It’s Not the Economy Stupid-It’s the Running Game!

Earnest T. Bass

Sophomore
Joined
Dec 14, 2016
Messages
2,073
If the Canes underperforming running game can be cured, then miraculously, Mark Richt will be hailed as one of college football’s great offensive minds and play callers.

While the last thing I would ever do is call on others to criticize Stacy Searels (and I am not!)…it is telling that the usual suspects are not attacking the man, which offers an insight that they don’t understand what they are looking at each Saturday.

The howls when Coach Richt continues to try and establish a running game is beyond my comprehension. When opposing defensive coordinators know you have absolutely no running game the only concern they have is that the game will not come soon enough.

I hear/read complaints that we don’t throw over the middle enough, yet when the linebackers know their defensive linemen will ‘easily’ stuff the run it allows them to almost immediately drop back into throwing lanes over the middle, or other areas. I don’t recall one time during last week’s North Carolina game in which Homer was handed the ball when he wasn’t immediately met by an avalanche of Tar Heels defensive linemen. Was there even one play where Homer took a handoff in which one of the Tar Heels defensive backs had to make a tackle (other than a blitz)?

Knowing some will attack Coach Richt even if the Canes beat Virginia Tech by 70 points, but miss an extra point, allow me to save you the time of claiming it is Richt’s fault the running game is not successful. When you watch the offensive line they are simply getting ‘NO’ push. When you are seeing batted down pass after batted down pass (please don’t point to Rosier’s height) you know offensive linemen are being pushed back into the pocket, although, and in fairness, the pass protection has for the most part been good.

Finally, Homer is a much better back that he has looked, which is a shame, because with some help he could be doing some very special things.
 
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You're right about one thing: We're getting no push. That has to fall on Felder.

4 out of the 5 starters are 3rd year plus guys. They shouldn't be getting dominated like they are in the run game.
 
We can't abandon the run, but at this point in the season, there are no "fixes" available. We will rise or fall on Rosier. Best not to try to force something that you know doesn't work. Homer should be a complementary piece, that's it.
 
You're right about one thing: We're getting no push. That has to fall on Felder.

4 out of the 5 starters are 3rd year plus guys. They shouldn't be getting dominated like they are in the run game.

It falls on the OL. You have to be able to line up against a depleted, less talented team and blow them back when you need 2 yards. It's ridiculous that we don't try to run on 1st and goal from the 2, but I don't blame Richt. I wouldn't trust the line to get any push or open any holes either. Only thing on Richt is that he knows this so he needs to come up with other ways to get the run game going since up the middle doesn't work.
 
You're right about one thing: We're getting no push. That has to fall on Felder.

4 out of the 5 starters are 3rd year plus guys. They shouldn't be getting dominated like they are in the run game.

It falls on the OL. You have to be able to line up against a depleted, less talented team and blow them back when you need 2 yards. It's ridiculous that we don't try to run on 1st and goal from the 2, but I don't blame Richt. I wouldn't trust the line to get any push or open any holes either. Only thing on Richt is that he knows this so he needs to come up with other ways to get the run game going since up the middle doesn't work.

It is not only the lack of push between that tackles that isn't working. Just look at the first play of the Carolina game, Richt called a sweep and it took 10 minutes to unpile all the unmolested NC players, students, cheerleaders, hot dog vendors casually waiting for Homer who was smothered for a loss.

By the way, you said; "He (Richt) needs to come up with other ways to get the run game going since up the middle doesn't work." Okay, but if your offensive line is simply not getting the job done in terms of the running game I must ask you what you are suggesting Coach Richt do to get the running game going?
 
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If the Canes underperforming running game can be cured, then miraculously, Mark Richt will be hailed as one of college football’s great offensive minds and play callers.

While the last thing I would ever do is call on others to criticize Stacy Searels (and I am not!)…it is telling that the usual suspects are not attacking the man, which offers an insight that they don’t understand what they are looking at each Saturday.

The howls when Coach Richt continues to try and establish a running game is beyond my comprehension. When opposing defensive coordinators know you have absolutely no running game the only concern they have is that the game will not come soon enough.

