What we saw vs Wofford was talent difference

IEEEWreck

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My fellow Ramblin Wrecks,

I have heard here across many threads and in person a great wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Wofford game that comes down to "well, we have better athletes, so we should kick their asses". Folks, I'm here to say that's exactly what we saw in that game.

Football is not a game in which athletic superiority will allow you to walk all over a competent opponent. The rules of the game and of physics dictate that in correctly chosen situations lesser players may neutralize better players. This ought to be familiar.

There are plenty of ready metaphors. The worlds greatest chess grandmaster will never beat a decent amateur with a fool's mate.

Wofford was an excellent, valiant opponent. They knew precisely their best shot at stopping the Yellow Jackets and they executed that strategy consistently and with courage. Their best shot was insufficient to overcome us, and in a thousand ways as the game went on they did their best at what they should have been doing, but it wasn't enough. The points and yardage tell that story compellingly.

So please, take note. This hair pulling about how we didn't score 224 to 0 isn't just silly and wrong headed. It's an unseemly demand that our opponents behave like fools and cowards, or else we can't be great. It's an ungentlemanly refusal to acknowledge the quality with which Wofford acquitted themselves on the field.

Wofford was damn good on Saturday. That takes nothing away from our performance.
 

Animal02

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Again.....I think it is not so much the talent difference as it is the depth of talent....especially on a hot day. Being able to rotate in fresh legs of comparable talent showed in the 2nd half.
 

IEEEWreck

Ramblin' Wreck
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655
Again.....I think it is not so much the talent difference as it is the depth of talent....especially on a hot day. Being able to rotate in fresh legs of comparable talent showed in the 2nd half.
That's kind of what I assume everyone means when they talk about talent differences. Unless we're talking about Ms. Martha's Kindergarten, that's where the tell is. Football starts and stops and resets formations constantly to neutralize small talent differences. This isn't soccer, where small differences in ability build constantly all game because the ball rarely ever stops.
 

Troutbum

Georgia Tech Fan
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This jives with feedback from a parent of a Wofford player. He indicated to me that they were limited offensively due to our D -Line overpowering their O-Line. Apparently they wanted to throw more but couldn't.
 

alaguy

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The only GREAT obvious difference in talent was Smelter.
for ex--It is still startling to see a FCS team score on a 92 yd RUN vs a FBS team.Even if they break free normally they are caught due to superior speed pursuit.Tells you something.
A Pitt team that almost EVERYBODY on this forum writes off as a win for us ran up 62-0 on a FCS team-- but also had 400 yds RUNNING.That is domination. They don't need to "look-for" positives .They are staring them in the face.
 

JKMSJ

Jolly Good Fellow
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The only GREAT obvious difference in talent was Smelter.
for ex--It is still startling to see a FCS team score on a 92 yd RUN vs a FBS team.Even if they break free normally they are caught due to superior speed pursuit.Tells you something.
A Pitt team that almost EVERYBODY on this forum writes off as a win for us ran up 62-0 on a FCS team-- but also had 400 yds RUNNING.That is domination. They don't need to "look-for" positives .They are staring them in the face.
I would not put much stock in Pitt beating an FCS team by 62 points . Tech beat elon by 70 last year and we were not a very good team. I think we just played a much better FCS team that was very well coached and played with a lot of determination.
 

SidewalkJacket

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The only GREAT obvious difference in talent was Smelter.
for ex--It is still startling to see a FCS team score on a 92 yd RUN vs a FBS team.Even if they break free normally they are caught due to superior speed pursuit.Tells you something.
A Pitt team that almost EVERYBODY on this forum writes off as a win for us ran up 62-0 on a FCS team-- but also had 400 yds RUNNING.That is domination. They don't need to "look-for" positives .They are staring them in the face.

Of all people, you want to bring up a blowout shutout win over an FCS as a compliment to another program? You're right, bud, 62-0 over an FCS MUST be a sign of greatness. I'm glad you feel this way across the board for all teams.
 

Longestday

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@alaguy Now I have a reason to add probability to your statement that Pitt will be a tougher game. Preseason is preseason, but there is present current data that says the team may have some serious teeth! Keep in mind likely to win and will have no problems winning are two different statements.

Delaware does not have an impressive 2011 to 2013 W/L record.
 

Mack

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Hats off to the terriers........they put the fear of the Lord into us or they should have.We didnt play that bad but in my humble opinion we didnt looklike we were ready to get after them.Okay many excuses for that but no doubt they were ready to play us.Good points and bad and plenty of room to improve vs Tulane but its clear we have to PLAY every game this year since nobody wants to roll over when we pull into the stadium.
 
