Actual talk about the rest of this football season

While it had nothing to do with us losing the game, the officiating was wretched on Saturday. Just random and unpredictable - not calling obvious PI, somehow no holding calls, some weird spots, and letting Duke get away with a LOT of chippy bullshit leading up to the fight. Any update on Alexander's availability for VPI after the ejection?

I hate complaining about officiating after a loss, but I absolutely agree. Like you said, we lost that game all on our own, but good gravy was that officiating terrible (and I say that recogizing we got the benefit of some of it). It was just so inconsistent.

I believe Alexander should be good to go for our next game since he was ejected in the first half, but I don't know that for sure. I will say that I think Charlie Thomas is going to be a stud. He was making a lot of plays after Vic went out.
 
I've been harping for a while about not throwing the smoke route. I think we are assign too much of our receivers to only thrown "go" routes when the corners are giving a 8-10 yard cushion. Throwing a smoke route, even if marginally successful, forces the corner to inch up some. It's much easier to make up a 2 yard cushion and created separation than a 10 year cushion.

For the remainder of the season, I hope we see 2-3 smoke routes a game. Keep the WRs plugged in and at least give them punchers chance to get open down the field.
 
My biggest complaint from a game management perspective is that we are not taking touchbacks more often. Look at the stats:

10 yd per KO return against Alcorn.
22 yd against USF
12 yd against Clemson
12.7 against Duke (19 if you exclude the fumbles return).

GT is good for only about 20 yards on a good return.

Worse still, every opponent this year has returned KO’s for more average yards than GT.

Either we don’t have the blocking to enable long gains or the returner isn’t running with the blocks. GT needs to take a touchback on anything inside the 5. I know that gives up the possibility of a big play, but we aren’t getting much in the returns as it is and consequently field position is suffering.
Its stuff like this that really annoys me about our coaching. These are basic ST instructions that there should be no excuse for us getting wrong. The numbers are so clear. We are also suffering from a ton of injuries. Unless its the end of the half, or a blatant coverage breakdown why rent the coaches maling our returners take those easikly available 25 yds?

Sometimes one wonders whether our coaching staff runs any sort of numbers ever, or we just go by gut instinct everytime.
 
I think each week could be a potential win. We have a little time off before playing the Hokies and will get a little extra time before playing UNC. Both teams are OK, but beatable. Anyone who watched their game this week would concur. It helps that we got the road losing streak off our backs at Louisville. The U and UVA also played a game this past week where both looked beatable. We get them at home. Finally, UGA could be in disarray if they have about three losses coming in to our game. They will also be a bit tight remembering recent losses to us between the hedges.

This team really could finish anywhere between 3-9 and 8-4. If I had to lay a bet down I would bet on five wins. But, while I enjoy every win and detest every loss, I think you need to wait until a full season is in before judging the season a success or failure and evaluating the coaching staff.
 
We will win a game we are not suppose to this year ( I am thinking um).

But other than that, it will be about what we saw Saturday.

CPJ can coach this O like nobody else. He is the best at this O than any coach ever. That is the gospel truth.

And look where we are. His inability to recruit is showing. Not blaming the kids.

And a new locker room & Adidas are not going to overcome that with recruits that are difference makers.

We can't change to another DC this soon can we? He won't be able to lean on that.

And this time next year, we will be in this same place because CPJ can't or will not do the things necessary to make things better.

We will do things the same in spring practice, fall practice and in games as now.

Except with more starters not having experience.

But we will win one this season we are not suppose to, which sadly, is turning into the rest of our opponents.
 
I've been harping for a while about not throwing the smoke route. I think we are assign too much of our receivers to only thrown "go" routes when the corners are giving a 8-10 yard cushion. Throwing a smoke route, even if marginally successful, forces the corner to inch up some. It's much easier to make up a 2 yard cushion and created separation than a 10 year cushion.

For the remainder of the season, I hope we see 2-3 smoke routes a game. Keep the WRs plugged in and at least give them punchers chance to get open down the field.
I assume we aren't running the smoke route because you need to be able to get the pass out there fast in order to pick up any yards and Taquon throws too much of an arch.
 
I assume we aren't running the smoke route because you need to be able to get the pass out there fast in order to pick up any yards and Taquon throws too much of an arch.