I hear/read complaints that we don’t throw over the middle enough, yet when the linebackers know their defensive linemen will ‘easily’ stuff the run it allows them to almost immediately drop back into throwing lanes over the middle, or other areas. I don’t recall one time during last week’s North Carolina game in which Homer was handed the ball when he wasn’t immediately met by an avalanche of Tar Heels defensive linemen. Was there even one play where Homer took a handoff in which one of the Tar Heels defensive backs had to make a tackle (other than a blitz)?

Knowing some will attack Coach Richt even if the Canes beat Virginia Tech by 70 points, but miss an extra point, allow me to save you the time of claiming it is Richt’s fault the running game is not successful. When you watch the offensive line they are simply getting ‘NO’ push. When you are seeing batted down pass after batted down pass (please don’t point to Rosier’s height) you know offensive linemen are being pushed back into the pocket, although, and in fairness, the pass protection has for the most part been good.

Finally, Homer is a much better back that he has looked, which is a shame, because with some help he could be doing some very special things.

The only problem with this is that teams haven't been dropping back LBs into coverage. For most of the "non-third and long" plays, they've been selling out to stop the run with 7-8 in the box. It's a numbers problem for a line that's best suited for pass protection.

The only game where the front four stopped the run was FSU who has several quys that will be playing Sundays.their gaps. We pulled that game out, along the Ga Tech and Syr, by attacking those open zones in the second half. How often can we go to that well. Don't you think our tendencies are becoming known at this point? How do you think teams like VT and ND are going to adjust to them? From what we've shown at UNC, they're probably salivating over it.

If we have to use the pass to asset up the run we have to start making those plays earlier in the game and make people pay for peeking into the backfield. After being burnt a few times, running lanes will start to appear or at least the OL will be in a 5 on 5 situation. Maybe then they can start winning some of those battles.
 
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Our OL isn't great, but do you all remember how awful it was prior to Richt getting here and how bad it was the first half of last year? I can still see Linder skating backwards to this day. I still see KC at guard getting destroyed. I can still see Cincinnati pushing us back like we were the G5 team.

It's gotten better, especially in the passing game, but I think it is telling when Donaldson, a true freshman, is our best run blocker.
 
Just look at the first play of the Carolina game, Richt called a sweep and it took 10 minutes to unpile all the unmolested NC players, students, cheerleaders, hot dog vendors casually waiting for Homer who was smothered for a loss.

That play wasn't on the OL, that was just a dumb play, & dumb blocking scheme. Most sweeps involve a crackback block by a receiver, and pulling the playside Tackle. On that play we pulled the C & LG...just dumb. And the CB who made the play ran through Richards like a bad burrito.
 
If the Canes underperforming running game can be cured, then miraculously, Mark Richt will be hailed as one of college football’s great offensive minds and play callers.

While the last thing I would ever do is call on others to criticize Stacy Searels (and I am not!)…it is telling that the usual suspects are not attacking the man, which offers an insight that they don’t understand what they are looking at each Saturday.

The howls when Coach Richt continues to try and establish a running game is beyond my comprehension. When opposing defensive coordinators know you have absolutely no running game the only concern they have is that the game will not come soon enough.

I hear/read complaints that we don’t throw over the middle enough, yet when the linebackers know their defensive linemen will ‘easily’ stuff the run it allows them to almost immediately drop back into throwing lanes over the middle, or other areas. I don’t recall one time during last week’s North Carolina game in which Homer was handed the ball when he wasn’t immediately met by an avalanche of Tar Heels defensive linemen. Was there even one play where Homer took a handoff in which one of the Tar Heels defensive backs had to make a tackle (other than a blitz)?

Knowing some will attack Coach Richt even if the Canes beat Virginia Tech by 70 points, but miss an extra point, allow me to save you the time of claiming it is Richt’s fault the running game is not successful. When you watch the offensive line they are simply getting ‘NO’ push. When you are seeing batted down pass after batted down pass (please don’t point to Rosier’s height) you know offensive linemen are being pushed back into the pocket, although, and in fairness, the pass protection has for the most part been good.

Finally, Homer is a much better back that he has looked, which is a shame, because with some help he could be doing some very special things.

The only problem with this is that teams haven't been dropping back LBs into coverage. For most of the "non-third and long" plays, they've been selling out to stop the run with 7-8 in the box. It's a numbers problem for a line that's best suited for pass protection.

