First and foremost, that was about as brutal of a way to lose game as possible... A blocked PAT, late in the 4th Quarter, on National Primetime TV at night, as a top-10 team with something to prove, against your instate rival who you haven't beaten in now SEVEN STRAIGHT YEARS...? Yes, the "Block at the Rock" will go down, in my opinion, as one of the worst Canes moments I can remember- on par with "Hail Flutie" in my opinion...
It's just the way it is- payback always seems to come with a dose of irony too, given the fact that it was kick related.
OFFENSE: D Grade
Needless to say, the offense was an absolute JOKE last night. Entering last night's game, EVERY TEAM not named Charleston Southern had scored AT LEAST 35 POINTS against Florida State- yes, that INCLUDES USF... And all our offense did was score 20...? With the middle 40 minutes of that game being relatively shut out. It took a Braxton Berrios miracle punt return to set up the second score too... 20 points at home in a game like this is unacceptable, and there is absolutely no way to spin it.
Now, the offensive problems are MORE Than Kaaya...
Brad- Brad was far from great. His stat line doesn't show the fact that Brad STILL has pocket presence issues. I'm well aware that our offensive line is WELL below average, but the GOOD Quarterbacks in college football ELEVATE their offensives. They slide around in the pocket, step up, reset their feet and throw. They have a "feel" about the pocket. Brad has very little of this, if any... When given time, Brad does make some good throws- the two throws to Coley were perfectly thrown balls. Brad is also tough- young man gets his tooth knocked out and still hung in there pretty well throughout the game, despite the fact that he lacks pocket presence. Overall, I thought Brad played at a B- level last night. He did NOT cost us that game last night, but he didn't win it either the way you saw Lamar Jackson and Watson duel it out last Saturday... Brad played well for about 15 minutes out of a 60 minute game. That may seem harsh to some of you, but that's how I saw his performance last night.
Offensive Line- totally exposed last night and truly confirms what almost all of us already knew prior to last night's game. We have MAJOR offensive line deficiencies. Our starting offensive line is probably a Second Tier Offensive Line on an Alabama squad. Maybe 2 of these guys should be starting on a bona fide Miami team. Trevor Darling- God bless the young man, but THREE times I saw him get totally burned on the outside. Blitzes were not picked up and Brad was hurried, by my best estimation, 50% of the time. The RUN BLOCKING was also a joke last night. We couldn't have averaged more than 3 yards per rush attempt, and that at home in a big game was an absolute joke. With inconsistent run blocking COUPLED with an inconsistent Brad, it is no surprise that we struggled to move the chains and score points.
*** Our Offensive Line does NOT elevate Brad with stellar pass protection, and Brad does NOT elevate our Offensive Line with elite Quarterback skills... It is a struggling relationship right now. ***
Mark Richt- a lot as been said about Mark Richt and his playcalling... This is who he is folks- conservative. He's conservative off of the field, and he is conservative on the field. He isn't some flamboyant, eccentric personality like a Bobby Petrino or a Spurrier or even a Chip Kelly. Richt's identity on offense is to try to power run the ball using pro-style formations. There isn't going to be a lot of razzle-dazzle, so I think some of you better get used to that. You don't need a lot of sexiness on offense- you need BLOCKING and EXECUTION. Look at ALABAMA- is that sexy to you? All they do is recruit 5 star offensive linemen and power run the ball to the tune of seemingly 35-40 points per game. Let Richt recruit some offensive linemen, another impact wide receiver, and work with Brad some more, and I think we will see a much more consistent offense. I'm fine with Richt calling plays at the moment. I would like to see some more play action and HB Screens to keep opposing defenses honest, but I think we will be fine for now.
So, yes, there is MORE to this offense than Brad- it was a TOTAL team failure last night on offense. Brad's sloppiness, the lack of blocking, some of Richt's playcalling, and that holding penalty that cost Walton a TD... ALL OF IT... TEAM FAILURE.
DEFENSE: A- Grade
The GOOD NEWS is that we have a DEFENSIVE COACHING STAFF fellas... Did you see the way we beat the shit out of Francois...? Can you imagine what this defense will look like when our linebackers are JUNIORS instead of TRUE FRESHMEN now... WOW... Love the aggressiveness. I can see why Carter got called for targeting... Boo all you want, and blame the official, but that could have been called either way. It's a tough gig, but Jamal HAS to understand the SITUATION there and pull up and not RISK the call. Don't leave the game in the hands of the officials, as Jimmy Johnson would say. Jaquan Johnson and Elder had solid games, and Trent and Chad played excellent in my opinion. Love our young linebackers- keep them healthy and in the weight room, and they will only get better with each defensive series they play. So excited to see this defensive transformation. We play fast, hit hard, and tackle pretty well. The defense, if it continues like this, will be a TOP-10 defense in college football. I have no doubt. I give our defense an A- Grade last night. We are really scratching the surface of what we will see on defense, in my opinion. Good things to come!
SPECIAL TEAMS: B- Grade
Can't blame Badgley for that blocked PAT. Snap was off, the hold was iffy, and the blocking was straight shit too... Team failure on that blocked PAT. On the bright side, our punting and field goal kicking was remarkable... Berrios is steady as a rock in the return game, and outside of the blocked PAT and running into the kicker (which was a bit of a flop by the punter), I thought we covered kickoffs and punts well and returned punts well.
OVERALL:
I'm as disappointed as anyone, but people are overreacting if they don't see the BONA FIDE positive changes in this team that we already have seen in just FIVE GAMES... FIVE GAMES... Let's see what happens against UNC and Notre Dame, two tough games. And Virginia Tech is suddenly playing a lot better. A lot more positives can come from this season- we have a lot more opportunities to prove ourselves worthy of finishing, say top-20, maybe even top-15...
