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More thoughts on the game

ThomasM said:
My concern is what's going to happen when we get into ACC play and they make King beat us with his arm? That short stuff is going to dry up in a hurry if he can't hit anything down the field. We will not be rushing for 300+ when DCs figure out King is struggling to throw down the field. Welcome to the end of 2017.
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UAB's D is better then some ACC D's we will be seeing. Certainly better them Louisville on D next week. I expect a shootout.
 
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DMoney said:
- It's a good thing the game was on ACC Network. Both teams played hard, but it had the feel of a preseason game. That should be expected given the circumstances.

- Salute to Manny, Frenk and the players for pulling it off. First P5 game in a pandemic, fans in the stands, no positive tests. Many of us thought this day would not come.

- I'm a little surprised by the negativity on here. No, we aren't ready to go Charlotte right now, and Louisville will be a big test. But our last game was a shutout loss to Louisiana Tech. We scored 31 and covered against a decent defense. We also played a very clean game penalty-wise (3/30) and tackling-wise, which reflects coaching.

- King is a real QB. He wasn't clicking on all cylinders, and he missed a couple gimmes. But his true dual threat ability (extending his NCAA-record run/pass TD streak) and ability to respond to adversity are two things we haven't had in forever.

- The OL made King work too hard. UAB does not have a bad pass rush (29th in sack rate last year) but there are better DLs on the schedule.

- Like we mentioned on the training camp podcasts, the defining feature of this offense will be explosive runs. We have three backs with gamebreaking speed and they all make an impact. We don't have the 4-6 yard workhorse, but any big run can be a house call. The pace plays up that advantage. We outrushed a run-based team 337-80.

- Still lacking a go-to WR. The group was underwhelming. I would pull Pope on PR. He can stay on KR, but I want a smart player at PR. Osborn, Dallas and Berrios were all smart and they are all in the NFL. Give me Restrepo.

- The DL looks like it should look. UAB couldn't run and their passing game was limited by Miami's pass rush. There was only one sack, but UAB's playbook was severely limited by their inability to drop back and throw. They punted 11 times.

- The LBs played fine but will be tested by a more dynamic Louisville running game. We will miss Shaq. It would be nice to see more Sam Brooks. His speed flashes every time he plays.

- Disappointing to see DJ Ivey continue to struggle playing the ball. He needs to make sure his confident doesn't sag like last year, or he could lose his spot to Couch. Overall, though, there is too much negativity on the secondary. UAB only passed for 5.9 yards per attempt, which is a Top 5 defensive number nationally over the course of a season. Better teams will have more success, and UAB left plays on the field, but overall I expect the secondary to play at its usual level under Manny.

- Special teams looked much improved. Borregales has a leg and the punting game was awesome.
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Eye wanted two give you the new finger emoji sew bad butt aye agree with allmoist everything ewe said.
 
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My thoughts...

I am not as down as everyone else on this game. I'm not sure what you all expected, but UAB is a solid, very well coached, workmanlike team that already had a game under their belts. I expected an easy cover, but not without bumps in the road.

I said this in another thread, if you've ever read my posts before and remember some of the **** I pound the table for...running the football in volume has been one of my tentpole issues for this team for years under multiple head coaches. We ran the ball 52 times. I don't think we've run 52 times in a football game since the forward pass was invented (seriously, someone look it up...its the most we've had in at least 30 years). This should be the strength of the offense. We've got three stallions in the backfield. Work that inside zone until your eyes bleed. Garin Justice OL have traditionally been very good run blockers and I thought the unit played well in the run game this week. Jarrid Williams and DJ Scaife on the right side will be a problem for many teams. I thought Campbell on the left side did well sealing his side and getting backs free for big runs, too.

The passing game will come around, but don't expect a big explosive passing game. Our WRs are pretty jaggy right now. Still very inconsistent in their route running and discipline. They will get tons of opportunities, but they need to tighten up. The group should be working with King night and day on the practice field just getting reps in together. Nothing was shocking here, if you look up some of my posts early in the off-season, I had this unit pretty dead to rights on what to expect. As the season goes on, I expect King to tighten up on his ball placement into windows. I think Jordan's stock goes up the more players like Harley and Pope fail to rise to the occasion. King will just keep looking for Jordan between the numbers.