The only game where the front four stopped the run was FSU who has several quys that will be playing Sundays.their gaps. We pulled that game out, along the Ga Tech and Syr, by attacking those open zones in the second half. How often can we go to that well. Don't you think our tendencies are becoming known at this point? How do you think teams like VT and ND are going to adjust to them? From what we've shown at UNC, they're probably salivating over it.

If we have to use the pass to asset up the run we have to start making those plays earlier in the game and make people pay for peeking into the backfield. After being burnt a few times, running lanes will start to appear or at least the OL will be in a 5 on 5 situation. Maybe then they can start winning some of those battles.

There is no nice way to state this...the Tar Heels defensive linemen obliterated our offensive line. We rushed the ball for a total of 59 yards via 32 carries, at an average of 1.8 yards per carry. But, I didn't need to quotes those numbers because I watched the offensive line play and their was ZERO push.

FSU rushed for 83 yards via 29 carries, at an average of 2.9 yards per carry. Again, ZERO push!

When opposing defensive linemen dominate the line of scrimmage it allows the linebackers free reign to either crash down on the run or drop off in pass coverage without fear of the running game. Conversely, when knocking defense linemen off the line of scrimmage it becomes a nightmare for linebackers and that's when you see good running back only having to juke one defender or break a tackle on the way to a significant gain.

What was also disconcerting and seemingly a new situation was the way Carolina's linemen pushed our offensive linemen backwards, and at times into the passing pocket, that allowed them to bat down numerous passes.

If the opposing linebackers were totally disregarding the pass and barreling into and past the line of scrimmage Coach Richt would light their ****s up with our tight ends freely roaming the intermediate passing zones.

Find a way to fix/improve the offensive line and instantly the haters will be stunned at how smart Coach Richt has suddenly become.
 
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If the Canes underperforming running game can be cured, then miraculously, Mark Richt will be hailed as one of college football’s great offensive minds and play callers.

While the last thing I would ever do is call on others to criticize Stacy Searels (and I am not!)…it is telling that the usual suspects are not attacking the man, which offers an insight that they don’t understand what they are looking at each Saturday.

The howls when Coach Richt continues to try and establish a running game is beyond my comprehension. When opposing defensive coordinators know you have absolutely no running game the only concern they have is that the game will not come soon enough.

I hear/read complaints that we don’t throw over the middle enough, yet when the linebackers know their defensive linemen will ‘easily’ stuff the run it allows them to almost immediately drop back into throwing lanes over the middle, or other areas. I don’t recall one time during last week’s North Carolina game in which Homer was handed the ball when he wasn’t immediately met by an avalanche of Tar Heels defensive linemen. Was there even one play where Homer took a handoff in which one of the Tar Heels defensive backs had to make a tackle (other than a blitz)?

Knowing some will attack Coach Richt even if the Canes beat Virginia Tech by 70 points, but miss an extra point, allow me to save you the time of claiming it is Richt’s fault the running game is not successful. When you watch the offensive line they are simply getting ‘NO’ push. When you are seeing batted down pass after batted down pass (please don’t point to Rosier’s height) you know offensive linemen are being pushed back into the pocket, although, and in fairness, the pass protection has for the most part been good.

Finally, Homer is a much better back that he has looked, which is a shame, because with some help he could be doing some very special things.

The only problem with this is that teams haven't been dropping back LBs into coverage. For most of the "non-third and long" plays, they've been selling out to stop the run with 7-8 in the box. It's a numbers problem for a line that's best suited for pass protection.

The only game where the front four stopped the run was FSU who has several quys that will be playing Sundays.their gaps. We pulled that game out, along the Ga Tech and Syr, by attacking those open zones in the second half. How often can we go to that well. Don't you think our tendencies are becoming known at this point? How do you think teams like VT and ND are going to adjust to them? From what we've shown at UNC, they're probably salivating over it.

If we have to use the pass to asset up the run we have to start making those plays earlier in the game and make people pay for peeking into the backfield. After being burnt a few times, running lanes will start to appear or at least the OL will be in a 5 on 5 situation. Maybe then they can start winning some of those battles.

There is no nice way to state this...the Tar Heels defensive linemen obliterated our offensive line. We rushed the ball for a total of 59 yards via 32 carries, at an average of 1.8 yards per carry. But, I didn't need to quotes those numbers because I watched the offensive line play and their was ZERO push.

