Wofford Game Thoughts and Little Perspective

[Animal02]

JT has all of the physical skills needed to take our O to the next level IMO. His passing vs wofford showed me that the quick release info was legit. Plenty of arm strength / zip on the ball. Very good accuracy outside of first 3 overthrows. The accuracy will be better some games than others, is for all QBs. The rest remains relatively static. Only question I have about him at this point is decision making. That will be tested more vs the better teams. We shall see but I'm very big on JTs ability.

Not only does he have the physical skills, he has "bought into" the system. For a first time starter, I have no problem with him having made a few bad decisions.......it is nice to see our QB actually MAKING decisions (Whether good or bad) and seeing the play through instead of being tentative and 2nd guessing himself.

 

[Mack]

Not only does he have the physical skills, he has "bought into" the system. For a first time starter, I have no problem with him having made a few bad decisions.......it is nice to see our QB actually MAKING decisions (Whether good or bad) and seeing the play through instead of being tentative and 2nd guessing himself.

I like the way he throws the ball and he has tons of speed.My deal is simple will he be able to take the hits..And we know he will get them in this offense.He looks good for a converted defensive back from Bama. He also looks like he enjoys playing and that helps everybody.We shall see but so far he has a good game breaking into the system.

 

[AE 87]

In 2009, we beat Jax St. 37-17 to open the season. We had 497 yards of offense and gave up 291. In 11 possessions not ending a half, we punted twice, lost 3 fumbles, made 1 fg and missed 1 fg. We scored 3 rushing touch downs and 1 passing touchdown (our other TD came from a punt return, and we must've missed a PAT somewhere). In other words, we scored about 2.8 pts/dr.

By comparison, we scored about 4.2 ppd vs Wofford in 2013.

 

[Boomergump]

Not only does he have the physical skills, he has "bought into" the system. For a first time starter, I have no problem with him having made a few bad decisions.......it is nice to see our QB actually MAKING decisions (Whether good or bad) and seeing the play through instead of being tentative and 2nd guessing himself.

this

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I like the way he throws the ball and he has tons of speed.My deal is simple will he be able to take the hits..And we know he will get them in this offense.He looks good for a converted defensive back from Bama. He also looks like he enjoys playing and that helps everybody.We shall see but so far he has a good game breaking into the system.

I would love for Tevin to come back and spend some time teaching Thomas how to take the hits or avoid them. Of course, I have not yet seen Thomas get lit up like Jaybo used to so I am not trying to suggest he is not already capable of "rolling with the punch" or otherwise finessing and diminishing the impact and angles that defenders hit him at. I do think Tevin was an all-american at doing that though and it is a great skill to develop for an option QB.

I was pleased to see Thomas find the sideline several times and take the first down and what he could get then head back for the next play. I loved seeing Nesbitt put a hit on people and get those extra tough yards . . . but that was NESBITT. Each QB is different and like Joe Hamilton said "Thomas needs to be the best Justin Thomas he can be" and that will be different than his predecessors.

On his first half passes I was pleased that his overthrows were all still overthrown the "right" way. I know it sounds confusing but I am saying they were "good" misses where he was putting it where only his receiver could have made a play, trying to lead them to it, etc. The sole exception was setting up poor Charles Perkins (I think it was him) to get crushed on a crossing route. He threw that one to the wrong side down the middle. So one straight up bad pass in the first half and perfect in the second half. A good first effort to build on!

 

[Dustman]

Smelter on the deep ball with no safety help. I bet he doesn't overthrow that one next time.

 

[Animal02]

I would love for Tevin to come back and spend some time teaching Thomas how to take the hits or avoid them. Of course, I have not yet seen Thomas get lit up like Jaybo used to so I am not trying to suggest he is not already capable of "rolling with the punch" or otherwise finessing and diminishing the impact and angles that defenders hit him at. I do think Tevin was an all-american at doing that though and it is a great skill to develop for an option QB.

I was pleased to see Thomas find the sideline several times and take the first down and what he could get then head back for the next play. I loved seeing Nesbitt put a hit on people and get those extra tough yards . . . but that was NESBITT. Each QB is different and like Joe Hamilton said "Thomas needs to be the best Justin Thomas he can be" and that will be different than his predecessors.

On his first half passes I was pleased that his overthrows were all still overthrown the "right" way. I know it sounds confusing but I am saying they were "good" misses where he was putting it where only his receiver could have made a play, trying to lead them to it, etc. The sole exception was setting up poor Charles Perkins (I think it was him) to get crushed on a crossing route. He threw that one to the wrong side down the middle. So one straight up bad pass in the first half and perfect in the second half. A good first effort to build on!

JN was special......one helluva a fighter. I liked Tevin too.....not as much as an athlete, but a real student of the system. Always felt he never got the credit he deserved. JT , from first look...seems to fall between the two....which is not a bad thing. We just need to sore up the D a bit for a good season.

 

[GTech63]

I liked Tevin too.. Always felt he never got the credit he deserved. JT , from first look...seems to fall between the two....which is not a bad thing. We just need to sore up the D a bit for a good season.

I too felt Tevin was very unappreciated. He did not have a strong arm unfortunately. If he had had JTs arm??? JN had a strong arm but no touch or a covey of receivers that could catch.

Did Tevin ever miss a game after becoming a starter? I don't think he did. Shaw had to take over for JN on occasion. The G Webb game, always referred to, was without Shaw or JN.

