How about that O-Line! Banged up and still got the job done!
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Sometime around the third quarter, when things looked their bleakest, I said to myself: Iām not giving up on this team, but I need to see a sign that weāve made some progress since three years ago.
And then we go and win the game. Thatās a pretty good sign.
And hereās where I think we made the most progress: It wasnāt the pass rush, it wasnāt the passing game, it wasnāt the play calling. It was the resilience. The team never gave up. Never fell into self-pity or defeatism. Itās a cliche, but last year we lost these kinds of games. This year, we found a way to win.
Now, go back and read some of the comments on this thread, especially after we fell behind by 13 points. Wouldnāt it be great if the fans showed the same kind of grit and faith that the team did?
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Itās kinda wild that at halftime the most (only?) positive comment in this thread was āI think we can win this game.ā Not even āI think we WILL win this game.ā The score was 20-17! We were only down three! I get it, not casting shade, just sayingā¦ man we are used to losing.
Which makes it all the more impressive that Coach E has the guys believing. Thatās no small thing given our recent history. Loved the fight.
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He seems to be micro managing less for me. I think (obvious) the year with Brennan was more of a battle for him coming in and he thought he had to do everything
Seems more comfortable as the Head Coach on the sidelines and as you said, everyone on the same page as a unit
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I think this is where you are making the wrong assumption. Because we did, because we still watched the game to the finish. Why else would we not stop watching if we didnāt have that faith and endurance?
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We didnāt realize it at the time, but Brennan, 2J, Hagans, etc sticking around on offense and on the coaching staff was terrible, ruined the ability for a quick culture shift. Youāll never convince me Brennan was anywhere near 100% bought in with the new staff, and when your veteran QB is struggling to buy in, the rest of the team is sure to struggle.
Easy to see that in hindsight, though.
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Great writeup!
On the rushing attack, what would be your best good-faith explanation for why we did what we did? It seems to be a head-scratcher, butā¦ is there some rationale we can put to that choice?
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Always funny to me when someone tries to make a sweeping statement on a fanbase based on whatās being said in an in-game thread. Half of the people posting in there are at home probably three sheets to the wind just saying what they feel in the moment. Just imagine if we were an SEC team lol.
I was actually encouraged by how many ppl were posting last night, figured it would be way worse after we were forced to punt down 13 in the 3rd. Itās not common for our program to make a comeback in that situation.
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Honestly I just think we get too set on running our script with no adjustments. Itās 100% excusable to do in the first quarter because youāre still feeling out what your opponent is going to do.
I think we also fell into the trap of having a ācatch upā mindset. Got down a couple scores early and tried to sling it down the field to pick up yards in a hurry. I list this second and really give it more of a pass because our defense was unable to stop them for 2.5 quarters. Watching us give up a 7 minute touchdown scoring drive to start the second half is a justification for being pass happy.
Itās just frustrating to me because one thing Iāve really liked about Elliott is how much heās acknowledged having to have a rushing attack. Last week we looked and played the part running for 200ā¦ this wake defense isnāt built to stop the run and wasnāt playing strategically to stop it either so for me it was disheartening that we didnāt try to run any more.
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Felt was easy in real time and all 3 left soā¦
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I would say maybe the staff was trying to direct our runs away from Pointer, Wakeās big run stopping DT but given how often they were only putting 5 in the box you could run inside zone and essentially double team him within 11 or 12 personnel. It also makes little sense to me why they decided to run sweeps/outside zone with Pace instead of Brown who has the clear speed advantage. I know you donāt want to become too predictable in terms of what youāre running based on who is in the backfield but going forward if we are gonna try and run outside the tackles I would very much prefer those playcalls to be for Brown or Vaughn.
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Oh 100% agree on using the speedy backs to get to the edge. But even with speed it makes no sense to run to the edge when you have 2 blockers and 3 defenders there.
Sometimes you just gotta take what the defense gives you. It would be nice to me to see us capitalize on that.
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It was just a tough situation to handle. Everyone on the planet thought āhey we have a very good QB and WRs and offenseā¦ if we could just get a coach who cleans up the defense and can manage the offense weāll be really goodā
If Elliott came in and decided Brennan wasnāt it right away, the backlash from the outside looking in fan base wouldāve been horrific. He had to give it a try.
I liked Hagans staying and am still sad heās not here. Neutral to OK with 2J leaving. Probably wouldāve been better off had he gone sooner so we could get in āour guyā quicker to build for what Elliott wanted to do. And with the OL from the previous year completely gutted it wasnāt like 2J had a lot of his guys to work withā¦
But again BEFORE that season began keeping as much offensive continuity as possible seemed like the right plan.
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Love the write up.
Agree with what you and @UVApride7 are preaching about attacking the edges vs scheming inside runs. Iām not sure what the logic is there for the staff.
Iām actually going to take an alternative look at the defense and especially the Dline. Iām fine with the ammouof blitzs they ran especially since they got home for 6 sacks and a bunch of pressures and hurries. In addition when they did not blitz i thought the front 4 did well flushing the pocket on a few occasions. They arent the purple people eaters but they were solid.
My gripe came with the LBs and secondary who got caught watching way too often. The indecision from both units led to the gashing runs in the first 3 quarters. Fourth quarter they played down hill (maybe because ot was backups who just did their job and stopped over analyzing) i wont harp on it for too long because no one else runs a slow mesh.of Coastal bust out a bunch of option looks it could be an issue.
My concern with the Dline was when they played agaisnt a straight up run. On 4th and 1 Wake had no problem overpowering them.
On offense my one bone to pick is with Fields especially but all the WRs. If the run scheme wants to get to the edge the receivers have to be active. I call out Fields cause i saw 3 plays where he got blown up by a DB that led to a play being blown up. Also hes the best wide out on the team so I expect a complete package.
Overall Iām very encouraged about the game and the team. As many have said they showed guts. They fixed the little things in the 4th and made the plays that mattered. I agree with @DFresh11 CTE seems calmer and more in control on the sidelines. Even I when disagreed with the tactic I believed he believed in it and the players responded. Thatās a must have for a team that will generally be out talented most weeks.
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Yeah I thought as the game went on the DL got stronger and forced more action from Wake. But if Iām being honest I donāt think Wake is one of the better teams weāll playā¦
I truly believe this team has bowl potential if they play to it. Weāre going to need the front 4 to generate some pressure when we play QBs more capable of making us pay by throwing to the open space left from the blitz.
And while weāre on it, that stunt we used for Chicos sack was very good. Where was that the rest of the game?? Scheme āem up, coach!
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Same for the McDonald sack, very good delayed twist got him a lane and then he said fuck it and jumped straight over the RB trying to pass protect. Loved what he brought in absence of Kam (but also please hurry back Kam we need you).
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I think we have to find 4 wins among Maryland, Coastal, BC, Pitt, UNC and SMU. I donāt hold much hope for Clemson, ND, Louisville and VT.
Iām hopeful.
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Not really that wild considering they lose more than they winā¦. And have consistently found ways to lose close games and especially on the road the last 15 yearsā¦ the 2 drives in the first half after down 17-3 gave hope.
If you look at the stats of the whole game - itās remarkable that the Hoos won.
Does anyone know the last time we gave up that many yards to a Power 4 team and allowed fewer than 30 points?
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Agree
The way I look at it Richmond was a solid win but we knew the team needed to improve to compete against better comp. They did that yesterday agaisnt Wake but they will need to continue to improve as the competition improves.
I dont think this team has reached their ceiling and honestly Iām not exactly sure what it is at this point but I do think they will continue to grow and attempt to find it
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