FSU rushed for 83 yards via 29 carries, at an average of 2.9 yards per carry. Again, ZERO push!

When opposing defensive linemen dominate the line of scrimmage it allows the linebackers free reign to either crash down on the run or drop off in pass coverage without fear of the running game. Conversely, when knocking defense linemen off the line of scrimmage it becomes a nightmare for linebackers and that's when you see good running back only having to juke one defender or break a tackle on the way to a significant gain.

What was also disconcerting and seemingly a new situation was the way Carolina's linemen pushed our offensive linemen backwards, and at times into the passing pocket, that allowed them to bat down numerous passes.

If the opposing linebackers were totally disregarding the pass and barreling into and past the line of scrimmage Coach Richt would light their ****s up with our tight ends freely roaming the intermediate passing zones.

Find a way to fix/improve the offensive line and instantly the haters will be stunned at how smart Coach Richt has suddenly become.

Yep, our lack of a physical running game and inconsistent OL play will be our undoing especially against teams that do not turn the ball over, can run the ball themselves and have stingy defenses. That combo is the worst combo for our team, IMO. Until now, we’ve feasted against average teams that make mistakes with crappy qb play. Next 2 weeks do not have that. The only saving grace is the fact that both teams start first year QBs so the hope is that they can get rattled, especially Jackson from VT who’s a RSFR
 
Our running plays seem to develop painfully slow .... it almost like watching slow motion in real time, even while at the games!!!
 
Our running plays seem to develop painfully slow .... it almost like watching slow motion in real time, even while at the games!!!

That's by design.

If we were getting more "push" from the OL, it would be beautiful to watch. It would also set up nice counter plays.

But because we don't get that "push", on a consistent basis, it is very frustrating to watch, at times.
 
If the Canes underperforming running game can be cured, then miraculously, Mark Richt will be hailed as one of college football’s great offensive minds and play callers.

While the last thing I would ever do is call on others to criticize Stacy Searels (and I am not!)…it is telling that the usual suspects are not attacking the man, which offers an insight that they don’t understand what they are looking at each Saturday.

The howls when Coach Richt continues to try and establish a running game is beyond my comprehension. When opposing defensive coordinators know you have absolutely no running game the only concern they have is that the game will not come soon enough.

I hear/read complaints that we don’t throw over the middle enough, yet when the linebackers know their defensive linemen will ‘easily’ stuff the run it allows them to almost immediately drop back into throwing lanes over the middle, or other areas. I don’t recall one time during last week’s North Carolina game in which Homer was handed the ball when he wasn’t immediately met by an avalanche of Tar Heels defensive linemen. Was there even one play where Homer took a handoff in which one of the Tar Heels defensive backs had to make a tackle (other than a blitz)?

Knowing some will attack Coach Richt even if the Canes beat Virginia Tech by 70 points, but miss an extra point, allow me to save you the time of claiming it is Richt’s fault the running game is not successful. When you watch the offensive line they are simply getting ‘NO’ push. When you are seeing batted down pass after batted down pass (please don’t point to Rosier’s height) you know offensive linemen are being pushed back into the pocket, although, and in fairness, the pass protection has for the most part been good.

Finally, Homer is a much better back that he has looked, which is a shame, because with some help he could be doing some very special things.

I agree the line played poorly Saturday but it doesn't help that every freaking run play is right up the middle. Misdirection, Stretch, Toss, a little pre-snap motion... All of those things can help keep the d-line on their toes. Since we don't have the best O-line in the world why not help them out by not being so predictable? You know it's pretty bad when the fans can call the play more times than not before the ball is snapped. I'm no expert or know it all but if guys sitting at home watching the games know your play before the snap there's a good chance the defense does too.
 
If the Canes underperforming running game can be cured, then miraculously, Mark Richt will be hailed as one of college football’s great offensive minds and play callers.

While the last thing I would ever do is call on others to criticize Stacy Searels (and I am not!)…it is telling that the usual suspects are not attacking the man, which offers an insight that they don’t understand what they are looking at each Saturday.

The howls when Coach Richt continues to try and establish a running game is beyond my comprehension. When opposing defensive coordinators know you have absolutely no running game the only concern they have is that the game will not come soon enough.

