Pitt Postgame

Jerry the Jacket

Jerry the Jacket

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Just my thoughts on the Pitt game:

1) James Graham needed to take a step forward and instead he took a step back. He made one or two good throws today and if he was reading on some of the run plays, he made very few good reads. We could have exploited a lot of short quick passes but Graham could not find the open guys and when he did he could not get them the ball. I think Coach P. called a poor game. The inside run was not there and he ran it way too much. The deep shot was a throw it and hope and he ran them too often when we would have been better served to try something underneath or outside. Too many T. Oliver targets with him still learning the wide receiver position.
2) Mason could not get anything going except the one nice outside run to get a first down near the goal line. Pitt has a good defense against the run but our blocking and play calling were not good. Seems we are pretty much wasting Jerry Howard.
3) We saw why Lucas Johnson has not been playing. You can not turn the ball over there. That was a 10 point swing and took us out of our chance to win the game. We actually could have won this game with just a little bit more execution. I still feel like Graham is our best option unless the freshman Yates is ready to play.
4) The place kicking is woeful. Wesley gets a chance to kick off and immediately dorks it out of bounds. King kills our momentum missing a layup field goal from 30 some odd yards. No wonder everyone says kickers are Goofy.
5) Third down. We are just awful on both sides of the ball on third down.
6) The defense could not get any pressure on the Pitt quarterback. I know their O line is good but damn it looks like we could have fired a corner or found some way to get an occasional hit on Pickett. He is pretty pedestrian as a QB and we did not take advantage of that. Curry just can't get home when he blitzes and none of our defensive ends have enough strength to be a factor.
7) Still way too many stupid penalties. Very undisciplined for a team that should be playing humble.
8) I was pleased to see how our defense played in the second half. I think Pitt's intention was to line up and bully us with their running game and our guys bowed their back and let them know we were not going to stand for that. Liked the gang tackling and extra finish the guys were putting on the Pitt running backs at the end.
9) We let this one get away. Too bad. Just a little better effort all around and we would have won this game. Probably can not beat Virginia on the road. Can beat VT and NC State at home. Not looking forward to the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Go Jackets!
 
Vespidie

Vespidie

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7979 said:
Lucas Johnson had the crap knocked out of him on the dreaded fumble at the goal line. The defender was shot out of a cannon and laid the wood on him. Ball protection is a must in that situation and we failed. Plain and simple. Different circumstances could have resulted in a different outcome.


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Our best offensive player is Mason. Why does Lucas carry the ball on the biggest play of the game?[/QUOTE]

I'd have to go back and look at the replay to see if it appeared to be a designed run, however IIRC he was zigging and zagging to reach the goal line. Unfortunately he got to within what appeared to be a foot of the goal line before he got blasted. If it was a designed run, then that's a question for the coaching staff, as Johnson isn't the most fleet of foot of the QB's we've used this year. Maybe incorporate a direct snap to JMason. That type of play could obviously work.
 

swarmer

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
700
Jerry the Jacket said:
Just my thoughts on the Pitt game:

1) James Graham needed to take a step forward and instead he took a step back. He made one or two good throws today and if he was reading on some of the run plays, he made very few good reads. We could have exploited a lot of short quick passes but Graham could not find the open guys and when he did he could not get them the ball. I think Coach P. called a poor game. The inside run was not there and he ran it way too much. The deep shot was a throw it and hope and he ran them too often when we would have been better served to try something underneath or outside. Too many T. Oliver targets with him still learning the wide receiver position.
2) Mason could not get anything going except the one nice outside run to get a first down near the goal line. Pitt has a good defense against the run but our blocking and play calling were not good. Seems we are pretty much wasting Jerry Howard.
3) We saw why Lucas Johnson has not been playing. You can not turn the ball over there. That was a 10 point swing and took us out of our chance to win the game. We actually could have won this game with just a little bit more execution. I still feel like Graham is our best option unless the freshman Yates is ready to play.
4) The place kicking is woeful. Wesley gets a chance to kick off and immediately dorks it out of bounds. King kills our momentum missing a layup field goal from 30 some odd yards. No wonder everyone says kickers are Goofy.
5) Third down. We are just awful on both sides of the ball on third down.
6) The defense could not get any pressure on the Pitt quarterback. I know their O line is good but damn it looks like we could have fired a corner or found some way to get an occasional hit on Pickett. He is pretty pedestrian as a QB and we did not take advantage of that. Curry just can't get home when he blitzes and none of our defensive ends have enough strength to be a factor.
7) Still way too many stupid penalties. Very undisciplined for a team that should be playing humble.
8) I was pleased to see how our defense played in the second half. I think Pitt's intention was to line up and bully us with their running game and our guys bowed their back and let them know we were not going to stand for that. Liked the gang tackling and extra finish the guys were putting on the Pitt running backs at the end.
9) We let this one get away. Too bad. Just a little better effort all around and we would have won this game. Probably can not beat Virginia on the road. Can beat VT and NC State at home. Not looking forward to the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Go Jackets!
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Nice post and recap. We were a yard away from having a great chance to win this game. Fun to watch this D play.
 
