Louisville Postgame

[Richland County]

I'll say it again - feel free to tell us which individual unit you think performed better/worse than I rated them and why.

Right now you are just continuing to remind me of your incomprehension and why I put you on ignore in the first place.

Wow, I comprehend a difference in who we think was more at fault for the loss is different. To ignore someone because of that is a you problem. I believe August Jacket quoted on a post I made that was incredible. The guy is just having a discussion with you that's all.

 

[roadkill]

Everything From Head Coach Brent Key After Georgia Tech's Loss to Louisville

Georgia Tech had some chances to take down another ranked ACC team on the road, but they shot themselves in the foot on 4th and short decisions, had a fumble re

www.si.com

quotes from CBK presser.

Happy that he said they'll focus on the OL play during the bye week.

Thanks for the link, but that article was painful to read. Seems like they used a speech-to-text app with absolutely no editing or proofreading.

I'm glad we have coverage from Jackson Caudell for SI, but he gets very lazy in publishing some of his content.

 

[Techster]

Our defense played well enough for us to win. 14 points are not the responsibility of the defense, and Birr wasn't his usual self and missed a FG. That's 14 points the other way, and 3 points off the scoreboard for us.

There's something going on with the interior of our OL. We're just not getting push. Against Louisville and Syracuse, if you take King and Pyron out of the rushing stats, we ran for 43 yards (vs Syracuse) and 38 yards (vs Louisville). That is a problem. Yes, we want King to use one of his big weapons (his legs), but there's a reason why NFL teams don't want their QBs taking the bulk of the runs. Also, our RBs are averaging LESS than 3 yards a carry the last two ACC games combined. This is an issue for our offense.

Remember, GT was predicted to have one of the best OLs in the country, but that just hasn't been the case so far this season.

Something is "off" about this offense outside of our OL not getting push in the interior. I can't really put my hands on it, but it seems we;re just not executing and putting defenders on their back feet like we were the second half of last season. Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked at our stats from last half of last season:

UCF (Bowl Game): 371 total yards (284 yards rushing) - WIN
UGA: 363 Total yards (205 rushing) - LOSS
Syracuse: 344 Total yards (206 rushing) - WIN
Clemson: 254 Total yards (117 rushing) - LOSS
UVA: 514 Total yards (305 rushing) - WIN
UNC: 635 Total Yards (348 rushing) - WIN

Simply put, if GT doesn't have a good day rushing, then it's VERY tough for us to win. It's holding true this season as well, against teams that were VERY beatable.

Knowing Key, I think he's VERY aware of our issues. He's not one to sit idle and see what will happen.

For me, Duke is a must win for us. That puts us back to even in ACC play with a win, and it's one of the few games left GT should be favored in. If we don't beat Duke, the back half of the schedule will not be kind to us.

 

[roadkill]

Our defense played well enough for us to win. 14 points are not the responsibility of the defense, and Birr wasn't his usual self and missed a FG. That's 14 points the other way, and 3 points off the scoreboard for us.

There's something going on with the interior of our OL. We're just not getting push. Against Louisville and Syracuse, if you take King and Pyron out of the rushing stats, we ran for 43 yards (vs Syracuse) and 38 yards (vs Louisville). That is a problem. Yes, we want King to use one of his big weapons (his legs), but there's a reason why NFL teams don't want their QBs taking the bulk of the runs. Also, our RBs are averaging LESS than 3 yards a carry the last two ACC games combined. This is an issue for our offense.

Remember, GT was predicted to have one of the best OLs in the country, but that just hasn't been the case so far this season.

Something is "off" about this offense outside of our OL not getting push in the interior. I can't really put my hands on it, but it seems we;re just not executing and putting defenders on their back feet like we were the second half of last season. Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked at our stats from last half of last season:

UCF (Bowl Game): 371 total yards (284 yards rushing) - WIN
UGA: 363 Total yards (205 rushing) - LOSS
Syracuse: 344 Total yards (206 rushing) - WIN
Clemson: 254 Total yards (117 rushing) - LOSS
UVA: 514 Total yards (305 rushing) - WIN
UNC: 635 Total Yards (348 rushing) - WIN

Simply put, if GT doesn't have a good day rushing, then it's VERY tough for us to win. It's holding true this season as well, against teams that were VERY beatable.