I hear/read complaints that we don’t throw over the middle enough, yet when the linebackers know their defensive linemen will ‘easily’ stuff the run it allows them to almost immediately drop back into throwing lanes over the middle, or other areas. I don’t recall one time during last week’s North Carolina game in which Homer was handed the ball when he wasn’t immediately met by an avalanche of Tar Heels defensive linemen. Was there even one play where Homer took a handoff in which one of the Tar Heels defensive backs had to make a tackle (other than a blitz)?

Knowing some will attack Coach Richt even if the Canes beat Virginia Tech by 70 points, but miss an extra point, allow me to save you the time of claiming it is Richt’s fault the running game is not successful. When you watch the offensive line they are simply getting ‘NO’ push. When you are seeing batted down pass after batted down pass (please don’t point to Rosier’s height) you know offensive linemen are being pushed back into the pocket, although, and in fairness, the pass protection has for the most part been good.

Finally, Homer is a much better back that he has looked, which is a shame, because with some help he could be doing some very special things.

The only problem with this is that teams haven't been dropping back LBs into coverage. For most of the "non-third and long" plays, they've been selling out to stop the run with 7-8 in the box. It's a numbers problem for a line that's best suited for pass protection.

The only game where the front four stopped the run was FSU who has several quys that will be playing Sundays.their gaps. We pulled that game out, along the Ga Tech and Syr, by attacking those open zones in the second half. How often can we go to that well. Don't you think our tendencies are becoming known at this point? How do you think teams like VT and ND are going to adjust to them? From what we've shown at UNC, they're probably salivating over it.

If we have to use the pass to asset up the run we have to start making those plays earlier in the game and make people pay for peeking into the backfield. After being burnt a few times, running lanes will start to appear or at least the OL will be in a 5 on 5 situation. Maybe then they can start winning some of those battles.

There is no nice way to state this...the Tar Heels defensive linemen obliterated our offensive line. We rushed the ball for a total of 59 yards via 32 carries, at an average of 1.8 yards per carry. But, I didn't need to quotes those numbers because I watched the offensive line play and their was ZERO push.

FSU rushed for 83 yards via 29 carries, at an average of 2.9 yards per carry. Again, ZERO push!

When opposing defensive linemen dominate the line of scrimmage it allows the linebackers free reign to either crash down on the run or drop off in pass coverage without fear of the running game. Conversely, when knocking defense linemen off the line of scrimmage it becomes a nightmare for linebackers and that's when you see good running back only having to juke one defender or break a tackle on the way to a significant gain.

What was also disconcerting and seemingly a new situation was the way Carolina's linemen pushed our offensive linemen backwards, and at times into the passing pocket, that allowed them to bat down numerous passes.

If the opposing linebackers were totally disregarding the pass and barreling into and past the line of scrimmage Coach Richt would light their ****s up with our tight ends freely roaming the intermediate passing zones.

Find a way to fix/improve the offensive line and instantly the haters will be stunned at how smart Coach Richt has suddenly become.

Perhaps you should rewatch the game. You're looking at the end result and assuming it's because the OL couldn't get any push against the DL. I just rewatched the first half and on every first and second down UNC had LBs peeking into the backfield, filling the running lanes, knocking linemen off their blocks. This is against an OL which I agree is already challenged in run blocking. It's not putting them in a position to succeed. And since we can't claim an extra offensive lineman off the waiver wire, it's not going to change until the roster turns over. They are who they are. They're not going to turn into the seven blocks of granite because we want it.

Knowing that, you can't keep doing the same things and expect different results. Every team on our schedule, even Bethune Cookman, has made us pay for LBs and safeties peeking into the backfield, we should be doing the same.
 
If the Canes underperforming running game can be cured, then miraculously, Mark Richt will be hailed as one of college football’s great offensive minds and play callers.

While the last thing I would ever do is call on others to criticize Stacy Searels (and I am not!)…it is telling that the usual suspects are not attacking the man, which offers an insight that they don’t understand what they are looking at each Saturday.

The howls when Coach Richt continues to try and establish a running game is beyond my comprehension. When opposing defensive coordinators know you have absolutely no running game the only concern they have is that the game will not come soon enough.