Vespidie

Vespidie

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presjacket said:
I'm wondering why targeting wasn't called. Lucas was lying motionless for several seconds after he was hit and the player that hit him was shaken up on the play too. From my vantage point in the stands, it seemed like Lucas was going to score until he was knocked out. The only replays I have found don't really show a good angle to see the hit.
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It was a "football play". The defender sacrificed himself to prevent the TD, and it worked out for them in a huge way. I don't think Johnson ever saw the defender coming.
 

Deleted member 2897

Guest
smokey_wasp said:
He missed an xp. Something isn't right with him. As hit or miss as King has been, Wells would absolutely be getting chances if they had reason to believe he could do it better. Could be an undisclosed injury.
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That was after he had been benched and King missed a kick. Yea probably an injury - but CGCs only comments were that he was out practiced.
 

tmhunter52

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,449
The defense definitely played better than the offense, but tackling was generally poor, especially in the first half, and we seemed a step slower and less aggressive than we need to be. Special teams weren’t special, either, outside of Harvin’s pretty good punting. I’m all for positive attitude, praise, “We’re-getting-better-every-day”, but it’s getting time to stop handing out participation trophies and start demanding excellence.
 
Vespidie

Vespidie

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Messages
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Albuquerque
yeti92 said:
What I saw yesterday was a team that took several steps back after the Miami game.

The offense was unimaginative and innefficient. Play calling was s bad. O line was bad. QB play was bad. If Mason got more than two steps in before he got hit he got good yardage, but most plays he had three defenders on him when the ball was put in his hands. Graham had a very bad game, which was to be expected at some point this season being that he's a freshman, but throwing balls way over the receivers heads when they are less than 10 yards down field. Lucas passed well, but he is just not a threat with his legs anymore - couldn't outrun any Pitt defenders, and on the goalline fumble, he looked like a newborn deer trying to cut back to the hole. Outside of Mason and A. Brown, the rest of the offense played very poorly.

Defense seems to struggle mightily in the first half. Constantly caught out of position and unready for the snap, I was going nuts at how often Pitt was ready to snap the ball and the D was standing around looking at the sideline waiting for a call. The turnovers we generated were great, but being out of position contributed to a lot of easy yards and points for Pitt.

Special teams was pretty crap again, outside of Harvin and the blocked punt.

Finally this blindside block rule is the biggest bunch of horsecrap ever added to the game. How we got called for it multiple times on kickoffs, less than 10 yards down field is mindboggling. I need to watch the replays and understand what exactly they are calling it for, but I saw several times on special teams where Pitt "blindside blocked" our guys with no calls. Besides, what happened to keeping your head on a swivel? Players aren't responsible for their lack of awareness anymore?
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On offense, I don't think P-naud is looking to change the play calling based on the opponent. I think we've settled in on an offensive philosophy that the current subset of players need to execute in order to be successful. I understand those that will scream about coaches coaching to our players strengths, but in this case our guys are being counted on to follow the new script that isn't going to be diverted from. It's an audition so to speak. I'm quite sure the offense isn't designed for failure, so there are definite failings within the process. IIWII.

