Awsi Dooger
Junior
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2012
- Messages
- 2,662
Got back from the game, feeling lucky not to get into a wreck. Fans were ticked and driving erratically. Of course, it was mostly slow motion or no motion.
The Berrios drop changed the game. I'll have to watch the tape tomorrow. From the stands it looked liked a perfect pass. Our kicker has lousy mechanics. He's going to be erratic. We haven't blocked well for kicks all year. I expect mistakes on special teams. But Berrios is supposed to be gritty and dependable. That was a massive, massive turning point.
We were still freewheeling at that point. Nobody was nervous, particularly Kaaya. Florida State hadn't adjusted at all. It was guaranteed to change in the second half. We desperately needed a margin when it was still available. Besides, at some point it comes down to basics: How many points do you need? The Canes had to get into the 30s and Berrios' catch would already place them at the edge of that.
I knew from all my Las Vegas years how drastically it could alter in the second half. I have a Vegas friend named John, originally from New Jersey. He loves halftime wagering, specifically on power college favorites that fall behind at halftime on the road against lesser teams. Football and basketball. John's favorite saying is, "Die you home dog die...Die you home dog die." I've heard that at least a thousand times in various sportsbooks. Tourists invariably get a kick out of it. At halftime I knew **** well John was somewhere in Las Vegas, placing a big wager on Florida State, and very likely to collect.
John's theory is always that no matter how bad it looks for the road chalk in the first half, college sports in the second half allow so much room to recover. You get a bargain net number on the road favorite if they trail, and often they surge back to cover the original number.
It was ironic that this game fell 4. That's what I expected the spread to be a week ago. Devastating loss for the Canes but at least I don't have to hear the nonsense that it was a trap game, or similar. Since it's too low you know Miami will cover. I heard that all week, on radio shows, etc. Meanwhile, sportsbooks are life and death to have the employees show up on time. They don't always have the correct spread in the computer. The boss is worried about how much was alloted to comps last week. Bottom line they aren't capable of trapping anybody. Not intentionally. If it looks too high it probably is too high. If it looks too low it probably is too low. Lose the notion that betting lines are mysterious or diabolical and you've already got a jump on all the conspiratorial simpletons.
Throughout the second half I had the sick feeling if we ever fell behind, that was it. Louisville managed to get a late touchdown and briefly retake the lead against Florida State. Kaaya showed no evidence of that. He looked tight and with tunnel vision, just like the early first half at Virginia Tech. Minus a fluke huge play I didn't see him stringing together a long touchdown drive. I'm not sure it showed up on TV, which always has a hard time depicting how the game is being played in the secondary, but Florida State started taking away the interior, and the coverage on outside receivers was significantly tighter. After our second fumble we didn't miss many opportunities. They simply weren't there. The first down runs were gaining decent yardage. We never capitalized with second down play fakes and aggressive darts.
I thought we caught a break when Florida State was reluctant to run the ball early. Otherwise they would have worn us out sooner. Our defenders gave a gallant effort before regressing to their true level in the 4th quarter, flailing at arm tackles. We hid plenty of weaknesses but a true freshman quarterback and pedestrian defensive tackles have logical levels they can't surpass.
Kaaya deserves runaway credit for that first half. He has phenomenal ability to vary pace and loft. Far superior, for example, to anything Ryan Tannehill will every manage. Kaaya does get jittery and lose effectiveness. He's not worth 60 minutes against top foes at this stage. Besides, when Brad Kaaya gets the ball back with 3 minutes, it's more like 90 seconds, as I told the guy seated next to me before that kickoff. Kaaya has no sense of urgency. Did we ever snap the ball before 2 seconds on the play clock? It was driving me nuts all night. I knew **** well that nothing would change on that final possession, that we'd ***** around as the clock dwindled. IMO, James Coley should force Kaaya to call some snaps early in the play clock just so he realizes it's possible and not a penalty.
Artie Burns is an idiot. You're supposed to do something before prancing around and mouthing off, jutting out your neck. I'm not sure it showed up on TV but Burns did that several times. Then he's limping around after giving up a key completion. What a joke. Florida State's #8 is everything Burns was supposed to me, and much more. That guy disrupted plays and blocked kicks and changed the course of the game.
On the other hand, Deon Bush showed up. I've been critical of him. Tonight he made at least two plays that could have turned the game in our favor. Well done. He's still vulnerable back there but got the most out of his ability tonight.
McCord's 3rd down deflection was obviously a terrible break. He didn't do as much as I hoped rushing the passer. Nobody did, with rare exception.
That game demonstrated how much we miss the Orange Bowl. We never lose that margin in the Orange Bowl. The fans tried. Plenty loud. But it's loud only by standards of that pathetic stadium design. You're not impacting the game in that venue. Not close. Winston never had to back away when he couldn't relay the calls to his teammates. It's a friendly sell out in that stadium.
If we had to lose, I hope it means the end of the smoke uniforms and that ghastly helmet. That decision was more of a choke than anything we did on the field. I heard one Florida State fan laugh when she took her seat and saw what we were wearing. Couldn't blame her.
