Virginia postgame discussion

[jeffgt14]

I'd venture to say Will may be our best Tackle but he's also our only backup Guard.

 

[jacob]

Just to we are clear: I love the option. I love CPJ. I love Tech, win or lose. I love TQM. Now that we've gotten that out of the way...Seems that we just aren't utilizing everything in our bag of tricks, but I don't get why.
Can someone who really understands the option explain why we aren't pitching the ball to the A-backs? Is it poor reads, bad blocking, the play calling, TQM trying to do it all, or is there something else at play here?

Lol its hilarious that we have to profess our love for CPJ and the triple option before you're allowed to have an opinion here

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Lol its hilarious that we have to profess our love for CPJ and the triple option before you're allowed to have an opinion here

Nah. There are several posters here who are known not to be fans of CPJ and the option. They generally are very fact based with their posts, and tend to treat others with respect. This poster, however, was simply stating his position up front as a caveat so that others didn't misconstrue the intention behind his post.

 

[JorgeJonas]

Just to we are clear: I love the option. I love CPJ. I love Tech, win or lose. I love TQM. Now that we've gotten that out of the way...Seems that we just aren't utilizing everything in our bag of tricks, but I don't get why.
Can someone who really understands the option explain why we aren't pitching the ball to the A-backs? Is it poor reads, bad blocking, the play calling, TQM trying to do it all, or is there something else at play here?

Watch the linebackers. They aren’t getting blocked by the play side tackles. That’s the biggest problem with the offense right now.

 

[Ash]

I had a thought yesterday...

Could it be what has been "figured out" is not the offensive scheme itself, but the blocking? In conference play we are playing the same teams, and year to year we are seeing them get better at shedding blocks and blowing up plays. Sure some of the difference is our execution, but when CPJ keeps saying "we work on it and it does not seem to make a difference in game" that says to me its not us, it's them. The other teams have figured out how to play us better by defeating out blocking techniques.

 

[Ash]

Watch the linebackers. They aren’t getting blocked by the play side tackles. That’s the biggest problem with the offense right now.

We have 3 teams left on the schedule with athletic LBs. We better figure that out quick. UGA has a guy that is going to eat our lunch.

 

[danny daniel]

I'll add Benson played well too. We didn't use him as much as we should. Need to take the game out of Taquon's hands.

I agree that we need to get back to our O roots, distribute the ball. Right now it is Benson, Jeune, and Marshall Marshall Marshall. Part of that is on Marshall and part on the play calling. Also Marshall depends on his quicks and cutting ability and he is not effective on wet turf. (Also Howard's style of running is better on wet turf). It certainly appears the degree of blocking complication required by the O Line is over their head and some simplication is needed.

 

[GTJake]

Haven't read through the whole thread, but my .02 is that this was the worst of the losses and a real season changer for sure.
Something intangible doesn't seem to be right with this team ...

 

[grandpa jacket]

Not buying it. We should be 7-1 right now. Talent and facilities is not the issue right now. We have the mentality of a losing team and lack any confidence to win a game. Wake Forest could've very easily been a loss too but we made some big plays and gained some confidence.

Talent is part of the issue, i have stood by CPJ for a long time but, i think Lane Kiffin is interesting, his only losing season was at Oakland. He knows offense, he can recruit and when Ala met Clemson in NC game he wasnt there, would they have won i dont know. It is only my opinion but, i think he would be a upgrade in a hurry in recruiting

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

I agree that we need to get back to our O roots, distribute the ball. Right now it is Benson, Jeune, and Marshall Marshall Marshall. Part of that is on Marshall and part on the play calling. Also Marshall depends on his quicks and cutting ability and he is not effective on wet turf. (Also Howard's style of running is better on wet turf). It certainly appears the degree of blocking complication required by the O Line is over their head and some simplication is needed.

It's the OL mainly, and to a certain extent, the newness of the QB as well. This post sums it up well:

Watch the linebackers. They aren’t getting blocked by the play side tackles. That’s the biggest problem with the offense right now.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Talent is part of the issue, i have stood by CPJ for a long time but, i think Lane Kiffin is interesting, his only losing season was at Oakland. He knows offense, he can recruit and when Ala met Clemson in NC game he wasnt there, would they have won i dont know. It is only my opinion but, i think he would be a upgrade in a hurry in recruiting

Other than one 10-2 season at USC, his record is no better than 8-5 (once) or 7-6 (twice).

He is also a clown that I'm not sure I want associated with our program.

 

[tmhunter52]

I prefer our players not be demeaned with the insinuation, intended or not, that they lose because they don't try. If the other guy is smarter, that's genes and you can't fix it. If he's better, more athletic, then you can't fix that. But to lose because you don't try? Never. They are trying. A coach can go a long way with that.

