Is it coaching? Lack of Defensive talent? Players not giving a total effort? Injuries? Mental breakdowns?
I think it's a little bit of all of the above. First of all, I'm not for firing anyone. I think Roof and O'Brien are good coordinators. But they are still learning. Unlike many, I think O'Leary might give them too little input, especially during the game. When Roof called the prevent during the Maryland game, O'Leary should have trumped him and gotten us out of it. If he was the control freak everyone says he is, he would have. However, I do think Big Bee is pushing O'Brien towards the boring smashmouth style. This would be fine, but our O Line is not good enough for that type of offense yet. And if we're gonna run JFB left, right and up the middle, why not give him a fullback and do it out of the I formation instead of the one back setup.
How about injuries? I think the injuries to our linebackers REEEALLY hurt our D more than many are willing to admit. Our starters, when healthy are great, but when they're hurt, we lack depth here. The loss of Smith really killed us in the Clemson game and even when he got back, he wasn't the same. Let's not forget that the knee injury to Goose effectively took the option game away from us. I don't know why we even ran it this year. It never worked. Without any threat of running, or option, Goose was under a lot of pressure to run a more basic offense and make proper throws from the pocket. Let's not forget the loss of Nate Curry. That hurt us.
How about depth and talent? Well, the middle of our DL is pretty weak. We lack cover corners in the secondary. Maybe we're not up to par on that side of the ball yet. We certainly have good DE's, but they didn't really play up to their capability, IMO.
Lack of motivation? This is the worst part, IMO. No one took a leadership role on this team. There was something missing with this group...a certain malaise...a lack of fire in the belly. Many might blame this on the coaches, and maybe they're right. But the seniors need to step up to the plate and assert themselves. That never seemed to happen this year.
There's just so many things. I'm glad this year is almost over.
I think it's a little bit of all of the above. First of all, I'm not for firing anyone. I think Roof and O'Brien are good coordinators. But they are still learning. Unlike many, I think O'Leary might give them too little input, especially during the game. When Roof called the prevent during the Maryland game, O'Leary should have trumped him and gotten us out of it. If he was the control freak everyone says he is, he would have. However, I do think Big Bee is pushing O'Brien towards the boring smashmouth style. This would be fine, but our O Line is not good enough for that type of offense yet. And if we're gonna run JFB left, right and up the middle, why not give him a fullback and do it out of the I formation instead of the one back setup.
How about injuries? I think the injuries to our linebackers REEEALLY hurt our D more than many are willing to admit. Our starters, when healthy are great, but when they're hurt, we lack depth here. The loss of Smith really killed us in the Clemson game and even when he got back, he wasn't the same. Let's not forget that the knee injury to Goose effectively took the option game away from us. I don't know why we even ran it this year. It never worked. Without any threat of running, or option, Goose was under a lot of pressure to run a more basic offense and make proper throws from the pocket. Let's not forget the loss of Nate Curry. That hurt us.
How about depth and talent? Well, the middle of our DL is pretty weak. We lack cover corners in the secondary. Maybe we're not up to par on that side of the ball yet. We certainly have good DE's, but they didn't really play up to their capability, IMO.
Lack of motivation? This is the worst part, IMO. No one took a leadership role on this team. There was something missing with this group...a certain malaise...a lack of fire in the belly. Many might blame this on the coaches, and maybe they're right. But the seniors need to step up to the plate and assert themselves. That never seemed to happen this year.
There's just so many things. I'm glad this year is almost over.