Miami Postgame

[Boomergump]

I'm just posting here so that I haven't "disappeared after a loss".
I've seen lots of people in sports, academics, or anywhere else get locked in on fixing one problem that another one crops up. In baseball, you stop rolling your wrists but you take your eye off the ball. Then you start keeping your eye off the ball and you do something else dumb. It seems like the offensive line is stuck trying to simplify things and they've just confused themselves.
You would think as much coaching as we dedicate to the offensive line that they'd be fine. Maybe they're overcoached.
(Now I'm waiting for someone to call this out as the stupidest post ever. Enjoy your weekends).

I like this post and I would second the notion, in that it is far more more likely that our OLs are "over-coached" at the moment, rather than not coached enough. From my experience, paralysis on the field is usually a product of kids thinking too much and not the opposite. I see it alot in baseball. Sometimes as a coach, you have to back off and tell a kid "see ball, hit ball" if you know what I mean.

 

[gtg936g]

I think Clinton Lynch is going to get more playing time. He may not have the speed but he can make extra yards. His blocking is probably better than the other ABs.

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

I think again we got beat by a team that is better than us at this point in time. I think our team has potential to be really good but at this point in time they are still struggling with a lot of the fundamentals and failing to make the plays they need to make to win a close game (example not holding onto passes, fumbles, penalties). In looking down the schedule it looks like everyone else left on our schedule is about in the same relative place that we are. I expect a lot of close, winnable games from here on in. The X factor is which team will minimize their mistakes, execute the plays properly and make the key plays in the clutch. We can finish 3 and 9 or 11 and 2. It's up to our players, everything is in their hands and under their control. It will interesting to see how it plays out. I think we are in the same place as 90% of the other teams out there. Hopefully our guys come together, fight for each other and decide to be great and not just mediocre.

As far as Coach Johnson goes, I think his fate rests in how this season plays out. Right, wrong or indifferent, the captain is at the helm or goes down with the ship. He has been here long enough to have established a program that performs at a high level. I think his real vulnerability is the QB position. His offense demands an exceptional level of execution at that position. Until he finds that individual, the offense will always come up short of it's potential.

Go Jackets!

 

[g0lftime]

This team just doesn't seem to have big play potential on offense or defense. On offense we can't seem to hit the long runs or the long passes that have been seen in the past. It is a grind it out offense. Our defense is not causing turnovers, no big interceptions or fumbles. I went to the Duke-UVA game yesterday and recorded our game and have not had a chance to watch it yet so not sure if we had any big plays against Miami. The stats in the paper here did not indicate that we did. BTW Duke threw 54 passes yesterday (mostly short stuff on the edges) so we are probably going to see a lot of balls in the air for homecoming. They must have had at least 6 or 7 passes batted down at the LOS when they tried to pass over the middle and their QB is 6' 5". UVA went mainly to the long ball and I think they threw it 40+. Our secondary is going to get tested in both those games.

 

[Techster]

I think Clinton Lynch is going to get more playing time. He may not have the speed but he can make extra yards. His blocking is probably better than the other ABs.

Lynch is a baller. Been saying since last year. Too many of our fans get enamored with messageboard rumors and a big play here and there from other guys against weaker opponents, but Lynch has been consistently making plays for us.

Today he showed a different dimension...the ability to break tackles in traffic and make something happen. Comes with getting stronger in the weight room and the game slowing down for him. Probably our best overall AB.

 

[Techster]

Outside of the two obvious plays on offense that led to defensive TDs, I actually thought our offense played a good game. We had long clock eating drives and made plays when we needed to. I think JeT started something liek 8/8 passing? He has to do a better job of taking care of the ball, though the blindside hit was tough.

I think the film is out on Lance Austin. He's plays so hard and is great supporting the run, but he's a liability in pass coverage...especially against the taller receivers. Teams are just out and out going after him now when he's on.

Antonio Simmons needs to be on the field as much as he can handle it. He is our best DE at consistently making plays behind the LOS.

Defense played alright. Not great, not bad (overall...giving up those big plays was attrocious). Well enough for us to win.

Miami is talented. I know some on here want to say we're about equal in talent as Miami, but that's just not true. Remember, they're still getting use to a new offense and a new defense. They had playmakers on boths sides of the ball. Quarterman...are you kidding me? Someone that size that can run and cover like that? Dude was good.

Miami has always been tough for us...and Richt was 7-2 against CPJ heading into the game. Add that together, and not much of a dip from talent at Miami than what Richt had at UGA, and the result isn't too surprising. We really beat ourselves this game, but Miami is a good team. If they can digest Richt's offense and their new defense, they have the potential to be very good...maybe not in the Clemson and Louisville tier, but good enough to win the Coastal.

 

[AE 87]

It was a tough pill to swallow. Some thoughts:

There might not be a single team in the country good enough to give up two consecutive scoop scores on offense to these guys and still win the game. If there is, it wouldn't be more than a few. Still, we DID give up the plays. We own them and they are a part of our current resume, sadly.

With the exception of those two plays, we controlled the action in a manner that was needed for us to win the game. We ran about 30 more plays than them in my estimation and controlled the ball for 2/3 of the clock. It wasn't always pretty because we left some plays out there. Had we been playing an even game, or even (gasp) with a lead, the chances of them knuckling under would have been pretty good, given the circumstances. However, the fact that they still had a lead gave them hope and energy despite their defense being out there forever.

Giving up 21 points is pretty good overall, but not great, considering how many plays they ran. However, the nature of the scores and drives we allowed was more of the nature that many of us have been hoping for. Specifically, in that we either got them off the field quickly or they scored quickly, leaving our offense on the field for the majority. More games like that will yield better results IMHO. Defense did enough to win.

