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CU Medallion [58735]
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After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 12:04 PM
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As much as I "hate" them (in a sports rivalry sense), I have to give them credit; they did what it took and won the game, and I respect and acknowledge that. And it really is a bitter rivalry, with some personal history for me, so this one hurt. Now, straight to the point.
Three main reasons we struggled so much on offense: 1.UGA defense was awesome. 2. Our O-line is terrible. 3. Our playcallig and failure to make adjustments.
UGA defense was awesome, no doubt. They are big, fast, and well coached. Nothing we can do to change that, it's all about how we respond, and we failed.
No more excuses and passes for our failures on O-line. I realize no coaching changes will be made until after the season, and recruiting issues there will take time, but the failure to address those problems is undeniable and it is killing us at this point. We have NFL talent all over the field, but our O-line looks like North Greenville. We all want to be good, loyal fans, but it's time for somebody to put feelings aside, do the right, adult thing for Clemson and have an honest discussion about our O-line debacle.
Yes, DJ struggled mightily last night, and he has to shoulder some of this, but if we think about it, we know this was not a case of jitters, of the stage being too big or the lights too bright; we can know that for a fact and know it was more than that, maybe something else altogether. Remember, DJ went on the road last year, against #4 Notre Dame, and set a freshman record, going 29-44 for 439 yards throwing 2 tds and rushing for another. He was cool as a cucumber and performed masterfully. I think the main problem was, once it was obvious our O-line was so overmatched, we failed to make any playcalling adjustments that allowed DJ to get rid of the ball quickly. Instead, pass plays were all slow to develop, and there were few draws or QB runs to offst the relentless blitzes and pressure. Plus we never even pretended to commit to the run in any way, so they were totally teeing off on DJ every play. If our O-line is so bad that we simply can't do ANYTHING, then we're in worse trouble than I thought. Anyway, while DJ made a lot of mistakes and has some work to do, I felt that most of his problems started with poor O-Line play and terrible, puzzling playcalling.
UGA's defense is stout, make no mistake, but I'll be shocked if their offense carries them to the playoff; it's not much better than ours; they just have a legit D1 O-line. They, like us, have a pretty easy schedule the rest of the way. As bad and frustrating as it as it was for us as Tiger fans, there's still not a cockhair's difference, talent and result-wise, between us and UGA. We looked terrible the whole game, and still had a chance to tie late. That doen't make me feel much better though, but it puts things in perspective. We should still win out, but we won't if we don't get some stuff fixed. Know good and well that everybody we play will be licking their chops after last night. If our players and coaches aren't just as pizzed about last night as the fans, then we are in trouble, because they need to have a fire lit under them, and show up to practice with a purpose, and hit the field every Saturday now angry as #### about what happened last night.
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All-In [49373]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 12:33 PM
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Well laid out and thoughtful. It's personal with me too as far as uga. I've gotten two calls this week. The ladies getting their butt handed to them in soccer and then last night.
But I do question a couple of your comments. We're not as talented across the roster as uga. Their oline better. They also have tight ends, and they were without several offense weapons.
Overall, I think our defense is better than theirs. That said, we knew our D was handing our oline an #### whipping all camp. So we knew what uga would bring. We p I s s poor gameplanned to neutralize their D.
I would add too that while Ross should have played, we probably shouldn't have targeted him as much and let him ease back into the season. DJ has much more chemistry and trust in Williams and Ajou. Quick hits over the middle on first down. Then not abandoned the misdirection run so early.
DJ never fooled anyone with the rpo.
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CU Medallion [58735]
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Agree, and I clearly pointed out that they have a legit D1
Sep 5, 2021, 1:00 PM
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O-line, while we do not. Aside from that, both teams are loaded with 4 and 5 star talent. UGA may have beat us in those rankings, but we are both ranked very high. They may be ranked # 3 overall for the last 5 years, while we're #8, or whatever, but when you consider how the rankings are calculated the difference overall is negligable. That was the point.
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Athletic Dir [890]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 12:37 PM
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I was at the game and I would agree whole heartedly with your assessment. The couple of times we could of played with tempo we didn’t for what ever reason. Knew going in that running the ball would be tough but had no plan when this happened. Saw Dabo much of the game trying to coach up the offense after three and out with them circled up around him. Game plan for second half didn’t look much different than what failed in first half. Smarter folks than I will look to make changes this week...