The first half defensive problems were related to LB being out of position. Jordan-Swilling being out was huge in my opinion. Pitt had way too many "up the gut" clear lanes to run in (direct snap TD run and Pickett scramble runs). Our DB's nor anyone else's can cover receivers for extended periods of time. That's a complete fail related to our inability to rush the QB. That fact is no more obvious than comparing and contrasting our QB situation versus our opponents. Another glaring disappointment were the late player substitutions leading to penalties (too many men on field). No excuse for that IMO.

The kicking game, less punting, is just BAD. Not only are we inconsistent regarding FG, but shanking KO's out of bounds isn't acceptable (the Pitt return guy gifted us one), as well as the inability to get touch backs on kickoffs.

Agree with the phantom "blindside" block. Called in name of player safety I suppose, but still doesn't excuse players for not keeping their heads on a swivel. That's called field awareness.
 

takethepoints

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Messages
6,096
Ibeeballin said:
Run pass ratio was 70/30 and was getting stuffed. The Crack attempted to get the ball out quickly vs Our porous OL. Didn’t help that Graham didn’t execute or guys Carter dropped the one pass that was on the money. I’m not sure what more do you want
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20 - 25 carries for Mason, a running game established early on (hint: that'd mean QB under center), and an offensive game plan that wouldn't try to run slow developing plays against one of the best pass rushing teams in the country.

The OL did just fine two weeks ago, when the team committed to the run. Yet, instead of building on that, our crack O staff decided to go back to what wasn't working. I mean, this isn't rocket science. What it is is a simple inability to realize what is working and going with it.

It would help if the WRs didn't drop the ball, however.
 

33jacket

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4,653
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Georgia
Jerry the Jacket said:
Just my thoughts on the Pitt game:

1) James Graham needed to take a step forward and instead he took a step back. He made one or two good throws today and if he was reading on some of the run plays, he made very few good reads. We could have exploited a lot of short quick passes but Graham could not find the open guys and when he did he could not get them the ball. I think Coach P. called a poor game. The inside run was not there and he ran it way too much. The deep shot was a throw it and hope and he ran them too often when we would have been better served to try something underneath or outside. Too many T. Oliver targets with him still learning the wide receiver position.
2) Mason could not get anything going except the one nice outside run to get a first down near the goal line. Pitt has a good defense against the run but our blocking and play calling were not good. Seems we are pretty much wasting Jerry Howard.
3) We saw why Lucas Johnson has not been playing. You can not turn the ball over there. That was a 10 point swing and took us out of our chance to win the game. We actually could have won this game with just a little bit more execution. I still feel like Graham is our best option unless the freshman Yates is ready to play.
4) The place kicking is woeful. Wesley gets a chance to kick off and immediately dorks it out of bounds. King kills our momentum missing a layup field goal from 30 some odd yards. No wonder everyone says kickers are Goofy.
5) Third down. We are just awful on both sides of the ball on third down.
6) The defense could not get any pressure on the Pitt quarterback. I know their O line is good but damn it looks like we could have fired a corner or found some way to get an occasional hit on Pickett. He is pretty pedestrian as a QB and we did not take advantage of that. Curry just can't get home when he blitzes and none of our defensive ends have enough strength to be a factor.
7) Still way too many stupid penalties. Very undisciplined for a team that should be playing humble.
8) I was pleased to see how our defense played in the second half. I think Pitt's intention was to line up and bully us with their running game and our guys bowed their back and let them know we were not going to stand for that. Liked the gang tackling and extra finish the guys were putting on the Pitt running backs at the end.
9) We let this one get away. Too bad. Just a little better effort all around and we would have won this game. Probably can not beat Virginia on the road. Can beat VT and NC State at home. Not looking forward to the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Go Jackets!
Click to expand...


We had 4 penalties and one was due to an official messing up. Way too many and undisciplined lol. What?

I have no idea what you are seeing. So i guess 3 penalties is too many? We had 3 legit called. One on a substitution. One on debatable blocking from the side. One on an obvious pick play. And another substitution but pitt subbed, the official was supposed to hold the ball and didn’t and we got caught with 12. It was their fault.

