Tech @ UNC (Oct. 12th) - Noon Kickoff

[slugboy]

I looked to see if UNC had faced a defense like ours. Their scores are all over the place, but just about every defense they’ve faced has been a top-50 defense, and a lot in the top 30.

Charlotte and NCCU aren’t anything to write home about, but Minnesota, Duke, Pitt, and JMU all have decent defenses.

 

[g0lftime]

Holstein threw for 301 and ran for 59 against WVU. He threw for 302 and ran for 36 against Cincy. I think those are Holstein kinds of numbers.

I watched some of the UNC V Minnesota game, and was glad a fellow ACC team won, but wasn't super impressed. I haven't watched them much since then.

I found this: https://northcarolina.rivals.com/news/numbers-suggest-the-slide-appears-to-have-carried-over

According to that article, They're a below average tackling team, and worse at pass defense than run defense. They're pretty bad at pass defense. They get sacks. The author is talking about a slide in the past four games, and they're giving up more yards and missing more tackles. They may have locker room issues--reportedly, players yelled "Hell yes" when Brown offered to retire a few games ago.

They seem to fall apart in the 4th quarter, too

Minnesota was in position to win against UNC with a FG at the end of regulation. They thought it was in the bag and set off fireworks thinking they had won. UNC could easily be 2-4 rather than 3-3. The missed FG reinforces the importance of the kicker.

 

[MonroeJacket]

Minnesota was in position to win against UNC with a FG at the end of regulation. They thought it was in the bag and set off fireworks thinking they had won. UNC could easily be 2-4 rather than 3-3. The missed FG reinforces the importance of the kicker.

I think he missed 2-3 kicks that game.

 

[57jacket]

Geoff Collins on Georgia Tech-North Carolina matchup: ‘This isn’t about me’

Collins was fired by Tech in September 2022 after starting that season 1-3 and going 10-28 in 38 games with the Jackets.

www.ajc.com

 

[Techwood Relict]

issues--reportedly, players yelled "Hell yes" when Brown offered to retire a few games ago

Does that spin to the locker room is united?

 

[slugboy]

I watched the Duke-UNC condensed game. Here are a few thoughts from watching them play

• UNC’s offense isn’t unbalanced, but they rely heavily on Omarion Hampton.
• Hampton is a beast of a player. He’s big and strong, has some moves and speed. He was first team All-ACC. If he stays healthy, he’ll get drafted.
• They rely a lot on two tight ends. Nesbit has most of their catches, and Copenhaver has a bunch. Between the two of them, they have 30+% of the team’s catches and a big percentage of their yards. This is going to be a problem for the Nickel and the LBs
• Nate McCollum was injured until the Duke game. That’s holding his stats down, but Jones, Nesbit, and Copenhaver were busier in the Duke game.
• In the first half, UNC’s defense was great. In the second half, they started missing tackles. Some of that was Star Thomas and Peyton Jones, who put the team on their back and made some great runs.
• Both UNC and Duke got into the backfield and got tackles for losses, hurries, and sacks. Both lines looked decent, though. Nobody looked terrible.
• Both team’s return units and coverage units looked better than ours.
• UNC could have come back and won, but Duke gutted out some series and stopped UNC from converting. UNC would get a big play, but go 5-and-out.
• Criswell, UNC’s QB, is 6’1” and about 230 (reportedly). He can run the ball a bit. He completed some good passes.
• UNC didn’t look inept (like our defense did under TFG). Duke just outplayed them in the second half.
• In the last series, UNC was starting to move the ball. A Duke d-lineman rushed into Criswell on the last series as he was throwing the ball, and it went up for grabs for an interception with less than 30 seconds left.

Unless something has changed in the last week, expect UNC to play hard, and this game to be tough to win. After watching the game, UNC looks like they really want their first conference win of the year, and they can do it.

 

[Bogey]

I watched the Duke-UNC condensed game. Here are a few thoughts from watching them play

• UNC’s offense isn’t unbalanced, but they rely heavily on Omarion Hampton.
• Hampton is a beast of a player. He’s big and strong, has some moves and speed. He was first team All-ACC. If he stays healthy, he’ll get drafted.
• They rely a lot on two tight ends. Nesbit has most of their catches, and Copenhaver has a bunch. Between the two of them, they have 30+% of the team’s catches and a big percentage of their yards. This is going to be a problem for the Nickel and the LBs
• Nate McCollum was injured until the Duke game. That’s holding his stats down, but Jones, Nesbit, and Copenhaver were busier in the Duke game.
• In the first half, UNC’s defense was great. In the second half, they started missing tackles. Some of that was Star Thomas and Peyton Jones, who put the team on their back and made some great runs.
• Both UNC and Duke got into the backfield and got tackles for losses, hurries, and sacks. Both lines looked decent, though. Nobody looked terrible.
• Both team’s return units and coverage units looked better than ours.
• UNC could have come back and won, but Duke gutted out some series and stopped UNC from converting. UNC would get a big play, but go 5-and-out.
• Criswell, UNC’s QB, is 6’1” and about 230 (reportedly). He can run the ball a bit. He completed some good passes.
• UNC didn’t look inept (like our defense did under TFG). Duke just outplayed them in the second half.
• In the last series, UNC was starting to move the ball. A Duke d-lineman rushed into Criswell on the last series as he was throwing the ball, and it went up for grabs for an interception with less than 30 seconds left.

