Genghis Cane
Chicken Wing Connoisseur
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2014
- Messages
- 9,209
Been dealing with a lot of personal problems lately so haven’t been able to find the time to write this recap sooner.
As I’ve been saying for weeks, the Canes continue to prove they are — at best — an above average team. I don’t say this to knock them because if you turn on college football, on any given Saturday, you’ll notice how bad some teams are. We all have high expectations for our Canes — and rightfully so — but I think that impacts our judgement when it comes to evaluating other teams. Outside of the top 6 or 7, no team is “great.” You just have a bunch of above average, sub par, or terrible teams, each with their own set of weaknesses. We have a great quarterback, a solid offensive staff, and playmakers on the d-line — that’s going to make us a tough out for a lot of teams.
Does that mean everything is perfect and that we should all gather around sing kumbaya and chant 7-1? Absolutely not. We should celebrate the record, but also be fair in our assessment of this team. The truth is that we are incredibly flawed, but at the same time, we are fun to watch. Do not let your frustration with aspects of the team stop you from enjoying this season. We haven’t gotten many years like this so don’t take it for granted.
Anyways, after watching the game, here are my pros/cons.
Pros:
— Couch is baller. That dude should never leave the field. He has a natural feel for the CB position and seems to always put himself in a position to make plays, whether in coverage or run support.
— While Phillips is a great athlete, something else stands out about about his game: his motor. The dude gives 110% every play. Deep in the 4th quarter he’s still coming off the line with the same intensity as he was during the 1st series of the game. That’s not only a tribute to his mentality as a player but also David Feeley.
— The WR continue to step up. In order to win out, we don’t need them to take games over; we simply need them to do the little things to give us a chance to win — minimize drops, run sharp routes, block hard on the outside, etc. The last 3 weeks they’ve done that. Credit to Wiggins and Pope for showing up, although Wiggins really can’t drop that one slant pass. That’s a touchdown; elite teams don’t squash opportunities like that.
— Our kicker and punter continue to be instrumental to our success. I’m hoping Hedley decided to finish his degree and come back for one more year.
— The guys, overall, continue to prove they are a resilient bunch. Even when things look bleak, they rise to the occasion. I give Diaz some credit for instilling that culture in the lockeroom.
— The defense. I was hard on them last week (and deservedly so) but they won us the game in the 4th quarter. They completely shut Virginia Tech down. Our offense kept gifting them the ball back in the final minutes, but the defense never wavered. I don’t know if Diaz took that side of the ball over or not, but I think it goes without saying that it would be nice to see both our offense and defense firing on all cylinders at the same time. Normally, when one side is playing well, the other is off. We have to fix that issue if we want to continue to improve.
Cons:
— The offensive line, especially the guard play, was horrendous. 3rd and longs are never easy, but VT was getting pressure rushing 4 way too easy. Scaife looked like an idiot on a couple plays and it was hard to watch.
— Bubba Bolden is off. I don’t know if it’s a mental or physical thing, but **** he’s gotten dangerously close to costing us games. That personal foul penalty was inexcusable. Phillips made a huge play and we were about to get the ball back with great field position. Instead, it kept their drive alive and ended up costing us about 40 yards of field position.
— Linebackers continue to underwhelm. Without McCloud we might have been better this week, but that’s not saying much. Brooks and Jennings routinely get fooled on misdirection or fill the wrong gaps. Flagg could be the best of the bunch, but it’s evident he needs some more time to develop physically. He practically got dragged into the endzone on that one play. Big yikes.
— The fake field goal. Uhhh ya, not a fan. I mean maybe they saw a look that they liked, but putting the ball in an unathletic kicker’s hands is not ideal. We should have just kept the offense on the field.
— The penalties. God....the ******* penalties. Can we please clean this **** up already? Every week we hear bullshyt coach speak about how the guys are being held accountable in practice for their mishaps. Well...clearly it’s not ******* making a difference.