As I write this, it comes to mind, yes CPJ inherited some great players upon arrival, but team balance across all facets of play was not there. I hope we do well enough this year to continue in the direction we seem to be headed and that is to have a team good or better than good in ALL phases of the game.

 

[Mack]

I would love for Tevin to come back and spend some time teaching Thomas how to take the hits or avoid them. Of course, I have not yet seen Thomas get lit up like Jaybo used to so I am not trying to suggest he is not already capable of "rolling with the punch" or otherwise finessing and diminishing the impact and angles that defenders hit him at. I do think Tevin was an all-american at doing that though and it is a great skill to develop for an option QB.

I was pleased to see Thomas find the sideline several times and take the first down and what he could get then head back for the next play. I loved seeing Nesbitt put a hit on people and get those extra tough yards . . . but that was NESBITT. Each QB is different and like Joe Hamilton said "Thomas needs to be the best Justin Thomas he can be" and that will be different than his predecessors.

On his first half passes I was pleased that his overthrows were all still overthrown the "right" way. I know it sounds confusing but I am saying they were "good" misses where he was putting it where only his receiver could have made a play, trying to lead them to it, etc. The sole exception was setting up poor Charles Perkins (I think it was him) to get crushed on a crossing route. He threw that one to the wrong side down the middle. So one straight up bad pass in the first half and perfect in the second half. A good first effort to build on!

JT is a handful when he gets loose no doubt..I have said this before but my only concern is taking hits since we all know he will get starch knocked out of him.He looks like a leader and has fire and good arm motion .It is good to see him perform well in his first real game.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Not too worried about hits to JT. Fast n quick...will be hard to pop in open field. And contrary to popular opinion..he's built fairly stout on that small frame.

 

[takethepoints]

Yeah, me either. Reynolds played his first year at Navy at exactly the same specs and never missed a beat. Same with Joe Hamilton. The main thing, however, is that if JT goes down - but Heaven forfend! - Byerly will do just as well, imho. He won't look like he is; he never does. But the results would be pretty much identical, I think.

 

[GTech63]

Yeah, me either. Reynolds played his first year at Navy at exactly the same specs and never missed a beat. Same with Joe Hamilton. The main thing, however, is that if JT goes down - but Heaven forfend! - Byerly will do just as well, imho. He won't look like he is; he never does. But the results would be pretty much identical, I think.

I agree but we need to get Byerly some playing time this weekend. Also need to get Kallon some playing time and see how he responds.

Is my imagination but did Tulane not look as well coached as Wofford?

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I agree that JT needs to get down as much as possible and not absorb big hits. I am not saying he is not tough, because I do not know that, but I do know that his body is not ideal to take huge hits. Joe Hamilton was built differently than JT in my opinion. I think it will be hard for PJ to call the midline option as often, even if it is there.

 

[GTL]

Why is it a forgone conclusion that JT won't be able to hold up for the season? He's no big bruiser, but there's plenty of examples of smallish QBs who play without missing a game as well as examples of big 'uns that go down. The legendary Nesbitt missed several games and in fact sustained a (college) career ending injury.

By the same token it seems to be conventional wisdom that QBs in Paul's system are more susceptible to injury, but the stats don't bear that out.

 

[danny daniel]

I agree but we need to get Byerly some playing time this weekend. Also need to get Kallon some playing time and see how he responds.

Is my imagination but did Tulane not look as well coached as Wofford?

IMO Not coached as well overall. Poor ST coaching or not near enough practice (6 penalties on STs). Probably gave young players too much rope or put them in places where mistakes happen. Poor play calling late in the game when it was on the line. Lots may be attributed to a youthful team. Drop back passing can lead to game changing turnovers. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between poor coaching and youthful mistakes. Easier to spot good coaching like Wofford.

 

[Boomergump]

Why is it a forgone conclusion that JT won't be able to hold up for the season? He's no big bruiser, but there's plenty of examples of smallish QBs who play without missing a game as well as examples of big 'uns that go down. The legendary Nesbitt missed several games and in fact sustained a (college) career ending injury.

By the same token it seems to be conventional wisdom that QBs in Paul's system are more susceptible to injury, but the stats don't bear that out.

The biggest, baddest, QB in the tenure of CPJ was the same one who had the hardest time staying on the field. Durability is not about size alone. There are a lot of factors.

 

[Dustman]

Did Tevin ever miss a game after becoming a starter? I don't think he did.

Correct. I don't even remember seeing him get up slow. He lost his helmet a few times but that was it.

 

[Stonewall]

Not too worried about hits to JT. Fast n quick...will be hard to pop in open field. And contrary to popular opinion..he's built fairly stout on that small frame.

he's definitely bigger than last year. and, he's slippery so someone popping him square is a little less likely unless he's blindsided. vad played scared in this O last year and didn't protect himself. he paid the price and became gunshy. JT will be fine if he plays his game and readies for hits or spins outta them completely.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

he's definitely bigger than last year. and, he's slippery so someone popping him square is a little less likely unless he's blindsided. vad played scared in this O last year and didn't protect himself. he paid the price and became gunshy. JT will be fine if he plays his game and readies for hits or spins outta them completely.

Hey buddy, you're gonna be conflicted in a couple weeks, aye?

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

@bamabuzz. I agree actually, JT and Joe Ham have different builds...JT is actually thicker and beefier.