Knowing Key, I think he's VERY aware of our issues. He's not one to sit idle and see what will happen.

For me, Duke is a must win for us. That puts us back to even in ACC play with a win, and it's one of the few games left GT should be favored in. If we don't beat Duke, the back half of the schedule will not be kind to us.

As an addendum to your insightful post…

Our OL has faced 5 opponents this season – 2 with inferior talent – both Wins, and three ACC near-peers with roughly equal or presumably better talent (FSU). FSU was poorly prepared for us, among other issues (Win). Syracuse and Louisville were well-prepared (Losses).

Duke will be a good indicator. We should have equal or better talent along the OL. If our run game continues to struggle, that will be extremely troubling. If that happens, it could also be an indicator of poor coaching, play-calling, or both. I hope Key is focusing on the right problems.

 

[4shotB]

Something is "off" about this offense outside of our OL not getting push in the interior. I can't really put my hands on it, but it seems we;re just not executing and putting defenders on their back feet like we were the second half of last season. Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked at our stats from last half of last season:

I agree and imho it seems like other teams have discovered (dare I say it) the dreaded blueprint to CBF's offense. I have had the sense in our last 2 losses that the other team knew exactly what we were going to do on each play. Contrast this to last year's UGA game where I felt like were keeping them off balance all game. Other than losing one OG (that's offensive guard here for my homies. Not original gangsta as y'all was thinking) it's pretty much the exact same team.

 

[Techster]

I agree and imho it seems like other teams have discovered (dare I say it) the dreaded blueprint to CBF's offense. I have had the sense in our last 2 losses that the other team knew exactly what we were going to do on each play. Contrast this to last year's UGA game where I felt like were keeping them off balance all game. Other than losing one OG (that's offensive guard here for my homies. Not original gangsta as y'all was thinking) it's pretty much the exact same team.

There's was an article before the season that discussed Faulkner's offseason visiting NFL and college teams to add new concepts to our offense. Is there a chance that Faulkner could be overthinking things, and maybe trying to add too much to our offense? Is there a "paralysis by analysis" going on with Faulkner and our players? Paul Johnson famously repeated every season that if the offense couldn't execute the base concepts, he wouldn't add any bells and whistles. 2013 season was a good example of how we famously added a lot of different concepts (diamond, pistol) to take advantage of Vad Lee's and Justin Thomas's ability, but CPJ stripped a lot of it away when he realized we weren't very good at anything.

If you look at the Air Raid, you know you're going to have to defend staple concepts: 4 Verts, Mesh, Y cross, shallow cross, Stick. EVERY DC that goes up against this offense knows those plays will get shoved down the defense's throat all game. Yet, teams that run the Air Raid continue to put up big numbers. It's not any different than what CPJ try to do...we will out execute you because we simply run it better than you can practice against it.

Point is, IMO, it's possible that Faulkner's mission this offseason might just have made our offense "jack of all trades, master of none". As you've noted, we played against a dominant defense last season (UGA) and we were pushing their DL back 2-3 yards almost every play. Our OL is almost entirely the same. Maybe we need to find our way back to what we do well, and out execute the other team.

 

[jgtengineer]

There's was an article before the season that discussed Faulkner's offseason visiting NFL and college teams to add new concepts to our offense. Is there a chance that Faulkner could be overthinking things, and maybe trying to add too much to our offense? Is there a "paralysis by analysis" going on with Faulkner and our players? Paul Johnson famously repeated every season that if the offense couldn't execute the base concepts, he wouldn't add any bells and whistles. 2013 season was a good example of how we famously added a lot of different concepts (diamond, pistol) to take advantage of Vad Lee's and Justin Thomas's ability, but CPJ stripped a lot of it away when he realized we weren't very good at anything.