OL needs reps and coaching in the pass game. King has to create too much magic for a team going against UAB.

Defensively, the DL is going to be a problem for everyone. Jaelen Phillips and Quincy Roche will constantly get pressure. I thought Nesta Silvera flashed some real nice football and hope we get more out of him when we play ACC competition.

Linebackers and cornerbacks seemed pretty jaggy in this game. Safeties are going to be asked to do a lot.

Kicking game is fixed. Very happy with what we've got going there.
 
DMoney said:
I would like to see guys like Restrepo and Huff displace the walk-ons ahead of them. But we are going to be rotating a lot this year, more than usual. So a lot of players (hopefully scholarship-caliber guys) will be playing.
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Sorry but guys like few and ragone should not be in the game over brooks, huff, steed, restrepo, smith, redding
 
Jedi Master Cane said:
I'm perplexed by two things:

- How do we NOT have something on the roster better than Ivey?
- Why is Carter playing over Bolden?

Other than that...I'm not going to overreact yet. I think the UL game will give us a much clearer picture of who and what we are.
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Banda and Rumph says hold my beer
 
bshaw28 said:
Did we look better than when we put up 17 on Central Michigan in 2019? Yes, definitely.

Did we look better than when we put up 49 on Toledo in 2018? No

The disappointment on the board is everyone was expecting a lot from the new offense to begin with. Then the practice & scrimmage reports came out and people started REALLY buying into the hype. So it's just one game, and there were positives, but it was definitely underwhelming.

King is a stud with his ability to make plays with feet. But not hitting any plays downfield was concerning.

I don't buy that we we were holding anything back on offense. We took some *****, we just missed. Badly. We're in trouble if that continues.
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I haven't gone back and rewatched, but it felt like 70 of our 78 plays were one of five playcalls. I think this was intentional. I know Lashlee installed a simple offense, but I doubt it was that simple, especially from someone known for trick plays. I guess we'll find out next week if he was holding back, but I believe he was.
 
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OFFENSE:
- Much better tempo and like the concepts overall. Need to refine and let it gel.
- WRs were underwhelming. Need to predicate the passing game on Brevin - not Harley.
- Love the RBs. Lash needs to get them incorporated into the passing game.
- OL was decent. Like the Tackles but not impressed with the interior.

DEFENSE:
- Like the DL. Need more from Roche though. We will miss Rousseau.
- Ford underwhelmed. I so desperately want him to be a dominator given his size. Think he'll be the 2020 version of Pat Bethel - steady but not spectacular.
- Need changes at LB. McCloud and Jennings are slow MLBs who should be used for run heavy opponents. Need faster LBs out there.
- Like the Safeties and Strikers. Corners.... Blades did well and I will leave it at that.
 
McCloud was running around just to be running around. Surprised by that.... Early on you are going to play guys that will be in the right place (Ragone- I got laughed at when I mentioned it earlier in the week) and then talent will overtake as the season progresses i.e. the trust factor

The best guys will end up on the field
 
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DMoney said:
- It's a good thing the game was on ACC Network. Both teams played hard, but it had the feel of a preseason game. That should be expected given the circumstances.

- Salute to Manny, Frenk and the players for pulling it off. First P5 game in a pandemic, fans in the stands, no positive tests. Many of us thought this day would not come.

- I'm a little surprised by the negativity on here. No, we aren't ready to go Charlotte right now, and Louisville will be a big test. But our last game was a shutout loss to Louisiana Tech. We scored 31 and covered against a decent defense. We also played a very clean game penalty-wise (3/30) and tackling-wise, which reflects coaching.

- King is a real QB. He wasn't clicking on all cylinders, and he missed a couple gimmes. But his true dual threat ability (extending his NCAA-record run/pass TD streak) and ability to respond to adversity are two things we haven't had in forever.

