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VT - Post Game Thoughts and Observations

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JHallCanes said:
Yeah I’m still bullish on this team. Bigtime. I know it’s a struggle for the fans right now looking at positives but I’ll take Cam Ward over anyone in the country.

I thought Rivers was going to play and you’re right that to me makes a massive difference in how I expect us to play.

Felt like we were super close to quite a few INTs last night as well
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I was highly critical of Ward through three quarters last night. He was holding the ball way too long, and often honing in on what he wanted out of the play, instead of taking what the defense was giving us.

We had receivers running open for EASY 8-12 yard gains all night if he just channeled his inner Marino and got rid of the ball quicker.

Dawson talks about "taking what the defense gives us" constantly, and I can see why: it's a psychological play to his QB.

We will go as far as he, and this offense, take us.
 
500+ yards on O
Cam 400+ yards (rush and receiving) and 5 TDs

Obvious negatives are the turnovers 2 picks and a fumble. Take those away and it’s a different game.

Also with the defense it was clear early on they were sluggish early. I get it was a tough game last week (heat humidity tempo offense etc) and it was a short week to plan but I’m wondering why substitutions took that long. It seemed our 1s wore out quicker than usual. Should have been rotating earlier and that includes on the OL. Would have been curious to see how Samson would have done against that speed rusher as it was evident the rusher was having success against Bell.

Also think Guidry should have gotten rid of the 4 man front and gone to a 3-3-5 with someone like Aguirre spying the QB. Would have also helped as the DL depth is quickly fading.
 
Brains said:
I was highly critical of Ward through three quarters last night. He was holding the ball way too long, and often honing in on what he wanted out of the play, instead of taking what the defense was giving us.

We had receivers running open for EASY 8-12 yard gains all night if he just channeled his inner Marino and got rid of the ball quicker.

Dawson talks about "taking what the defense gives us" constantly, and I can see why: it's a psychological play to his QB.

We will go as far as he, and this offense, take us.
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he missed 8 twice streaking free wide open on a few plays where he tucked and run and the biggest one was on the second pick. he had arroyo I believe on the other side but didnt even look that way
 
Brains said:
I was highly critical of Ward through three quarters last night. He was holding the ball way too long, and often honing in on what he wanted out of the play, instead of taking what the defense was giving us.

We had receivers running open for EASY 8-12 yard gains all night if he just channeled his inner Marino and got rid of the ball quicker.

Dawson talks about "taking what the defense gives us" constantly, and I can see why: it's a psychological play to his QB.

We will go as far as he, and this offense, take us.
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Yeah we were all saying the same stuff and watching our games with fans of other teams always drives it home

When he eventually just started taking the runs they gave him it was fine. He wanted that big play too bad and he has criticized himself for it a few times this year
 
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I will say this - without cam thats not a win. for those that are looking into the type of QB we need in the future, last night was the perfect situation. we needed wards runs and his passes. his ability to break out of sacks and scamper (or even chest pass to Riley on a broken sack attempt). again, we need this type of mold as a QB in the future. you cant have a. statue back there. start back channeling DJ asap
 
Not going to count us out the natty hunt yet but we’ve got work to do! Crazy thing is I wouldn’t have though Washington was a national championship contender with their defense tbh they gave up 30+ like 6 times
 
FL Cane said:
Here are some thoughts on today's complete rollercoaster of a game as we escape the Rock with a win and head into Cal week:

Offense
  • Nothing in the world is more frustrating than watching an offense beat itself, and Miami's offense did that routinely today. The fact of the matter is that we did not have a problem moving the ball down field. We just self destructed inside the VT 20 twice. We had one terrible unlucky pick that got bobbled inside the 20, and another pick that Cam just whiffed on. All in all, there are very few games that you'll win with 3 turnovers.
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I dont think this was an unlucky pick as Cam threw it behind X and if X hadn't tipped the ball it was going to go right into the hands of the safety.

 
FL Cane said:
Here are some thoughts on today's complete rollercoaster of a game as we escape the Rock with a win and head into Cal week:

Offense
  • Nothing in the world is more frustrating than watching an offense beat itself, and Miami's offense did that routinely today. The fact of the matter is that we did not have a problem moving the ball down field. We just self destructed inside the VT 20 twice. We had one terrible unlucky pick that got bobbled inside the 20, and another pick that Cam just whiffed on. All in all, there are very few games that you'll win with 3 turnovers.
  • We spotted VT 14 points on offense. It's inexcusable. Could've been another blowout, but we helped them start quick (they've started slow all season).

  • The Run game is a problem. It got going more in the second half, but it is not reliable enough. Too much inside zone; ground and pound football. We're not opening up lanes, and Damian Martinez was unimpressive (for the most part) tonight. I don't understand why we don't try to bounce anything outside or run a counter every now and then.

  • Say what you will about our Sloppy O, but this was yet again another fantastic performance from our WRs and TEs. Our TE group won us this game.

  • Despite the mistakes Cam made, he had Heisman moments. Elite players find ways to win, and he is ELITE. This was Cam Ward on a bad day. That's how good he is.

  • Coming back down 10 is no small feat. Prior Miami teams would've mailed it in. Like last year, this team fights. We do not go down easy.

