Postgame: ND 31-GT 13

[Root4GT]

I brought up the "blue chip ratio" yesterday. Notre Dame has 67% of their roster at 4* or 5* players. We have 13 players rated at 4* (13/18 -> 15%). We're gonna have to develop our guys.

I don't think Saban cared what 247 said about his guys, and I don't think a good coach cares much about those ratings either, and I don't overrate what the "recruiting analysts" say--I do think that ND had a physical advantage yesterday, and I'm using this as an example.

A couple of years ago, we couldn't block Notre Dame. Yesterday, it was a struggle, but we've improved a lot, and they faked punts and field goals to keep moving on us. We have big steps to move up on offense.

We haven't really improved on overall defense yet. We're better against the rush, but we need to fix our pass defense, and we need penetration.

On offense, we've got to improve our passing game.

It;s really hard to improve the pass defense with out a credible pass rush. I don't see how our pass rush improves with the current roster. The players fight hard, they simply don't win the one on one/tow battles rushing the passer. Our DT do a reasonable job but we get virtually no rush from our DEs. Our blitzes don't work very often either.

Still the defense is significantly better than the past few seasons. It is still a below average P4 defense. Progress is being made.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

I wonder sometimes how the crowd on this forum performs day by day, and if there are any that are just bad days at the office. Yes, we learn from our mistakes, but do we get in one another’s face and tell them how crappy they did and that they ought to be fired, et al? Do you all work under that kind of pressure?

What are we supposed to talk about? Please tell me. This is a sports forum. We lost a sporting event. We are talking about how and why we lost said sporting event. What do you want us to talk about? Should we just constantly post “Oh golly geeze, we’ll get them next time!”? Please enlighten me.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

I disagree. We should not be blaming the other team for executing a play we should have been prepared to stop. Our fault not theirs!

There was less than two minutes left in a blowout and they were already in FG range. The fake FG served no purpose. The game was over. There was no reason to be prepared to stop a fake FG that had no impact on the game regardless if they made it. Kick the FG and let the game end.

 

[RamblinMike]

Shanahan has had a pretty good year all-in-all until yesterday, but the fumbled snaps are on him. For field goals, maybe we should have a QB back there.

Maybe so. But the snap/hold/kick requires extreme precision from all three cogs and yes, they should have the ability to adapt in a millisecond if something is off. But those snaps were too off target to be salvaged in my opinion. At least one of them was. Let’s hope for a better game next week.

 

[UgaBlows]

He’s a former WR, find other ways to get him involved. He had 10 offensive touches after having 178 yards last week. A better OC doesn’t just give up on their best weapons because the defense takes them out of it. They scheme to get their best players involved. Buster seemingly gave up.

He missed a crucial catch- 1st down, right in the hands yesterday, that one hurt

 

[Spalding Jacket]

Remember it’s never as good or as bad as it seems. Now the bad, whew what does Key and Brumfield see in practice with the specialty players. Not being able to execute a FG snap is inexcusable at D1 level. Those guys have the least responsibility on the field and still can’t execute a basic snap and hold? I fear they are practicing 30 mins a day and gooding off the rest of the day. I’d have them practicing the FG snap hold till their arms fell off this week. That said the punt teams is close to disaster as well and I expect a blocked punt before season ends if we don’t get it corrected. Collins took major heat for his special teams faults and was the first thing Key addressed when he took over. He needs to get on top of this asap, special teams should be automatic not fans holding their breaths every time.

The good, considering players missing I thought we played well offensively and defensively. D had plenty of good stops and outside of three good drives by ND held well. You should be able to wins games holding opposition to 24 points including how aggressive ND was. O had a good drive in first quarter and before half. If we make FG I think we are less panicky and stay more balanced vs going pass heavy. The Most pivotal play in the game to me was when Jamal dropped the wheel route pass, if he holds on he’s still running. Instead we try a similar route next play to opposite side and ND is ready and picks Pyron. A few minor fixes and we have a close game. I really hope none of injured players are out long or VT could be a bad game. King, Pyron, Jamal, Weston, Efford. Too many Key names. Bright side this game has no effect on the ACC standings so we still have chance there.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

The GT vs UGA talent gap is as wide as the Pacific Ocean. You recall the days when O'Leary commented on how few GT players could start for FSU. Well there are zero GT players who could start for UGA and only a few who could make their 2 deep roster.

Yea 12 men sucks. and should not happen. STs are beyond bad! No excuse for that. False starts happen at every level, especially when the player across the line of scrimmage is a better player. ND's defense players were clearly better than our offensive players.

Last year we were 6-6 in the regular season with a gift from Miami. WE are better on defense this season but still not a "good" defense.

