Here is the real kicker! It is hard to know where the real trouble lies at this point, because Gailey has stated he would let the OC and DC have control of their sides of the ball. That is fine as long as their side of the ball is performing with efficiency.
At this point, it should be obvious the offense and the defense is performing poorly. If Gailey has allowed the OC and DC to call their own game, then they have had enough time to get better. Instead, they are getting worse. It is way past time for Gailey to make some changes, because the final results belong to him.
The entire offensive strategy and play-calling has been very predictable and not in sync. The receivers seem to have lost some of the edge they had in previous years. It also seems the routes are not run as precisely as in the past. Yes, there are some occasional good plays, but no consistency.
The defense can key on whichever back is in the game to run the ball. The blocking back can be ignored. The running game has no mystery to it. It is easy to defend. If we did not have some good offensive linemen, it would really be a disaster.
The defense has two great problems. Both are very obvious and stick out like a sore thumb. Our tacklers are not hitting the ball carriers with explosiveness, nor are they locking the ball carriers down on attempted tackles. The other shortcoming is the lack of playing man-to-man on obvious short passing situations.
It is incomprehensible that we would let the receiver catch the ball rather than try to intercept it on short passes. It has become an automatic first down for the opposition on the short passes. We give it to them. No wonder, the defensive players tire.
If the QB escapes pressure and throws over the defenders head, he has to be more accurate on the longer passes. If he should connect, so be it. We get our defensive players off the field for a rest and we depend on our offense to get the points back. It is far better than having the other team score anyhow by keeping the drives alive on short passes and wearing down our defense.
Both are correctable. It is essential to cut off the short passes on third and long, and second and long when it is an obvious passing down. We are playing way too passive on defense.
The defensive team must play aggressive and take the action to the offense. If we get caught in the wrong play, so be it. At least we will not allow a team to score by keeping the ball the entire game and wearing out our defense.
We should take chances and stop the other team and defend against the short pass. A QB can be much more accurate on a short pass than a long pass. His chances of completing a long pass stretches his odds.
As far as poor tackling, it is either poor techniques that have not been corrected by the defensive coaches, or, as someone else has suggested, our strength conditioning is not adequate.
It is time for Gailey to make some serious decisions. If the team does not turn around and begin to improve greatly, it will be obvious to me, Gailey cannot get the job done at Tech.