Yeah, at one point on Saturday, we needed <5 yards and Duke was lined up like 8-10 yards off of our receiver (not Stuart, whoever the other one was at that point). I actually commented out loud that I wished we could reliably get the ball out to the receiver in that situation. Thomas was a beast on that play for us back in the day. When we run it now, it seems like we either bounce the pass or throw it so slow that the defender has time to close the gap and stuff us for no gain. Very frustrating.

JRjr
 
I've been harping for a while about not throwing the smoke route. I think we are assign too much of our receivers to only thrown "go" routes when the corners are giving a 8-10 yard cushion. Throwing a smoke route, even if marginally successful, forces the corner to inch up some. It's much easier to make up a 2 yard cushion and created separation than a 10 year cushion.

For the remainder of the season, I hope we see 2-3 smoke routes a game. Keep the WRs plugged in and at least give them punchers chance to get open down the field.

The QB's don't throw that pass very well (I've never understood why). And the WR don't have much ability to make yards after contact (perhaps due to having to catch a lousy pass). The end result is usually no gain or a loss. While I agree we probably should run that play more often - especially on short yardage - I'm willing to run different plays, which I think have a better chance of positive gain and of being a big play.

I think the smoke route play was really designed to draw in the CB to make them easier to block. If the CB's are easily blocked, then there isn't as much of a point for the play. D. Thomas made this play a weapon because he could defeat the CB's tackle and then it was off to the races with the safety.
 
The QB's don't throw that pass very well (I've never understood why). And the WR don't have much ability to make yards after contact (perhaps due to having to catch a lousy pass). The end result is usually no gain or a loss. While I agree we probably should run that play more often - especially on short yardage - I'm willing to run different plays, which I think have a better chance of positive gain and of being a big play.

I think the smoke route play was really designed to draw in the CB to make them easier to block. If the CB's are easily blocked, then there isn't as much of a point for the play. D. Thomas made this play a weapon because he could defeat the CB's tackle and then it was off to the races with the safety.


It all comes down to taking the snap from under center as opposed from the shotgun. If we had tighter splits at the LOS, he could possibly do a one-step drop and throw, but with our splits and defenders timing the snap and jumping the gap, it is difficult if not impossible to throw without a big drop back.
 
+1

I have been surprised at how infrequently coaches instruct returners to take the fair catch. I suppose the theory is that a return out to the 20 isn't much worse than a return out to the 25, relative to the occasional times you get a return to midfield or beyond.

I think the whole stadium breathes a sigh of relief when we finally started fair catching at the Duke game.
There was applause when Juanyeh called the fair catch on the kick after the fumble. We should not be fielding kicks in the corner on the goal-line with the new fair catch rule unless we are down huge and need a big play to get back in the game. Juanyeh also needs to learn he's not going to have much success reversing field inside the 10 yard line against real competition.
 
You're playing for next year at this point, so give Oliver all the snaps. A healthy Marshall has us sitting at 3-4, so an injured one is just not an option. If it were me, I'd move Marshall to AB and/or PR's (if healthy). You could potentially work in an AB pass or two. That might be too obvious, though...

How many returns go beyond the 25 anyway? I have no idea, but I bet it's not enough to justify having a Fr make returns. In other words, I agree that we should call for the FC on every KO from here on out. Let's stop the bleeding with TO's. For a few games, at least. Sorry, Juanyeh. Hold onto the damn ball.

How does one judge WR talent when a) they have few targets and b) those "targets" give them little chance at making the catch. Stewart is a possession receiver. He doesn't have the size to win the contested pass. He is not made for this system or this QB. I bet he regrets coming here.
 
You're playing for next year at this point, so give Oliver all the snaps. A healthy Marshall has us sitting at 3-4, so an injured one is just not an option. If it were me, I'd move Marshall to AB and/or PR's (if healthy). You could potentially work in an AB pass or two. That might be too obvious, though...

How many returns go beyond the 25 anyway? I have no idea, but I bet it's not enough to justify having a Fr make returns. In other words, I agree that we should call for the FC on every KO from here on out. Let's stop the bleeding with TO's. For a few games, at least. Sorry, Juanyeh. Hold onto the damn ball.