I hear/read complaints that we don’t throw over the middle enough, yet when the linebackers know their defensive linemen will ‘easily’ stuff the run it allows them to almost immediately drop back into throwing lanes over the middle, or other areas. I don’t recall one time during last week’s North Carolina game in which Homer was handed the ball when he wasn’t immediately met by an avalanche of Tar Heels defensive linemen. Was there even one play where Homer took a handoff in which one of the Tar Heels defensive backs had to make a tackle (other than a blitz)?

Knowing some will attack Coach Richt even if the Canes beat Virginia Tech by 70 points, but miss an extra point, allow me to save you the time of claiming it is Richt’s fault the running game is not successful. When you watch the offensive line they are simply getting ‘NO’ push. When you are seeing batted down pass after batted down pass (please don’t point to Rosier’s height) you know offensive linemen are being pushed back into the pocket, although, and in fairness, the pass protection has for the most part been good.

Finally, Homer is a much better back that he has looked, which is a shame, because with some help he could be doing some very special things.

The only problem with this is that teams haven't been dropping back LBs into coverage. For most of the "non-third and long" plays, they've been selling out to stop the run with 7-8 in the box. It's a numbers problem for a line that's best suited for pass protection.

The only game where the front four stopped the run was FSU who has several quys that will be playing Sundays.their gaps. We pulled that game out, along the Ga Tech and Syr, by attacking those open zones in the second half. How often can we go to that well. Don't you think our tendencies are becoming known at this point? How do you think teams like VT and ND are going to adjust to them? From what we've shown at UNC, they're probably salivating over it.

If we have to use the pass to asset up the run we have to start making those plays earlier in the game and make people pay for peeking into the backfield. After being burnt a few times, running lanes will start to appear or at least the OL will be in a 5 on 5 situation. Maybe then they can start winning some of those battles.

There is no nice way to state this...the Tar Heels defensive linemen obliterated our offensive line. We rushed the ball for a total of 59 yards via 32 carries, at an average of 1.8 yards per carry. But, I didn't need to quotes those numbers because I watched the offensive line play and their was ZERO push.

FSU rushed for 83 yards via 29 carries, at an average of 2.9 yards per carry. Again, ZERO push!

When opposing defensive linemen dominate the line of scrimmage it allows the linebackers free reign to either crash down on the run or drop off in pass coverage without fear of the running game. Conversely, when knocking defense linemen off the line of scrimmage it becomes a nightmare for linebackers and that's when you see good running back only having to juke one defender or break a tackle on the way to a significant gain.

What was also disconcerting and seemingly a new situation was the way Carolina's linemen pushed our offensive linemen backwards, and at times into the passing pocket, that allowed them to bat down numerous passes.

If the opposing linebackers were totally disregarding the pass and barreling into and past the line of scrimmage Coach Richt would light their ****s up with our tight ends freely roaming the intermediate passing zones.

Find a way to fix/improve the offensive line and instantly the haters will be stunned at how smart Coach Richt has suddenly become.

Perhaps you should rewatch the game. You're looking at the end result and assuming it's because the OL couldn't get any push against the DL. I just rewatched the first half and on every first and second down UNC had LBs peeking into the backfield, filling the running lanes, knocking linemen off their blocks. This is against an OL which I agree is already challenged in run blocking. It's not putting them in a position to succeed. And since we can't claim an extra offensive lineman off the waiver wire, it's not going to change until the roster turns over. They are who they are. They're not going to turn into the seven blocks of granite because we want it.

Knowing that, you can't keep doing the same things and expect different results. Every team on our schedule, even Bethune Cookman, has made us pay for LBs and safeties peeking into the backfield, we should be doing the same.

I would be happy to watch the game again. Please provide me with a link so that I may do so. Thanking you in advance!
 
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I think it’s the offensive mindset. If you’re asked to proset 90% of the time and never get in a aggressive stance the leverage goes to the defense.


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Maybe if he stopped running up the middle the running game can have a chance.
 
Maybe if he stopped running up the middle the running game can have a chance.

This was not up the middle and is not Felder's fault. 62 and 65 face planted in Chapel Hill.

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I can live with that call all day. Unfortunately, our OL **** the bed on that play. Holy ****, that was bad.
 
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