6 Games In....What Have We Learned

Rellyrell

Rellywood of mWo
Joined
Dec 19, 2013
Messages
34,616
Beating FSU any time is great, but the dramatics behind our last two victories have been nothing short of glorious and refreshing.

For years, we've had to suffer, being on the exact opposite side. Now? We get to have the last laugh, and trust me, I have 8 long years to catch up to my fill of laughter with the FSwho fans.

However, now that the storm has settled, we have some major clean up work, namely Play Calling, ST, and OL coaching.

Play Calling-

The Good:

Perry is a gamer.

The Bad:

Perry is still being handled with training wheels.

This game shouldn't have been this close, honestly. There were many exploitable alignments that FSU gave that we just didn't take advantage of. Posters on the "Game Day Discussion" thread were begging for us to get the ball the TE. Why? B/c FSU was selling out on the run, leaving one-on-one match ups with our TEs against their undersized LBs with the middle of the field more open than Superhead in the early 2000's!

As much as the defense willed us to victory, there were many head scratching offensive play calls that left us flabbergasted that could've easily snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I think we've learned that it's time for Richt to either switch from his Blockbuster Video approach to the new age of Netlfix (shout out to @k9cane for that analogy) or simply hire a real, innovative OC that will best utilize both Perry and J Will's strengths while covering their weaknesses.


As much as we love some Coach Hartley, and he deserves a pay raise for his recruiting ability and development of the TE's, he ought not to coach another ST possession!

ST-

The Good:

Feagles is one the bench

The Bad:

Nothing has changed

Our ST could easily be the reason why we are 5-1 instead of 6-0, and this is not a one year itch. Our ST cost us games toward the end the season last year, as well. Whether it was a shank'd punt from Mr. Feagles, the ever so inopportune missed kicked from the Jersey Shore cast-off Michael Badgley, or lanes not being opened for kick returns, our ST has been less than stellar (and that's being very diplomatic in calling this unit out).


Now I see why Searles has lasted no longer than 3 yrs at all the schools he's coached at.

OL-

The Good:

Finally moving Donaldson back at guard

The Bad:

Giving up 5 Sacks 14 TFLs and avg. 3 ypc (ouch)

Remember when J Harris became no good b/c he was always in fear of getting hit w/ that OL....yeah, we're that bad again. Perry has now been sacked, I believe, 10x in 2 1/2 games. That's no good. The fact that our OL can't generate a decent and consistent run game, and now we have teams literally chomping at the bit to crowd the L.O.S b/c we can't make them pay for it is telling. Can Richt help with this? Of course; throw more quick screens. Throw more running back screens. Run some motion, run a real RPO...but the fact is, our OL has not been good no matter who was at the helm, and that's an indictment on their position coach.


So what have we learned? We've learned that this team is on the precipice of being really special. Year's past, it was our offense that would hang 35 ppg on an opponent, just for the defense to give up 38. Defense wins championships, but so does a competent offense and special teams unit. Richt is starting to show he's willing to play the best players regardless of class. Perry was a beginning of him moving out of his comfort zone. Moving Donaldson back to guard is another start. I also think Hightower should be starting over Cager. No way nephew (shout out to @Brooklyndee) drops the first TD on 3rd & goal in the 3rd qtr or that gimme slant in the 4th that would've put us up 8.

All in all, I like this team. Yes, we need to finish strong, obviously; but if Richt can secure our remaining recruiting targets (which should now include a punter), renovate his playbook (maybe add, I dunno, motion from time to time or a real RPO system), and get someone else to run ST's, we have chance to be really special for years to come.

Just my .02
 
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Oh boy, the mob is gonna come after you now!! Seek refuge and shelter!!!

(Great post, BTW)

As for the Oline, I read that we are going with Scaife at RT and kicking Donaldson inside(where he belongs). This is a good step, I still think we have too many JAGS on this unit and the underclassmen seem to have a much higher ceiling than the upperclassmen.

I'll say this again: outside of Clemson, who has more NFL material than UM in the ACC? This roster isn't perfect but it's also really good.
 
Ehh if we can make changes to the oline that should be made like switching the tackle spots for Scaife and St. Louis while benching Jahair Jones and Mahoney we should be alright at that spot... ffs those two aren’t even mid major d1 talents. St. Louis keeps getting beat by the same spin move it’s good for twice a game from him

I wouldn’t compare nkosi to jharris, even though he was under a lot of pressure against FSU he didn’t throw head scratching interceptions the forced fumble was not his fault whoever got beat was sorry af
 
Beating FSU any time is great, but the dramatics behind our last two victories have been nothing short of glorious and refreshing.

