Jimbo's unit surprises, Mickey's unit FAILS, Jody Allen needs to be fired yesterday, and FSU loses a giftwrapped game they had no business being in.
by Bud Elliott on Nov 2, 2008 12:10 PM EST
in FSU Football
50 comments
As always, this is a blend of our member's thoughts and my own. Thanks to all who contributed. We didn't have many differing opinions this week, which is unusual for a loss.
I'm still trying to digest this loss. Truly disgusting. People are going to make too much of the Marcus Sims fumble. The guy fumbled, and we shouldn't be surprised, as he did it last week. Fumbling one week isn't a reason to expect that it will occur the next. Sometimes these are random. He may have a fumbling issue, but we can't claim to have known that based off of 1 fumble in the VT game. Let's go easy on ripping Simms. He's not a good player and we know that. He is a slightly above average player who we've had to turn to because we can't run Christian every play, because Antone is really dinged, because Carlton Jones is a shell of his former self as a result of his type 1 diabetes (15lb+ loss since arriving), and because Jermaine Thomas can't run the ball every play. He is horrible in pass protection, but we will need Simms down the stretch. As for using him there on the goal line, Jimbo basically said that he is in our goal line package, and Thomas is not. That might change in the future, but discuss the entire game instead of one play out of 65.
Instead of talking about that fumble, let's talk about how the Noles were totally outclassed in this game. Let's talk about how we never stopped Georgia Tech.
I don't put this loss on Marcus Simms.
I put this loss on Mickey Andrews.
31 Points, 0 Turnovers, & 321 yards on 39 Plays.
8.2 yards per play. Up until GT's QB left the game, that's what they had done. 8.2 yards per play. I don't need to say anything more. 8.2 yards per play. Mickey's unit was ill-prepared. 8.2 yards per play. They played like garbage. 8.2 yards per play.
Some people are going to say that the Noles finally started to make adjustments. 8.2 yards per play. That is pure B.S. 8.2 yards per play. Do not buy that for a second. 8.2 yards per play. The Seminole defense didn't adjust to anything, rather Georgia Tech's QB rolled his own ankle. 8.2 yards per play. That is pathetic.
In a game that the defense was being counted on to carry the day, they were non-existent. Bad assignment football, strange formations with the 2 DT's, and poor angles meant 8.2 yards per play. In the back of every knowledgeable FSU fan's mind, we knew there was a chance that the defense could lay an egg against a team of this design. I dismissed that, telling myself that was silly, that Mickey wouldn't prepare these guys in a way that would allow such egg-laying, and that playing a running QB for the 3rd consecutive week would increase our familiarity. I was so very very wrong.
I like Mickey Andrews a lot. He is a good guy by all accounts, and has been excellent over the course of his career. Everybody can have a bad game. Let's consider this his bad game.
There are much deeper issues here, however, that we must eventually start to look at. Mickey's DB recruiting has been woeful over the past few years, specifically at the CB spot. We have a stud in Patrick Robinson, and an above average Senior in Tony Carter. I don't expect either to be back. I'm not a huge fan of our technique, and I am not speaking solely of this game. We could have major defensive issues next year, as Mangum and Jenjie are not anywhere close to starter level at a major D1 program.
Scheme wise, I tend to think that people are figuring out Mickey. That's not to say this can't be an excellent defense going forward. We can, if we execute.
Nobody should forget, however, that we were incredibly lucky to be in this game. We never stopped them with their QB in the game. They punted once. When you have defensive talent like this, you can't allow the opposing team to run all over you. Does anyone actually think the defense looked good in practice leading up to this game?
When one player plays poorly, I'll point that out. When the entire unit plays poorly, I'll point to the man in charge. We were so lucky to have their QB injure himself. That wasn't something we did. GTech was on their way to putting up FIFTY. Who would have stopped them? Not the Seminole defense.
The Yellow Jackets hadn't scored more than 27 points in an ACC game this season and had 31 on the board with 13:42 remaining in third quarter. _Steve Ellis
Look at this chart (in full-screen if you need to). Look at all the yellow going into our zone. There is a noticeable change after the GTech Fumble. This is just another example to show that we didn't adjust to anything and the only reason their offense stalled was the self-inflicted GT QB Injury.
