Reset offensive expectations just a bit...

[GonzoCane]

Posters on here who studied Enos' prior offenses (specifically at ARK) all indicated that this offense will have some bumps early on and likely really begin to bear fruit midway through this season. That's always been my expectation and remains the case. Perspective is a rare thing around these parts tho

You would expect some modicum of improvement over time with an offense and especially an intact OLine that gets starts together. My worry is, around about the time that they start to gel, those freshman tackles may hit a wall. After all, we’re talking about a collision sport where you are asking an 18 and 19 year old to repeatedly ram heads with older dlineman. It’s not exactly like installing software, unless you repeatedly drop it on the floor and step on it, and then attempt to install it and have it run correctly. We need all our Jimmies and Joes to develop depth, recruit like ****, and Enos to earn his pay- scheme and adjusting the fly to make this work- he’s got some talent on that side of the ball.

 

[Swampcity]

Let me reset some expectations for everyone considering 1) what we just saw on the field and (mainly) 2) the type of offense we're running. This is gonna **** some of y'all off, but whatever.

The type of offense we're running is built on high execution. It gets better and more effective with more live reps, more experience across the board. We just installed it in the Spring up thru game prep for the gator. Those aren't excuses, those are facts.

Think of it as installing software - you don't get to use the full version until it's fully installed on your machine, and if it's a brand new software to you - some of the simpler commands probably come easily, but to become a power user with it takes time...because you're learning it and becoming faster/more familiar with how you work within it. Sure - some simpler programs are more easy to learn out of the box, but they're limited in what they can do and how much they can help you get the job done.

We are still in the process of getting everyone, all 11 guys, on the same page on each play within the offense. Enos' offense will pay dividends because of all of the motion and concepts to scheme guys open - but it won't happen overnight - especially with a mostly green OL and a talented but inexperienced QB. We took what we had so far that wasn't even clicking on all cylinders and had opportunities to beat a top 10 team first game out. We saw glimpses of greatness from Jarren when we gave him time. We had some plays where we executed at a very high level and the result was a big play. As we allow these guys to grow within the offense, we will see the frequency of great plays go up.

WE AS FANS HAVE TO BE PATIENT...this offensive system with our guys getting experienced and executing at a high level WILL be worth it. If you look at the schedule, the next 4 games pretty much are opportunities for us to really start to click within this offense - we should beat UNC, B-C, CMU, and VT. By the time we get UVA at home, barring any major setbacks, we ought to be clicking pretty well within most of this offense.

Now - some of you will say "this patience/execution BS is what Richt sold us" - and I agree. The difference is Richt's offense didn't do us any favors against better teams, even when we executed well. We still had guys that had to make great individual plays to make anything happen. Enos' offense takes time to learn, BUT when it is executed well, we will see guys be "high school open" (shout out to @Roman Marciante for that observation on OBB). When the experience and execution start catching up for the OL/Jarren, expect big things - it's gonna be FUN TO WATCH. Until then, we have to be patient and let everything come together

.

man this is a bunch of goobledee-****

 

[ThomasM]

No plays can be executed when your QB is on his back. That’s my point..you use your TEs to stay in and block, now your taking 2 live threats out of the play..running 3 man route concepts is easy to defend..those Tackles need to play better. Coach can’t save you all the time.

That's why it's up to the staff to decide WHEN to use the TEs to block. Simply giving NO help, having your QB turn his back to pressure, is a horrible idea when your tackles are severely outmatched. It's fine if you have Bryant McKinnie out there, but we do not. When something is not working, you change it. You do not keep doing it over and over, expecting a different result.

I am not saying use your TEs as extra O-linemen the entire game, just to use them MORE to help the tackles. Also, I remember a time when TEs would block a DE, release, then be wide *** open, so don't act like just because they help with the DE they are completely taken out of the equation.