If you look at the Air Raid, you know you're going to have to defend staple concepts: 4 Verts, Mesh, Y cross, shallow cross, Stick. EVERY DC that goes up against this offense knows those plays will get shoved down the defense's throat all game. Yet, teams that run the Air Raid continue to put up big numbers. It's not any different than what CPJ try to do...we will out execute you because we simply run it better than you can practice against it.

Point is, IMO, it's possible that Faulkner's mission this offseason might just have made our offense "jack of all trades, master of none". As you've noted, we played against a dominant defense last season (UGA) and we were pushing their DL back 2-3 yards almost every play. Our OL is almost entirely the same. Maybe we need to find our way back to what we do well, and out execute the other team.

DUring the CPJ years this would be the time when he'd say "we are going to simplify some things and hit some people.

We really haven't been running the same sort of blocks were were doing last year. I don't think i've seen a lot of crossing to catch DE's sleeping and such. Mostly just straight zone. And zone counter.

 

[Techster]

DUring the CPJ years this would be the time when he'd say "we are going to simplify some things and hit some people.

We really haven't been running the same sort of blocks were were doing last year. I don't think i've seen a lot of crossing to catch DE's sleeping and such. Mostly just straight zone. And zone counter.

I haven't had the time, but I've been meaning to watch our game against UGA and UCF games again, and compare the blocking and passing plays against what we did against FSU/'Cuse/Louisville.

That UGA and UCF game was some of the most beautiful offense I've seen in some time at GT.

 

[roadkill]

I haven't had the time, but I've been meaning to watch our game against UGA and UCF games again, and compare the blocking and passing plays against what we did against FSU/'Cuse/Louisville.

That UGA and UCF game was some of the most beautiful offense I've seen in some time at GT.

You just read my mind, lol.
What I was going to post:
Can anyone on this board with more expertise than I (shouldn't be hard to do) comment on the run plays we are calling? Are they mostly the same ones as late last year? Are we mixing in a lot of new ones?
If they are mostly the same, with mostly the same players, then that indicates either we are telegraphing them somehow, or perhaps we are so dinged up along the line that we have trouble executing.

 

[stinger78]

I had a more favorable view of the game until I looked at the film and the stats.
They had no 3-and-outs. Louisville averaged 14 yards every time they dropped back. They didn’t do well running the ball, but they didn’t need to. They moved the ball very effectively. Our pass defense was bad, and mostly in the secondary , but the drag routes were also ugly.

Except for Tren Tatum, our LB are not fast enough for coverage, even the middle zone, let alone flats. It is also no surprise that they cannot get to the QB in a blitz. They are pretty good against the run, though, especially Efford.

Something is causing our CBs, who are lining up 8 yards off the WR, to be chasing them with their back to the QB when the ball arrives 30+ yards downfield. I think they’re OK in coverage, but maybe a step slow?

 

[roadkill]

Except for Tren Tatum, our LB are not fast enough for coverage, even the middle zone, let alone flats. It is also no surprise that they cannot get to the QB in a blitz. They are pretty good against the run, though, especially Efford.

Something is causing our CBs, who are lining up 8 yards off the WR, to be chasing them with their back to the QB when the ball arrives 30+ yards downfield. I think they’re OK in coverage, but maybe a step slow?

Have our CBs been doing that all season? Seems like they did alright in the FSU game. Didn't we play mostly man coverage? Then again perhaps they weren't really tested in that game. FSU completed only a handful of passes over ten yards, and no long bombs.

 

[slugboy]

Have our CBs been doing that all season? Seems like they did alright in the FSU game. Didn't we play mostly man coverage? Then again perhaps they weren't really tested in that game. FSU completed only a handful of passes over ten yards, and no long bombs.

That may have more to do with FSU than with us. Their offense isn’t good.

 

[stinger78]

Have our CBs been doing that all season? Seems like they did alright in the FSU game. Didn't we play mostly man coverage? Then again perhaps they weren't really tested in that game. FSU completed only a handful of passes over ten yards, and no long bombs.