Full Screen Version
I put this loss on Special Teams Coach Jodey Allen
Last week, I implored you to email the folks in charge and ask that Jodey Allen be relieved of his position. His unit is consistently horrible. He is not a kicking coach and should not receive credit for Graham Gano's amazing ability. Our kick coverage is some of the worst I have ever seen. GT had returns of 46 and 29 yards. Their total tally was 116 yards on 4 returns.
There is no way Jody Allen can feel safe in his job at this point. Many have called for his resignation before me. Our production at the defensive end spot has consistently declined since Allen replaced former DE Coach Jim Gladden.
When Jimbo finally takes over and cleans house, I'll take Amato or Allen in the "first to go" pool. Flip a coin.
The offense was shockingly decent
While Allen's guys were busy looking inept as usual, and Mickey's crew was doing less with more, Jimbo continued to prove, to me and other Tomahawk Nation members why we pay him so well. He did more with less. We didn't expect much and they delivered a ton.
The offensive line played slightly better in the passing game than I expected, allowing 5 sacks and a holding penalty. A sack rate of 15% is still terrible, but it wasn't disasterous for us. They really excelled in the running game. If you take out the sacks (college stats count sacks as rushing yardage), the Noles ran for 228 yards on 31 carries, or 7.3 per carry.
Photo Credit: Tallahassee Democrat
I was very impressed with Jermaine Thomas. He doesn't look explosive, and doesn't appear to have track speed. His best asset is his vision, and it is excellent. In trying to figure out a comprable back, all I can come up with is Ricky Watters.
It's great to see Preston Parker performing well. He is a key part of our offense, even if he's banged up.
Great job by the offensive staff to use all of their guys. They were giving us throws underneath, and we got them into the receiver's hands.
My thoughts on Ponder are mixed. I already think he is a good quarterback, but he also has a lot of room for improvement. The throw into the end zone was just bad. I just don't know how preoccupied he is with avoiding the pass rushers that beat our young offensive line on almost every play. Many members are concerned with him not leading receivers enough and throwing late (probably because of late recognition). There are several explanations for this. The first is that he isn't able to devote the proper amount of attention to down field because of the pressure in his face. The second is youth. The answer probably lies somewhere in-between. I lean to the former, however, because the pass protection is so poor. For anyone wondering, the pass blocking is much worse than in prior years.
The offense did their job. In the end, our defense asked the offense to do too much.
Insert a bunch of talk about how this team is tough and how they battle, etc. Whatever. The strength of our team was a huge liability.
Other Nole Writers React
- Scalpem says the Noles must put this loss behind them and get ready for Clemson, as it is a bigger test than GTech was. He's right, Clemson is better than their record indicates. The random thoughts are up as well.
- ChanrRant says the Nole's life on the edge style caught up with them. Good read.
Remaining Issues
- Ponder is definitely injured. I think he has cracked ribs. It's pretty amazing that our offense produced like it did with the young OLine and a major part of the offense limited due to injury.
- The Clemson game will almost certainly be a 3:30 ABC Regional split.
- Will we be ranked after today?
- We should and probably will beat all remaining ACC opponents.
- Florida is going to wipe the floor with this team.
- Dinnich is already writing us off, but Maryland still must beat us to secure the Atlantic. We really need Wake to drop another game.
- I accidentally deleted the copy of this game from my DVR, so unless someone sends me a copy, I can't do the film review.
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Next Week Is Huge
Check out the site, and I explain it more… but next week against Clemson is huge in determining who this team really is.
As for winning the remaining ACC games, I dunno if I’d agree with should, but I think FSU could win them all, or frankly, lose them all, no matter what the stats say.
And yes Florida is going to kill the Noles this year, get the Vaseline out.
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." - General George S. Patton
Linked, and you're right about UF.
I think well be favored in the remaining ACC games.
We were underdogs to GT. Of course any team can win any game at any time.