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All-In [33829]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 12:38 PM
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I think the main problem was, once it was obvious our O-line was so overmatched, we failed to make any playcalling adjustments that allowed DJ to get rid of the ball quickly.
This is what I find the most bothersome. It makes me wonder if we have the offensive expertise currently on staff to make enough of a difference in games like this. Personally, I am not optimistic that we do. Many have posted before that elite offensive talent we've had in the past was covering up for deficiencies in coaching. I'm starting to lean towards that belief.
Regardless, it's going to take a combination of better OL execution, playing-calling , and more physicality at every offensive position to have success against play-off caliber competition.
Excellent post, btw.
p.s. We need someone to step up into the Hunter Renfrow, Amari Rogers, Artavis Scott type roll quickly.
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All-American [555]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 12:59 PM
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With all due respect, it appeared Deion Kendrick furnished Kirby and Dan Lanning with the Clemson play book. The Ga defense had an answer to every question Elliott composed to them. Our dominance of your Oline and our coverage in the secondary had DJ on his heels all night. The stage was just a little to big for a QB starting his 3rd game. That was a heavy load for DJ to be expected to carry. He'll be a good one before it's all said and done.
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CU Medallion [58735]
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I already debunked that theory in my post.***
Sep 5, 2021, 1:03 PM
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Oculus Spirit [77570]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 1:04 PM
[ in reply to Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA. ] |
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It could be posted the exact same of UGA’s offense. Also, your players name is Darion and you give him way more credit than he deserves for your defense.
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110%er [7142]
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O-Line coaching change…
Sep 5, 2021, 1:03 PM
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should happen as soon as possible. If that is after the season, so be it. But If Dabo has a guy in mind and he’d fly in tomorrow, even better.
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Legend [16654]
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Good points. It was one of those games where you can't
Sep 5, 2021, 1:13 PM
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turn it over and expect to win, especially a pick-6. I do think Georgia would have called things a bit differently and would have scored again somewhere without the return. They were better last night no doubt.
I think they should have started Lynn-J at RB to give DJ some experienced help back there. Things just seemed a little more fluid when he came into the game late.
Was happy to see Mukaba and Phillips at safety. They lack some experience but bring more athletically to the field. Would like to see more of the young LBs for the same reason.
Hopefully we can improve on execution and add some variety to the play calling and get the offense moving in the next few games. Maybe we can utilize the TEs and Slot like georgia did last night!
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Head Coach [785]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 1:50 PM
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Great post, great perspective. It’s posts like these (and smart replies here too) that keep me coming back to this board, esp after tough losses, which fortunately we haven’t had a lot of in the past decade.
Watching what Georgia did with their play calling was painful. It wasn’t by any means genius but it was practical and applicable for what they have. JT Daniels isn’t that great but they mixed up their plays to at least move the ball. It was hard to summarize any semblance of a game plan- initial or in-game - from the plays Clemson ran. We know the O-line is bad, and that absolutely contributes to limitations in play calling. But we go through stretches where we look like we’re playing gen 1 Tecmo Bowl with 4 plays to choose from and Bo Jackson ain’t running down the hill.
My final point is more a hopeful wish for the coaching staff and likely something they already know. I’m a million miles from what these guys know about football but I’m pretty sure our own Tiger defense is likely the best defense we’ll play for the remainder of this season. Have that be the standard. If we run up 4 TDs & 500 yards on another ACC team, fine. Don’t have to be negative about it but stop with the effusive praise vs lesser competition. That’s not how excellence is achieved. We’re supposed to do that. I’d love to hear about when our offense is scoring at will at practice, full scrimmage. Imo, that’s our best chance for this offense get better and be more ready the next time we play a big game. The 2016-2018 offenses got better against our defense and when they played elite talent, they were ready. I hope this one can too. Go Tigers!
p.s. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who knows, was there any change in our off position or strength staff from 2016-2018 vs 2019-2021? I know Jeff Scott left but I felt like we developed talent on offense better during that period vs what we’ve done recently.
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Head Coach [785]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 2:10 PM
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Edit: re: changes in off coaching, forgot to mention adding Streeter & ofc Jeff Scott. Curious if there were any others that were less noteworthy but may have been impactful.
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Varsity [234]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 2:41 PM
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I’m on the same page… well said… time to fix obvious problems starting with O line.
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All-American [593]
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Re: After a little time to reflect ... First, congrats to UGA.
Sep 5, 2021, 5:23 PM
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Well said!
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