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Areas of improvement (Offense)

Astcloud11

Astcloud11

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2 keys of improvement for our offense to remain top 10 in the nation. It's hard to project Beck having an intermediate passing performance similar to Cam. Here are some things I really hope Dawson adjusts to supplement Beck's game and round out our offense a little better.

1. Our first half running game, ESPECIALLY in the 2nd quarter. Here are some stats:
-We average 4.7 YPC in the first half, and 6.54 in the second half.
-YPC by quarter was 5.31 (1st), 4.09 (2nd), 6.45 (3rd), and 6.62 (4th). Keep in mind, as far as sample size, that our rushing attempts by quarter are fairly even (104 attempts in the 1st, 101 in the 2nd, 107 in the 3rd, and 121 attempts in the 4th).
-We have 2 rushing TDs in the 2nd quarter, 5 in the 1st, and 11/12 in the 3rd and 4th quarter.

Generally, when watching our games against ACC opponents, it felt like our running game wasted a bunch of plays with very vanilla and seemingly pointless run designs that resulted in our RB's running into the tiniest of running lanes. The lanes would eventually get bigger as the game went on and we wore the other team down, but why are we not able to simply have better play designs that allow our RB's to go untouched? So many plays were successful because Martinez would keep balance and was generally hard to get down. Is it hard to ask for plays where our RB has clear lanes for an easy 4 yard gain due to good play design or misdirection?

2. Our screen game sucks. Not much to say here, and no stats to provide also, just eye test. Something about our screen game, whether its play design or lack of surprise when it happens...our screen game under Dawson has been awful.

If we can improve our first half running and our screen game, it'll compliment Beck, and the entire offense very well.
 
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There are a variety of things Dawson could do to play to Beck’s strengths and overall skill set but regarding both of your points, I agree. We have been a poor screen team for a few years now. Outside of that predictable bubble screen to the WR we have nothing in the screen game. I would love to see us change that up and become proficient running RB screens, tunnel screens, jail break screens and TE screens.

With the running game I agree 100% but in not sure how much change we are going to see. Our rushing attack is designed to be conservative. We run Duo with those tight splits and for the most part run up the middle between the guards. Our philosophy is to not allow TFLs and always gain positive yardage on the ground. I would like to see some diversity here.
 
Dawson has been really good but he just doesn’t connect the run game and pass game well. It’s like both of those are good on their own, which can lead to some dry spots

Couple factors like him being an air raid rooted guy that’s kinda recently added a full run game in and on top of that im sure mario/mirabal have their hands all in the run gameplan/design

I think that needs to be ironed out for us to max out with beck, uga offense is better in that regard but dawson is a much better pure play caller than bobo
 
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS.

Early in the season, while Beck is still finding his rhythm, we need true explosive plays instead of grinding every drive. Just one or two big moments per game can change the dynamic until the offense fires on all cylinders later in the season.

It can be 1–2 of the things below or just a blend of all of them:
  • Get Lyle a 30+ yard run each game to force defenses to respect the perimeter.
  • Hit a few more deep shots with Beck—his downfield accuracy is stronger than Cam’s was last year, and those plays would be confidence boosters.
  • Establish Trader as a big-play threat early on and develop him into one of the scariest players in the country.
  • Not offense but turn Marion loose for a big punt or kick return every few weeks to shift momentum and flip field.
If the ND game becomes the slog many expect, landing one of these explosive plays could give us the edge we lacked last year.
 
Astcloud11 said:
2 keys of improvement for our offense to remain top 10 in the nation. It's hard to project Beck having an intermediate passing performance similar to Cam. Here are some things I really hope Dawson adjusts to supplement Beck's game and round out our offense a little better.

1. Our first half running game, ESPECIALLY in the 2nd quarter. Here are some stats:
-We average 4.7 YPC in the first half, and 6.54 in the second half.
-YPC by quarter was 5.31 (1st), 4.09 (2nd), 6.45 (3rd), and 6.62 (4th). Keep in mind, as far as sample size, that our rushing attempts by quarter are fairly even (104 attempts in the 1st, 101 in the 2nd, 107 in the 3rd, and 121 attempts in the 4th).
-We have 2 rushing TDs in the 2nd quarter, 5 in the 1st, and 11/12 in the 3rd and 4th quarter.

Generally, when watching our games against ACC opponents, it felt like our running game wasted a bunch of plays with very vanilla and seemingly pointless run designs that resulted in our RB's running into the tiniest of running lanes. The lanes would eventually get bigger as the game went on and we wore the other team down, but why are we not able to simply have better play designs that allow our RB's to go untouched? So many plays were successful because Martinez would keep balance and was generally hard to get down. Is it hard to ask for plays where our RB has clear lanes for an easy 4 yard gain due to good play design or misdirection?

2. Our screen game sucks. Not much to say here, and no stats to provide also, just eye test. Something about our screen game, whether its play design or lack of surprise when it happens...our screen game under Dawson has been awful.

If we can improve our first half running and our screen game, it'll compliment, and the entire offense very well.
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To play to Becks strength, also far more pro style offense with play action pass. When it’s done correctly, play action pass is unstoppable, and Beck thrives in that type of offense. With our run game and offensive line, it can be devastating here.
 
