You're right, of course. We do need more balance to have any chance of beating the Clemsons and Georgias out there. We've won the last four games while completing an average of 1.5 passes per game, but that won't fly next week. That having been said, I think in those four games we stayed within ourselves and did what we had to do to win. Next week the Jackets are going to have to go a little lighter on the QB keepers and a little heavier on the passing game to have a chance. And we're going to have to reach a little deeper into our bag of tricks, too. Yes, more balance and less predictability is what we need next week.
I have already posted this data, multiple times, but will post it again. We actually had 10 or less pass ATTEMPTS in 8 of our 12 wins over ranked opponents during CPJ’s tenure. I am sure most of those are less than 5 completions.
2008
#16 FSU - 6 pass attempts
#13 UGA - 6 pass attempts
2009
#4 Va Tech - 7 pass attempts
#25 Clemson (ACC title game) - 18 pass attempts
2011
#6 Clemson - 9 pass attempts
2014
#18 Clemson - 11 pass attempts
#8 UGA - 16 pass attempts
#8 Miss St. - 12 pass attempts
2015
#9 FSU - 10 pass attempts
2016
#18 Va Tech - 7 pass attempts
UGA - 10 pass attempts
2017
#17 Va Tech - 8 pass attempts
For me, passing efficiency is more critical than number of passes. We can and have won many games over big boys with just a select few, well timed pass plays. That is actually when we are at our best. It is false that we need to pass more to beat those teams.