It's just the way it is- payback always seems to come with a dose of irony too, given the fact that it was kick related.
OFFENSE: D Grade
Needless to say, the offense was an absolute JOKE last night. Entering last night's game, EVERY TEAM not named Charleston Southern had scored AT LEAST 35 POINTS against Florida State- yes, that INCLUDES USF... And all our offense did was score 20...? With the middle 40 minutes of that game being relatively shut out. It took a Braxton Berrios miracle punt return to set up the second score too... 20 points at home in a game like this is unacceptable, and there is absolutely no way to spin it.
Now, the offensive problems are MORE Than Kaaya...
Brad- Brad was far from great. His stat line doesn't show the fact that Brad STILL has pocket presence issues. I'm well aware that our offensive line is WELL below average, but the GOOD Quarterbacks in college football ELEVATE their offensives. They slide around in the pocket, step up, reset their feet and throw. They have a "feel" about the pocket. Brad has very little of this, if any... When given time, Brad does make some good throws- the two throws to Coley were perfectly thrown balls. Brad is also tough- young man gets his tooth knocked out and still hung in there pretty well throughout the game, despite the fact that he lacks pocket presence. Overall, I thought Brad played at a B- level last night. He did NOT cost us that game last night, but he didn't win it either the way you saw Lamar Jackson and Watson duel it out last Saturday... Brad played well for about 15 minutes out of a 60 minute game. That may seem harsh to some of you, but that's how I saw his performance last night.
Offensive Line- totally exposed last night and truly confirms what almost all of us already knew prior to last night's game. We have MAJOR offensive line deficiencies. Our starting offensive line is probably a Second Tier Offensive Line on an Alabama squad. Maybe 2 of these guys should be starting on a bona fide Miami team. Trevor Darling- God bless the young man, but THREE times I saw him get totally burned on the outside. Blitzes were not picked up and Brad was hurried, by my best estimation, 50% of the time. The RUN BLOCKING was also a joke last night. We couldn't have averaged more than 3 yards per rush attempt, and that at home in a big game was an absolute joke. With inconsistent run blocking COUPLED with an inconsistent Brad, it is no surprise that we struggled to move the chains and score points.
*** Our Offensive Line does NOT elevate Brad with stellar pass protection, and Brad does NOT elevate our Offensive Line with elite Quarterback skills... It is a struggling relationship right now. ***
Mark Richt- a lot as been said about Mark Richt and his playcalling... This is who he is folks- conservative. He's conservative off of the field, and he is conservative on the field. He isn't some flamboyant, eccentric personality like a Bobby Petrino or a Spurrier or even a Chip Kelly. Richt's identity on offense is to try to power run the ball using pro-style formations. There isn't going to be a lot of razzle-dazzle, so I think some of you better get used to that. You don't need a lot of sexiness on offense- you need BLOCKING and EXECUTION. Look at ALABAMA- is that sexy to you? All they do is recruit 5 star offensive linemen and power run the ball to the tune of seemingly 35-40 points per game. Let Richt recruit some offensive linemen, another impact wide receiver, and work with Brad some more, and I think we will see a much more consistent offense. I'm fine with Richt calling plays at the moment. I would like to see some more play action and HB Screens to keep opposing defenses honest, but I think we will be fine for now.
So, yes, there is MORE to this offense than Brad- it was a TOTAL team failure last night on offense. Brad's sloppiness, the lack of blocking, some of Richt's playcalling, and that holding penalty that cost Walton a TD... ALL OF IT... TEAM FAILURE.
DEFENSE: A- Grade
The GOOD NEWS is that we have a DEFENSIVE COACHING STAFF fellas... Did you see the way we beat the shit out of Francois...? Can you imagine what this defense will look like when our linebackers are JUNIORS instead of TRUE FRESHMEN now... WOW... Love the aggressiveness. I can see why Carter got called for targeting... Boo all you want, and blame the official, but that could have been called either way. It's a tough gig, but Jamal HAS to understand the SITUATION there and pull up and not RISK the call. Don't leave the game in the hands of the officials, as Jimmy Johnson would say. Jaquan Johnson and Elder had solid games, and Trent and Chad played excellent in my opinion. Love our young linebackers- keep them healthy and in the weight room, and they will only get better with each defensive series they play. So excited to see this defensive transformation. We play fast, hit hard, and tackle pretty well. The defense, if it continues like this, will be a TOP-10 defense in college football. I have no doubt. I give our defense an A- Grade last night. We are really scratching the surface of what we will see on defense, in my opinion. Good things to come!
SPECIAL TEAMS: B- Grade
Can't blame Badgley for that blocked PAT. Snap was off, the hold was iffy, and the blocking was straight shit too... Team failure on that blocked PAT. On the bright side, our punting and field goal kicking was remarkable... Berrios is steady as a rock in the return game, and outside of the blocked PAT and running into the kicker (which was a bit of a flop by the punter), I thought we covered kickoffs and punts well and returned punts well.
OVERALL:
I'm as disappointed as anyone, but people are overreacting if they don't see the BONA FIDE positive changes in this team that we already have seen in just FIVE GAMES... FIVE GAMES... Let's see what happens against UNC and Notre Dame, two tough games. And Virginia Tech is suddenly playing a lot better. A lot more positives can come from this season- we have a lot more opportunities to prove ourselves worthy of finishing, say top-20, maybe even top-15...
