Rewatching the condensed games from last year 4 areas stood out to me that we were really, really bad.
- Kicking
- LB speed
- OT play
- Protecting the ball at QB
First one is obvious and everybody saw it. It made the FSU game close with 7 points left on the field. We ran a fake punt from BCs 29 yard line into their regular 4-3 defense in the 1Q. Just a pitiful display all year.
- Curry made some plays and will always be a leader for us. But it’s painful watching him on some of these replays. Schemed TFL turning into chunk plays because they see him coming and just bounce it outside and he’s left in the dust after two steps.
- 3/4 probably go hand in hand. True frosh QB turning the ball over isnt news. Quinney / Williams we’re getting flat out whipped though. Williams often just blowing assignments completely (again not news for a true frosh) and Quinney often getting abused.
The good news is we’ve addressed the first 3 with quality transfers and the last one you’d expect to improve greatly in year 2 for Sims.
The only area I’d expect a step back of any kind is Punter. Which will hopefully be mitigated by fewer punts. 100% confident we will be most improved. Every single media preview I’ve seen has us picked 6th in the Coastal with an air of pity.
We have a talented DT QB, the best RB in the league, and the 5th most talented team in the league. We’re gonna turn some heads against the non-playoff teams on our schedule. If we had VPI’s schedule we’d be looking at 7.5 wins O/U.
Good list to get started but I would add:
-Too many pre and post snap penalties
-inability to finish drives in the red zone
-Ds inability to stop 3rd and long
-too many O drives stopped with 4th and 12 and a punt especially after having 2nd and short
-negative loopsided time of possession
-5 Coaches could and should fix the penalty problem and they seem to be seriously working on it. I hope as a result we see more team discipline
-6 and 8 hopefully will be better with better talent, improved line and QB play, and better situational play calling.
-7 better talent, bigger and faster players, and more depth and experience along with improved communication should greatly help
-9 more running plays and increased use of our very talented RBs in the passing game. We also need more success on 3rd and short with better schemes
I have a hard time accepting our Saturday sideline coaching so often finishing second. I recognize they are relative young and not so experienced but I hope to see improvement.
-9 more use of the running backs in runs and receiving with high percentage passing
-7 time will tell on this but better D talent, speed, and size should help along with needed better coverage communication