No "demeaning" intended whatsoever. Virginia didn't win with superior talent. They won with effort and enthusiasm. I think that effort is often behind what our coach means when he says their guys "made more plays" than our guys did.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Watch the linebackers. They aren’t getting blocked by the play side tackles. That’s the biggest problem with the offense right now.

There are safeties and corners getting off blocks, too. It's not just the tackles missing blocks and they don't miss them all. Besides, it's hard to know every assignment from play to play, it changes.

 

[takethepoints]

Imho, this business of distributing the ball and OL blocking are tied together.

First, as many have pointed out, TM is in his first year as a starter. He's close to the best runner on the team - I'd put Benson first - and his first recourse is to run his way out of trouble. (This, imho, is why he takes more sacks then he should; he hasn't learned to get rid of the ball effectively yet.) So when he sees anything resembling a crease outside on the TO he tends to keep it for himself. We've had a QB like this in the past - Nesbitt did the same thing. We got used to a riverboat gambler on the edge for three years with JT and we forgot that it took him awhile to get to that. This will cure itself over time.

Second - and this is the big problem - the DLs are holding our OLs all along the line and the refs aren't calling it. No surprise there; the new "holding" rules allow both sides of the line to grab each other and nothing is called unless they tackle their opponent. VT started this; you hold our OLs for a moment to stop them from getting to their second level blocks, put your LBs (especially the MLB) deep and get them to key on particular backs to get to the TO before it can cause trouble. This can work, though it leaves you wide open to the midline. (Problem = TM isn't as good at that now as he will be in the future.) Then you take the games where we've had trouble and throw in lousy field conditions and rain. When OLs are trying to make blocks while their feet are sliding from under them or simply slip when they pull - that happened to Parker in the Miami game; he makes his block and TM would still be running - and you have a recipe for not pitching the ball on the TO. In fact, I've thought that TM is handling this pretty well; at least, we haven't seen many arrant pitches that turn into fumbles. A lot of this is due to field conditions, however. As Coach pointed out, Wake was doing exactly the same thing as Miami and Clemson (and UVA) and we rushed for 427 yards on them.

 

[JorgeJonas]

There are safeties and corners getting off blocks, too. It's not just the tackles missing blocks and they don't miss them all. Besides, it's hard to know every assignment from play to play, it changes.

Generally, on a triple option play, the play side guard is responsible for the inside backer and the center gets the playside tackle if it’s a dive read. If it’s a pull read, the playside outside backer is the second unblocked man. Sometimes it’s a safety masquerading as a backer. But if it’s a pull, the inside backer has to get over the top of the tackle to even out the numbers. If he does, it’s game over for us. If he gets sealed by the playside tackle, it’s game over for them. Usually the playside a-back picks up the safety, and receiver blocks the corner, though the inverse can often be true. The issue has been that we have gotten beaten by the backer not being picked up. It happens all the time.

I would argue that the reason Benson has been able to run most games is because the center and guards have been pretty good. The reason the pitches haven’t worked is because the tackles aren’t good.

 

[JorgeJonas]

We have 3 teams left on the schedule with athletic LBs. We better figure that out quick. UGA has a guy that is going to eat our lunch.

Roquan Smith is going to be a nightmare. His name will be called 15 times in the UGA game.

 

[jeffgt14]

Not sure what’s up with all the Lane Kiffin talk. I think Lane is actually a pretty damn good coach and I think he’ll succeed big time at his next landing spot but I don’t think he is a good fit here and we would primarily just be a stepping stone even if he was here.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Generally, on a triple option play, the play side guard is responsible for the inside backer and the center gets the playside tackle if it’s a dive read. If it’s a pull read, the playside outside backer is the second unblocked man. Sometimes it’s a safety masquerading as a backer. But if it’s a pull, the inside backer has to get over the top of the tackle to even out the numbers. If he does, it’s game over for us. If he gets sealed by the playside tackle, it’s game over for them. Usually the playside a-back picks up the safety, and receiver blocks the corner, though the inverse can often be true. The issue has been that we have gotten beaten by the backer not being picked up. It happens all the time.

I would argue that the reason Benson has been able to run most games is because the center and guards have been pretty good. The reason the pitches haven’t worked is because the tackles aren’t good.

Our tackles are a mixed bag, you can't lump them all together. Besides, it's not just the tackles getting beat. Watch the film.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Roquan Smith is going to be a nightmare. His name will be called 15 times in the UGA game.

We have to be able to run right at him. We did that pretty successfully against that stud Miami MLB a year ago, if I remember correctly. Once he starts expecting the dive give, it slows him down to the perimeter. Then we need to switch up the blocking assignments so he's not sure where the blocker is coming from.

 

[gtg391z]

I just want to apologize for my remark about the O-line. I was just really frustrated by that loss. I know these guys are trying their best and are probably banged up with no one to relieve them. Hell, Will is playing several positions. Its just ridiculous that every year we have depth issues on the line. We need to recruit more for the O-line and just assume they won't be here for the 5th year.