 

[404Usernamenotfound]

We allowed 10 sacks

Yes, but please remember to consider the following

1 - this is the best d line we will play, and they were fully healthy/rested as it was the first game of the year
2 - this was, in theory, the absolute least experienced O-line we could possibly play this year. Logic tells me they will get better with reps
3 - Jarren held the ball way too long in many instances. Likely because he was told to take the sack before throwing an contested ball that could lead to a turnover

When considering the above, I don’t think the 10 sacks was the worst possible outcome. I would have preferred it over 5 sacks and 1 or 2 interceptions. Jarren will get better at throwing the ball away and the o-line will get better with practice.

I think the tough loss will serve this young team better in the long term from a growth perspective to be honest.

 

[305to954]

That's why it's up to the staff to decide WHEN to use the TEs to block. Simply giving NO help, having your QB turn his back to pressure, is a horrible idea when your tackles are severely outmatched. It's fine if you have Bryant McKinnie out there, but we do not. When something is not working, you change it. You do not keep doing it over and over, expecting a different result.

I am not saying use your TEs as extra O-linemen the entire game, just to use them MORE to help the tackles. Also, I remember a time when TEs would block a DE, release, then be wide *** open, so don't act like just because they help with the DE they are completely taken out of the equation.

Yea but funny thing is..we did use TEs to chip..but you can’t depend on that game is what I’m saying..that takes a weapon off the field..the pressure was coming from both sides also

 

[BeastMode]

Let me reset some expectations for everyone considering 1) what we just saw on the field and (mainly) 2) the type of offense we're running. This is gonna **** some of y'all off, but whatever.

The type of offense we're running is built on high execution. It gets better and more effective with more live reps, more experience across the board. We just installed it in the Spring up thru game prep for the gator. Those aren't excuses, those are facts.

Think of it as installing software - you don't get to use the full version until it's fully installed on your machine, and if it's a brand new software to you - some of the simpler commands probably come easily, but to become a power user with it takes time...because you're learning it and becoming faster/more familiar with how you work within it. Sure - some simpler programs are more easy to learn out of the box, but they're limited in what they can do and how much they can help you get the job done.

We are still in the process of getting everyone, all 11 guys, on the same page on each play within the offense. Enos' offense will pay dividends because of all of the motion and concepts to scheme guys open - but it won't happen overnight - especially with a mostly green OL and a talented but inexperienced QB. We took what we had so far that wasn't even clicking on all cylinders and had opportunities to beat a top 10 team first game out. We saw glimpses of greatness from Jarren when we gave him time. We had some plays where we executed at a very high level and the result was a big play. As we allow these guys to grow within the offense, we will see the frequency of great plays go up.

WE AS FANS HAVE TO BE PATIENT...this offensive system with our guys getting experienced and executing at a high level WILL be worth it. If you look at the schedule, the next 4 games pretty much are opportunities for us to really start to click within this offense - we should beat UNC, B-C, CMU, and VT. By the time we get UVA at home, barring any major setbacks, we ought to be clicking pretty well within most of this offense.

Now - some of you will say "this patience/execution BS is what Richt sold us" - and I agree. The difference is Richt's offense didn't do us any favors against better teams, even when we executed well. We still had guys that had to make great individual plays to make anything happen. Enos' offense takes time to learn, BUT when it is executed well, we will see guys be "high school open" (shout out to @Roman Marciante for that observation on OBB). When the experience and execution start catching up for the OL/Jarren, expect big things - it's gonna be FUN TO WATCH. Until then, we have to be patient and let everything come together.

We scored 20 on the gaytors and should have had more. I think we score 30pts or more most games this year

 

[MiaCane01]

We allowed 10 sacks

That's fixable with teaching the qb to get rid of the ball and playcalling.

 

[BeastMode]

Yes, but please remember to consider the following

1 - this is the best d line we will play, and they were fully healthy/rested as it was the first game of the year
2 - this was, in theory, the absolute least experienced O-line we could possibly play this year. Logic tells me they will get better with reps
3 - Jarren held the ball way too long in many instances. Likely because he was told to take the sack before throwing an contested ball that could lead to a turnover

When considering the above, I don’t think the 10 sacks was the worst possible outcome. I would have preferred it over 5 sacks and 1 or 2 interceptions. Jarren will get better at throwing the ball away and the o-line will get better with practice.

