I'm almost always against hypotheticals, but I'll make an exception here to make a point. Let's say you didn't see the game last night, and I showed you the actual following stats:
(1) King, 21 for 30 for 322 Yds, 1 TD, ZERO turnovers.
(2) We FINALLY had a WR (Harley) with a big breakout game with 10 Rec., 170 Yds, and a TD.
(3) We had over 100 team rushing yards.
(4) We had over 400 Yards of Total Offense.
(5) We were basically 50% on 3rd down.
(6) We had ZERO turnovers.
(7) We only had 39 penalty yards.
(8) We held UVA to 14 points.
(9) Time Of Possession: Miami
(10) Turnover Battle: Miami
^^^ I show you those 10 stats, and you're likely telling me a 44-14/48-14 blowout game going away. Yet, somehow, it was a 5-point game, with UVA outscoring us in the 4th Qtr, in a nailbitter.
Offensively, we scored 30 or more in the UAB, Louisville, FSU, and Pitt games. The Clemson game was an outlier. Last night was a poor offensive gameplan, with poorer halftime adjustments. We lacked explosive/homerun plays, especially in the run game. I didn't see a lot of innovation/creativity, and I'm not sure whether that was due to either a lack of confidence in the OL, Brevin out, bad weather, or a combination of all of it. Rhett had a bad day at the office. Rhett is not a poor OC. Rhett is a rock solid OC. I saw him have some absolute shit gameplans/adjustments at SMU in his two years there and still have off-the-charts historical success for a death penalty program. So, let's try to have some perspective.
That said, criticism is certainly more than warranted, and I share a lot of people's criticisms.
First and foremost, we know that the OL is average on its best day, mediocre most days, and inconsistent every day. But we both can and need to still scheme around our OL issues. Unbalanced lines, double-TE sets, 21 personnel packages with both Cam and Knighton in the backfield to create misdirection/isolation opportunites, and speed options with King and a RB to the outside. The inside zone runs/reads are fine to keep opposing Defenses honest, but there has to be more variety. Throw in 1-2 more wildcat plays. Averaging less than 3.0 yards per rushing attempt in back-to-back games is unacceptable.
Second, the RBs have to be more involved in the passing game. In the both UAB and Louisville games, we saw some good play designs for passes to RBs. Disappointed that we didn't see any of that last night.
Third, the TEs have to be more involved. Mallory was on fire early, and he clearly had a mismatch advantage with UVA's LBs (like most teams have had against UVA). Yet, he disappeared throughout the game. Even though Harley was tearing it up last night, we needed to get other guys more involved.
Our Defense played great for the most part, and our Special Teams played great for the most part. Offense had a down day at the Office, and the other 2 Units picked up the slack. Credit to the Defense.
We're halfway through the season, 5-1, basically top-10 in the country, and are 4-1 against ACC Opponents. I feel good about this team despite a bad game last night. There is no doubt that we will have to have better Offensive performances aginst NC State, VT, and UNC, but I'd much rather be where we are right now than Penn State, Oklahoma, Texas, FSU, Florida, and the Pac-12 who haven't even played.
Again, try to have some perspective.
I'm confident that we both can and will have a much better Offensive performance against N.C. State. 2 weeks to prepare for a BIG night game in Raleigh.
(1) King, 21 for 30 for 322 Yds, 1 TD, ZERO turnovers.
(2) We FINALLY had a WR (Harley) with a big breakout game with 10 Rec., 170 Yds, and a TD.
(3) We had over 100 team rushing yards.
(4) We had over 400 Yards of Total Offense.
(5) We were basically 50% on 3rd down.
(6) We had ZERO turnovers.
(7) We only had 39 penalty yards.
(8) We held UVA to 14 points.
(9) Time Of Possession: Miami
(10) Turnover Battle: Miami
^^^ I show you those 10 stats, and you're likely telling me a 44-14/48-14 blowout game going away. Yet, somehow, it was a 5-point game, with UVA outscoring us in the 4th Qtr, in a nailbitter.
Offensively, we scored 30 or more in the UAB, Louisville, FSU, and Pitt games. The Clemson game was an outlier. Last night was a poor offensive gameplan, with poorer halftime adjustments. We lacked explosive/homerun plays, especially in the run game. I didn't see a lot of innovation/creativity, and I'm not sure whether that was due to either a lack of confidence in the OL, Brevin out, bad weather, or a combination of all of it. Rhett had a bad day at the office. Rhett is not a poor OC. Rhett is a rock solid OC. I saw him have some absolute shit gameplans/adjustments at SMU in his two years there and still have off-the-charts historical success for a death penalty program. So, let's try to have some perspective.
That said, criticism is certainly more than warranted, and I share a lot of people's criticisms.
First and foremost, we know that the OL is average on its best day, mediocre most days, and inconsistent every day. But we both can and need to still scheme around our OL issues. Unbalanced lines, double-TE sets, 21 personnel packages with both Cam and Knighton in the backfield to create misdirection/isolation opportunites, and speed options with King and a RB to the outside. The inside zone runs/reads are fine to keep opposing Defenses honest, but there has to be more variety. Throw in 1-2 more wildcat plays. Averaging less than 3.0 yards per rushing attempt in back-to-back games is unacceptable.
Second, the RBs have to be more involved in the passing game. In the both UAB and Louisville games, we saw some good play designs for passes to RBs. Disappointed that we didn't see any of that last night.
Third, the TEs have to be more involved. Mallory was on fire early, and he clearly had a mismatch advantage with UVA's LBs (like most teams have had against UVA). Yet, he disappeared throughout the game. Even though Harley was tearing it up last night, we needed to get other guys more involved.
Our Defense played great for the most part, and our Special Teams played great for the most part. Offense had a down day at the Office, and the other 2 Units picked up the slack. Credit to the Defense.
We're halfway through the season, 5-1, basically top-10 in the country, and are 4-1 against ACC Opponents. I feel good about this team despite a bad game last night. There is no doubt that we will have to have better Offensive performances aginst NC State, VT, and UNC, but I'd much rather be where we are right now than Penn State, Oklahoma, Texas, FSU, Florida, and the Pac-12 who haven't even played.
Again, try to have some perspective.
I'm confident that we both can and will have a much better Offensive performance against N.C. State. 2 weeks to prepare for a BIG night game in Raleigh.
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