In hockey, players are judged by +/- stats (goals scored vs allowed for the time you are personally on the ice). Our offense was plus 7 yesterday. That doesn't cut it. I haven't watched the replay, but here are my thoughts from the upper north viewpoint:

We are a 3 headed monster on offense and not the 4 headed monster we have been at times in the past. The QB, BB and AB position groups all pose a threat to some degree, but at WR it is sadly not the case. This is palpable, watching the action. At this point in time, the WRs are not even a working part of the offense. It will continue to be a struggle for us as long as this is the case. The only throws happening to them that have a chance are back shoulder throws with DBs draped all over them. We simply do not see separation. Back shoulder throws are great, but they won't be as effective if we never get free on other routes.

Although not a thing of beauty yesterday, some parts of the offense are starting to round into form.

I hope we all feel lucky that we have Mills. He looks like an NFL runner to me. He has vision and toughness and he will only get better from here. Think about that. He did a great job of picking holes and running the right track yesterday. He finishes runs like a man. Gotta love it.

Obviously our O missteps were the biggest issue yesterday, but I still think it's wrong to give our D a pass. They gave up 21 pts in 31 plays, 1st seven drives. That's terrible.

The stops in the last two drives were next to meaningless because we couldn't really rum our base offense needing two scores in last qtr.

It's unrealistic to set the standard of offensive execution at 2014 so that the D getting any stop is sufficient.

 

[SidewalkJacket]

Two words: Antonio Simmons.

I want him in the field every single down. He's done everything so far to earn that spot, IMO.

 

[SteamWhistle]

I hate cut blocks. Always wondered why we can't just stand up and block. I understand why we do it with ABacks, but why do have 6'7 350 lineman flopping like fish.?

 

[awbuzz]

Just need to drop a couple of small rays of sunshine in for Brad Stewart. He had some great blocking on our better plays on offense. He also made a couple of very nice runs on punt returns.

 

[tech_wreck47]

How to fix Tech's problem easy fire Paul Johnson, hire a coach that runs a more traditional and easier offense to figure out for our players. Apparently Paul's offense is so complicated that Tech men can't figure it out after 8 plus seasons. It seems you need a special kind of knowledge to run this offense, that players can't pick up in 4 to 5 years. Btw more than 4 offensive plays weren't ran properly. That number is more than likely in the double digits. Quote from broadcasters at the game. "The only thing stopping Tech's offense is Tech with their penalties and fumbles." We beat ourselves more than any team has.

I disagree about getting rid of cpj but that's just my opinion I won't argue that case. As far as the offense goes, yes, we did beat ourself imo, the 4 big plays that hurt us wasn't from a complicated system it was 2 unnecessary penalties, 1 holding and 1 chop block that if didn't happen the plays would have still worked more than likely, and then two fumble 6's. I give miami credit for the first but not the second, you take those 3 things away and it could have been a way different game, and none of those things were cpj fault. So would we even be having this convo if we had won? If not how can we blame cpj? My point is the offense for the most part looked pretty good, actually they couldn't stop us really until we had to start passing more because we didn't have much time and our drive when running the ball were eating up a lot of clock.

 

[tech_wreck47]

Just need to drop a couple of small rays of sunshine in for Brad Stewart. He had some great blocking on our better plays on offense. He also made a couple of very nice runs on punt returns.

And a good catch while getting hit.

 

[Boomergump]

Lynch is a baller. Been saying since last year. Too many of our fans get enamored with messageboard rumors and a big play here and there from other guys against weaker opponents, but Lynch has been consistently making plays for us.

Today he showed a different dimension...the ability to break tackles in traffic and make something happen. Comes with getting stronger in the weight room and the game slowing down for him. Probably our best overall AB.

Once again yesterday, CL gave us some "value added" runs after contact. I am happy for him in this regard. He has already done so more this year than possibly last year in its entirety. Good for him. I had grown used to him finding open space, but now he is making his own yards when open space isn't there. Those are the kind of players we need at AB. The system provides a certain number of yards. We need more than that.

 

[Techster]

Once again yesterday, CL gave us some "value added" runs after contact. I am happy for him in this regard. He has already done so more this year than possibly last year in its entirety. Good for him. I had grown used to him finding open space, but now he is making his own yards when open space isn't there. Those are the kind of players we need at AB. The system provides a certain number of yards. We need more than that.

I think an offseason in the weight room helps with yards after contact, and breaking through arm tackles. He'll get better at it as he gets older and spends more time getting stronger. He's got enough shiftiness to create some yards in that regard, but you're correct, ABs are more valuable if they can run through contact as more times than not they will have defenders closing in.

Let's remember, he was a wide receiver in HS and not a natural running back. He's definitely growing into the position.

 

[1979jacket]

There were some positives yesterday. I liked the no huddle and it seemed to settle the offensive line to see how UM was lining up. We moved the ball. The pass rush had some success particularly from Freeman and Simmons. The run defense was fairly good. The oline did some good things. The disappointments were 1 ) the fumbles duh! 2) I knew UM was going to throw the slant in that all important drive in the 3rd quarter. They beat us last year with that given their receivers are faster than our cbs. Why aren't are we jamming the receiver and it seemed we gave inside position way to easily? But probably the better question is why didn't we adjust and give the cb some help to stop it either via the LB or safety? Particularly after the second one. On offense, we had plays on the edge that looked like they would break but didn't because of aback blocking or being tackled by 1 guy. Our WR needs to catch the ball and he would have scored. If we can keep improving, we can win some games. Getting the penalties going the other way as well as turnovers would help. Mills, Braun, Stewart, Simmons, Freeman and Gamble seemed to play well. And of course we have the best placekicker in college football.