The Berrios drop changed the game. I'll have to watch the tape tomorrow. From the stands it looked liked a perfect pass. Our kicker has lousy mechanics. He's going to be erratic. We haven't blocked well for kicks all year. I expect mistakes on special teams. But Berrios is supposed to be gritty and dependable. That was a massive, massive turning point.
We were still freewheeling at that point. Nobody was nervous, particularly Kaaya. Florida State hadn't adjusted at all. It was guaranteed to change in the second half. We desperately needed a margin when it was still available. Besides, at some point it comes down to basics: How many points do you need? The Canes had to get into the 30s and Berrios' catch would already place them at the edge of that.
I knew from all my Las Vegas years how drastically it could alter in the second half. I have a Vegas friend named John, originally from New Jersey. He loves halftime wagering, specifically on power college favorites that fall behind at halftime on the road against lesser teams. Football and basketball. John's favorite saying is, "Die you home dog die...Die you home dog die." I've heard that at least a thousand times in various sportsbooks. Tourists invariably get a kick out of it. At halftime I knew **** well John was somewhere in Las Vegas, placing a big wager on Florida State, and very likely to collect.
John's theory is always that no matter how bad it looks for the road chalk in the first half, college sports in the second half allow so much room to recover. You get a bargain net number on the road favorite if they trail, and often they surge back to cover the original number.
It was ironic that this game fell 4. That's what I expected the spread to be a week ago. Devastating loss for the Canes but at least I don't have to hear the nonsense that it was a trap game, or similar. Since it's too low you know Miami will cover. I heard that all week, on radio shows, etc. Meanwhile, sportsbooks are life and death to have the employees show up on time. They don't always have the correct spread in the computer. The boss is worried about how much was alloted to comps last week. Bottom line they aren't capable of trapping anybody. Not intentionally. If it looks too high it probably is too high. If it looks too low it probably is too low. Lose the notion that betting lines are mysterious or diabolical and you've already got a jump on all the conspiratorial simpletons.
Throughout the second half I had the sick feeling if we ever fell behind, that was it. Louisville managed to get a late touchdown and briefly retake the lead against Florida State. Kaaya showed no evidence of that. He looked tight and with tunnel vision, just like the early first half at Virginia Tech. Minus a fluke huge play I didn't see him stringing together a long touchdown drive. I'm not sure it showed up on TV, which always has a hard time depicting how the game is being played in the secondary, but Florida State started taking away the interior, and the coverage on outside receivers was significantly tighter. After our second fumble we didn't miss many opportunities. They simply weren't there. The first down runs were gaining decent yardage. We never capitalized with second down play fakes and aggressive darts.
I thought we caught a break when Florida State was reluctant to run the ball early. Otherwise they would have worn us out sooner. Our defenders gave a gallant effort before regressing to their true level in the 4th quarter, flailing at arm tackles. We hid plenty of weaknesses but a true freshman quarterback and pedestrian defensive tackles have logical levels they can't surpass.
Kaaya deserves runaway credit for that first half. He has phenomenal ability to vary pace and loft. Far superior, for example, to anything Ryan Tannehill will every manage. Kaaya does get jittery and lose effectiveness. He's not worth 60 minutes against top foes at this stage. Besides, when Brad Kaaya gets the ball back with 3 minutes, it's more like 90 seconds, as I told the guy seated next to me before that kickoff. Kaaya has no sense of urgency. Did we ever snap the ball before 2 seconds on the play clock? It was driving me nuts all night. I knew **** well that nothing would change on that final possession, that we'd ***** around as the clock dwindled. IMO, James Coley should force Kaaya to call some snaps early in the play clock just so he realizes it's possible and not a penalty.
Artie Burns is an idiot. You're supposed to do something before prancing around and mouthing off, jutting out your neck. I'm not sure it showed up on TV but Burns did that several times. Then he's limping around after giving up a key completion. What a joke. Florida State's #8 is everything Burns was supposed to me, and much more. That guy disrupted plays and blocked kicks and changed the course of the game.
On the other hand, Deon Bush showed up. I've been critical of him. Tonight he made at least two plays that could have turned the game in our favor. Well done. He's still vulnerable back there but got the most out of his ability tonight.
McCord's 3rd down deflection was obviously a terrible break. He didn't do as much as I hoped rushing the passer. Nobody did, with rare exception.
That game demonstrated how much we miss the Orange Bowl. We never lose that margin in the Orange Bowl. The fans tried. Plenty loud. But it's loud only by standards of that pathetic stadium design. You're not impacting the game in that venue. Not close. Winston never had to back away when he couldn't relay the calls to his teammates. It's a friendly sell out in that stadium.
If we had to lose, I hope it means the end of the smoke uniforms and that ghastly helmet. That decision was more of a choke than anything we did on the field. I heard one Florida State fan laugh when she took her seat and saw what we were wearing. Couldn't blame her.