Rewatch the Game
On Sunsports tonight if you still want to do the breakdown. I think its at 7
better we lost in the end?
little silver lining
might actually be a nice thing we end up losing in the end. as has been stated already, we didn’t deserve to be in that game at the end. if we win it, it doesn’t send the same wake up call to the team… they could easily walk away thinking things weren’t that bad. hopefully the loss puts some fire under their butts to work harder and improve.
I get what you're saying, but...
I don’t agree. I’d rather take the win. I don’t think this team needs a wakeup call against the next 3 teams.
This was pretty much game plan. I don’t think the guys are lazing it up. Sure, some are obviously blazing it up, but every college team has that.
Excellent point
I’d obviously rather win, but since we didn’t, a loss can be beneficial to a young team like the Noles, who were not expected to be in the ACC race this season. We all knew a young team like FSU wouldn’t win out, and this losscould have been a lot worse. Time to learn you can’t win by playing two quarters of a game. Mistakes were made, time to learn from them and fix them for the stretch run.
We weren't expected to be in the ACC race because of Clemson
If you took Clemson out of the equation, we were the Atlantic Favorites.
Wake too
Wake was picked ahead of us in all the preseason mags too, at least the two I bought. We’re a year away, plain and simple, this year is just a warm up. We got beat by ourselves (7 to’s against Wake) and by a better team (or at least better prepared Ga. Tech). With a preseason expectation of about 8 wins, a first-year QB and an infant o-line, we’re actually a little ahead of pace. Some fans were naive to think FSU would run the ACC table IMO, I think we were destined to lose another ACC game, we’re just too young and inconsistent. But it’s all good, the ACC race is still crazy and we can win the last three ACC games. I’m glad this loss hurts, it means we’re better than we used to be. Losses the past three years were too routine.
’m glad this loss hurts, it means we’re better than we used to be. Losses the past three years were too routine.
I hadn’t thought of it like that, but I like the attitude.
We are not a year away on defense, however, and that worries me. Our defense should be great THIS YEAR, and they are not. I put that mostly on Mickey Andrews. We’re could lose up to 9 defensive starters. If we do, prepare to see Mickey get completely exposed.
The worst case scenario (sorry if I’m being too negative)…
We lose:
DE MOFFETT (no maybe, he is a senior)
DE BROWN (a lock to leave)
DT GRIFFIN (no maybe, he is a senior)
DT THACKER (does not like school)
LB VERDELL (no maybe, he is a senior)
LB WATSON (combine freak)
LB NICHOLSON (no maybe, he is a senior)
CB CARTER (no maybe, he is a senior).
CB ROBINSON (will be a first day pick if he leaves)
SS ROLLE (Mickey is treating this as his last year.)
Next year’s defense will likely struggle mightily.
We are still very much in the ACC race. To say that we are out of it is just as foolish as saying that we had it won last week (some were).
I discussed this last week, here
Now if I were to update that, our chances are diminished but not dashed. Check these out:
FSU’s chances of finish:
6-2 ACC 33.6%
5-3 ACC 45.2%
4-4 ACC 18.8%
3-5 ACC 2.4%
Wake’s chances of finish:
6-2 ACC 26.2%
5-3 ACC 44.3%
4-4 ACC 24.8%
3-5 ACC 4.7%
Maryland’s chances of finish (BC is done)
7-1 ACC 3.0%
6-2 ACC 16.9%
5-3 ACC 30.6%
4-4 ACC 38.2%
3-5 ACC 11.3%
Thoughts?
I’ll finish by saying that I do think next year’s offense will be at a level that it dominates the ACC, and puts itself way above the tactics of these ACC defenses.
not looking good
Yep, I’ve just been an FSU fan so long, I guess I just take Mickey and the D being good for granted. Hopefully some will come back with FSU rising, unlike some who jumped ship — because why would you want to come back if you’re gonna lose 4-5 games. Mickey will have them decent though, the unit has been solid for 20 years; but they could struggle as much as any of them next year. Oh, Clemson says the game is at 3:30. Bring it.