  • Our OL got manhandled. We need Jalen Rivers back ASAP. Markell Bell is going to be an excellent OL, but he was outmatched today and got beat multiple times. Cam got hit a lot (not many hard hits thankfully), and we gave up three sacks. Thankfully, VT has one of the more talented DLs in the conference, but we need to tighten the ship quickly.

  • All in all, this was a bad night on O, and we still scored 38.
Defense
  • I think on re-watch, our DL won't look as bad as perceived tonight. Yes, we missed too many tackles, but we had about 3-4 sacks that Drones saved himself from by heaving the ball at the last second. Most QBs can't do that or don't have the awareness to. Props to him, it was frustrating to see him do that.

  • I'd also add that VT was holding or committing a block in the back on just about every play. Hard to push back an OL when they can manhandle you like that.

  • Kiko Mauigoa had about his worst game as a cane. Bad in pass coverage, missed multiple tackles, and he absolutely whiffed on the first drive where VT scored.

  • Tackling was an issue most of the night. Lots of arm tackles and terrible angles.

  • The Secondary was bad tonight. We gave up so many chunk plays to an average WR group. They had us on the ropes all night and we couldn't get a stop.

  • We struggled and failed to contain their running game. We couldn't adapt to their misdirection and motion. We were out of position constantly.

  • Guidry has a lot of work to do with this defense.
Overall
  • Miami was extremely lucky to come out with this W. After watching the last play 40 times, I believe they made the wrong call on the field. No way anyone could've ruled that complete. The guy bobbled the ball all the way down and did not have possession. Should've been incomplete to begin with but the incompetent refs tried one more gimmick.

  • We have an elite, CFP caliber offense. This was a bad night for us, and we still scored 38. That's good enough to beat about any team in the country. Cam Ward had a bad game, and even then threw for 300+, 4 TDs, and made Heisman plays that kept our undefeated season alive.

  • We do not have an elite, CFP caliber defense. We got absolutely worked by VT today. Yes, there were terrible calls on our D and our offense gave them two short fields, but that's no excuse. They did come through on that second to last drive, but they came within a review of blowing this game on a hail mary. Guidry has a lot of work to do with the defense top to bottom. Any top Ten team would light us up on D with the performance we had tonight.

  • The officiating was god awful. It would've turned into a Miami boat race if not for the Markell Bell phantom holding call. That call completely swung the momentum of the game.

  • This team needs to use this game as a wakeup call. We travel to a very hostile environment next weekend against a team that has talent. Late game and our first long trip of the year.

  • Also, shout out to Brent Pry who corched away this game. Worst clock management I've ever seen in my life, and went for a fake FG instead of a kick that would've given his Lou Groza reincarnation of a kicker a chance to win the whole thing.
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I'll add that 2 fundamental one on one plays by #11 vs a QB and 2 less flippant turnovers by Cam Ward & the game is 52-20.

Never leave your feet against a QB 1on1.
 
caneizzle#1 said:
" Damian Martinez was unimpressive (for the most part) tonight. I don't understand why we don't try to bounce anything outside or run a counter every now and then.".

I feel like we are starting the polar opposite rotation of talent with our RB room. In my humble opinion AJ seems to have the best vision and ability to get something out of nothing. Fletcher would be my second. Then Martinez would be 3rd string.
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I've seen enough of Martinez to see he is leaving a lot of yards on the field. His refusal to press the line of scrimmage makes it look like the o- line isn't creating openings and that's not the case.
 
FL Cane said:
The Defense was awful. What I don't think will look as bad on re-watch is the DL, specifically. Drones avoided about 3-4 sacks with last minute heaves. Most QBs we're going to play can't do that, for what it's worth.
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True, and it's not like they never got pressure on the guy. They just whiffed a few times, and being flushed out is when he's most dangerous, either running or throwing downfield to guys our secondary lost track of.

VTs first touchdown was a really bad whiff, to be fair. Going for the kill shot on Drones instead of just trying to wrap him up.
 
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Brains said:
Getting back Bain, Rivers, and Brown would really help. We don't have sufficient quality depth to replace that many key starters.

Also, on a note that is both positive and negative, our offensive turnovers were absolutely devastating. If we clean that up, the game is nowhere near as close last night. The worry, of course, is that these types of mistakes could continue.

The score line last night should have been no worse than 44-30, and we easily could have scored 52.
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Yeah, especially the last 2 INTs. The first fumble wasn't great but at least it was early enough to not be a huge difference. With the INTs, we were nearly certain to score at least 3 on those drives, and probably 7 on at least one of them. Brutal
 
hoops156 said:
I will say this - without cam thats not a win. for those that are looking into the type of QB we need in the future, last night was the perfect situation. we needed wards runs and his passes. his ability to break out of sacks and scamper (or even chest pass to Riley on a broken sack attempt). again, we need this type of mold as a QB in the future. you cant have a. statue back there. start back channeling DJ asap
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Cam is a special QB for sure. Yeah he got out of sorts last night but he will be better because of it unlike other QBs we’ve seen that just implode when things start to go wrong
 
mr.h said:
1-Our lines were pushed around by a smaller team
2-Ward won the game and had a heisman win.
Int’s were because of drops and reflections off receivers.
Jmo
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One of Cam's INTs was off a deflection. The first was a terrible decision where he somehow didn't see the defender right there
 
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