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Yea, so.. probably time to pump the brakes a little

Trav said:
We have a very talented and deeply flawed team. The score is what it was but we came very close to ******** the pooch tonight. My hope is it was just one of *those* games like BC 2001. Not panicking but that was such a rancid half of football you can't help but wonder if it's time to reset expectations, particularly with the injuries piling up. We'll see.
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I don’t really think it was one of those games. Because most of these things that ended up being reality were things we all were worried about anyway. The secondary is bad bad, especially with our top two corners out. Is Terry Jefferson a bad coach? Too early to tell. They are alway out of position and give massive cushions no matter what. Most of the players should have enough experience for this to not be an issue. Ironically, our player with the least experience, JJ dunnigan is looking like the best db.

The o-line is probably worse than we imagined it could be. It could be because SJ is so bad, it throws everyone else off. He is really bad and undersized. Dawson is an awful OC and it was on full display in the second half. The wake DC absolutely wrecked Dawson’s brain. He had no answers. An offense this talented should never have no answers. He crawled deep into his shell and hid. This is some Waterboy **** when he’s intimidated by his former coach. Dawson goes in full blown ****** mode
 
QuattroCane said:
I’ve completely reset my expectations. It’s going to take a massive effort to beat Notre Dame. And as I mentioned in a previous thread, some games I thought wouldn’t be too challenging now look pretty difficult, 11-2, 10-3 would not surprise me.
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Toney was hurt, lofton , Marty, fletch , we got pretty banged up last night & I suspect Dawson dialed it down trying to adjust to all the injuries..it would be nice to blow every team out by 30 but that’s not realistic it’s college, games like this happen (**** last year we lost 2 of em n made a natty) but as long we get healthy and let the depth gain valuable experience we’re still a championship contender, it was a dominant 31-7 b4 all the gloom n doom
 
The secondary issues will greatly improve with the return of Lucas. With him back Fitz plays nickel on passing downs reducing Thornton in coverage on critical downs. The defensive line came alive in this game and I expect them to continue to get better.

The interior of this offensive line is miles away and some changes need to be made. I am a strong believer in development, but after 3 games I think it’s time to move on from SJ and move Max to LG and on the right side have McCoy and Cantwell or Congdon.

Fix the interior of this offensive line and there is not a single team in the country that can stop this offense.
 
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561Cane said:
I might be in the minority here but glad a game like this happened early. Too many rainbow and sunshine's going around the Canes team. Playing a high school team prior to and spanking them like you did allows for that "your ***** don't stink" attitude to creep in. Then you go up big in the first half against Wake and you're like "yeah we're the *****" talk to grow even more. But what happens? The classic losing the edge against your opponent and I'm going to chalk it up to that. The momentum swing occurs. On the road, a night game, and the home team gets that spark. Happens all the time in college ball.

What I am concerned over is the injuries. Too many three games into a season. The other issue is the OL. While some good took place last night, especially first half, the second half was disastrous as very little went right. And tip your cap to Wake, that DC of theirs who is legit, took our lunch and simply out schemed our boys.

Position players that I'd like to see out or play much less are SJ, Chase Smith, and Toure. For the OL, you are only as great as your weakest link and SJ is extremely weak. If he cannot be replaced, then we have some issues deeper than we would like to admit as fans. A big red flag. The second red flag is the veteran starting LB duo. A cool story and it should end there. The fact we are relying on two average at best LB's to start and receive majority playing time is disappointing with the young talent that sits on the bench. Pruitt, Wiley, and Marcelin should be playing more.

Anyway, done with my rant. On to the next, finish 1-0 next week Saturday night!
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Marcelin looks good every time he gets on the field. Our starting linebackers are bad. I’d rather get the young guys more and more time and deal with the growing pains and improve as the year goes on. We’ve seen the ceiling of Chase Smith and Toure and it’s not good. Toure makes great hits
Every now and then but overall is a liability.

SJ is just flat out too small and that can’t really change or improve during the season. He will get destroyed all season, especially when we do face good teams. Only time will tell if Wake is a good team. They have a lot of grit and toughness. Their DC owned Dawson, mentally last night. Good thing we have another cupcake next week to work on some things. At the same time, the results may be deceiving.
 
Hstokes1447 said:
The secondary issues will greatly improve with the return of Lucas. With him back Fitz nickel on passing downs reducing Thornton in coverage on critical downs. The defensive line came alive in this game and I expect them to continue to get better.

The interior of this offensive line is miles away and some changes need to be made. I am a strong believer in development, but after 3 games I think it’s time to move on from SJ and move Max to LG and on the right side have McCoy and Cantwell or Congdon.