Agree
They announcers on ESPN made the comment that this loss basically takes the noles out running for the ACC championship game. They are obviously smoking whatever it is that McGuire is.
defense
yES THE GAME WAS UGLY AND YES THE DEFENSE PLAYED HORRIBLY AND YES JODY ALLEN NEEDS TO BE CANNED BUT THIS WAS AGAINST ON OFFENSE THAT NO ONE PLAYS ANYMORE. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR AN OFFENSE THAT YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN AND HAS ONLY BEEN BACK IN THE LEAGUE FOR 8 GAMES. THAT’S NOT A LOT OF FILM TO REVIEW SO GUYS EASE UP ON MICKEY AND THE DEFENSE THEY HAD ONE BAD GAME. I SEEM TO REMEMBER THE OFFENSE HAD A WORSE ONE AGAINST WAKE. ALSO WE SHOULD WIN OUT IN ACC PLAY AS FOR FLORIDA YES THEY WILL BEAT US BUT CAN YOU REALLY EXPECT DIFFERENT LOOK AT THEM THEY ARE STACKED AND PROBALLY GONNA WIN THE NC AGAIN THIS YEAR.
Boston College held them to 16 points.
Virginia Tech held them to 17 points.
Clemson held them to 21 points.
Virginia held them to 17 points.
… Florida State held them to 31 points in 3 QUARTERS.
Hell, if our defense had played like DUKE (who held them to 27 points) we would have WON.
Excusing our D because it’s a rare offense just doesn’t fit when the rest of the ACC didn’t have that much of a problem with it.
Bingo.
If I told you we’d get 384 yards, including drives of 68, 67, 56, 70, and 59!, you would have taken it in a heartbeat.
They scored more points in 35 minutes against us
than they did in any other COMPLETE ACC Game.
Other teams prepared for the offense quite well. We did not.
I’m not calling for Mickey Andrews’ head, but I will say that he called a horrible game and did a really poor job preparing his guys to play in this football game.
You mentioned the Wake game and the offense, and that is true, but let’s highlight a key difference. The offense is VERY young I expect mistakes from those guys.
This defense is very experienced and talented. They are judged on a different level. Mickey is not doing a good job using the talent he has. While Jimbo does more with less, and has to game plan around some really weird situations (OLine). Mickey’s unit FAILED.
And yes, we should make “Fire Jody Allen” signs and bring them to the game.
The key question
Is Mickey falling behind the time like Bobby/Jeff did?
That is, was this a blip or do we have a defense that simply isn’t sophisticated enough to defend the spread one week and the option the next.
I was sitting in the endzone yesterday, and on their big runs, we would line up in the Bears look with the two tackles right over the center. The only problem was, our linebackers were still well off the line.
Everybody around me, a few counts before the snap would say — they’re going to hand it to 21 — and sure enough, there was nobody home. This was not complex “tough-to-adjust-to” football, it was simply running a dive play for 70 yards.
If their QB doesn’t get hurt, I truly believe we give up 45 points. And that’s the second straight week where, in my opinion, hurt opposing QB’s were the only reason we had a chance to win.
Couple other thoughts:
1) While I criticized Ponder for being late on a number of passes, I feel a little better about his reads based on yesterday. The times he held the ball, my scan of the field revealed there really wasn’t anybody open on those plays.
2) While our offense clearly had one of its best game, we still left a lot on the field. I wish we had run it more in the late-third/early-fourth quarter (particularly on the third and short where Ponder was sacked and fumbled)
3) I agree with those who don’t pin the game on Sims — it was a hard, helmet to ball hit — those happen.
4) I’m flabbergasted that Gano did not start the game kicking off — makes no sense and I agree that Jody Allen is simply not getting the job done.
5) We didn’t deserve to have a chance to win, but it sure did hurt when we fumbled.
Ed
his schemes are falling behind. I don’t have any doubt. Now, they do still work to an extent, but others would use our guys better.
While not a factor in this game, if Bobby wasn’t around, we could have a dedicated secondary coach.