Once again, sorry for the delay. Like I said...enjoy this season, gentleman. Over the past 15 years, this type of season has been rare. Go Canes!
As I’ve been saying for weeks, the Canes continue to prove they are — at best — an above average team. I don’t say this to knock them because if you turn on college football, on any given Saturday, you’ll notice how bad some teams are. We all have high expectations for our Canes — and rightfully so — but I think that impacts our judgement when it comes to evaluating other teams. Outside of the top 6 or 7, no team is “great.” You just have a bunch of above average, sub par, or terrible teams, each with their own set of weaknesses. We have a great quarterback, a solid offensive staff, and playmakers on the d-line — that’s going to make us a tough out for a lot of teams.
Does that mean everything is perfect and that we should all gather around sing kumbaya and chant 7-1? Absolutely not. We should celebrate the record, but also be fair in our assessment of this team. The truth is that we are incredibly flawed, but at the same time, we are fun to watch. Do not let your frustration with aspects of the team stop you from enjoying this season. We haven’t gotten many years like this so don’t take it for granted.
Anyways, after watching the game, here are my pros/cons.
Pros:
— Couch is baller. That dude should never leave the field. He has a natural feel for the CB position and seems to always put himself in a position to make plays, whether in coverage or run support.
— While Phillips is a great athlete, something else stands out about about his game: his motor. The dude gives 110% every play. Deep in the 4th quarter he’s still coming off the line with the same intensity as he was during the 1st series of the game. That’s not only a tribute to his mentality as a player but also David Feeley.
— The WR continue to step up. In order to win out, we don’t need them to take games over; we simply need them to do the little things to give us a chance to win — minimize drops, run sharp routes, block hard on the outside, etc. The last 3 weeks they’ve done that. Credit to Wiggins and Pope for showing up, although Wiggins really can’t drop that one slant pass. That’s a touchdown; elite teams don’t squash opportunities like that.
— Our kicker and punter continue to be instrumental to our success. I’m hoping Hedley decided to finish his degree and come back for one more year.
— The guys, overall, continue to prove they are a resilient bunch. Even when things look bleak, they rise to the occasion. I give Diaz some credit for instilling that culture in the lockeroom.
— The defense. I was hard on them last week (and deservedly so) but they won us the game in the 4th quarter. They completely shut Virginia Tech down. Our offense kept gifting them the ball back in the final minutes, but the defense never wavered. I don’t know if Diaz took that side of the ball over or not, but I think it goes without saying that it would be nice to see both our offense and defense firing on all cylinders at the same time. Normally, when one side is playing well, the other is off. We have to fix that issue if we want to continue to improve.
Cons:
— The offensive line, especially the guard play, was horrendous. 3rd and longs are never easy, but VT was getting pressure rushing 4 way too easy. Scaife looked like an idiot on a couple plays and it was hard to watch.
— Bubba Bolden is off. I don’t know if it’s a mental or physical thing, but **** he’s gotten dangerously close to costing us games. That personal foul penalty was inexcusable. Phillips made a huge play and we were about to get the ball back with great field position. Instead, it kept their drive alive and ended up costing us about 40 yards of field position.
— Linebackers continue to underwhelm. Without McCloud we might have been better this week, but that’s not saying much. Brooks and Jennings routinely get fooled on misdirection or fill the wrong gaps. Flagg could be the best of the bunch, but it’s evident he needs some more time to develop physically. He practically got dragged into the endzone on that one play. Big yikes.
— The fake field goal. Uhhh ya, not a fan. I mean maybe they saw a look that they liked, but putting the ball in an unathletic kicker’s hands is not ideal. We should have just kept the offense on the field.
— The penalties. God....the ******* penalties. Can we please clean this **** up already? Every week we hear bullshyt coach speak about how the guys are being held accountable in practice for their mishaps. Well...clearly it’s not ******* making a difference.
Once again, sorry for the delay. Like I said...enjoy this season, gentleman. Over the past 15 years, this type of season has been rare. Go Canes!
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. I appreciate it, though!