Canegrad89
Recruit
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2017
- Messages
- 1,149
Good win vs a decent Pitt team (with a great QB). This team is showing some fight. In the past, our Canes didn't always fare well against physical teams (especially in cooler weather). TVD showed real leadership and fight and his teammates are responding and playing well for him. NC State & Pitt may not be Alabama but these are back-to-back "quality wins" for the program which is important for recruiting and the overall direction of the program.
Positives:
TVD has grown substantially over the last few games. He's a leader and a fierce competitor but what I like the most are his decision making and vision. The offense is really clicking because of that. He seems to have the arm to make pretty much any throw and his accuracy is improving. Had Rambo caught that one deep ball in the second half, he would have had close to 500 yards. Not bad at all.
Rambo, Key'Shawn Smith, Restrepo & Arroyo: Rambo is continuing to provide a real outside threat. If he can just improve his concentration & consistency a little, he would be an even more dangerous WR. He's having a very good season overall though. Big fan of Key and expect to him continue to grow & step up. Hard worker & fights for the ball. Love what he brings to the table. Restrepo has that dawg in him. Fierce competitor & reliable. Should get at least 5 targets a game. He's all Cane. Big fan. Arroyo should be special for us. Not often you see a TE average around 20 ypc. Feed the man the d@mn ball! Also a good blocker & consistent pass catcher. Has all the makings of the next great one at TE U.
Knighton: The combo of Knighton & TVD has completely energized this offense. On Knighton's 40 yard TD run, we ACTUALLY HAD A PLAY WIN BY DESIGN!!! Nice blocking on the right side by Scaife & Clark and that gave Knighton the seam he needed to explode through. Please please design some more blocking schemes so that Knighton gets some bigger holes to run through (instead of just forcing him to out-athlete the opponent). That play was a perfect case study for how more of our running plays should be designed. This offense would be lethal if we had a fierce running game in addition to the passing game (which is clearly clicking already).
James Williams & Kinchens: while they've both made some mistakes, I love their competitive spirit and the way they play the game. That's some old school Cane attitude they bring to the table. Leonard Taylor is flashing too. Williams is a playmaker and his INT pretty much sealed the victory. Huge fan.
Zach McLeod: say what?? Zach was our most consistent pass rushing threat on the DL. He may not be Rusty Medearis or Jerome McDougle but he had a good game applying pressure against Pitt. Deserves props for his effort. We badly need to recruit elite pass rushing talent on the DL and in the interim others needs to step up. Harvey and DeAndre need to step up. I'd also like to see guys like Ford & Miller produce more.
Heds: always. Great punter.
Negatives:
Special teams (other than Heds & Borregales): especially covering kicks. THIS WILL BITE US IN THE @SS AGAINST FSU IF IT'S NOT FIXED SOON. FSU has a very physical returner. They may not be good at much but that guy will cost us the game, if we don't put some serious effort into improving our kick coverage teams. JP is likely the worst ST coach we've had the last 30 years. The same tackling woes we've had on D are even worse on ST. Review the entire roster and get the right guys on ST against FSU. Got to have sure tacklers on ST. If not, we will lose that game.
Dumb Penalties: we had some really dumb penalties in key spots against Pitt that could have easily cost us the game. Got to continue changing the culture of the program and have serious consequences for dumb penalties. If someone is playing hard & is a fraction of a second late on a hit, we can all accept that. It's the ego-driven head butts & dumb stuff like that should be completely unacceptable. There have to be serious consequences for dumb penalties & the program has to continue to work hard to eliminate them.
LBs: Please put three athletes at the position that can run & tackle and BE VISIBLE ON EVERY DEFENSIVE PLAY. All they have to do is stay in the field of play, shed or avoid blocks, run fast & make sure tackles. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so. Review the entire roster and find three guys who can do that. I'm 100% sure we have at least 2-3 currently that would meet the criteria. Why aren't they playing? Please forget the playbook. Our LBs are rarely in position and aren't consistently making tackles. Over & over the middle of the field is just completely vacant. Hard to fathom from the school that brought you Ray Lewis, Michael Barrow, Nate Webster, Dan Morgan and many other greats. Can we get our best LB athletes (can run FAST, shed blocks & make sure tackles) in designated zones on the field and have them SEE BALL, GET BALL. Opponents are racking up massive yardage because the MIDDLE OF THE FIELD IS ROUTINELY COMPLETELY VACANT. Forget all the fancy schemes -- WHICH ARE NOT WORKING AT ALL -- and get some athletes out there that can cover ground & make sure tackles.
