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Effort, energy, improvement, and cohesiveness

CanesDynasty

CanesDynasty

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Aug 2, 2017
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658
As a die hard fan, these are the things I look for from game 1, till the end of the season. All of these things are coming together.

Watching seasons like 2013 and 2020 unfold are sometimes more frustrating because despite the record, you know the inevitable is going to happen.

I was complaining earlier this year about wanting to see the players give a **** and I am seeing that right now. This team has blocked out the noise and toxicity that us fans tend to have when losing. They are playing for each other and they seem to have found that spark. That intangible quality can be the difference between a win and a loss.

Despite all the injuries, adversity, and distractions, this team is enjoyable to watch because they didn't give up when they could have. This is an appreciation to the whole team and as a fan, I'm very interested in seeing how the season unfolds.

* I know this thread will get derailed by the fire Manny Diaz talk and about our defensive shortcomings, but I'm just a passionate fan and am pleased with this teams resolve
 
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Ill say that I dont think its a coincidence either that this team started taking it personal when BJames went on the media tour the week of the NC State game and basically was letting everyone know that as soon as NC State beat us Manny wouldnt even make it back to the locker room. Like he was already waiting for us to lose.

The majority of the players like Manny, even though I truly believe they know hes not the answer but that doesnt make him a bad guy either. They are playing hard for him and if this is the end, they are going down fighting for him. I respect that 100% because as the OP said this is not what past teams have done historicialy in the last decade or so. Especially that 2014 team. They absolutely imploded and didnt care because they hated Golden.
 
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CanesDynasty said:
As a die hard fan, these are the things I look for from game 1, till the end of the season. All of these things are coming together.

Watching seasons like 2013 and 2020 unfold are sometimes more frustrating because despite the record, you know the inevitable is going to happen.

I was complaining earlier this year about wanting to see the players give a **** and I am seeing that right now. This team has blocked out the noise and toxicity that us fans tend to have when losing. They are playing for each other and they seem to have found that spark. That intangible quality can be the difference between a win and a loss.

Despite all the injuries, adversity, and distractions, this team is enjoyable to watch because they didn't give up when they could have. This is an appreciation to the whole team and as a fan, I'm very interested in seeing how the season unfolds.

* I know this thread will get derailed by the fire Manny Diaz talk and about our defensive shortcomings, but I'm just a passionate fan and am pleased with this teams resolve
Click to expand...

For the record, we both can be right

The schedule gets easier but the bigger testament to me will be if the Def (under Manny) can show similar improvement to the offense. They are trending in the right direction
 
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CanesDynasty said:
As a die hard fan, these are the things I look for from game 1, till the end of the season. All of these things are coming together.

Watching seasons like 2013 and 2020 unfold are sometimes more frustrating because despite the record, you know the inevitable is going to happen.

I was complaining earlier this year about wanting to see the players give a **** and I am seeing that right now. This team has blocked out the noise and toxicity that us fans tend to have when losing. They are playing for each other and they seem to have found that spark. That intangible quality can be the difference between a win and a loss.

Despite all the injuries, adversity, and distractions, this team is enjoyable to watch because they didn't give up when they could have. This is an appreciation to the whole team and as a fan, I'm very interested in seeing how the season unfolds.

* I know this thread will get derailed by the fire Manny Diaz talk and about our defensive shortcomings, but I'm just a passionate fan and am pleased with this teams resolve
Click to expand...
Gtfoh. Win a couple games and overlook the obvious: I don’t care about what the players are blocking out. I want a stern coach that is adept at evaluating talent in players AND coaches. That defense is a collection of players that weren’t evaluated properly along with his coaching staff. It’s time to move on!!
 
iowacane76 said:
Gtfoh. Win a couple games and overlook the obvious: I don’t care about what the players are blocking out. I want a stern coach that is adept at evaluating talent in players AND coaches. That defense is a collection of players that weren’t evaluated properly along with his coaching staff. It’s time to move on!!
Click to expand...

Like who?
 
It is definitely interesting to see this team fight back and try to salvage what has been a super disappointing season.