For years, we've had to suffer, being on the exact opposite side. Now? We get to have the last laugh, and trust me, I have 8 long years to catch up to my fill of laughter with the FSwho fans.

However, now that the storm has settled, we have some major clean up work, namely Play Calling, ST, and OL coaching.

Play Calling-

The Good:

Perry is a gamer.

The Bad:

Perry is still being handled with training wheels.

This game shouldn't have been this close, honestly. There were many exploitable alignments that FSU gave that we just didn't take advantage of. Posters on the "Game Day Discussion" thread were begging for us to get the ball the TE. Why? B/c FSU was selling out on the run, leaving one-on-one match ups with our TEs against their undersized LBs with the middle of the field more open than Superhead in the early 2000's!

As much as the defense willed us to victory, there were many head scratching offensive play calls that left us flabbergasted that could've easily snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I think we've learned that it's time for Richt to either switch from his Blockbuster Video approach to the new age of Netlfix (shout out to @k9cane for that analogy) or simply hire a real, innovative OC that will best utilize both Perry and J Will's strengths while covering their weaknesses.


As much as we love some Coach Hartley, and he deserves a pay raise for his recruiting ability and development of the TE's, he ought not to coach another ST possession!

ST-

The Good:

Feagles is one the bench

The Bad:

Nothing has changed

Our ST could easily be the reason why we are 4-1 instead of 5-0, and this is not a one year itch. Our ST cost us games toward the end the season last year, as well. Whether it was a shank'd punt from Mr. Feagles, the ever so inopportune missed kicked from the Jersey Shore cast-off Michael Badgley, or lanes not being opened for kick returns, our ST has been less than stellar (and that's being very diplomatic in calling this unit out).


Now I see why Searles has lasted no longer than 3 yrs at all the schools he's coached at.

OL-

The Good:

Finally moving Donaldson back at guard

The Bad:

Giving up 5 Sacks 14 TFLs and avg. 3 ypc (ouch)

Remember when J Harris became no good b/c he was always in fear of getting hit w/ that OL....yeah, we're that bad again. Perry has now been sacked, I believe, 10x now in 2 1/2 games. That's no good. The fact that our OL can't generate a decent and consistent run game, and now we have teams literally chomping at the bit to crowd the L.O.S b/c we can't make them pay for it. Can Richt help with this? Of course...throw more quick screens. Throw more running back screens. Run some motion, run a real RPO...but the fact is, our OL has not been good no matter who was at the helm, and that's an indictment on their position coach.


So what have we learned? We've learned that this team is on the precipice of being really special. Year's past, it was our offense that would hang 35 ppg on an opponent, just for the defense to give up 38. Defense wins championships, but so does a competent offense and special teams unit. Richt is starting to show he's willing to play the best players regardless of class. Perry was a beginning of him moving out of his comfort zone. Moving Donaldson back to guard is another start. I also think Hightower should be starting over Cager. No way nephew (shout out to @Brooklyndee) drops the first TD on 3rd & goal in the 3rd qtr or that gimme slant in the 4th that would've put us up 8.

All in all, I like this team. Yes, we need to finish strong, obviously; but if Richt can secure our remaining recruiting targets (which should now include a punter), renovate his playbook (maybe add, I dunno, motion from time to time or a real RPO system), and get someone else to run ST's, we have chance to be really special for years to come.

Just my .02

Largely accurate.
 
Ehh if we can make changes to the oline that should be made like switching the tackle spots for Scaife and St. Louis while benching Jahair Jones and Mahoney we should be alright at that spot... ffs those two aren’t even mid major d1 talents. St. Louis keeps getting beat by the same spin move it’s good for twice a game from him

I wouldn’t compare nkosi to jharris, even though he was under a lot of pressure against FSU he didn’t throw head scratching interceptions the forced fumble was not his fault whoever got beat was sorry af

I think he was worrying about the future if the OL can't keep Perry on his feet more often.
 
Oh boy, the mob is gonna come after you now!! Seek refuge and shelter!!!

(Great post, BTW)

As for the Oline, I read that we are going with Scaife at RT and kicking Donaldson inside(where he belongs). This is a good step, I still think we have too many JAGS on this unit and the underclassmen seem to have a much higher ceiling than the upperclassmen.

I'll say this again: outside of Clemson, who has more NFL material than UM in the ACC? This roster isn't perfect but it's also really good.

Exactly, why I say we're on the precipice of being a perennial contender for a playoff spot.

