MWBATL
Helluva Engineer
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More than that, they entered this game 14th out of 15 ACC teams in 3rd down conversion rate at 34% and they got 53% against us (even with the late stops). Our interior D line and our LB play did not impress, and the secondary left many guys wide open. Thank goodness they produced the TO's...that was a saving grace! (And they DID manufacture them, those weren't poor choices by L'ville, we stripped the ball out.)They are 43rd in total and scoring offense in the country. They are pretty average. Their RB is good but honestly I think we were making the QB look a little better than he actually is. That guy had a hundred yards passing, 3 yards rushing, and 3 INTs against Pitt.
Without the +3 TO differential, they would have clearly scored mid 30's against us. And that from a team whose offense is fair at best. If the middling' teams in the league can score mid 30's against our D without those TO problems, it put enormous pressure on our young QB to score on every possession.
If we can't find some answers on D, we are likely to lose the next 5 games (Clemson, @BC, Notre Dame, Pitt, @Miami), leaving us with two reasonable chances for wins at the end of the season (vs Duke and N C State) in our quest to improve on 3-8.
I surely hope I am wrong and this team makes me eat my words.