Unless something has changed in the last week, expect UNC to play hard, and this game to be tough to win. After watching the game, UNC looks like they really want their first conference win of the year, and they got can do it.

TBB, I watched most of the first half of the Duke game just to watch Collins fail. His defense played great and when UNC got up 20 -0, I stopped watching. When I later learned they had lost. I watched the 2nd half. Night and day different, tackling was awful. A lot of that is I think the D is out of shape. Does that surprise anyone? If we can keep their score down in the first half, we need to rotate our ol and rb's heavily in the first half to keep our starters fresh in the 2nd and absolutely run over Scooter's defense.

 

[NorthAvenueNation]

Is anyone going to the game in chapel hill? If so, outside of using the ParkMobile app, where are you parking?

 

[g0lftime]

Is anyone going to the game in chapel hill? If so, outside of using the ParkMobile app, where are you parking?

Good luck. Parking in Chapel Hill is not easy. They have run busses from University Mall in the past and as a local that is what I have found the easiest. Lots of construction at that mall now so they may have moved the location.
Just checked. One park and ride service from Friday Center (off Hway 54 from I40) and the other from Southern Village (south of town on 15-501). Mall service must be discontinued. There is a charge.

 

[kg01]

Not sure what you folks are talking about, per the ajc, we play NCSt next ....

 

[Techwood Relict]

It's like UNC is a candidate, but North Carolina decided they couldn't win. So, it's replacement time....

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I’ve been feeling kind of bad about coming down so hard on TFG. Every single public comment that I’ve seen he’s attempting to be very conciliatory toward Tech and move on. I don’t want to be unfair to him if he’s turned over a new leaf.

I look forward to seeing how he talks about Tech after the game.

 

[GTpdm]

I’ve been feeling kind of bad about coming down so hard on TFG. Every single public comment that I’ve seen he’s attempting to be very conciliatory toward Tech and move on. I don’t want to be unfair to him if he’s turned over a new leaf.

I look forward to seeing how he talks about Tech after the game.

Like all teams that beat him, we'll be "elite".

 

[leatherneckjacket]

I’ve been feeling kind of bad about coming down so hard on TFG. Every single public comment that I’ve seen he’s attempting to be very conciliatory toward Tech and move on. I don’t want to be unfair to him if he’s turned over a new leaf.

I look forward to seeing how he talks about Tech after the game.

I wonder how much of his animus against us was driven by the vitriol of our fans. Not to say he did not deserve it, but it probably animated his anger. It is best just to move on and let the anger go.

 

[Thwg777]

Geoff Collins deserves all vitriol and more. He earned it just as he ‘earned’ 8 figures from GT.

I feel bad for kid named Collins after him circa 2019 by overzealously optimistic parents.

 

[UgaBlows]

I’ve been feeling kind of bad about coming down so hard on TFG. Every single public comment that I’ve seen he’s attempting to be very conciliatory toward Tech and move on. I don’t want to be unfair to him if he’s turned over a new leaf.

I look forward to seeing how he talks about Tech after the game.

When we beat UNC it will be because of all the talent he brought in at Tech

 

[bke1984]

Coach Collins, AKA " The Minister of Mayham" was criticized by some in the Carolina media for getting too conservative after giving up 70 points to JMU. So, I expect he will be throwing in everything but the kitchen sink against us in the form of blitzes and stunts. So, Buster should be ready with plays that defeat blitzes like the 65 yard drag route Duke scored on us Saturday night.

Good news is that his blitzes and stunts are choreographed in the worst way. If he goes that route Buster will exploit the **** out of them.

 

[bke1984]

So here’s my take…

Our offense is pretty good. The only thing we seem to really struggle with is short yardage. Meanwhile, their defense is pretty bad. And we know what to expect.

Their offense is solid, but relies heavily on the run. The one thing our defense is good at is stopping the run. I expect Kyle Efford to have a monster game and light them up.

They’re about on par with Duke. We were easily the better team on the field last week, and I think we made that game a lot closer than it needed to be.

Short version is we are better than them and should win going away unless we play sloppy.

 

[Southern psu fan]

I don't know what they fed to van den Berg last week but I hope he is getting double portions this week, as well as the rest of the defense.

Dude is a stud brother. When he was at Penn St he was second in the rotation but there wasn’t any drop off in the way the defense played when he was on the field. Hated losing the dude but I’m very happy he’s at Ga Tech.

 

[Southern psu fan]

Duke was a tough matchup for us because their defense is very good. The NCAR defense isn’t all that good I’m looking for a good butt kicking tomorrow. IMO we’re a bad matchup for NCAR. Hope I’m right