gtstinger776
Ramblin' Wreck
- Messages
- 565
It just depends on when things start to click with our QBs. I think CDP comments about teaching fundamentals are interesting. That changes my perspective slightlySome disjointed thoughts on the season:
- Even though 3 wins was what was projected by a number of good sources, it’s still disappointing. We should have had at least 4, and possibly as many as 5 (but I’m not sure where the 5th win would come from this year).
- Collins said that we were the second smallest lineup in P5, and that they’d worked on that through S&C. He did say how much he admired the grit of the kids playing, but that we needed to get bigger and stronger and that wouldn’t be easy. At the end of the season, I think we’re probably still on that end of the spectrum for P5 teams and smaller than a good number of G5 teams. In the Southeast, that I’m sure we’re looking at other ACC and SEC teams, but that’s also going to include teams like Vandy, Rutgers, Washington State, et al. I can see Wisconsin or LSU walking out a line that’s much bigger than ours, but we can be at least average in this category. That’s hurt us in past bowls and big games where we get pushed around. Handling this with S&C, nutrition, and recruiting is a big need over the next few years.
- I don’t think we had a crazy number of injuries this year—we just have such a young team that the injuries we had were so much more crucial.
- On defense, we were better than last year by most of the sources I look at. This is despite us losing a lot of the tackles and leadership from last year’s team. I saw us take a step up in a few areas, but in others I saw us repeating the same mistakes we’ve made for years. Mostly, it was a mix of watching us almost make a good play, like the missed interception yesterday, or make two good plays in a row and just fail on the third play with a missed tackle or a bad read.
- Special teams didn’t get any more special this year. These coaches have had good special teams before. It’s really hard to fix something like that in-season. I think it will get fixed in the off-season.
- I think the DL will play better next year if only because it’s a year older.
- I didn’t see the OL progression and growth during the season that other posters did. I didn’t expect much during the season, anyway—the off-season is where you build up that kind of skill and strength, while during the season you scout your opponents and execute against them. I would still see a tackle block down instead of taking an outside man yesterday, or some other play where a defender was mistakenly left unblocked. The VTs, UGAs, UVAs, and UNCs were pushing us around all season, and they will until we get bigger and stronger.
- Same as the above line, but for DL too.
- We have some young potential at LB if we can ingrain the scheme and the decisions. We need the QB on defense to be a coach on the field.
- I didn’t see us progress at DB during the year. We were better this year than last, but I thought we were as good in the first game as we were in the last. Even in the NCST game, I saw us give up quick receptions that you couldn’t blame on lack of penetration because no one is fast enough to get into the backfield that quickly. We’ve got potential there, but they should be playing better, and you can’t blame everything on the front 7.
- I like our running backs.
- We brought in a grad transfer to be our main tight end this season. I hope we don’t have to start over completely there next season. This is a position to develop in so many ways.
- Our Wide Receivers have a lot of physical potential, but they need to win footballs. I’ve seen too many passes dropped or slapped away. That’s not all on the QB.
- Wide receivers used to block, now it’s not the same. We don’t win unless they block.
- Our QB play was gutsy this year. Graham can run, but it’s definitely his backup plan. No one is spying our QB and taking a player out of pass coverage. The completion percentage is way too low, too many passes are going to triple coverage instead of a better target. We’re not completing enough short passes.
- I’m working on incomplete information, but I give our defensive coaching a B- this year. We were more aggressive, created more havoc, and improved in some fundamentals. but there are mistakes that have been going on for years that are still happening.
- Special teams is a C-. I can understand not getting place kicking fixed, but kickoffs you have to find a way to get someone to put the ball deep with some air under it.
- Offense I consider a C. Re: being able to predict which play is coming—you could predict the play coming from a lot of top tier teams in the NCAA and NFL, but that doesn’t mean you can stop it. They see a weakness and they exploit it until you adjust, then they attack what you just adjusted out of defending. On the other hand, the 1970s Seattle Seahawks had the most unpredictable play calling you could imagine, and they kept going 2-12 or 3-13. We just aren’t strong enough or automatic enough to do that. The three things that bring down the offensive grade down for me is that we never seemed to get our line calls “right” through the season, we kept making poor reads at QB, and our wide receivers didn’t grow into game changers. All of those contribute to the other.
- I think Patenaude will be here next year. Collins is looking for an educator to teach his players a new offense. I know a bunch of you don’t like his play calling, but the bigger needs now are to teach the right reads and the right fundamentals. If Patenaude can do that, then he’ll stay at least until the players make the right decisions on the field and have the right techniques.
- On the line, I think our players were overwhelmed with their new responsibilities and also the physical demands. Key has a big job this offseason.
- I expect a big step up in play next season. I’m not sure we get bowl-eligible, because it’s a bloodbath schedule, but we’ll look the part next year.