No false starts
No holding
No offsides
No pi
No defensive holding
No personal fouls

I mean come on. Too many stupid penalties from a top 10 least penalized team in ncaa is a bit off imo

To the contrary. This is a very disciplined team and the ncaa rankings prove it

In fact this topic is the last thing anyone should point out. Its been a bright spot how we are one of the least penalized in all the land
 

takethepoints

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,096
SOWEGA Jacket said:
For those talking about Collins and a hot seat I can only assume you don’t follow GT football that closely. Even if you can’t stand him you should at least realize our AD is the one who hired him and not only that he was given a 7 year contract. What in the world makes you think this same AD would put him on the hot seat before 2025?
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Hmmmmmm. So Tech won't fire the AD if he doesn't deliver? A new and startling policy.

If Collins doesn't make the nut, TStan will be gone too. There's no way the basketball program will improve greatly this year or next. The baseball program won't save him.

I'm not pleased with this, mind. I think TStan is likely the best choice for AD among those who would take the job. But a continuing losing record in the major sports - especially if it continues after good recruiting in football - will sink the whole staff, coaches and AD. I hope this doesn't happen, but there it is.
 
Ibeeballin

Ibeeballin

Im a 3*
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6,081
tmhunter52 said:
The defense definitely played better than the offense, but tackling was generally poor, especially in the first half, and we seemed a step slower and less aggressive than we need to be. Special teams weren’t special, either, outside of Harvin’s pretty good punting. I’m all for positive attitude, praise, “We’re-getting-better-every-day”, but it’s getting time to stop handing out participation trophies and start demanding excellence.
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What? Man where y’all get this stuff from?
Jerry the Jacket said:
Just my thoughts on the Pitt game:

1) James Graham needed to take a step forward and instead he took a step back. He made one or two good throws today and if he was reading on some of the run plays, he made very few good reads. We could have exploited a lot of short quick passes but Graham could not find the open guys and when he did he could not get them the ball. I think Coach P. called a poor game. The inside run was not there and he ran it way too much. The deep shot was a throw it and hope and he ran them too often when we would have been better served to try something underneath or outside. Too many T. Oliver targets with him still learning the wide receiver position.
2) Mason could not get anything going except the one nice outside run to get a first down near the goal line. Pitt has a good defense against the run but our blocking and play calling were not good. Seems we are pretty much wasting Jerry Howard.
3) We saw why Lucas Johnson has not been playing. You can not turn the ball over there. That was a 10 point swing and took us out of our chance to win the game. We actually could have won this game with just a little bit more execution. I still feel like Graham is our best option unless the freshman Yates is ready to play.
4) The place kicking is woeful. Wesley gets a chance to kick off and immediately dorks it out of bounds. King kills our momentum missing a layup field goal from 30 some odd yards. No wonder everyone says kickers are Goofy.
5) Third down. We are just awful on both sides of the ball on third down.
6) The defense could not get any pressure on the Pitt quarterback. I know their O line is good but damn it looks like we could have fired a corner or found some way to get an occasional hit on Pickett. He is pretty pedestrian as a QB and we did not take advantage of that. Curry just can't get home when he blitzes and none of our defensive ends have enough strength to be a factor.
7) Still way too many stupid penalties. Very undisciplined for a team that should be playing humble.
8) I was pleased to see how our defense played in the second half. I think Pitt's intention was to line up and bully us with their running game and our guys bowed their back and let them know we were not going to stand for that. Liked the gang tackling and extra finish the guys were putting on the Pitt running backs at the end.
9) We let this one get away. Too bad. Just a little better effort all around and we would have won this game. Probably can not beat Virginia on the road. Can beat VT and NC State at home. Not looking forward to the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Go Jackets!
Click to expand...

pretty solid recap.

7 is not really true. The blind side block is stupid and attempt to the physicalness out the football. We finished with only 4/38yd and the refs screwed us on the substitution penalties


8) This is the most frustrating part. Contrary to popular belief, we had a solid gameplan and a winning gameplan but we got in our own way and prevented ourselves victory. Imagine this season with just 70% accuracy kicker and 55-60% completion percentage
 
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