Turning the GT football program around from the dumpster fire it was is not a quick or easy process. We have gone from a laughing stock to an average ACC team. Progress. The next step is getting more better players. That is TBD!

The talent gap has NOTHING to do with playing clean football. UGA plays clean football not because they have 4 and 5 stars but because they have a freaking maniac head coach who won’t tolerate mistakes on the field. We also use to have a maniacal coach who would grab face masks and jump all over players on the sidelines. That coach had GT ranked and won an Orange Bowl in this era. Army and Navy both play clean football without recruiting stars because their coaches demand it from them.

Now, I’m sure I’ll have folks jump in about my thoughts on Kirby. He is paid to win football games not to be a traffic cop or someone’s father. Kirby simply does what his job description tells him to do. I wish we had a coach that demands high level execution on the field It appears we don’t since our players make the same mistakes game after game.

The next step for GT football is to simply execute on the field which will lead to getting better players. Our high end recruits are watching us and we are not giving them reasons to stick to their commitment when we can’t even execute a field goal. VT will thump us if we continue to play like this.

 

[Root4GT]

There was less than two minutes left in a blowout and they were already in FG range. fake punts / place kicks going forward. The fake FG served no purpose. The game was over. There was no reason to be prepared to stop a fake FG that had no impact on the game regardless if they made it. Kick the FG and let the game end.

It is still indicative of poor Special Teams play. You are correct as it did not change the scoreboard. I would expect we will see some fake punts and FG tries going forward this season. Hope the STs are better prepared.

 

[Root4GT]

The talent gap has NOTHING to do with playing clean football. UGA plays clean football not because they have 4 and 5 stars but because they have a freaking maniac head coach who won’t tolerate mistakes on the field. We also use to have a maniacal coach who would grab face masks and jump all over players on the sidelines. That coach had GT ranked and won an Orange Bowl in this era. Army and Navy both play clean football without recruiting stars because their coaches demand it from them.

Now, I’m sure I’ll have folks jump in about my thoughts on Kirby. He is paid to win football games not to be a traffic cop or someone’s father. Kirby simply does what his job description tells him to do. I wish we had a coach that demands high level execution on the field It appears we don’t since our players make the same mistakes game after game.

The next step for GT football is to simply execute on the field which will lead to getting better players. Our high end recruits are watching us and we are not giving them reasons to stick to their commitment when we can’t even execute a field goal. VT will thump us if we continue to play like this.

It's easy to pull a player for making a mistake when his backup would be a star at GT. It is much harder when you are less talented. Our defenses under CPJ were consistently terrible in all phases. They made tons of mistakes every game. Well they were actually good his first 2 years when he had NFL talent at all 3 levels.

Your take that talent does not matter is laughable. Match NFL games. Most of the false starts are made by guys who are facing the very best pass rushers on passing downs. That is even more true in college football.

Franklin made 2 false starts as our center. That is rare, He must have moved the ball a bit before actually snapping the ball. Those were very odd.

 

[57jacket]

It;s really hard to improve the pass defense with out a credible pass rush. I don't see how our pass rush improves with the current roster. The players fight hard, they simply don't win the one on one/tow battles rushing the passer. Our DT do a reasonable job but we get virtually no rush from our DEs. Our blitzes don't work very often either.

Still the defense is significantly better than the past few seasons. It is still a below average P4 defense. Progress is being made.

DT, DE, NIL

 

[Northeast Stinger]

There was less than two minutes left in a blowout and they were already in FG range. The fake FG served no purpose. The game was over. There was no reason to be prepared to stop a fake FG that had no impact on the game regardless if they made it. Kick the FG and let the game end.

Notre Dame got the memo. The playoff selection committee likes eye candy. They eschewed the fundamentally sound winning % move in favor of a bigger point spread. This is part of the new landscape of college ball and Tech was just collateral damage because they were in the standard alignment.

 

[cpf2001]

Notre Dame got the memo. The playoff selection committee likes eye candy. They eschewed the fundamentally sound winning % move in favor of a bigger point spread. This is part of the new landscape of college ball and Tech was just collateral damage because they were in the standard alignment.

I can’t complain too much about the play calls. Had we stopped some of their aggressiveness it would’ve upped our chances of a comeback. We couldn’t take advantage this time, but I’ll take going up against coaches playing for their ego with a lead any day.

The dirty hits, on the other hand…

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Pyron is a good QB but we will need to run a different offense if he plays next week. The spread option that King runs doesn’t fit his skill set. Finesse against unblocked defenders requires a “shake and bake” QB to go with our “shake and bake” offense. That’s King not Pyron.

