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In the immortal words of Ed Reed,'Im hurt dawg'...

k9cane

k9cane

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no, I haven't forgotten about my comrades here at CanesInsight.com. I've been busy and I needed a day or two to digest the disaster that was the Vatech game. I can not lie, this loss just felt different than the others.

I'm a huge Golden guy, as much as anyone on here, but I have to say, this was the first game where I was really disappointed in how his squad performed. Yeah, UM got blown out before but in the past, I didn't have much in terms of expectations. I can handle a loss to a great FSU team on the road, however, losing to a reeling Vatech squad at home when there is so much on the line, that's an entirely different story. For the first time this season, they looked unprepared and soft( they were anything but U-Tough on Saturday night). As Golden would say himself,'They didn't play like a bunch of Miami Hurricanes' or 'Protect the brand'

They flat out laid an egg and crapped the bed. It looked like the Coker units( when they quit on him) or a Shannon squad. Yeah, it rained, but both teams had to play in the same elements. But this team really looked unprepared in many ways and they got physically dominated upfront( the whole night, they couldn't hold the edge) and it was infuriating to see the crossing routes go basically uncovered time and time again.

And on offense, well, Franchise and I talked in the game day thread how in that particular game, running the ball( especially being down they way Miami was) in essence was wasting downs and they did a poor job of managing down and distance. I question Coley just as much as other question our defensive coordinator, I can't lie( and I've never been one to call for mass firings of assistant coaches week to week depending on the result)

Now, taking a deep breath, to me Coley and Burns' fumbles on back to back kicks reminded me of the old axiom that for every freshman you play, that's a loss. Those fumbles and the defenses inability to hold the fort were back-breakers. It is, what it is. These are the mistakes we'll have to live through as talented-but-green players are thrown out there.

I'm not panicking, Golden is the same guy to my slanted eyes as he was three weeks ago. I believe in this guy and his ability to lead but he's not infallible. But I've been through this before, Butch Davis, before his breakout 2000, had some horrible losses, blowouts to the Cuse, losses to East Carolina, etc, I'd like to believe I can see the trees through the forest

However, this Duke game is pretty **** big. This team can't let this season fall apart or 7-0 and all the good feelings will be a distant memory. There is still a chance to win double-digit games in the regular season( which hasn't been done since 2003, IIRC). I'll be dead honest, Im nervous as **** because Cutcliffe is a great coach and this Duke team is having a great year and it's on the road.

But yeah, Saturday night was a buzzkill.....
 
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I understand your sentiments, it was a very depressing night in total. The problem is that some concentrate SOLELY on the defense while the other facets gets a pass. Granted, the Defense is soft and outright terrible. But could posters not make a million threads to "FIRE D?" We get it, you want D replaced as DC and think the defense is lousy; but that is obvious and mentioning it a million times again and again becomes annoying after awhile.
 
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EmileLilly said:
I understand your sentiments, it was a very depressing night in total. The problem is that some concentrate SOLELY on the defense while the other facets gets a pass. Granted, the D was soft and outright terrible. But could posters not make a million threads to "FIRE D?" We get it, you want D replaced as DC and think the defense is lousy; but that is obvious and mentioning it a million times again and again becomes annoying after awhile.
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Well, the proverbial Genie's out of the bottle as it refers to that, unfortunately. But it's clear, they is still a lot of work to be done in terms of really getting back to the elite of college football. I still firmly believe Golden is the man for this task....
 
K9 said the words I was avoiding. It looked like team quit on him. It did. I am no insider but like everyone, I know a guy who knows a guy. I heard that at least a couple players were disturbed because some players missed practices but got the playing time anyway. It seemed like that is not the norm and they were upset. I haven't mentioned it becasue I have nothing to prove it and don't know that if was improtant. But, if others thought the team quit too, then the question is why. The one thing we have not seen is this team quit. If they just couldn't get over not being in the NC hunt, well I understand. But if they lost trust in the staff, then we are in huge trouble and Al better figure out who or what is the problem fast and do something. If he can't or if it is him, we are toast. One thing is clear, the problem was not our two most talented freshmen having balls stipped after they made spectalur plays. I want those kids out there making 50 yard returns. This has been the most depressing week for me in I can't remember. To have hope and have it crushed just sucks.
 
Niner, how can you say with one sentence you firmly believe that Golden is the man that will lead us back and then say this-

I'll be dead honest, Im nervous as **** because Cutcliffe is a great coach and this Duke team is having a great year and it's on the road.

To be sitting here in year 3 and still worried about Duke, well that speaks volumes about the entire program(i.e. head coach) and not just the coordinators.

I said before the season started that my evaluation wouldn't be based entirely on W-L. One of my expectations was to curbstomp the teams we should be. So far(UNC, GT, WAKE) we have failed. Duke falls into that category. We are all rightfully worried about not just losing to Duke, but the real possibility of us getting curbstomped.

Come on man, the big picture is coming into view. I was at the VT game and like most of us who were there it was like watching a movie where we all knew the ending. It was that familiar. I can see the line of demarcation taking place much like the Coker years, either for or against.

There is room on the right side for an intelligent, objective person such as yourself.
 
it looked to me like the team (at least the defense) has packed it in. I am very worried about the rest of the season.
 
