Dawson

[Hoyacane1620]

Not using Marty Brown was horrible IMO. Not sure who's decision that was, but I was blown away by it.

agree. I kept waiting for them to put BOTH Fletch and Marty in the backfield. I don't understand it at all

They will need them both for OSU

 

[ssvir]

I wanted way more running plays.

But to the greater point, we did not play Brown and Pringle only got one carry and one play in the game. Is that Mario's plan for the rest of the playoff? Use Fletcher only? If he was too conservative to allow Pringle to play today, is he going to use him next game against Ohio State?

This didnt make sense to me. Brown's skillset was perfect for today's game. Both he and Pringle should have gotten some touches.

HIlarious that people still think Mario makes these decisions.

Dawson in the postgame said HE wanted Fletcher b/c A&Ms strength on D was speed which neutralized Pringles main attribute.

 

[Meast21]

Dawson had the right the right game plan. Run out of the pistol. He just did not use it enough. Too many no gain or lost yards on first down putting Miami behind the chains. A&M lived off that being the best 3rd down defense in the country. I would have loved to seen an old fashion screen play at least once to try to slow down the A&M pass rush.

Never run an RB screen in years. Literally doesnt exist in the playbook, is beyond baffling.

 

[Schuylkill County Cane]

The 2nd down swinging gate play in the red zone had me saying what the **** out loud

 

[JBCanes-NC]

He’s just straight ***.

 

[mirvin88]

In fairness, I'm pretty sure the 30 mph wind gusts were limiting what we could do offensively. The first 2 fgs were missed primarily because the wind caught once they were in air. The 3rd miss, he was trying to compensate for the wind and probably didn't catch a gust. I'd be willing to bet they didn't want to put the ball in the air for deep passes.

I think the wind took that early deep attempt to Trader as well.

 

[JG14]

Letting them hang…

And the A gap run worked because you stopped forcing it there 6 weeks ago and showed teams other looks.

 

[Elmer Leghorn]

Dawson’s biggest issue imo is his “feel” for playcalling. His scheme and play calls in and of themselves are solid. But its when to call them and/or going back to the well too many times.

But I do give him credit in the 4th qtr by giving Fletcher the rock and letting him cook.

I think a few tweaks back to something similar against Pitt would go a long way to giving us opportunities against Osu.

Exactly. His feel for the game is off.

 

[Sugarcane521]

Well he wasn’t averaging 12 yards per carry until after the last drive. To each their own. Me, I would wait at least one day before I started crying like a little baby about it.

I think it was 6.8 ypc at the half. It was pretty telling where the wrinkle was

 

[mr.h]

Post game on 560 he said he didn’t have the best game. Said he wishes he rode Fletcher more

We’ll need the other running backs too.

 

[mr.h]

Carson couldn’t throw a deep pass

 

[TheShredder]

And the A gap run worked because you stopped forcing it there 6 weeks ago and showed teams other looks.

Yeah and yesterday he tried to force Toney trick plays and we saw how that worked

 

[hesskilla]

I think it was 6.8 ypc at the half. It was pretty telling where the wrinkle was

Yeah should have ran more or just done less trick plays. I do think they stuffed us a couple times when we were obviously running the ball. It’s a tricky thing and this wasn’t Dawsons best game for sure. I have no problems debating that now a day later.

 

[BeastMode]

Dawson called an awful game. Beck is lucky he didn’t throw a pick 6 in the 3rd quarter. A&M Lb tipped it or it would’ve been a house call by him forcing it to Toney.

They can’t keep forcing touches to Toney against OSU

 

[Calinative]

Also... I really hope he doesn't over react to this and go in with a game plan of just riding Fletcher against Ohio St. I think they'll absolutely shut that **** down. They have elite LB play.

 

[Sugarcane521]

Yeah should have ran more or just done less trick plays. I do think they stuffed us a couple times when we were obviously running the ball. It’s a tricky thing and this wasn’t Dawsons best game for sure. I have no problems debating that now a day later.

It's hard to run sideline to sideline on that defense but it does set up for other play action stuff. Just seemed like it was being called too much or at the wrong times. They call on the touchdown was set up perfectly bc we gashed them between the tackles to get down there

 

[Trafficante]

I do not share that opinion. Dawson wasted the entire first half with really foolish play calling. He left so many points on the field that it should be considered coaching malpractice on his part.

We were notably better than Texas A&M.

When you defense holds a team to THREE POINTS on the game and you only score 16 (I'll add in the two field goals that Davis should have made) in a game where you had a 50+ yard punt return and a big interception return, that's a failure of the offense. Watching the game told us it was on dawson's foolish, gimmicky game plan.

He's simply never been an elite OC at any pt in his career. He's only benefiting from a top 10 offensive line, the most expensive portal QBs, and solid to good skill position players. If u take that away, he's nothing more than a middle of the road, journeymen OC.

He lacks any kind of feel for calling plays, and his gameplans have been questionable on numerous occasions throughout his tenure. Coming up with that gameplan & script of plays despite having over 2 weeks to prepare, is just inexcusable. An overreliance on trick plays is never a sign of creativity; its a sign of desperation. Regardless, they're more or less ineffective against fundamentally sound defenses like that of TAMU, OSU, UGA, IU, & TT anyway. This man literally called a fake reverse, without even running a reverse prior to it

There's simply no justification for choosing not to establish the running game in the 1st half while playing in a hostile environment, with windy conditions, & against a team with a porous run defense. This team would've fared better offensively even if the gameplan was to predictably run inside zone, & gap runs the entire 1st half. Ultimately, he made it more difficult for his own QB & defense, & in normal circumstances should have costed this team a win.

If this team does not win a NC this yr, Dawson is going to be the primary reason for why it didn't happen. Yes, MC's game management is absolutely horrendous, & reared its ugly head again yesterday right before the half & on the final drive of the game, but if Dawson's playcalling was better this game could've been a convincing win & his game management woes wouldn't have even come in question.

 

[PhenomCane]

Not using Marty Brown was horrible IMO. Not sure who's decision that was, but I was blown away by it.

I think Marty was hurt, which is why we never saw him.
My working hypothesis is that these mid-tier ACC teams know they can't match up in the trenches, so they have to sell out to not get bullied in the run game, especially on those duo runs and inside zone runs. That's why we had to be creative in the pass game and RPO game. Dawson repeatedly made FSU pay for selling out to stop the inside runs.

Teams with more talented fronts trust their guys to win the battle in the trenches vs us. In that case you have to force them to sell out first to open up the creative pass game, which Dawson didn't do until the final drive, despite our line opening up holes bigger than Abella Danger's.

Elko even said after the game they lost the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Either way, you have to force the D out of their initial game plan.