Honestly, I think Richt can help out the OL with his play calling. In 2016, we started to gain rhythm against WVU w/ the quick WR screen passes. It loosened up the defense. I feel we've regressed in that area.
 
Exactly, why I say we're on the precipice of being a perennial contender for a playoff spot.

Honestly, I think Richt can help out the OL with his play calling. In 2016, we started to gain rhythm against WVU w/ the quick WR screen passes. It loosened up the defense. I feel we've regressed in that area.

My biggest disappointment with Richt in terms of his offensive approach is that I thought we'd be getting a version of the Fast Break that he help coach during his days at FSU with a quick tempo component. But we are the slowest 'no-huddle' team Ive ever seen - to a point it actually defeats the purpose of it

Go back to 2016, Miami broke out of that mid-year malaise vs Pitt by basically going to the full blown spread that game and throwing it all over the place. Why weren't they doing that the whole season?
 
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Good post.

I feel like this year’s team is better than last year’s and has a higher ceiling, but there are some glaring issues.
 
My biggest disappointment with Richt in terms of his offensive approach is that I thought we'd be getting a version of the Fast Break that he help coach during his days at FSU with a quick tempo component. But we are the slowest 'no-huddle' team Ive ever seen - to a point it actually defeats the purpose of it

Go back to 2016, Miami broke out of that mid-year malaise vs Pitt by basically going to the full blown spread that game and throwing it all over the place. Why weren't they doing that the whole season?

I’m really hoping the stretch run this year is similar to 2016.
 
My biggest disappointment with Richt in terms of his offensive approach is that I thought we'd be getting a version of the Fast Break that he help coach during his days at FSU with a quick tempo component. But we are the slowest 'no-huddle' team Ive ever seen - to a point it actually defeats the purpose of it

Go back to 2016, Miami broke out of that mid-year malaise vs Pitt by basically going to the full blown spread that game and throwing it all over the place. Why weren't they doing that the whole season?

I forgot to mention that under play calling, but u are exactly right.

With the play makers we have, literally littered all over the field, there's not a team that would be able to hang w/ us outside of Bama, Clemson, and OSU. We are doing less with more. I'll take the W, for sure, but w B Jordan, B Hightower, Cager, JT4, Deejay, Homer, Gray at full back, Mallory...we could fast break at will and there is nothing anyone could do. We could fast break or just go big w/ Mallory, Cager, Langham, and Njoku. We have so many options with the pure play makers we have. Don't think we're best utilizing our assets the way we should.
 
Good post.

I feel like this year’s team is better than last year’s and has a higher ceiling, but there are some glaring issues.

It's amazing if you think about it, we got spoiled by guys like Pat O'Donnell and Justin Vogel(who were good enough to boot the leather at the next level) and if we had a punter of that caliber on this years squad, the whole team would benefit just from the 50-75 extra hidden yards they would get each game(and that's being conservative)

Yeah, punters.... they matter!!!
 
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I forgot to mention that under play calling, but u are exactly right.

With the play makers we have, literally littered all over the field, there's not a team that would be able to hang w/ us outside of Bama, Clemson, and OSU. We are doing less with more. I'll take the W, for sure, but w B Jordan, B Hightower, Cager, JT4, Deejay, Homer, Gray at full back, Mallory...we could fast break at will and there is nothing anyone could do. We could fast break or just go big w/ Mallory, Cager, Langham, and Njoku. We have so many options with the pure play makers we have. Don't think we're best utilizing our assets the way we should.

Again, not a huge Erickson guy( for many reasons) but the guy could flat out coach offensive football and he was ahead of his time if you really think about it - he would've been perfect from a schematic standpoint with this roster you listed
 
It's amazing if you think about it, we got spoiled by guys like Pat O'Donnell and Justin Vogel(who were good enough to boot the leather at the next level) and if we had a punter of that caliber on this years squad, the whole team would benefit just from the 50-75 extra hidden yards they would get each game(and that's being conservative)

Yeah, punters.... they matter!!!

Taken for granted....until you find one that kicks backwards
 
Again, not a huge Erickson guy( for many reasons) but the guy could flat out coach offensive football and he was ahead of his time if you really think about it - he would've been perfect from a schematic standpoint with this roster you listed

Totally, totally agree. We have too many weapons to play at the pace we are. We're playing at a pace to control clock and not lose. It's been proven when the gas is down, the team can score at will. Why he's holding us back, I don't know. Do we need to be at Syracuse's fast pace? Absolutely not; but no need to run 3x in a row, when lanes are not open, when we're up 1 and time is not on our side. That's how you can easily lose a game.
 
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