Mid season questions answered... where to from here

Longestday

Longestday

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
2,856
Rain is good to dampen the crowd?

Rain is bad for our offense. Short passes, screens, and dives are the best bet in the rain on bad footing.
 
GTonTop88

GTonTop88

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,013
Location
Gibson, GA
Last year our offense was built on big plays and a lot of them were passes to our backs, the offense this year looks a lot more like the 2008-2009 era.
 
AE 87

AE 87

Helluva Engineer
Messages
13,027
doug said:
It is, but it also is a reflection of our explosiveness being down this year. We're not hitting the big pass and running plays like we've done in the past, but our running game is consistently strong. We got great down field blocking on our big runs last week that sprung long scoring plays, so hopefully we've turned the corner on that. We just need to get the deep passing game on track.
Click to expand...

Interesting. My impression had been that we'd actually been hitting more big plays. Here are the % of our plays which have gone for 10+, 20+ and 40+ yards:

upload_2017-10-25_10-3-35.png
 

jgtengineer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,970
Wouldn't be worried about light or even medium rain on Clemson's field. That field is really well designed and drains well.
 
Big Philly

Big Philly

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
129
Location
Seattle, WA
YJMD said:
First of all, we were not willing to run the option and risk putting the ball on the ground.
Click to expand...

I didn't fault Johnson for that play calling at all. It didn't work out, and that's unfortunate, but look at all the games prior: a ridiculous amount of fumbling. Johnson basically said: 'We cannot fumble the ball and win this game. I will not let us fumble the ball,' and we didn't fumble the ball. (If we had fumbled, imagine the narrative). We narrowly lost, unfortunate.

Stop thinking about hypothetical pasts. They aren't real, they didn't happen. We are not an undefeated team.
 

Lavoisier

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
847
I really don't think we know too much about this team yet because the schedule is so weirdly back loaded. Tennessee, Jacksonville State, Pitt, and UNC are going to be the easiest games we'll play this year, so I don't know how our performances are going to predict the tough schedule we have left with Clemson, VT, Duke, and UGA.

I can really only look at the last two games and the team that played Miami was all over the place on both sides with our guys doing something great on offense/defense one drive and then collapsing on the next. The rain and injuries didn't really help. Wake was similar with the first half and second half being so different.

When this team is good, it's really good. When this team is bad, it's really bad. I think the fact we seem so boom-or-bust means we absolutely have a chance of winning out or going 2/3 with the big 3 left, however if we start busting hard we might barely make a bowl. Depth on OLine is hurting us, and as good as Benson is there are some things he can't do and we need a different type of back for that. Jerry is looking like the answer but he's a true freshman, so I understand why we aren't using him more.

ST are probably where we thought they would be. Kickers can take time to mature so we should get a little better as the season goes on.
 
SidewalkJacket

SidewalkJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,665
Lavoisier said:
I really don't think we know too much about this team yet because the schedule is so weirdly back loaded. Tennessee, Jacksonville State, Pitt, and UNC are going to be the easiest games we'll play this year, so I don't know how our performances are going to predict the tough schedule we have left with Clemson, VT, Duke, and UGA.

I can really only look at the last two games and the team that played Miami was all over the place on both sides with our guys doing something great on offense/defense one drive and then collapsing on the next. The rain and injuries didn't really help. Wake was similar with the first half and second half being so different.

When this team is good, it's really good. When this team is bad, it's really bad. I think the fact we seem so boom-or-bust means we absolutely have a chance of winning out or going 2/3 with the big 3 left, however if we start busting hard we might barely make a bowl. Depth on OLine is hurting us, and as good as Benson is there are some things he can't do and we need a different type of back for that. Jerry is looking like the answer but he's a true freshman, so I understand why we aren't using him more.

ST are probably where we thought they would be. Kickers can take time to mature so we should get a little better as the season goes on.
Click to expand...

Everything you said is fine with me except the idea that KB is not an ideal BB for this team. His blocking is suspect on occasion, but he has set the single game rushing record for a BB under CPJ, has multiple explosion plays, and appears reliable in the passing game. I love JH as much as the next guy, but KB is a perfect size and body type for BB. Once he learns to trust the holes a little more and pick up his blocks in pass pro, he could go down as one of the best BBs we've had.
 
BobintheATL99

BobintheATL99

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
360
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
jacobchbe said:
The edge blocking doesn't seem as good as 2014. In late 2014 it seemed like every defender outside was cut and face planted.
Click to expand...
This may be more a symptom of the Dive and Follow having being so successful. We are pile driving down the field with those two plays in 5-8 yard chunks, there may not be much need to go to the pitch play. We likely will against Clemson though, just for variety sake.
 

Lavoisier

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
847
I'm not trying to say he hasn't been great, just that there are a couple of things we need a different back for. Trusting his blocks and getting downhill is one of those things like you said. His patience definitely helps with the big plays as he waits for the blocks before pulling the trigger, but it can cost us in short yardage plays where the entire defense is squeezing down. There's very few backs that are the complete package and can do everything which is why most teams rotate through guys. We just hit some bad luck with guys transferring or getting kicked out of school. Quaide can do it to some extent but he runs so upright and in those plays the low guy wins 95% of the time, and Jerry is a freshman so I can see why we're hesitant to use him a whole lot.
 

JorgeJonas

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,147
The issue on offense is a lack of quality depth at B-back and offensive tackle. The offense is still very good. However, Benson would be third string without the offseason attrition (which should serve as a guide to how well we’ve actually recruited, contrary to what Rivals and Mark Bradley may think). At tackle, we’ve lost so many players through the past couple of seasons, but Marshall and Chris Griffin are noticeable. Griffin would almost certainly be the starter as a RS-Senior this year, and Marshall would be starting as a senior, too. We’d have upperclassmen at every position on the field on offense, except center and left guard. That’d be pretty damn difficult to stop.
 
Top