Fix the interior of this offensive line and there is not a single team in the country that can stop this offense.
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I would really like to see more and more pressure. Bring the heat. That’s where this defense looks good. When they drop back and play a soft zone, teams pick it apart. Don’t give the qb time
 
joeB954 said:
Marcelin looks good every time he gets on the field. Our starting linebackers are bad. I’d rather get the young guys more and more time and deal with the growing pains and improve as the year goes on. We’ve seen the ceiling of Chase Smith and Toure and it’s not good. Toure makes great hits
Every now and then but overall is a liability.

SJ is just flat out too small and that can’t really change or improve during the season. He will get destroyed all season, especially when we do face good teams. Only time will tell if Wake is a good team. They have a lot of grit and toughness. Their DC owned Dawson, mentally last night. Good thing we have another cupcake next week to work on some things. At the same time, the results may be deceiving.
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DC for wake ain’t do anything special…Mali got hurt & the offense went into a shell we were cooking him b4 that ..we gotta work on getting guys like Barkate and Moore incorporated more and refrain from being a Mali or bust offense like OSU and JJ smith
 
ShadowSpring said:
He was out halfway thru the 1st TD drive Wake had in the 3rd qtr. He made a tackle on our sideline and stayed out. Fitz had to move to FS. Not sure when he came back but he was definitely out that entire TD drive
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He did come back on the Hernandez almost TD. And Poyser was absolutely fired up. I think he wasn't too happy about being hurt & the play of the defense in a certain degree
 
To me, this is a game we lose in the past. All these points (oline, scheme, jitters) are valid but we did win over a scrappy team away. Mobile QBs level almost any playing field. Injuries are a REAL concern but the upside of those are you are forced to develop youth and depth. When we get those players back ( hopefully) we are stronger later in the season. Happened last year as well. Will rewatch again and I look forward to the analysis by some on this board. I actually learn so much from the breakdowns.

For sure, this makes sure we do not read our own press. Players gotta be consistent and be focused on task.
 
Are people really surprised about what happened last night? With all the injury scares we had, it was pretty obvious we were going to play conservative and cautious. Saw that coming from a mile away
 
Manfred_Cane said:
Nah. We're still a national championship contender. One weird half where Mensah, Toney and Fletcher all got hurt, doesn't change my mind.
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If Wilson doesn’t get called for a bogus roughing the passer, we likely win by 3-4 TDs. Weird confluence of events and injuries. Winning on the road essentially without a functional Mensah, Toney, Fletcher, Brown in the second half is not the end of the world. We need our DB room back healthy and a new LG, for sure.
 
dycane said:
If Wilson doesn’t get called for a bogus roughing the passer, we likely win by 3-4 TDs. Weird confluence of events and injuries. Winning on the road essentially without a functional Mensah, Toney, Fletcher, Brown in the second half is not the end of the world. We need our DB room back healthy and a new LG, for sure.
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That was a real momentum shifter. Bad call and great great hit by Toure. Just like the ND game last year. We should have beat them by 4 TD’s. Refs stepped in and shifted the momentum. Then things almost collapsed from there. We have to be more mentally tough than one bad call, completely shifting a game.
 
Mnhurricane said:
LBs and nickel have 0 ability to cover.

65 can’t and some snaps appears won’t block.

10 straight screens into press sure helps.

These are not injury or assignment issues they are skill or IQ issues.
We can’t always rely on brute force or pure talent to win. Coaches need to show up sometimes as well. Especially when we do have a slew of injuries to cover up
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The 10 straight screens were mind boggling!!! Mensah missed Mali for a couple first downs. He seemed a little shook
 
joeB954 said:
Instead of fades to lofton. That should be Moore.
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Facts. It’s those type of plays that hinder us as an offense. You got a 6ft4 contested catch demon why are throwing fades to Elijah lofton smh ..Dawson needs to tighten up and realize we have weapons outside of Mali, gotta design ways to put em to use
 
QuattroCane said:
I’ve completely reset my expectations. It’s going to take a massive effort to beat Notre Dame. And as I mentioned in a previous thread, some games I thought wouldn’t be too challenging now look pretty difficult, 11-2, 10-3 would not surprise me.
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8-4.
 
The defense battled. That’s an extreme positive and the D line looked like they took it up a notch in the second half.

Heatherman had guys running free at the qb whether it was Dunnigan, Thornton and Toure and guys were missing sacks on the qb where he was literally boxed in. Taking advantage of those would’ve definitely made this a blowout. Longer down and distance leaves more opportunities for picks.

But we won hopefully the players improve their control and poise and get healthy
 
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