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The state of the OL

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OrangeBowlMagic said:
i LOL'd at that comment too, and just scrolled by.

You don't run for 337 yards in a game against a pretty good G5 defense with an "absolutely pitiful" run game. But even if you want to completely discredit UAB, we ran for over 150 yards 6 times last year in 11 games.

2019 -- 4 times in 12 games
2018 -- 7 times in 12 games
2017 -- 5 times in 12 games
2016 -- 5 times in 12 games
2015 -- 1 time in 12 games
2014 -- 5 times in 12 games

Sure, the run game needs to be better. We all know that. We struggled at times, specifically against Clemson and in big spots when we needed to lean on it, most notably vs UNC. But it was much better than 2019 and certainly not absolutely pitiful.

And all of this with a new OC, new OL coach, late transfer in Jarrid Williams, injury to Donaldson, and no spring ball.l

The next step, to me, is eliminating the massive amounts of TFLs we give up. We were 115th in the country last year, allowing almost 8 TFLs per game. Sacks are in that number as well, so that's not all on the run game, but still, FAR too many for a successful offense. That shows a lack of cohesion in your unit (allowing free rushers) and being beaten quickly at the point of attack.

29 teams averaged 5.0 YPC or better last year. I think if we can approach that number this season, we should be really good and I don't think it's an unattainable goal with the quality of backs and depth we have on the OL now.
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Also, what gets brought up here occasionally but I think some people believe is just an excuse was King's poor handling of the zone read play. A lot of those "dives up the middle" for no gain were misread handoffs that should have been keepers. Even on plays that were read correctly, King's ball handling often looked more like a lazy attempt at play action than a believable inside zone handoff. So much of the offense revolves around proper execution of that play and if it's only working at 60%, you're handcuffing the entire offense.
 
DTP said:
Also, what gets brought up here occasionally but I think some people believe is just an excuse was King's poor handling of the zone read play. A lot of those "dives up the middle" for no gain were misread handoffs that should have been keepers. Even on plays that were read correctly, King's ball handling often looked more like a lazy attempt at play action than a believable inside zone handoff. So much of the offense revolves around proper execution of that play and if it's only working at 60%, you're handcuffing the entire offense.
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Yep. Totally new offense for him as well. People don’t understand that either.
 
Our offense would just produce better results in the run game if we dont run into loaded boxes.

Our O-Line certainly has room for improvement, theres no doubt, but we ran the ball way too often into linebackers playing the run.
 
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I like the addition of Justice Oluwaseun. He can play OG & OT and we need the depth. In the film I saw of him he was moving people in the run game. That was something we were missing on the OL when Donaldson was out. Having Donaldson, Rivers and Oluwaseun at OG and Clark backing up the guard/center spots, we have depth and experience.

Establishing the run and being consistent is vital for a successful season. We need to protect King better this year. Coming off the knee injury he won't be as mobile as last year. We can't count on him escaping pressure and making the same plays as last season coming off a serious knee injury. Plus the added time of possession will keep our defense off the field.

This also fits with the focus of the offseason which is to become a more physical team and that starts on the OL. A physical running game sets the tone for the entire team. The next step for this team is becoming more physical. The better we run the ball the more single coverage our WRs will see and the potential for big plays down the field.

Everything in Lashlee's offense is predicated on being able to run the ball consistently.
 
DTP said:
Also, what gets brought up here occasionally but I think some people believe is just an excuse was King's poor handling of the zone read play. A lot of those "dives up the middle" for no gain were misread handoffs that should have been keepers. Even on plays that were read correctly, King's ball handling often looked more like a lazy attempt at play action than a believable inside zone handoff. So much of the offense revolves around proper execution of that play and if it's only working at 60%, you're handcuffing the entire offense.
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King never really ran the zone read prior to Miami, I remember an announcer (maybe Herbstreit) talking about it during one of the broadcasts. Which is crazy to think with his style of play that it hasn't been incorporated until now. I do think he got a little better as the season went on and he got more comfortable but the beginning of last year it was rough with his decision making.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Yep. Totally new offense for him as well. People don’t understand that either.
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New offense but one that's supposedly pretty simple. If King can't spell the word "cat" or have the wherewithal to effectively maneuver those read-option plays then we'll continue to be hamstrung a bit, but with his injury I'd expect we'll see fewer of those anyway. He's a good enough passer that we should be able to rely on his arm and what should be a very good pass-pro OL, better RBs, better pass-catchers.

Lashlee craves a balanced attack, and the prospect of better guard play is exciting, but those negative plays are drive-killers so if we're ****-bent on running the ball to keep a defense honest, just pound it up the middle without the risk of losing 6-7 yards because our QB can't spell cat.
 
rok said:
New offense but one that's supposedly pretty simple. If King can't spell the word "cat" or have the wherewithal to effectively maneuver those read-option plays then we'll continue to be hamstrung a bit, but with his injury I'd expect we'll see fewer of those anyway. He's a good enough passer that we should be able to rely on his arm and what should be a very good pass-pro OL, better RBs, better pass-catchers.

