My take on the CB situation going forward.

[skyman]

View attachment 130295

This screenshot shows UAB's longest play from scrimmage. The corner in man to man coverage is none other than #23. Have we discussed this play at all since Thursday? If not, why? It led to UAB's second score which cut our lead to 3. I will give Couch credit for hustling and forcing a fumble which sadly was kicked out of bounds by Ivey, but it doesn't erase the fact that he got beat...BADLY. For the record, I actually do think Couch will ultimately be better than Ivey. Just pointing out that he might not be quite ready to start just yet.

UAB ran a great play design if I remember correctly and sent TC man in motion then hiked the ball and had double slants coming into him as a sort of pick/rub play.. Great play call and execution against man coverage.. Tip your hat

 

[Silver King]

I just still can't get over the Fake Punt - then he has that great game against Pitt; here's reminder from David Lake's articles last season.

Blake Baker: DJ Ivey never flinched BY DAVID LAKE Oct 31, 2019

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — There’s no denying that DJ Ivey had a bad game against Georgia Tech.

Ivey was beat on two explosive pass plays for touchdowns against the Yellow Jackets—with one of those plays coming on a 41-yard fake punt pass.But as bad as Ivey performed against Georgia Tech, he was equally as good the following week against Pittsburgh.Against Pitt, Ivey responded with two interceptions in the first half and both of those turnovers set the Miami offense up for ten easy points.

“With DJ, we saw a kid that did not panic from all the negativity that was surrounding him outside of these walls,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker said of Ivey’s performance at Pittsburgh. “For him to bounce back showed his maturation. He never flinched and had a great week of practice.”

Ivey now leads the team with two interceptions on the season.

“He went out there and trusted his technique and did what he was coached to do,” Baker said. “He played a great game and I was happy to see him bounce back.”

Manny Diaz explains what happened on the Georgia Tech fake punt By DAVID LAKE Oct 21, 2019

“We had seen that we had not covered the guy the way that we should on the first punt and we made that correction on the sideline. We told them that this is not enough and if you watched it, on one side of the field we covered the guy exactly like we should have and on the other side, we don’t.”

Sophomore cornerback D.J. Ivey was the player who was beat by Cottrell and was stationary for most of the play...Diaz says he takes full responsibility for the breakdown on that play.

“That goes onto me,” Diaz said. “I have to take responsibility for it, but yes that was a play that we were expecting a fake and we were in our fake defense and to give up a fake that ends up going for a touchdown, that is something that good teams can’t have. These are the details that are making the game come down to field goals, and this is where I take responsibility.”

Diaz believes that with player development and growth that the team can eliminate these type of mental errors moving forward.

“Our team is playing with effort and the guys are working hard,” Diaz said. “That is all true. The next step for us is the attention to detail. You have to keep developing the guys that you have and some of the problems you can fix with recruiting and some of the problems you just fix with age and you have to mature through some of these things.”

 

[TruCane81]

The crux of your takes are scorching hot. Like leave a burn mark on lava scorching hot.

Cameron Dantzler was a 3rd round draft pick for the Vikings AFTER he ran 4.65 at the combine and VJ’d 34.5 — that’s not explosive. And, “instincts” can certainly be taught…it‘s pattern recognition; some kids just need a better teacher, some kids figure it out on their own.

There’s another take: that DJ should’ve been redshirted, but because the position had been recruited so poorly, he was forced into the rotation because people wanted to see the next “Rolle” or “Rumph”, but he wasn’t ready — in terms of football IQ. This is why he’s lost, because the game hasn’t slowed down for him, yet. He’s lost; hoping he doesn’t make a mistake. He’s thinking, “just tackle him if he catches it” instead of being able to anticipate the QB or the WR move. Or bait/goad/steer them to do what he wants them to. That can be taught.

or maybe mine is just a take that can set fire to ****.

Ivey absolutely should have redshirted. He may have gotten better, or he may not. Regardless, what we do know is the recruiting misses and early departures have forced him on the field in a role he hasn’t been ready for.

If last cycle was any indication, it looks like we will at least make sure we sign numbers so that we can at guys for the long term instead of throwing them in the fire to cover missing out on the blue chip players.

I was hoping McCloud would improve with time, but he still looks lost and out of place. Ivey might be the same guy as a 5th year senior. Who knows, but not signing more guys with Bandy has hurt us in the secondary.

 

[TruCane81]

We wouldn’t be worried about tutu if we had just recruited the dam kid like we should have

A kid with speed like that, you tell him he can be offensive coordinator if that’s what it takes to sign him.

You think he feels cheated because Louisville switched him from qb to wr? Nope. Why? Because he is being used properly and eating.

If we turned him into a 1st Team All ACC player so young, he would have accepted the change here as well. That was not gonna happen in Richt and Enos’ offenses, though.

 

[TC@ne]

View attachment 130295

This screenshot shows UAB's longest play from scrimmage. The corner in man to man coverage is none other than #23. Have we discussed this play at all since Thursday? If not, why? It led to UAB's second score which cut our lead to 3. I will give Couch credit for hustling and forcing a fumble which sadly was kicked out of bounds by Ivey, but it doesn't erase the fact that he got beat...BADLY. For the record, I actually do think Couch will ultimately be better than Ivey. Just pointing out that he might not be quite ready to start just yet.

He for sure got beat, but I’d rather him go through the growing pains in game 1 of sophomore year versus later in the season and/or junior year.

Through this habit of needing to play seniority over talent, Diaz has created a situation where players take their lumps in critical situations instead of allowing them to take live bullets earlier. It’s a chronic cycle that prevents growth of the younger guys on the roster.

I also feel that the result of this is that our players get drafted lower on defense because they have some bad tape in their junior/senior year as opposed to freshman/sophomore year where they can show improvement as upperclassmen.

But that’s a whole ‘nother conversation lol.

 

[AlexCane]

He's become a whipping post on this board. I dunno, I too was frustrated with his play last Saturday, but I still think it's a tad too early to demote him. He has skills and length. On that play where he gave up the TD, he was there. He just didn't turn around. I don't know if that's a mental lapse or just bad ball instincts/awareness, but let's see what the rest of the season brings. He is a willing tackler.

He played a lot of snaps from my recollection; it just always seems with him that there is a WTF moment. I'm hoping w/ more reps and game time that he minimizes the miscues because I think he can play. But he's a junior so time is ticking.

 

[Moonman]

He's become a whipping post on this board. I dunno, I too was frustrated with his play last Saturday, but I still think it's a tad too early to demote him. He has skills and length. On that play where he gave up the TD, he was there. He just didn't turn around. I don't know if that's a mental lapse or just bad ball instincts/awareness, but let's see what the rest of the season brings. He is a willing tackler.

He played a lot of snaps from my recollection; it just always seems with him that there is a WTF moment. I'm hoping w/ more reps and game time that he minimizes the miscues because I think he can play. But he's a junior so time is ticking.

There's always one. I remember when that guy was Mo Sikes. Dude was an all-conference safety on a top 5 defense...but there's always that one guy who for whatever reason our fans just focus on.