I think the tough loss will serve this young team better in the long term from a growth perspective to be honest.

We will be alright. Lots of things in tape for them to study and if Jarren keeps learning, even with a bad line our sack numbers drastically go down. We get 2 weeks to prepare for UNC, then two easier games before we get Va Tech and Virginia at home. We are just fine.

Now if we lose to UNC.....I will have nothing more to say the rest of the year because that would be an utter disaster.

 

[Salt]

We allowed 10 sacks

how many were because of Jarren not getting rid of the ball sooner? I think once he gets the internal clock down it will limit sacks. He seems to do ok still under pressure with his accuracy. He'll be fine.

 

[rok]

how many were because of Jarren not getting rid of the ball sooner? I think once he gets the internal clock down it will limit sacks. He seems to do ok still under pressure with his accuracy. He'll be fine.

Seeing him step up in the pocket and deliver throws with confidence was refreshing.

I guess the mental clock will improve but that needs to happen exponentially.

 

[twes.305]

We allowed 10 sacks

So if UM allows like 2 sacks next game, will u stop *****ing.

 

[[]_[] swag]

go back and look and Dan Enos first year at Arkansas in 2015. Offense was worse than ours for the first half of their season, but was humming by November. I expect something similar, especially with the youth on offense.

 

[Bird4um]

That's 5 weeks before Vatech game...... A lot of time to improve

 

[RaiseCane]

I think the general point of OP is fair. As frustrating as it is to watch our offense really struggle as the game went on, the reality is that no matter how much we practiced our offense in spring, summer and fall, it's a very different experience to try and execute it in a game situation, against a good, talented defense, especially with the youth we have all over the team. I would absolutely expect to see significant improvement as the season goes on, as Jarren gets more comfortable and the offense gets more game and practice reps, and as Enos gets more of an understanding of what we are able to execute well in a game setting. There were definitely some really exciting and positive plays throughout the game, and I do trust Enos to be able to figure out what worked and try and fix what didn't.

That being said, the things that do concern me are:

- Development of OL and how quickly those guys are able to improve, and how their rate of improvement impacts Jarren and his development/confidence

- Outlets/easy reads in the offense - we heard a lot about how this offense provides the QB with options/reads for each situation/defense it faces. Obviously that is still limited if our OL gets blown up immediately, but there were plays Jarren initially had time and didn't have anyone or seem to have anyone. Given the current weakness of the OL, it seemed like having some easier outlet passes to the RBs or TEs would have been beneficial.

- Player use/substitution - As others have discussed, seeing Martell play so much at WR was baffling, given the talent we seem to have at WR. Harley apparently had a great camp and he had one catch. JT obviously had the drop on the TD, but still wasn't targeted that much. Also, given how good our RBs are, seeing a guy like Cam Harris only getting 6 carries, and only 2 catches for 4 yards seems like not nearly enough touches for our RBs. DJ was great on Saturday night, and honestly, i would have liked to see us use him even more as the game wore on. The wildcat worked each time we used it, passing to him was successful, I think he's a guy we should have gotten the ball to even more.

- Buying into "potential" - this really isn't the fault of Manny or Enos, and the situation seems to be different, but after all these years of hearing about potential of our guys, improvement as the year goes on, learning the system, etc., it's just hard to "trust the process" at this point. I want to believe, I saw reasons to believe, but the years of disappointment of expecting and hoping for improvement and development make it harder to believe this time.

 

[BWCD]

I believe it was the early century philosopher and c0cksmith Larry Coker who said “your expectations are out of kilter.”

Trust me...I was around during the Coker apologist era. That's not at all what I'm trying to do with my post here. I think after one game, we need to readjust a little and take things into context.