F$U dropped a bunch of passes.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I

There's was an article before the season that discussed Faulkner's offseason visiting NFL and college teams to add new concepts to our offense. Is there a chance that Faulkner could be overthinking things, and maybe trying to add too much to our offense? Is there a "paralysis by analysis" going on with Faulkner and our players? Paul Johnson famously repeated every season that if the offense couldn't execute the base concepts, he wouldn't add any bells and whistles. 2013 season was a good example of how we famously added a lot of different concepts (diamond, pistol) to take advantage of Vad Lee's and Justin Thomas's ability, but CPJ stripped a lot of it away when he realized we weren't very good at anything.

If you look at the Air Raid, you know you're going to have to defend staple concepts: 4 Verts, Mesh, Y cross, shallow cross, Stick. EVERY DC that goes up against this offense knows those plays will get shoved down the defense's throat all game. Yet, teams that run the Air Raid continue to put up big numbers. It's not any different than what CPJ try to do...we will out execute you because we simply run it better than you can practice against it.

Point is, IMO, it's possible that Faulkner's mission this offseason might just have made our offense "jack of all trades, master of none". As you've noted, we played against a dominant defense last season (UGA) and we were pushing their DL back 2-3 yards almost every play. Our OL is almost entirely the same. Maybe we need to find our way back to what we do well, and out execute the other team.

I think we're still trying to figure out what we can and can not do. I think we'll get better as we go along and by the end of the year, we'll be churning again. I think we're bringing in at least 3 nasties on OL as freshmen that will help lead us into the future.

 

[g0lftime]

No sacks and no INT's are the most telling stats so far. The trip for a safety was not really a sack. That has got to improve regardless of who we play the rest of the season.

 

[iceeater1969]

Our defense played well enough for us to win. 14 points are not the responsibility of the defense, and Birr wasn't his usual self and missed a FG. That's 14 points the other way, and 3 points off the scoreboard for us.

There's something going on with the interior of our OL. We're just not getting push. Against Louisville and Syracuse, if you take King and Pyron out of the rushing stats, we ran for 43 yards (vs Syracuse) and 38 yards (vs Louisville). That is a problem. Yes, we want King to use one of his big weapons (his legs), but there's a reason why NFL teams don't want their QBs taking the bulk of the runs. Also, our RBs are averaging LESS than 3 yards a carry the last two ACC games combined. This is an issue for our offense.

Remember, GT was predicted to have one of the best OLs in the country, but that just hasn't been the case so far this season.

Something is "off" about this offense outside of our OL not getting push in the interior. I can't really put my hands on it, but it seems we;re just not executing and putting defenders on their back feet like we were the second half of last season. Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked at our stats from last half of last season:

UCF (Bowl Game): 371 total yards (284 yards rushing) - WIN
UGA: 363 Total yards (205 rushing) - LOSS
Syracuse: 344 Total yards (206 rushing) - WIN
Clemson: 254 Total yards (117 rushing) - LOSS
UVA: 514 Total yards (305 rushing) - WIN
UNC: 635 Total Yards (348 rushing) - WIN

Simply put, if GT doesn't have a good day rushing, then it's VERY tough for us to win. It's holding true this season as well, against teams that were VERY beatable.

Knowing Key, I think he's VERY aware of our issues. He's not one to sit idle and see what will happen.

For me, Duke is a must win for us. That puts us back to even in ACC play with a win, and it's one of the few games left GT should be favored in. If we don't beat Duke, the back half of the schedule will not be kind to us.

The stats that prove the oline was good 23 and will be good 24 need to be vetted by yards before and after a major change that made these games so run sucessful.

Imo, The change is Dontae - a bigger rb that ran the tackle to get first downs. He replaced Cooley and we had a 3 headed running attack.

Dontae had 13 carries and 60 yds before and 87 carries and 440 yds in the games listed.

What st a t says it was solely the ol getting better. To the fan eye test Cooley ran into the blockers axx and Dontae ran just off the *** to get yards.

The 24 rb room besides JH is Cooley 2 freshman , A guy named Gordon and a walk on who has done well. One of the feeshman, maddox, had a major injury in hs and he was playing in place of jamel haynes on last drive in the Louisville.