The double 2-technique DT’s was interesting. I give Mickey some credit for trying something, but I have to wonder “did that really work in practice?”
As for your 45 prediction, that’s dead on. They were scoring 4 points per drive, pre-injury. That’d put them at 46 points.
I don’t take issue with any of your comments, but we did surrender 9 tackles for loss. On the 3rd and 4 where we were sacked, I did want to run there, but only if we were confident in going for 4th down should we come up short.
Ultimately, it seems to me that the special teams coach decides who kicks off. Fire Jodey Allen.
Stopping the option
By the way, why was Miami always so good at stopping the option. It seems to me that “assignment football” is important, but can’t you also stop it with penetration and disrupting the offense? Seems to me that we were so reactive (same as against UF last year) that it took all the aggressiveness out of our play. I mean, it’s not like we were overpursuing — usually what happens with an undisciplined team. They weren’t really running too much misdirection — mostly it was just straight triple option — they’d send a guy in motion the direction they were going to run.
I wonder if we’ve got this all wrong — if the problem is that we’re playing scared as opposed to not being disciplined.
It's an interesting question.
Our players aren’t made to be reactive. They do really well when they attack. Now, the key is finding the right balance, and it seems as if Mickey’s guys can’t find that right balance.
We also got beat up front at the DT spot.
Agreed with Fsued
I completely agree. Last year versus UF we didn’t play FSU football, we played scared, and got destroyed. We can win this year against them, I don’t understand why people write us off. We have one of the best defenses in college football, and when we play our kind of defense, we can win. The spread doesn’t work when you lay Tebow out on every play. Sure, we’re going to give up some big plays, they have maybe the best offense in NCAA, but by the end the defense will put us in a position to win if our offense plays well.
I don’t know how well this applied to the triple option, but it seemed to me, that the reactions were too slow, we should have just made a move instead of waiting for them. Even when the scheme worked perfectly, we covered all offensive personel, they still gained 3 yards on average, but when we just got pressure, and flew through, we stopped them in the backfield.
Its an interesting game, I really don’t know what to think compared to last years UF defensive meltdown where it was obvious what went wrong. Tough team, we shouldn’t have even been in it. Paul Johnson for ACC coach of the year.
NJ,
we’ll agree to disagree on Florida. There are NO reasons to expect UF to score anything less than 50 on Mickey’s scheme.
As for the 2nd point, I couldn’t agree more. Why not gamble and try to get tackles for loss? The option is screwed when it is behind schedule.
Get real
Obviously no way Florida scores 50 on FSU in Doak. Don’t let one ugly loss drag you down. I don’t think the game will be close, but 50 is a pipe dream reaction from frightened fans. We’re far from needing a major overhaul. I agree with ChantRant and a couple other posters, I think this loss will be a learning experience after living dangerously for four weeks, now they know that the way they’ve been playing won’t result in a win every week. As long as they don’t let this loss linger, they’ll be fine. Just win out in the ACC and then pray for 50-mph winds against UF. Go Noles!
UF
Dropped:
49 on Georgia
51 on LSU
63 on Kentucky
UF would be favored over every team in the nation. USC would be a close #2.
And if they have the opportunity, they will throw on the very last against us. Style points count. Mickey has not had any answer against their offense. Not many have. The formula seems to be (from their last few losses):
Hold the ball (something you do with your offense)
Go for 4th down (something you do with your offense), as field goals do not cut it. You need to hold the ball as long as possible and score td’s to limit possessions.
Have a special edge rusher (Everette Brown might help here).
Mix coverages (something we do NOT do).
Mix looks (if Tebow can read your stuff pre-snap, you’re screwed).
I’m pissed that we missed badly on Jeff Demps and Janoris Jenkins. We could really use Jenkins now as our corners behind the first 2 aren’t going to be good for us next year, and Jenkins might start over Tony Carter right now.
Let’s win out in the ACC and pray that Wake Forest doesn’t win 3 games they’ll be small favorites in (Virginia, @ NCST, Boston College).
More for those who don't think Meyer will pour it on...
