roadkill
Helluva Engineer
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I'm not giving our defense a pass by any means, but they didn't give up 50 points. That's an easy hot take when you just look at the score. The offense gifted, from an EPA perspective, at least 10 points directly via two picks. After our D forced a punt on Pitt's first possession, our offense went INT, INT, TD (maybe Pitt's D was getting tired of going right back on the field since they were scoring so fast), then 3 & out X3. At that point, our D was getting fatigued and all the momentum was on Pitt's side. Also, it appeared that Pitt's strategy of O-line holding (actually, tackling) and taking their chances on ref calls was working well in the first half, effectively negating our athletic D-line and linebackers despite their success in the prior two games. I don't know if someone spoke to the refs at halftime, but it's an interesting correlation that Pitt got 3 holding calls in the second half to go with their 10 points, vs none in the first half when their offense scored 35.It amazes me that 90% of the posts here at the Swarm are about our offensive short-comings....we gave up 50 pts...I believe our issues are, as they always have been in the post Dodd era, on defense... GT hasn't been "good" on defense 5 times in the past 50 years....
But... to join the discussion, I will offer my opinion on the offense in general, the OL specifically....
The players we have are the players we have.....including the OL guys... they are busting their ***, doing the absolute best they can do on every play.. if they are not "good" then we must work around this reality...
So...what are the choices? How do we maximize 2021?
#1... Running plays....QB under center, two backs.... OL plus TE blocks down, lead RB kicks out...QB keepers off edge.... run sprint draw as if it was 1973....inside traps (I know, it didn't work on goal line vs Clemson) but tighter trap with our RBs will work....
#2 Passing plays...TE stays in or releases very late...OL steps down, protects inside gap and Sims drops, then steps up to throw.. force pressure to come from outside only... sprint out QB with OL reaching and hinging backside.. let inside receivers run upfield and wide-outs (occasionally) stop cut across underneath....
#3 I am for playing our freshmen...especially our OL freshmen...
Unfortunately for us, 2021 is getting ready for 2023.....
That game was a failure of all phases at both the individual play execution level as well as at a macro level of coaching, planning, etc. It's natural to want to assign responsibility for the loss to a single major issue, but there's plenty of blame to spread around for this loss.