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VinnDogg said:
To be sitting here in year 3 & still worried about Duke, that speaks volumes about the program
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It speaks volumes of where we were as a program 3 years ago moreso than where we are now.. If we had talent/depth across the board, then sure, we would roll.. As it is, if we leave Durham with a win our fans should all be thankful/happy. Instead, they'll start 100 more Fire Coach D threads, complain about the "scheme" & talk about the glory days. Well, these aren't the glory days.. The reality is that our best option at Safety is AJ Highsmith & that a career 3rd string DT transfer from UVa is good enough to start. Duke isn't a bad football team. They aren't lucky to be sitting at 7-2.. In fact, they are one awful game (where they lost to Pitt by 3 after losing TO battle 4-0) away from being 8-1. This "We are Miami & they are Duke" entitlement attitude is tiresome. Ask UNC/Duke basketball about how that worked out for them last year.
 
nope44 said:
After our performance last week, this Duke game is going to be very telling.
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How about a cold weather game against Pitt, which is a team that improves throughout the year under Paul Cryst? Pitt just knocked off a pretty good ND team, and they've got a much better throwing game than VT.
 
The Franchise said:
nope44 said:
After our performance last week, this Duke game is going to be very telling.
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How about a cold weather game against Pitt, which is a team that improves throughout the year under Paul Cryst? Pitt just knocked off a pretty good ND team, and they've got a much better throwing game than VT.
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How about a scrappy UVA team? They are reeling as of late but you know they'll give us a hard time.
 
The Franchise said:
nope44 said:
After our performance last week, this Duke game is going to be very telling.
Click to expand...

How about a cold weather game against Pitt, which is a team that improves throughout the year under Paul Cryst? Pitt just knocked off a pretty good ND team, and they've got a much better throwing game than VT.
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I'm more worried about watching our team come out with fire and destroy a team so clearly beneath them. If we lose Saturday, might as well mark Pitt down as a loss.
 
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We will beat Duke (it will be very close)
We will beat UVA (not close)
We will not beat Pitt (unfortunately)

My 3 game prediction.
 
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The Franchise said:
nope44 said:
After our performance last week, this Duke game is going to be very telling.
Click to expand...

How about a cold weather game against Pitt, which is a team that improves throughout the year under Paul Cryst? Pitt just knocked off a pretty good ND team, and they've got a much better throwing game than VT.
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They'll both be telling games. Let's sit back and see how they respond instead of jumping off the cliff after 1 concerning loss. Could you guys be proven correct, sure. However, Vinn comparing these to the Coker days is just dumb.
 
ilovelamp51 said:
VinnDogg said:
To be sitting here in year 3 & still worried about Duke, that speaks volumes about the program
Click to expand...

It speaks volumes of where we were as a program 3 years ago moreso than where we are now.. If we had talent/depth across the board, then sure, we would roll.. As it is, if we leave Durham with a win our fans should all be thankful/happy. Instead, they'll start 100 more Fire Coach D threads, complain about the "scheme" & talk about the glory days. Well, these aren't the glory days.. The reality is that our best option at Safety is AJ Highsmith & that a career 3rd string DT transfer from UVa is good enough to start. Duke isn't a bad football team. They aren't lucky to be sitting at 7-2.. In fact, they are one awful game (where they lost to Pitt by 3 after losing TO battle 4-0) away from being 8-1. This "We are Miami & they are Duke" entitlement attitude is tiresome. Ask UNC/Duke basketball about how that worked out for them last year.
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So Duke has talent and depth across the board that we don't? Really? Are you saying that in year 3 we can't rightfully ask Golden and staff to go into Duke and beat them?

As for AJ Highsmith, has he not been coached by Al and staff for 3 years now? Is that asking too much for our coach to make them better than they were 3 years ago? I realize AJ isn't going to be Sean Taylor, but after 3 years with the staff I'd like to think they could get hom to play better than Elizabeth Taylor. Same with Jimmy Gaines, Morris and the other seniors. 3 years now and where is the development? Morris won the Manning passing academy camp, but he was being coached and tutored by folks not on Al's staff. Pretty telling.

I readily acknowledge that our roster isn't the greatest .But it is top to bottom waaaaaay better than Duke and Wake and the other also rans. The only reason I am concerned about Duke is because of our coaches. I think if we let our kids play aggressive attacking ball, our kids beat their kids 9 out of 10 times.
 
Big Sky Cane said:
The Franchise said:
nope44 said:
After our performance last week, this Duke game is going to be very telling.
Click to expand...

How about a cold weather game against Pitt, which is a team that improves throughout the year under Paul Cryst? Pitt just knocked off a pretty good ND team, and they've got a much better throwing game than VT.
Click to expand...

They'll both be telling games. Let's sit back and see how they respond instead of jumping off the cliff after 1 concerning loss. Could you guys be proven correct, sure. However, Vinn comparing these to the Coker days is just dumb.
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My comparison is with the fan base. Going back to the grassy days where one had to pledge allegiance to Coker or be scorned and scolded. Much the same is happening now with Golden. We see the mediocre reuslts with our eyes, but yet phools are telling us not to be worried. Bullchit
 
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