He was throwing bombs up by 6 touchdowns with 7:30 remaining against UGA.
He also kicked a field goal against Miami while up by 20 with 25 seconds left earlier this season.
He also piled on 14 points in the last five minutes against Arkansas to make that one look respectable to the poll voters.
Meyer plays the game right. The game is college football, and you should try to run up the score if you’re in a chase-mode, poll-wise. UF is and they do.
They're good at football
No doubt, UF is a beast, I just think we’ll give them a good game … well an OK game .. how bout a slightly below average game. We won’t win, but we can keep them under 50. And no doubt, they’ll try to run it up if they have the chance. But enough about the Gators, let’s beat Clemson and win the next two before we start worrying about UF.
I'm with you regarding UF, Uncensored
It is going to be a bloodbath. Hope I’m wrong…
"Your eyes can decieve you. Don't trust them." Obi-Wan Kenobi, the first sabermetrician...
by Curtain Jerker on Nov 2, 2008 6:11 PM EST up reply actions
Is it possible for us to beat Florida.
Yes.
But I’d say we’d have to play 10 games to win 1, on average.
We can beat them 35-31 when we are at least +2 in the turnover battle, win special teams and play perfect on offense.
Will I be rooting like hell for it? You know the answer to that.
But I’d have to have heavy odds.
If we both win out, I’d guess they’d be a 12-point road favorite over us — and I’d be betting on them.
I hope we're all wrong...
As the Florida game will be my first game at Tallahassee. My dad went to FSU and we have grown up FSU fans our entire lives but have never been down there to a game. This year we bought my dad tickets as a surprise so here’s hoping we at least make a game out of it….
R11
I’m sure we are overreacting a bit.
There are some things we can do well against UF. My guess is that we will be 10-12 point underdogs.
I want to be competitive in this game because I hate UF, but also for another reason: recruiting.
I’m glad you’re getting down to a game!
we made it a very good game last time they came to town the year they won their championship.
It was 2006. We had a terrible year that year. we went 6-6 in the regular season. we squeaked past a .500 year because of a win in the emerald bowl of all bowls.
the score was 21-14 that year.
All I have to say is a rivalry and all bets are off. This would be the season to do it. We will be the team who stands in the way of UF’s championship. That should give both teams motivation and we should see a great game……hopefully.
Lets step it up this week first and dominate clemson and gain some swagger back.
Beat Clemson
and keep guys healthy.
I’d like to see us beat Clemson without having to have Ponder take big hits. We need him healthy for the final 3. Clemson will probably be a tough game, however, and that means more running.
You're right,
but that team was not as good as this UF team, in my opinion. Their offense is definitely much better now.
#@$% happens
It was a bad game for the D. We get that but its going to happen. We started the season at the bottem and fought our way up. We were not supost to be as good as we are. No we are not the top knotch team everyone things but look at where we came from. 2 weeks ago people were not sure about our Off. but now after riding behind our D people are blaming Micky. Yes the D as a hole was crap but thats life. Pick up the cake off the floor and throw it away. We start again today with a new goal. Stop looking at winning the ACC. Right now we dont need to focuse on that. We need to focus how do we win games. Not all for them but the next one. How do we talk top recrutes to our school. You think the D will be this bad next year No way. I hope we win out. I hope we make it to the OB. I hope GT is there. I hope we get another shot at them. But thats almost 3mo away. Clemson is coming off a good win and prob think they can beat us. I know everyone is pissed about this game but get it out and lets move on. We can worry about getting ride of people in the off season. These are the cards we have and we need to make them work. If they wont work we need to make people think they will work. Please stop trying to win the ACC and just keep improving. Its more importen to win what ever bowl game we get than lose in the OB. We need the future players at FSU the beleave we are coming back and give them a reason to come here.
made a mistake
I hope GT and FSU make it to the champ game and we beat the hell out of them to go to the OB. sorry just got fired up thats all.
You think the D will be this bad next year No way.
Wow. NO WAY. Our defense is going to be a LOT worse next year. I don’t think anyone could argue otherwise. I want to know why you think this, because I have to be missing something huge:
Why will the defense be a lot worse?