With that said, it's only 2 straight wins. Yes 2 wins against ranked teams...but still only 2 wins. We do this all the time. A few wins in a row or a few strong games from an individual and we start getting excited about the future. Then the real Miami shows up and we realize this just isn't working out.

I genuinely hope this team continues to fight. But I've seen enough Canes football to know when there's just something fundamentally wrong with this team. And when you know that, it's hard to get overly excited/optimistic about the direction of the program...despite the results.
 
It’s amazing how good you can be when you STOP going through the motions.

We’ve been doing this for years even the players admit this was a common practice.

GOCANES
 
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After the Virginia game I was talking to one of my grown sons who is a lifer Cane (he grew up in my house). He asked me why I was so excited. Our Canes came out hitting people like they hadn't earlier in the year. We fought and clawed back into the game and set up a chip shot to win against a Virginia team that always gives us trouble. Remember 48-0? I was proud of the guts our team showed.
He thought we were going to get drubbed by NC and we came out with the same fire and grit and had the game in our grasp. The team kept that fire in their bellies for the next 2 games. We tackled harder and smarter and our confidence grew, especially on offense. A star was born at QB. Rooster showed his ability. OLine came together. Our young players on D started to shine. I have not enjoyed Canes football this much in a long while. Beat Georgia Tech! Go Canes!
 
Our “Toxicity” is doing wonders in waking up Mandy to the thought of being fired if he doesn’t pick up the pace. Good!
 
The offense has absolutely come to life the last few games, wish Chaney was healthy don't think Knighton is built to play this many snaps. Defense is still an absolute abortion however, I'd be happy if we just fired the DC
 
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The offense has been much improved since TVD took over and the Rooster is back, the defense has been giving up way too many yards and points yet usually Diaz defense improves when the offense improves. The lack of quality pass rushers, poor tackling (has improved somewhat the last few games) and terrible LB play continues to plague this years team, all things Diaz has been in charge of for over 5 years. I am happy the team is winning, I am still not happy with UM admin or Diaz overall. But I'll give them credit, they didn't give up on Coach with all the noise, team is better than 4-4.
 
If the defense weren’t so bad, I wouldn’t be concerned about this just being a two game trend. The offense has been consistent for almost 12 quarters of the last 4 games (second halves of UVA and UNC and full games of NCSt and Pitt). When we had Enos, we couldn’t do d!ck with the ball on offense. Our D was much better and all we needed was a semi competent offense to give the D a break from constant 3 and outs. Last year we saw what a proper offense could provide but the speed at which we operated caused us to score too quickly or be 3 and out too quickly. Defense slid a bit, especially towards the end of the year, but we had a pass rush at least. We know how this year began with a crappy D and offense that would be quick 3 and out…until now.

Under TVD, Lashlee had to slow down the operation of the O so that he can get the time needed to read the opposing defense. This (and the coming of TVD) has been an impressive turnaround. But we now find ourselves with an inept and untalented D (with the exception of about 4-5 players). We have no edge rush whatsoever. We do not cover the middle of the field very well either.

But the O is now fun to watch again. We need a D badly. If we can put together a competent offense and defense, both do not need to be lights out in the same game (it would be nice though). Defense can support a struggling offense one game and still get a W and Offense can support a struggling D and still pull out a victory. We need a proper DC, and good enough CBs, DEs and LBs (not necessarily in that order). If we can put that together with some good OLine pieces and continue with the solid recruiting job in the areas not mentioned, we are playoff bound. This is not to say that Manny is the best leader. But I do think the kids do not want to responsible for him getting fired. Perhaps the poor me pictures struck a chord with the team because all of us on the periphery could care less at this point.
 
Finding a QB that can put up points was the biggest change as that has a trickle down effect on the rest of the team. Manny is still coaching for his job with 4 games left and he can't depend on TVD to play hero every week as it's just not sustainable as defenses will adjust and he'll make some freshman mistakes along the way which is expected. Future is bright with him. We've been in 5 dog fights this year and are 3-2 in them. If we let GT, FSU, VT, or even Duke hang around into the 4th, we'll drop 1-2 more games and that's the end of Manny.
 
It reminds me of Major League, with Blake James as the owner who wants the team to lose. Maybe Manny has a life-size cut-out of Blake in the locker room that gets more naked with each win.
 
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