Playcalling in the Second Half: we scored 31 in the first half and 7 in the second half. A key Rambo drop in the second half contributed to that but I think we became overly conservative in the second half. Keep the pedal to the metal if it's working.
Overall, a good road win against a solid opponent. Their QB played a heck of a game.
Your thoughts?
Positives:
TVD has grown substantially over the last few games. He's a leader and a fierce competitor but what I like the most are his decision making and vision. The offense is really clicking because of that. He seems to have the arm to make pretty much any throw and his accuracy is improving. Had Rambo caught that one deep ball in the second half, he would have had close to 500 yards. Not bad at all.
Rambo, Key'Shawn Smith, Restrepo & Arroyo: Rambo is continuing to provide a real outside threat. If he can just improve his concentration & consistency a little, he would be an even more dangerous WR. He's having a very good season overall though. Big fan of Key and expect to him continue to grow & step up. Hard worker & fights for the ball. Love what he brings to the table. Restrepo has that dawg in him. Fierce competitor & reliable. Should get at least 5 targets a game. He's all Cane. Big fan. Arroyo should be special for us. Not often you see a TE average around 20 ypc. Feed the man the d@mn ball! Also a good blocker & consistent pass catcher. Has all the makings of the next great one at TE U.
Knighton: The combo of Knighton & TVD has completely energized this offense. On Knighton's 40 yard TD run, we ACTUALLY HAD A PLAY WIN BY DESIGN!!! Nice blocking on the right side by Scaife & Clark and that gave Knighton the seam he needed to explode through. Please please design some more blocking schemes so that Knighton gets some bigger holes to run through (instead of just forcing him to out-athlete the opponent). That play was a perfect case study for how more of our running plays should be designed. This offense would be lethal if we had a fierce running game in addition to the passing game (which is clearly clicking already).
James Williams & Kinchens: while they've both made some mistakes, I love their competitive spirit and the way they play the game. That's some old school Cane attitude they bring to the table. Leonard Taylor is flashing too. Williams is a playmaker and his INT pretty much sealed the victory. Huge fan.
Zach McLeod: say what?? Zach was our most consistent pass rushing threat on the DL. He may not be Rusty Medearis or Jerome McDougle but he had a good game applying pressure against Pitt. Deserves props for his effort. We badly need to recruit elite pass rushing talent on the DL and in the interim others needs to step up. Harvey and DeAndre need to step up. I'd also like to see guys like Ford & Miller produce more.
Heds: always. Great punter.
Negatives:
Special teams (other than Heds & Borregales): especially covering kicks. THIS WILL BITE US IN THE @SS AGAINST FSU IF IT'S NOT FIXED SOON. FSU has a very physical returner. They may not be good at much but that guy will cost us the game, if we don't put some serious effort into improving our kick coverage teams. JP is likely the worst ST coach we've had the last 30 years. The same tackling woes we've had on D are even worse on ST. Review the entire roster and get the right guys on ST against FSU. Got to have sure tacklers on ST. If not, we will lose that game.
Dumb Penalties: we had some really dumb penalties in key spots against Pitt that could have easily cost us the game. Got to continue changing the culture of the program and have serious consequences for dumb penalties. If someone is playing hard & is a fraction of a second late on a hit, we can all accept that. It's the ego-driven head butts & dumb stuff like that should be completely unacceptable. There have to be serious consequences for dumb penalties & the program has to continue to work hard to eliminate them.
LBs: Please put three athletes at the position that can run & tackle and BE VISIBLE ON EVERY DEFENSIVE PLAY. All they have to do is stay in the field of play, shed or avoid blocks, run fast & make sure tackles. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so. Review the entire roster and find three guys who can do that. I'm 100% sure we have at least 2-3 currently that would meet the criteria. Why aren't they playing? Please forget the playbook. Our LBs are rarely in position and aren't consistently making tackles. Over & over the middle of the field is just completely vacant. Hard to fathom from the school that brought you Ray Lewis, Michael Barrow, Nate Webster, Dan Morgan and many other greats. Can we get our best LB athletes (can run FAST, shed blocks & make sure tackles) in designated zones on the field and have them SEE BALL, GET BALL. Opponents are racking up massive yardage because the MIDDLE OF THE FIELD IS ROUTINELY COMPLETELY VACANT. Forget all the fancy schemes -- WHICH ARE NOT WORKING AT ALL -- and get some athletes out there that can cover ground & make sure tackles.
Playcalling in the Second Half: we scored 31 in the first half and 7 in the second half. A key Rambo drop in the second half contributed to that but I think we became overly conservative in the second half. Keep the pedal to the metal if it's working.
Overall, a good road win against a solid opponent. Their QB played a heck of a game.
Your thoughts?