With Pyron I think we need run heavy formations with extra blockers -tight ends and H-backs leading the way. Pyron can power for yardage is the blocking allows him to get out of first gear. Passes either need roll outs with a flooded zone or heavy protection drop back passing with 2 backs in the backfield for blocking, with an occasional back releasing into the flat.

Some of the current playbook still works but we need to tweak it in a way that allows Pyron to use his skill set and be successful.

 

[GTLorenzo]

The talent gap has NOTHING to do with playing clean football. UGA plays clean football not because they have 4 and 5 stars but because they have a freaking maniac head coach who won’t tolerate mistakes on the field. We also use to have a maniacal coach who would grab face masks and jump all over players on the sidelines. That coach had GT ranked and won an Orange Bowl in this era. Army and Navy both play clean football without recruiting stars because their coaches demand it from them.

Now, I’m sure I’ll have folks jump in about my thoughts on Kirby. He is paid to win football games not to be a traffic cop or someone’s father. Kirby simply does what his job description tells him to do. I wish we had a coach that demands high level execution on the field It appears we don’t since our players make the same mistakes game after game.

The next step for GT football is to simply execute on the field which will lead to getting better players. Our high end recruits are watching us and we are not giving them reasons to stick to their commitment when we can’t even execute a field goal. VT will thump us if we continue to play like this.

You can have Kirby. Yes, he’s paid to win football games, but he is a low life human. He had a player and staffer killed street racing and does nothing about it. He has multiple players arrested, almost weekly, and does nothing about it. He pushes a player from another team and doesn’t apologize or admit it. I will take Brent Key over Kirby Smart, any day of the week and twice on Sunday. It may mean more in the SEC, but ethics and morals mean more to me than having Kirby Smart associated with my team.

 

[g0lftime]

I think by now we know what we have in a coach. The in game management he needs someone to help him with. Key’s lack of OC/DC experience is showing. He appears to be a great recruiter. We need to leverage that and build a structure around him like Clemson did for Dabo.

Pretty sure he was the OC at UCF. Not sure for how long but it was not good. I personally think the best OC's are former QB's. Key is definitely a good recruiter but we have to start winning more to get top recruits.

 

[jgtengineer]

Pretty sure he was the OC at UCF. Not sure for how long but it was not good. I personally think the best OC's are former QB's. Key is definitely a good recruiter but we have to start winning more to get top recruits.

That UCF year really wasn't on key. That was on oleary.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Ya’ll love punting seasons. “Next year…” “some day” As Creedence Clearwater Revival once said “Some day never comes”

Hope springs eternal my good man. Even more so when you're a GT man.

 

[Techwood Relict]

PFF grades and snap counts from yesterday. Honestly, I was surprised anyone (Williams) graded out as playable. Everybody else struggled. My recollection is Fusile has consistently struggled. He might be overtaken soon.

(PFF rating system works like this at the NFL level)
100 to 90 is elite (their word, not mine)
89 to 85 as a pro bowler
84 to 70 is a starter
69 to 60 is a backup
59 down to zero is replaceable

1. RT Jordan Williams- 77.9 (67)
2. LT Corey Robinson- 68.1 (67)
6. RG Keylan Rutledge- 63.3 (67)
11. C Tana Alo-Tupuola- 60.0 (1)
12. LT Harrison Moore- 58.6 (6)
13. C Weston Franklin- 56.9 (66)
16. LG Joe Fusile- 53.2 (68)

On the defensive side, Zeek was our best player. Eyeball test said the same. Glad to see him getting better.

1. DT Zeek Biggers- 72.7 (35)

 

[Root4GT]

PFF grades and snap counts from yesterday. Honestly, I was surprised anyone (Williams) graded out as playable. Everybody else struggled. My recollection is Fusile has consistently struggled. He might be overtaken soon.

(PFF rating system works like this at the NFL level)
100 to 90 is elite (their word, not mine)
89 to 85 as a pro bowler
84 to 70 is a starter
69 to 60 is a backup
59 down to zero is replaceable

1. RT Jordan Williams- 77.9 (67)
2. LT Corey Robinson- 68.1 (67)
6. RG Keylan Rutledge- 63.3 (67)
11. C Tana Alo-Tupuola- 60.0 (1)
12. LT Harrison Moore- 58.6 (6)
13. C Weston Franklin- 56.9 (66)
16. LG Joe Fusile- 53.2 (68)

On the defensive side, Zeek was our best player. Eyeball test said the same. Glad to see him getting better.

1. DT Zeek Biggers- 72.7 (35)

Fusile seems to have regressed this season for some reason.

 

[stinger 1957]

It certainly appears our running game in order to be effective needs to have a real running threat at QB.