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So, in order for us to survive deep into the CFP we have 2 things that must be fixed...

Heatherman needs to cut out the blitzing from the secondary. It’s so obvious that Norvell had Daniel’s ready to hit the open area behind our blitz every time. Toure is a beast at blitzing and yet we’re dropping him to play safety on one of their huge gains. Literally could’ve just sat in cover 2 all game and we would’ve been a lot more successful.
 
filmcane said:
... pass pro and defending the pass.

Unlike 2024', we actually have the horses and coaches to get this done, so I still have hope. The question is - will they figure out the Chinese puzzle that is our OL and as our players get healthy in the secondary, will the returning players get their sea legs and communicate better?

Anyone hearing or believing that these two things will happen or will we just not get that figured out for the CFP?
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If we stay healthy on defense and get OJ back, this would be the easier of the two.
 
OL and Secondary. Yes there's injuries to the secondary but we heard all camp/summer how elite this group is. With the exception of O'Connor, they've been pretty average. Fitz has had to play out of position, Thornton can't tackle & cover, Brown absolutely sucks, JJ has either looked amazing or really bad.
 
305407cane said:
Remember Samson and McCoy played guard last year and switched to tackle this year. So in reality we lost five starters. Not 3. And truthfully Samson and McCoy as tackles aren’t all conference guys (yet?) so it’s a huge downgrade from two top three round guys at tackle and cooper who was a grizzled grey hair vet last year. Brock was a solid center as well
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On rewatch. Both of them had some real bad pass pro moments. At the level of 65
 
WeBallinBoyz said:
Easiest way to remedy our secondary ailments is to get our pass rushers going. Wilson getting 25 snaps seems concerning from an injury perspective, good to see Blount back and firing.

I would sit a bunch of guys against Pitt to be quite honest. It should act as a de-facto bye week. They’re going to be on their third string QB, they flat out stink. Rotate bodies constantly, rest guys that are banged up. Play Scroggins, Pickett, Davis, Mack, Ewald, etc. Rotate Mallory and Lyle for 80%+ carries at RB. Rotate on the OL, keep experimenting while you have the luxury to do so. Eventually, we will play opponents where you have to be sure you have the best combination of guys on the field, and I’d like as many options as possible to be somewhat healthy (or as healthy as can be).

I know we won’t cause Mario will want to make a statement, but that’s what I would do before UNC.
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100%. All this is meaningless if we can't generate pressure on the QB. Not having Wilson full strength is a tough one b/c Blount is not nearly the pass rusher that Wilson is. I do recall us getting a bunch of pressures on Daniels, though, he just got it off early.
 
WeBallinBoyz said:
Mensah’s over-reliance on Toney will eventually cost us a game against a good secondary.

There are several instances of Barkate and others dogging routes cause they know Mensah will stare down one guy. If you don’t believe me, re-watch the FSU game and focus on the routes (when the camera picks them up).

Don’t get me wrong - Toney is THAT good. He catches everything thrown his way. But we can’t operate like that against an Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, etc. People criticizing Sayin and Ohio State for only targeting Jeremiah (valid complaint), same reasoning applies here.

He’s got to go through his progressions more. We don’t rotate WRs much (Jacobs I think had 5 snaps, Wingo didn’t play and Stafford 2). We really only throw to 1. Part of it is on the OL for poor blocking against FSU, but a majority of it is on Mensah himself.
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I agree 100%. Pointed this out in this thread. It continued against FSU. He had 9 open 4-5 times for 6-7 yards and first downs.

rsa coral gables

X's and O's Thread 'Mensah and Mali'

rewatched the Clemson game yesterday and concluded that Mensah focuses too much on Mali when he has better options. i counted five forced throws.

for example, on the fourth down throw that was defended by Hampton, a throw that was slightly behind Mali, he had Upshaw right in front of him for a first down. on the drive that resulted in the second field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter, he was flushed out of the pocket to his left and threw into the corner of the endzone where mali was, but he had TE Briggs wide open in front of him.

this needs to get fixed, meng.
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rsa coral gables said:
I agree 100%. Pointed this out in this thread. It continued against FSU. He had 9 open 4-5 times for 6-7 yards and first downs.

rsa coral gables

X's and O's Thread 'Mensah and Mali'

rewatched the Clemson game yesterday and concluded that Mensah focuses too much on Mali when he has better options. i counted five forced throws.

for example, on the fourth down throw that was defended by Hampton, a throw that was slightly behind Mali, he had Upshaw right in front of him for a first down. on the drive that resulted in the second field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter, he was flushed out of the pocket to his left and threw into the corner of the endzone where mali was, but he had TE Briggs wide open in front of him.

this needs to get fixed, meng.
  • Agree
  • 100
  • Like
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Yeah, it's been an issue for a while. It's especially noticeable with the sky cast or all22 view. Mensah defaults to Toney (and in general, why not - kid gets open all the time), but it ends up biting you (hence all the hesitation Mensah experiences).
 
WeBallinBoyz said:
Easiest way to remedy our secondary ailments is to get our pass rushers going. Wilson getting 25 snaps seems concerning from an injury perspective, good to see Blount back and firing.

I would sit a bunch of guys against Pitt to be quite honest. It should act as a de-facto bye week. They’re going to be on their third string QB, they flat out stink. Rotate bodies constantly, rest guys that are banged up. Play Scroggins, Pickett, Davis, Mack, Ewald, etc. Rotate Mallory and Lyle for 80%+ carries at RB. Rotate on the OL, keep experimenting while you have the luxury to do so. Eventually, we will play opponents where you have to be sure you have the best combination of guys on the field, and I’d like as many options as possible to be somewhat healthy (or as healthy as can be).

I know we won’t cause Mario will want to make a statement, but that’s what I would do before UNC.
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He has come along was, but has a ways to go ... let it rip, play more dudes.
 
I was hoping to have Fitz at free safety but nobody has been able to lock down nickel spot. He was serviceable in that spot last year. If that’s Hetherman’s money spot, put Fitz there and line up Dunnigan and Poyser at safety.

Hot take, but I think on passing downs, we bring in Thornton to replace either Mo or Chase and let Thornton blitz from that spot. Mix up the alignments so defense can’t get a read if OJ is coming or Fitz coming, You could line Fitz up all over and I trust his ability to drop in coverage or blitz from any spot. The LBs and Thornton can blitz/play clean up, look for drag routes and do it all going downhill.

As for offense, I have mentioned Dawson’s feel for playcalling and that is rearing its head a little. I think he single handily can be the biggest difference on how our offense looks for rest of the season. Need some more hitch/slant routes and/or drag routes. Seems like we aren’t taking advantage of the middle of the field unless it’s Toney. Barkate would be great at digs and Lofton running routes over the middle would give us some easy yards too. Seems like both Cooper and Lofton are only targeted outside the hashes.

Then get Mensah comfortable with checking down early… it will help him from getting happy feet later.
 
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