ???

 

[gt02]

It’s not the individual plays that bother me. More so that he just seems to randomly string them together. When they work it’s great, but it almost seems lucky when you’re watching it.

Right. It’s almost like he has a script. When things work, it looks great. When the other side does something that throws a wrinkle in the script we can’t adjust.

 

[GCdaJuiceMan]

Forgive my ill knowledge of football terminology but from the stands it looked like plays where Pitt’s d linemen were switching or crossing were plays where our O Linemen were confused and protection would break down. It seems like a basic concept to scheme for. Is that something we haven’t seen this year?