- Much more difficult schedule
- We will lose 7+ (and possibly 9) starters.
- Lack of talent to replace those guys.
I’ll be waiting.
Yes we might lose a lot of people but are you going to say the coachs on D are so bad because of one game. This D was ranked 7th in the nation. Micky had one realy bad week to get the D ready for GT. Im not going to Buy into the we are going to have such a crapy d nexy year 2007 we picked up Dionte Allen at CB #5 in the nation, Kendall Smith ILB #9 in the nation, last year Terrance Parks again CB #5 nation, Everett Dawkins #20 DE nation and this year Jacobbi McDaniel DT #1 in the nation, Demonte McAllister DE #3 in the nation, Gerald Demps #5 in the Nation. These guys might redshirt but look at how deep we are in the LB pos. Also FSU has always had a good D. Im not going to say other wise unless I have a real reason. Can you say UF has a bad D because they lost to old miss. No it was a bad game and poor coaching 1 game. The D is was has keep us in the games all year.
Des
The defensive ranking was inflated because we had played a bunch of crappy offenses.
We are a good but not great defense.
I am not saying we have a bad defense, but we’ve had 3 bad defensive games in a row, not one. Three.
The recruits you mentioned are for the most part very young and will not be ready to contribute next year.
I’m not sure what you’re saying with the UF thing, but I wasn’t talking about UF.
We were not supost to be as good as we are.
I’d argue that we are supposed to be this good. We have a lot of talent on defense, and the unit is now underachieving. Mickey is in charge.
2 weeks ago people were not sure about our Off. but now after riding behind our D people are blaming Micky. Yes the D as a hole was crap but thats life.
I’m glad that Jimbo doesn’t take the “that’s life” attitude, Desman. This defense has a ton of talent and has had 3 straight sub-par games.
Why is Mickey immune from criticism? Stop comparing the defense to the offense. The defense should be elite. The offense should not at this point. People want to know why we lost, and the answer is because of poor defensive play, play that reflects on Mickey Andrews.
We can still win the ACC.
Im not trying to come off saying Michy not at falt because his is. All the D coaches are at fult. Im just saying things happen. Our D has been very stron and will be strong. We didnt get ready for GT and it showed. We still have a good team and its going to show in the next few games. to say that its sub-par for the last 3 games is not right though. last week you told me about the stats and the numbers. Well the numbers were actualy real good for us on D. We had a bad game thats all Im trying to say. Jimbo has done a great job with our Off. Micky and Co. let us down for one week. They didnt let us down agenst VT or miami. I thought the D was the reason we won. Also our ST helped us a lot. The ST in the GT game was garbage from what I saw. No coverage.
Des
We still have a good team and its going to show in the next few games. to say that its sub-par for the last 3 games is not right though.
NC State ran all over us.
Until their qb was injured, the numbers for FSU were bad against Virginia Tech.
Georgia Tech ripped us.
That’s 3 games by my count.
The D played good against Miami, but they did play poorly against VT.
You're right!
The first scheme they tried SHOULD have worked straight man….but the staff couldn’t (in a weeks time) teach them to scrape down and take an outside angle on the pitch back…they were like nowhere to be found…
then we started trying to gimick the D into stopping the option…pathetic.
It’s time to start trying guys out at free saftey…NOW. (first the TE"s open, now they can’t cover pitch on option…AT ALL)
Fisher & Co. are doing a mans job of coaching up the offense, and if we had ANY coaching on the Defensive side of the ball. If They are remotely prepared to compete against this offense…we blow them out.
Lack of takeaways
One of the reasons that GT has not scored as many points in some of their other games is because of how many times that they have put the ball on the ground. I was concerned that if they protected the ball better, it would be difficult to slow them down. That said, it was still very disappointing that Mickey was not able to make any meaningful adjustments at halftime.
I think Jimbo called a great game but I question the last play. With it being only 2nd down and a long 3 yds, I would have liked to have seen a play action. With GT’s back to the wall, you knew there would be some serious warfare going on in that 3 yds.