How does one judge WR talent when a) they have few targets and b) those "targets" give them little chance at making the catch. Stewart is a possession receiver. He doesn't have the size to win the contested pass. He is not made for this system or this QB. I bet he regrets coming here.
This 'playing for the next year' line drives me crazy. This is like describing anyone over the age of 40 as 'waiting for the grave.' The players who are putting their health on the line to play every week deserve every opportunity to win each game they play. For pete's sake, the season is barely half over, and we can still have a winning season and a bowl win.

Stewart was offered by us at the last minute after his performance in the Ga Dome. He didn't have many other offers, and I can't imagine he's regrets anything. He's made some incredible catches, even contested ones. A few times he's run the wrong route, but most of his misses are just bad passes from the QB.
 
You're playing for next year at this point, so give Oliver all the snaps. A healthy Marshall has us sitting at 3-4, so an injured one is just not an option. If it were me, I'd move Marshall to AB and/or PR's (if healthy). You could potentially work in an AB pass or two. That might be too obvious, though...

How many returns go beyond the 25 anyway? I have no idea, but I bet it's not enough to justify having a Fr make returns. In other words, I agree that we should call for the FC on every KO from here on out. Let's stop the bleeding with TO's. For a few games, at least. Sorry, Juanyeh. Hold onto the damn ball.

How does one judge WR talent when a) they have few targets and b) those "targets" give them little chance at making the catch. Stewart is a possession receiver. He doesn't have the size to win the contested pass. He is not made for this system or this QB. I bet he regrets coming here.
I bet he doesn't. He got to start for almost his whole career and will graduate with an elite degree.
 
Fact is the teams they play us year-in and year-out have enough experience and knowledge to neutralize the triple option. Unless we get better talent, we will have to rely on near perfect execution to win against decent teams.
Yes this is my feeling also, when we get a Lvile who has not played us we do very well. However Duke knows how to defend our offense and when this happens we MUST have a passing game to deal with these types of games.
 
Fact is the teams they play us year-in and year-out have enough experience and knowledge to neutralize the triple option. Unless we get better talent, we will have to rely on near perfect execution to win against decent teams.

When the offense is running well, it is no more neutralized than any other offense. The fact that this year's version of the offense is easy to figure out isn't as much that the defenses have figured it out as it is we aren't executing aspects of it that would take advantage of what the defense is giving.
 
I think our recruiting is a trend caused more by our tiny recruiting office than our offense. Like the locker room and jerseys, the recruiting staff isnt an immediate fix
 
I think each week could be a potential win. We have a little time off before playing the Hokies and will get a little extra time before playing UNC. Both teams are OK, but beatable. Anyone who watched their game this week would concur. It helps that we got the road losing streak off our backs at Louisville. The U and UVA also played a game this past week where both looked beatable. We get them at home. Finally, UGA could be in disarray if they have about three losses coming in to our game. They will also be a bit tight remembering recent losses to us between the hedges.

This team really could finish anywhere between 3-9 and 8-4. If I had to lay a bet down I would bet on five wins. But, while I enjoy every win and detest every loss, I think you need to wait until a full season is in before judging the season a success or failure and evaluating the coaching staff.
You're a wise man to bet on the 5 wins. Your first paragraph came right out of La,La land. Stay away from drugs!
 
You're playing for next year at this point, so give Oliver all the snaps. A healthy Marshall has us sitting at 3-4, so an injured one is just not an option. If it were me, I'd move Marshall to AB and/or PR's (if healthy). You could potentially work in an AB pass or two. That might be too obvious, though...

How many returns go beyond the 25 anyway? I have no idea, but I bet it's not enough to justify having a Fr make returns. In other words, I agree that we should call for the FC on every KO from here on out. Let's stop the bleeding with TO's. For a few games, at least. Sorry, Juanyeh. Hold onto the damn ball.

How does one judge WR talent when a) they have few targets and b) those "targets" give them little chance at making the catch. Stewart is a possession receiver. He doesn't have the size to win the contested pass. He is not made for this system or this QB. I bet he regrets coming here.


We aren't playing for next year, because Oliver will not be the QB next year. Saying stuff like that shows just how little you know about GT football. Lucas Johnson is the #2 and will be the #1 next year. So for this year, play the best QB you got.
 
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