Lashlee craves a balanced attack, and the prospect of better guard play is exciting, but those negative plays are drive-killers so if we're ****-bent on running the ball to keep a defense honest, just pound it up the middle without the risk of losing 6-7 yards because our QB can't spell cat.
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This is no way an oversimplification.
 
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rok said:
If Oluwasoen is valued for being smart and strong then please let him compete at center.

Gaynor seems like a good leader but he's 6'1 280.
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Supposedly Gaynor is up to 315. Still, I'm up for open competition at any of the line spots. Nobody is good enough to have a guaranteed spot.
 
I’m fine with how the pass block. But trying to get a push in short yardage situations is non existent. And frustrating. Been that way for years.
 
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clg003 said:
Yeah not buying the hype... Our rushing attack was absolutely pitiful last year. To me all this stat does is point out how long our OL recruiting, evaluation and development has sucked. You guys want to tell me we have a 1st round pick on this line... umm ok. Its like how long can you keep drinking the OL is good juice before you sit back and evaluate them on how they have performed. Like ever performed.
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The Oline has been a question mark coming into every season since 2015
 
DMoney said:
Gaynor is flawed but there’s a reason his job has been so safe. He will look better with improved guard play.

If things break right, I could see him having a Shane McDermott/Tyler Horn type season. Those guys made All-Conference next to legit guards. We need Donaldson and Rivers to perform because they have true size and physical tools.

As for Oluwaseun, I could see him filling Clark’s spot as a utility man. He has college experience at C, G and T.
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I see this kid as a swing interior guy. Can probably play all 3 spots. Campbell is a guy who can play RT/LT. And then u have rivers or Clark as another key reserve. And tbh I was pleasantly impressed with how the backups looked in spring scrimmage
 
Silver King said:
Hope you're right we were ranked 99 of 130 teams in our QB being sacked last season with 2.7 per game. That put us only 15 ahead of FSU that had 3.4.
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****...did not realize we were that poor. Pretty sure those all came against Clemson. It's a minor miracle we won 8 games with an interior of Clark, Gaynor, Scaife. I'm going to have wet dreams all summer about the prospect of Rivers, Oluwasuen, Donaldson in their stead.
 
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DTP said:
We tied with Auburn for 67th in the nation in rushing offense. Not incredible but not “absolutely pitiful”. In fact, we rushed for more yards per game than Clemson did.

Considering we ranked 120th in rushing in 2019 (now that’s what I call pitiful) a 53 spot jump in rushing offense is a significant improvement. If they can improve by even half that much this year, we’re talking about having one of the top offenses in college football.
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Take away the rushing yards that resulted in our QB runs and tell me where we are. Many where on runs where our OL sucked so bad in pass defense our magician QB had to use his legs. You want to give those yards to our OL? LOL. Clemson threw for 1100 more yards than us. I watched last years games... These BS stats don't erase what actually happened on the field. We had one 100 yard game by a RB against a power 5 team and that was against Louisville. If you take away Duke we avg less than 110 rushing yards against against coastal opponents. Thats got to be the worst rushing stat against coastal opponents since we joined the ACC.
 
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rok said:
****...did not realize we were that poor. Pretty sure those all came against Clemson. It's a minor miracle we won 8 games with an interior of Clark, Gaynor, Scaife. I'm going to have wet dreams all summer about the prospect of Rivers, Oluwasuen, Donaldson in their stead.
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We played a very sack happy schedule. I think something like 8 of our 11 opponents were in the top 30 in sacks per game. Including three teams in the top ten. FSU was the only team in our schedule that was in the bottom third of the nation in sacks.
 
clg003 said:
Take away the rushing yards that resulted in our QB runs and tell me where we are. Many where on runs where our OL sucked so bad in pass defense our magician QB had to use his legs. You want to give those yards to our OL? LOL. Clemson threw for 1100 more yards than us. I watched last years games... These BS stats don't erase what actually happened in the field. We had one 100 yard game by a RB against a power 5 team and that was against Louisville. If you take away Duke we avg less than 110 rushing yards against against coastal opponents. Thats got to be the worst rushing stat against coastal opponents since we joined the ACC.
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You realize they keep the same stats for everyone , right? Most of the top rushing teams have quarterbacks that run for a lot of yardage. You know what else? Most teams pad their stats against the weaker opponents on their schedule too. You can pick and choose they numbers you want to support your argument but fact remains that there were roughly 60 teams that ran for fewer yardage per game. Nobody is calling the running game great but it wasn’t bad either.
 
clg003 said:
Take away the rushing yards that resulted in our QB runs and tell me where we are. Many where on runs where our OL sucked so bad in pass defense our magician QB had to use his legs. You want to give those yards to our OL? LOL. Clemson threw for 1100 more yards than us. I watched last years games... These BS stats don't erase what actually happened on the field. We had one 100 yard game by a RB against a power 5 team and that was against Louisville. If you take away Duke we avg less than 110 rushing yards against against coastal opponents. Thats got to be the worst rushing stat against coastal opponents since we joined the ACC.
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Take away UNC and...
 
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