Bingo.
GTech was actually pretty good on offense throughout the year when they had their QB in the game.
They were generally only stopped this year when they fumbled.
A Few Thoughts...
I apologize in advance if many or most of these points have been said…I was at the game this weekend and have just now had the time to sit down and put my thoughts to paper.
During warm ups, Christian Ponder looked outstanding, throwing crisp passes before the receivers broke their routes and had very few dropped balls. As I watched GTech warm up, I became very nervous as I was confused by their motion in and out of schemes; it was effortless. They were obviously a well coached team.
I was encouraged by the first drive. Our offense looked good throughout the majority of the game. There were a few questionable play calls but overall, I would say the offense played better than advertised. I would still like to see Greg Carr play a bigger role in the offense and I would like to see the deep ball thrown more often. Ponder has the arm and our receivers are huge. Our guys towered over their corners…it should have been first down every time we the ball to the outside. The offensive line did well. I felt they played better than last week and we are seeing the number of penalties decreasing. I can’t wait to see what these guys will do over the next two to three years. They are clearly buying into Jimbo’s system. I still hate the naked boot call on third and 4 when you knew GTech was going to blitz…
Watching the defense play was painful for a variety of reasons. My main concern was that we weren’t patient enough, consistently over pursuing and biting on the dive. Too often our corners and linebackers were caught with their heads inside as the ball moved outside at a furious pace. Plus, when playing the defense, the defensive end or who ever is assigned the quarterback, needs to knock the snot out of the quarterback on every single play whether he has the ball or not. That’s how we were coached when I played and it made a difference; it slowed the quarterback down and made them think before pitching the ball. Still, I find it inexcusible that a team can run a dive play over and over and over and gain 60, 70, 80 yards at a time. We played too hyped up and over pursued looking for the big hit. Plus, where were the take aways. Great interception at the end of the game, but we simply couldn’t stop them or the big play.
I cannot tell you how much it hurt to watch that ball pop out at the end of the game and hearing the fans at Dodd Field finally make some noise. Props to the Nole’s in the 200 and 300 level of the stadium who made it seem like a home game.
I knew this year wasn’t going to be a great year for us. I was excited to see our young talent develop. I think we will continue to improve exponentially over the next couple of years. The O-Line will be outstanding and despite the losses on defense, we already have one hell of a recruiting class for 2009.
Thanks for making it through this long and winding post.
Go NOLES!
TC,
solid post.
I appreciate everyone commenting on here and wish I could have made the game.
I think you didn’t see the deep ball because GTech was playing their safeties deep and to the outside. Obvious we are taller, but with our protection issues, getting the ball out quickly made more sense.
I’m not sure about the naked boot call. If by blitzing you mean that they would get pressure, I agree, but if by blitzing you mean bringing the LB’s, I disagree; Tech rarely blitzed in this game.
Your defensive observations are similar to what I am hearing from some guys on the inside as well as other members here.
Next year’s offense is going to be sick, especially if Parker returns and we don’t suffer any academic casualties!
Go Noles!
I may have mis-spoke…that play sticks out in my mind and it may have been GTech’s DE who came completely clean…I was watching the routes develop and surprised when they started to pull up I saw two people in CP’s face. Blitz or no blitz I disagreed with the call.
I agree with getting the ball off quickly with our young line who has been under attack this year, but we could still throw the ball deep with more frequency. We did however do a nice job with the quick slant routes with Carr. Again, the outside position of the safties made it difficult to get that nice deep fade route. So, I totally agree with your assesment…but I would still like to at least see us try more often. (Duh…we have the athletes to be able to do so)
Here’s to next week and a better outcome…we’re close to being a powerhouse every year. It should be a great couple of years. (As long as everyone doesn’t take music appreciation again)
I'll make sure to watch the play a few times tomorrow night when I do the review.
I do think that for all the heat Marcus Sims takes for the fumbling, his blitz protection abilities just flat SUCK.
If we are going to throw deep, we need to make sure that he is not on the field.
Agreed, we can take care of business in the ACC.
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