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I would not put much stock in Pitt beating an FCS team by 62 points . Tech beat elon by 70 last year and we were not a very good team. I think we just played a much better FCS team that was very well coached and played with a lot of determination.
As disappointing as our performance was, we did win and we picked ourselves up nicely in the second half. And I am willing to bet that Wofford has been dialed in on their trip to Atlanta for many months. Nothing against Wofford, but I bet we were not that focused on preparing just for Wofford.
 
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Of all people, you want to bring up a blowout shutout win over an FCS as a compliment to another program? You're right, bud, 62-0 over an FCS MUST be a sign of greatness. I'm glad you feel this way across the board for all teams.

That is not what he was getting at at all. Pittsburgh's blowout of Delaware suggests there just might be something not right with a 10-9 halftime score against Wofford. If it was a Herculean effort by Wofford, God bless 'em, because that is what sports is all about. I've watched the game 3 times now, and my take is we played poorly in the first half, but better in the second half. Why? I don't know. Were we not as prepared as they were? Don't know. I do think as the day wore on, Wofford was wearing down, and we benefited. Or maybe we made the right corrections at the break. Don't know. What I do know is that it was too close for too long, there was no hint of a big blowout until late, and it was the other guys that kicked a 51 yard field goal, ran for a 92 yard score, and gashed us up the gut more times than we should like to see.
 

GTJake

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Total transparency, I've been putting a positive spin on it but ... the game wasn't on TV here in Idaho and I succumbed to a "honey do" list, when I looked at the ESPN Gametracker shortly after halftime and saw the score at 10-9 I pretty much freaked !!
 

dressedcheeseside

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The only GREAT obvious difference in talent was Smelter.
for ex--It is still startling to see a FCS team score on a 92 yd RUN vs a FBS team.Even if they break free normally they are caught due to superior speed pursuit.Tells you something.
A Pitt team that almost EVERYBODY on this forum writes off as a win for us ran up 62-0 on a FCS team-- but also had 400 yds RUNNING.That is domination. They don't need to "look-for" positives .They are staring them in the face.
Most college football runningbacks are gonna score when they get an untouched, running headstart on a defense puts 11 guys in the box and begins the race full speed in the opposite direction.
 

mmbt0ne

Jolly Good Fellow
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for ex--It is still startling to see a FCS team score on a 92 yd RUN vs a FBS team.Even if they break free normally they are caught due to superior speed pursuit.Tells you something.

Certainly told Alabama something in 2011 against Georgia Southern.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=313230333

And who knew that GaSouthern ran their offense better than the national champs that year! 7.7 ypc, good night. May as well just pack up the program 'Bama.
 

Animal02

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I would not put much stock in Pitt beating an FCS team by 62 points . Tech beat elon by 70 last year and we were not a very good team. I think we just played a much better FCS team that was very well coached and played with a lot of determination.
I would much rather see us play (and win) against against a competitive FCS team than to blow out a non competitive one. Far more was learned from last saturday's game than was learned from last year's blow out of Elon.....and both remain W's in the stats.
 

JKMSJ

Jolly Good Fellow
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I would much rather see us play (and win) against against a competitive FCS team than to blow out a non competitive one. Far more was learned from last saturday's game than was learned from last year's blow out of Elon.....and both remain W's in the stats.
I agree and I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this year and finish 1st or 2nd in the coastal.I am a little concerned with depth at DL but if we don't lose anyone to injury I think we will be fine. My wife and I are heading to NO Friday morning to watch tech/ tulane game, should be a fun weekend!
 

Animal02

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I agree and I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this year and finish 1st or 2nd in the coastal.I am a little concerned with depth at DL but if we don't lose anyone to injury I think we will be fine. My wife and I are heading to NO Friday morning to watch tech/ tulane game, should be a fun weekend!
Have fun.....went to the Tech Tulane game as a student in '81.....had a blast.......except for my former GF puking all over herself in the hotel parking lot. :oops:
 

Mack

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Again.....I think it is not so much the talent difference as it is the depth of talent....especially on a hot day. Being able to rotate in fresh legs of comparable talent showed in the 2nd half.
I go with fresh legs vs talent.By now any school has decent players but the good schools have plenty of them.In many schools the second team is close to being as good as the first and after two hours in a 95 degree heat storm somebody is going to lose their quickness.Dodd used to play the second team as mluch as he good since it rested his starters and gave valuable playing time to the second teams.If you look back most smaller schools vs big uns do well for first quarter and then it unravels.....that is why Southern lost Saturday...not lack of effort but lack of reserves.
 

Mack

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As disappointing as our performance was, we did win and we picked ourselves up nicely in the second half. And I am willing to bet that Wofford has been dialed in on their trip to Atlanta for many months. Nothing against Wofford, but I bet we were not that focused on preparing just for Wofford.
I would hope you are right about the focus on Wofford...if we were up for the game and had to play this hard...we may be in deep kemchi for rest of the year.
 
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