Maryland at FSU Observations

by badknees81 on Nov 21, 2009 4:01 PM EST Comment 18 comments

The team showed a lot of character today by eeking out the win. Here our some of my thoughts on the game.

Many people, including myself, forgot that Maryland had Da'Rel Scott back today after missing five games, no coincidence they lost all five. He is a difference maker and provided UM with enough of a run game to open up the passing game.
Jimbo tried to open up the playbook and it did not work. Putting EJ alone in the back field with five wide was befuddling and unnecessary early in the game. I would have liked to have seen the I formation and more North South running plays. We were too impatient with our running game and I think Hudson being out played too much into the play calling.
EJ has all the tools to become an outstanding quarterback at FSU. He has also showed, understandably, some weaknesses. A number of under thrown/behind balls to receivers and a few bad reads, however this will improve as his experience grows.
Reliford will be better than expected, and made a great catch at the one, but also seemed to have run the wrong route on one of EJs interceptions. He like EJ will only improve.
Lonnie Pryor is having an excellent rookie season. His blocking has been instrumental and his toughness is very apparent. A fantastic surprise and a great one two punch with Thomas.
Defense, what can you say? In Mickeys last year he seems to have abandoned everything that made his defenses so great, corner blitzes, safety blitzes, just blitzes in general and frequent. Bump and run coverage has also gone by the wayside. Alarmingly no aggressiveness on the defense. One could argue he does not have the athletes, and he doesn't, however the coaching is not there nor the effort from certain players.
We need some talent but more importantly SIZE on our defensive line as soon as possible. Along with that the team has missed far too many tackles this season which I think is partly a result of a poor weight training program mixed in with some young d lineman.
The reverse call by Jimbo was perfectly timed. UM had been over pursuing most of the game and he gashed them with the call. Also the roll outs and play actions work great with EJ, however a running game is vital for those to work.
It was wonderful to see Mickey go out at home with a win.
As SWFLNole put it, G5, enough said.
Last, but certainly not least, Nigel Bradham is growing into a great football player.

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Spot on

by mudra on Nov 21, 2009 4:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

agreed

be interested to hear Jimbo’s comments on the game plan.

by DixieNole on Nov 21, 2009 4:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It was what FSUn said it would be in the preview

Beat them on the edge with the running game and try to keep throws manageable for EJ. We weren’t going to beat them running it down their throats with those huge DT’s and 8 in the box with our best lineman out.

>>---l>

by DKfromVA on Nov 21, 2009 5:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Did anyone else notice after Lonnie scored players on the sidelines were asking Jimbo if they were going for 1 or 2. What the hell is Bobby getting paid for if he doesn’t make that call?

by vegasnole9399 on Nov 21, 2009 7:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

what the hell is Bobby getting paid for?

if ANYONE knows this answer, let me know.

by NolenRyan on Nov 22, 2009 12:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

because he has balls and our administration doesn't

Ann said it :)

Somebody set us up the Bowden. All your field are belong to us.

by malweka on Nov 22, 2009 10:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You don't want him making that call.

Fisher has blown him off before and should at all times.

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by FSUncensored on Nov 23, 2009 12:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Its funny for years every time BB puts on the headsets you can almost feel the collective

“oh shit!” from the fans.

Speed is a great asset; but it's greater when it's combined with quickness - and there's a big difference.
- Ty Cobb

by badknees81 on Nov 24, 2009 5:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I saw that another WTF moment from FSU

Dont blame he doesnt know where he is

I probably know Judo! How many of you can make the same boast?

by Souwantmyname on Nov 21, 2009 10:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I know we bash our defense.

But it was good to see they manned up and got EJ the ball back at the end of the game. I know they knew it was a run but they got gashed the drive before on the exact same run to the right play.

"Reporter: What will you tell the team at halftime Bobby?
Bobby: I'll tell 'em what I always tell 'em when were winning. Boys if they don't score we'll win this game"

by fsugrizz on Nov 22, 2009 1:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

EJ's teardrops

Anyone know why EJ was lofting the balls?
Is it because he has such a strong arm someone told him not to drill the ball into our receivers?
Was hye afraid of balls sailing if he put his arm into them?
Is it because he was trying to throw to a spot and give the WRs time to get to the spot?
Practice injury?
Whatever it was, I’m confident that Jimbo will work with him to get some zip on the ball before the FU game. He will need to play with reckless abandon against FU. It seems like the best thing for him to do against FU is to run early, get hit, and the adreneline and his instincts take over. If we had a good D, he could play with fear of making a mistake. We don’t have that option.

Incidently, the two runs on the final drive against MD looked to me like they were inverse play action – fake pass plays that were actually runs by design. After the thre ints and the way EJ was floating the ball, I was thinking Jimbo was brilliant for calling the delayed quarterback draws. It didn’t seem like EJ was under heavy pressure when he tucked the ball and took off on those.

by NoleLaw on Nov 22, 2009 11:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don't know if they were designed runs

It looked like EJ was supposed to throw the ball, but Maryland changed the defense to protect against a longer play, which opened up HUGE lanes for EJ to run.

I may be wrong, but that’s what I saw.

by NolenRyan on Nov 23, 2009 11:34 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He made a hell of move to avoid a lineman on the first run, right near the original snap location

by The K-Man on Nov 23, 2009 11:45 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I noticed

I thought it was maybe homage to Jeff Bowden’s “rainbow offense”. Seemed like all his balls had a strange arc to them. Accuracy was pretty good, and he was dropping them where they needed to go for the most part.

I was thinking that surely Jimbo will point that out during film review and get that straightened out.

by PBD on Nov 23, 2009 3:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NoleLaw and PBD

Here’s some observations I made about the problems with EJ’s throws in the Maryland game.

http://www.tomahawknation.com/2009/11/22/1169607/ej-manuels-arm

by 1newplayer on Nov 23, 2009 7:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

saw that

after i read through this…. was playing catch up

by PBD on Nov 23, 2009 11:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

it's counterintuitive

but you need really good football players and plenty of depth to blitz alot successfully. Obviously, guys that can cover, but also guys that can take proper angles and get to the QB. contrary to your assessment, I think MA has finally, after 5 yrs, started to understand that we don’t have really good defensive football players or depth anymore. Unfortunately, the best you can hope for w/ this D (& probably next yrs too) is to play soft and play for turnovers. mix in the occasional blitz of course but can’t be a blitzing D.

by sperrett on Nov 24, 2009 12:02 AM EST reply actions 0 recs