Now, we know we need to rethink the ol run blocking and i think pass blocking. Imo, on pass blocking we are giving too much double team help to the gcg and none to the tackles.

Please dont think i am worried about thexrb room. The 2 freshman have talent but are not college 4th year strong.

We will come out swinging.
We need Faulkner to work up some called plays for the young guys like he recently did for the TE. With King passing more vertically i think our offense will be dynamic.

 

[Tech93]

The stats that prove the oline was good 23 and will be good 24 need to be vetted by yards before and after a major change that made these games so run sucessful.

Imo, The change is Dontae - a bigger rb that ran the tackle to get first downs. He replaced Cooley and we had a 3 headed running attack.

Dontae had 13 carries and 60 yds before and 87 carries and 440 yds in the games listed.

What st a t says it was solely the ol getting better. To the fan eye test Cooley ran into the blockers axx and Dontae ran just off the *** to get yards.

The 24 rb room besides JH is Cooley 2 freshman , A guy named Gordon and a walk on who has done well. One of the feeshman, maddox, had a major injury in hs and he was playing in place of jamel haynes on last drive in the Louisville.

Now, we know we need to rethink the ol run blocking and i think pass blocking. Imo, on pass blocking we are giving too much double team help to the gcg and none to the tackles.

Please dont think i am worried about thexrb room. The 2 freshman have talent but are not college 4th year strong.

We will come out swinging.
We need Faulkner to work up some called plays for the young guys like he recently did for the TE. With King passing more vertically i think our offense will be dynamic.

I agree that losing Dontae is a big difference. Even last year, it wasn’t til he got back in the lineup the second half of the season that the running game took off. He bounced off tackles and found yards.

 

[ibeattetris]

Louisville lost two offensive possessions from the fumble recovery touchdown and from the blocked kick. Maybe their offense scores 23 or more, if not for that.

Even giving them 6 points on two possessions, that’s still only 2.3 ppd. I don’t think we should beat our chests over the defense, as they certainly didn’t do enough to outright win. Special teams and offense definitely deserve what blame there is to give for the loss though.

Our offense including last week’s dud is averaging 2.97 ppd. Any time we can hold a team down in the low twos should be a comfortable win.

 

[Richland County]

On one hand, the defense gave up 17 points.

On the other hand, Louisville lost two offensive possessions from the fumble recovery touchdown and from the blocked kick. Maybe their offense scores 23 or more, if not for that.

Also, (from ESPN)

Passing	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT		QBR
Tyler Shough#9	13/19	269	14.2	2	0		80.2
Team	13/19	269	14.2	2	0

	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Ja'Corey Brooks#1	4	125	31.3	1	57
Chris Bell#0	2	82	41.0	1	45
Jamari Johnson#11	2	20	10.0	0	11
Donald Chaney#21	1	17	17.0	0	17
Mark Redman#83	1	12	12.0	0	12
Ahmari Huggins-Bruce#24	1	8	8.0	0	8
Isaac Brown#25	1	3	3.0	0	3
Jadon Thompson#2	1	2	2.0	0	2
TEAM	13	269	20.7	2	57

No sacks, no interceptions, 3 tackles for loss. One really good tackle for loss (safety).

THEY AVERAGED 20.7 YARDS PER PASS COMPLETION! Thankfully, they only completed 68% of their passes, so it was just 14.2 overall.

We are one of the worst pass defenses in FBS, statistically. Probably for real. We're good against the run, but any sensible coach will pass until we stop them.

I wish Buster used that reasoning!!

 

[iceeater1969]

I wish Buster used that reasoning!!

All coaches hate interceptions

They all know most are caused by pass rush unless qb is inaccurate.


I think our coaches have not accounted for the exceptional accracy of King and are being too cautious. Our scheme has too many pass attempt that are jr high ldvel safe. IF THE DC IS NOT BEND BUT DONT BREAK the dbs are at los to help make sure that small fast rb GETS NO LONG GAINS.

We have 1 interception and no sacks in 5 games.

Are our players so crappy they can't do more than dink and dunk?