We already know who Dawson is. He isn't just going to start running screens. The inside zone is what we will run while he is here. Maybe the splits are loosened a little with Carpenter gone and Brockermeyer replacing him. They were tightened last Spring with Carpenter. Per usual, our longer runs almost always only happen when the RB breaks to the outside because their is no hole in the A gap. None of these guys are dragging players 10-15 yards like Martinez could do. Dawson is never going to be a run heavy play caller unless we can't pass. If our receivers step up this season and Beck stays healthy, I expect another great year. Beck checking down is going to change a lot in itself.
When our opponents only have to defend the A gap in run D, it makes run defense much simpler for them. The good for us is we play in the ACC and we have the best OL in conference. I personally will be dreaming of pin and pulls, screens, crossing routes and many other plays I would love to see. They aren't coming. Dawson is a good OC and it's easy to be a armchair OC. I believe his success this season will get him a HC job he wants.
 
Astcloud11 said:
2. Our screen game sucks. Not much to say here, and no stats to provide also, just eye test. Something about our screen game, whether its play design or lack of surprise when it happens...our screen game under Dawson has been awful.
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Dawson loves to screen into the boundary, essentially giving the defense an extra defender.
 
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DMoney said:
I think our running game was so much better in the second half because teams got tired of tackling 220+ pound backs and getting leaned on by a giant offensive line.
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I post more caveman jokes than anyone but there is more to our running game than tuff n fyzical tone setting.

The most unique tactical choice we make is disproportionately targeting the A/B gaps in the run game where we get OPs tiny windows. We led the country in that or near it every year of the Caveman.

It's relatively easy to adapt to, but its hard to sustain the counter. I'd wager stats looked similarly with Parrish back there as our current stable of higher pedigree.

We then juxtapose that with the air raid, even if a relatively mundane implementation, but the net impact works with a pair of finesse lateral/vertical spacing with no school including the service academies employing as punishing a dive option.
 
I’d like to see more counters and traps. It seems offenses have moved away from those plays in recent years as a result defenses aren’t ready for them and you get chunk plays. Also, what ever happened to the old quick pitch/toss play? Stress the edge. Our running game is boring. Has been for a long time.

Go Canes!
 
Throughout the season we struggled in the 2nd quarter to find our rhythm as a whole on offense. The defense did us no favors either, coupled with a poor 2nd quarter offense I felt it put us on our heels more than it should have last season.

This is emphasized by the YPC stat posted in your OP.

@Astcloud11
 
DMoney said:
I think our running game was so much better in the second half because teams got tired of tackling 220+ pound backs and getting leaned on by a giant offensive line.
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This. I think if you showed Mario these numbers he'd be like that South Park meme of Randy in the room just completely encompassed in ****. This is his wet dream. Just grounding people to dust and owning their soul by the 4th quarter.
 
San Amaro Dr said:
Gets the ball in hands quicker though. Scored plenty on those tunnel screens off of 1 back power look.
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1- you don't have to line up wider just because it's the field side
2- And it forced too many to be shoved out of bounds or easily handled
3- Stop throwing them with George as a lead blocker, guess he's gone but they'll find some other weak midget to lead block on those some how
 
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Screen game & TE usage definitely wanna see more creativity. But everything else to me is splitting hairs.
 
I'm reading through the comments wondering what some people ACTUALLY want. I watched cutups of 2 games and noted:
- Tunnel Screens
- Quick Screens
- Middle Screens
- Screen & Go
- Swings to backs with receivers outside to block (effectively a screen)
- TE screens to the flats off of play action

As far as the run game:
- 30th in yards
- 6th in yards per carry
- 8th in yards per game
- 21st in rushing touchdowns

All without being top half of the nation in attempts per game and a QB in a generational season. As has been noted before on this forum, they run more than "inside zone". I saw at least:
- Inside/Outside zone (many variations)
- QB draw and counter (could've been read option)
- Power
- Duo
- Counter
- Wham concepts
- RPO

What they were was extremely efficient/effective running the ball. Ran inside with numbers advantages in the box. Threatened outside with screen/quick game. Just because the screens aren't going to the backs exclusively like it's 1999, doesn't mean the concepts don't affect/influence defenses in the same way. With anything, there's always room for improvement of course but are we saying what they ran didn't work or just that we didn't "like how it looked"?
 
Samson Doyo said:
Also, what ever happened to the old quick pitch/toss play? Stress the edge. Our running game is boring. Has been for a long time.
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We don’t get outside much because we don’t want negative runs. We were the best Power 4 team at avoiding tackles for loss.

If your OL and backs are physical enough to still generate yardage (Top 5 in YPC last year), this more conservative style helps you dominate down and distance. It’s a big reason we were #1 in third-down conversion percentage by a mile.
 
amanan28 said:
Throughout the season we struggled in the 2nd quarter to find our rhythm as a whole on offense. The defense did us no favors either, coupled with a poor 2nd quarter offense I felt it put us on our heels more than it should have last season.

This is emphasized by the YPC stat posted in your OP.

@Astcloud11
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Most of our fans aren’t going to want to hear this, but we had the wrong personnel at running back in at times in the 2nd qtr.

Damien Martinez got his least amount of touches in the 4th qtr, obviously due to being taken out of the game in our blowouts. His 2nd least amount of touches was in the 2nd qtr, although he still averaged over 6+ yds per carry on those touches.

Jordan Lyle got his most touches in the 4th qtr. That would make sense for the true freshman to come in during mop up time. He also excelled in the 4th qtr having his best runs by far. His 2nd most amount of snaps was in the 2nd qtr, and he was not productive.

Why was Jordan Lyle getting some of those touches that should have gone to Martinez? Did Martinez want to be take out to help preserve his longevity? Did the NIL package for either of them require a certain amount of snaps per game? Or did the coaches just have a brain fart and think it was a good idea for our best running back to take a break in the 2nd qtr. Guess we will never know. Regardless, Martinez should have been in there and not Lyle. See the Syracuse game as an example.
 
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