- The OL made King work too hard. UAB does not have a bad pass rush (29th in sack rate last year) but there are better DLs on the schedule.

- Like we mentioned on the training camp podcasts, the defining feature of this offense will be explosive runs. We have three backs with gamebreaking speed and they all make an impact. We don't have the 4-6 yard workhorse, but any big run can be a house call. The pace plays up that advantage. We outrushed a run-based team 337-80.

- Still lacking a go-to WR. The group was underwhelming. I would pull Pope on PR. He can stay on KR, but I want a smart player at PR. Osborn, Dallas and Berrios were all smart and they are all in the NFL. Give me Restrepo.

- The DL looks like it should look. UAB couldn't run and their passing game was limited by Miami's pass rush. There was only one sack, but UAB's playbook was severely limited by their inability to drop back and throw. They punted 11 times.

- The LBs played fine but will be tested by a more dynamic Louisville running game. We will miss Shaq. It would be nice to see more Sam Brooks. His speed flashes every time he plays.

- Disappointing to see DJ Ivey continue to struggle playing the ball. He needs to make sure his confident doesn't sag like last year, or he could lose his spot to Couch. Overall, though, there is too much negativity on the secondary. UAB only passed for 5.9 yards per attempt, which is a Top 5 defensive number nationally over the course of a season. Better teams will have more success, and UAB left plays on the field, but overall I expect the secondary to play at its usual level under Manny.

- Special teams looked much improved. Borregales has a leg and the punting game was awesome.
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The OL wasnt that bad. some of them rushes were based on Kings decisions.

On the one big run Jennings was held.

our wr's are trash. we need payton and another young kid to step up ASAP. you dont win big with kids like harley and pope.

Ivy-see harley and pope

Side note, i was really happy with what i saw from brooks, nesta, and BJ.

i was told rhett held back for L-ville and that they pulled their foot off once they turned it on and felt lead was safe to avoid injuries. I was also told Likens is very unhappy with WR play
 
Canesmia01 said:
Confused how Manny critiqued 4th quarter play when his OC called nothing but draw plays the whole quarter. Either way that did not align with running up the score like Manny promised he’d bring to us two years ago.
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If you're going to give a man a job to do - you have to give him the freedom to do that job - and the authority to do that job.

Running up the score wasn't an objective last night. To the man with the authority to run up the score.
 
nycane said:
The OL wasnt that bad. some of them rushes were based on Kings decisions.

On the one big run Jennings was held.

our wr's are trash. we need payton and another young kid to step up ASAP. you dont win big with kids like harley and pope.

Ivy-see harley and pope

Side note, i was really happy with what i saw from brooks, nesta, and BJ.

i was told rhett held back for L-ville and that they pulled their foot off once they turned it on and felt lead was safe to avoid injuries. I was also told Likens is very unhappy with WR play
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Interesting, I'm curious what Liken's may change (if he can) for week 2.
 
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I don’t see very many positives from that game. Hopefully we improve, dramatically, but if not, most ACC games will be dog fights.

Offense
We have talented RBs, but our oline isn’t great. Our overall run game stats look good, but our run game success rate was awful. We had 5 carries for 180 yards and then 47 carries for 157 yards.

I knew we’d be screwed if we were all talking up the all-to-familiar “vanilla” excuse after the game, but I have to believe that’s what we were doing. Because if our offensive game plan is to run straight into the defense over and over again, we won’t even win 5 games.

Defense
DLine is solid. The QB was getting rid of the ball really fast.

but linebacker and secondary? Meh. We didn’t look very fast or physical.

Our scheme was also meh. So many running lanes and receivers wide open. Must improve, and quickly.
 
I’m just going to enjoy this season man. We aren’t a championship caliber team, no ****

But you gotta be the ultimate doom and gloom guy to say that the offense didn’t look much improved last night (not hard to do, I know)

Get to 9-10 wins, any way possible. That’s all I care about
 
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