If our issues stretch on into later in the season with zero to only marginal improvements, you'll see my patience wear as thin as anyone else's will (and should, at that point). Problem is - there's a group of people jumping to bury Manny/Enos/Barry/Jarren/the OL/etc...all in the name of claiming they were right and saying "I told you so" just in case things don't get better later on in the season...which they should, when looking at it reasonably.

 

[BWCD]

I think the general point of OP is fair. As frustrating as it is to watch our offense really struggle as the game went on, the reality is that no matter how much we practiced our offense in spring, summer and fall, it's a very different experience to try and execute it in a game situation, against a good, talented defense, especially with the youth we have all over the team. I would absolutely expect to see significant improvement as the season goes on, as Jarren gets more comfortable and the offense gets more game and practice reps, and as Enos gets more of an understanding of what we are able to execute well in a game setting. There were definitely some really exciting and positive plays throughout the game, and I do trust Enos to be able to figure out what worked and try and fix what didn't.

That being said, the things that do concern me are:

- Development of OL and how quickly those guys are able to improve, and how their rate of improvement impacts Jarren and his development/confidence

- Outlets/easy reads in the offense - we heard a lot about how this offense provides the QB with options/reads for each situation/defense it faces. Obviously that is still limited if our OL gets blown up immediately, but there were plays Jarren initially had time and didn't have anyone or seem to have anyone. Given the current weakness of the OL, it seemed like having some easier outlet passes to the RBs or TEs would have been beneficial.

- Player use/substitution - As others have discussed, seeing Martell play so much at WR was baffling, given the talent we seem to have at WR. Harley apparently had a great camp and he had one catch. JT obviously had the drop on the TD, but still wasn't targeted that much. Also, given how good our RBs are, seeing a guy like Cam Harris only getting 6 carries, and only 2 catches for 4 yards seems like not nearly enough touches for our RBs. DJ was great on Saturday night, and honestly, i would have liked to see us use him even more as the game wore on. The wildcat worked each time we used it, passing to him was successful, I think he's a guy we should have gotten the ball to even more.

- Buying into "potential" - this really isn't the fault of Manny or Enos, and the situation seems to be different, but after all these years of hearing about potential of our guys, improvement as the year goes on, learning the system, etc., it's just hard to "trust the process" at this point. I want to believe, I saw reasons to believe, but the years of disappointment of expecting and hoping for improvement and development make it harder to believe this time.

All extremely reasonable points and I agree with most. Good post.

The only nuance I'll give is that it's a give and take on your 2nd point. Our OL wasn't getting it done, so we did more max protect keeping TEs/RBs in to block, and we still couldn't keep Jarren on his feet. Having them go out as straight up outlets wouldn't have really mattered. UF was pretty much either blitzing the run so we couldn't establish that, and if it so happened to be a pass - they were nailing Jarren anyways. It was a good gameplan by Grantham. If we could have busted a few runs against those blitzes out of traditional sets (not the Wildcat), then maybe the math changes a little bit on how much they blitzed and life would have become easier for Enos/Jarren/the OL...but it didn't.

I too was shocked at how much we used Martell at WR. Hopefully that substitution pattern gets skewed differently going forward. Guys like Pope, Payton, Hightower, and even Wiggins should be getting more reps since it's their natural position. I also think the nature of the game down the stretch affected how many touches we gave the RBs.

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

No offense can work without good play at the oline. You can scheme to help moderate talent. But there’s no scheme you can implement for a whole that can help what happened last night. As a play caller you never want to have to account for a oline who can’t protect. If you do then you cut your available plays in half

Remember how it was observed that Richt's offense did not do the OL any favors with predictable snap counts and routes that took forever to develop? I don't think any disagrees with the assessment.

Enos put his OL in a position to fail by continuing to go playaction when UF wasn't biting. And when UF showed it had no answer for the Wildcat and DJ had the hot hand (to use a basketball term), why stop? The OL was finally getting push.

It was a bad debut for Enos and I think it's legit to be concerned about his ability to adjust on the fly. I'm also worried that he has an old school "50/50 run pass balance is key to victory" mentality vs a "I will run the same play over and over again until you stop it" mentality.