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A team that starts 7-0...

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OldManCane

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A team that starts 7-0 and ends 9-4, if you didn't know what team I was talking about, didn't have any bias about the coach, what would you think happened?

I'll tell you boys what, I've been around a lot of football seasons, and one thing that pops out to me when you see any team start that strong and end that weak is that team had good starting talent but they LACK OF DEPTH.

Injuries take their toll on all teams, and if you don't have the depth you can drop off pretty badly. Seen it time and again.

Now we all know we had injuries, some to very key pieces on our team. It's no excuse but it is what it is.

Now do we have better depth this year? Yes, but I still don't believe it is where it needs to be.

We WILL have injuries next year. It's inevitable. If we don't... if we go out there every game with the same kids playing.... we will go 11-1 this year. I guarantee that.

But we WILL have injuries. Here's to hoping our kids have a good summer, get in good condition, and prevent as many of them as possible.
 
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There is much better depth on this team than the last few years. That doesn't mean we are going to have a great record but I think we can rotate more guys in which will keep starters fresh and also overcome injuries better.

We are quite deep at WR, TE, CB and S. DL is not that bad actually from a 3-4 standpoint in terms of depth. You have 2 guys and maybe 3 who can rotate at the Nose and you should have a rotation of 4 3-4 DEs who can reliably play if Jelani can get his act together. Otherwise, Moten may be forced into action. Even in that situation, I'd say the DE spot is still better than where it has been. LB is where we are a little thin and some youngsters might need to grow up fast, especially at SOLB and on the inside should one of the ILBs go down. There is very little there ready to play at either of the ILB spots should Kirby or DP get nicked up. Grace is a good player, but not in the 3-4 unless he gets bigger. Young is a true freshman. What else is there at ILB?

I think the depth on OL is problematic. If the right side gets hurt or doesn't perform, then true freshmen got to step in. I think we are ok at RB if Yearby is ready. Gus should be better this year, he's certainly stronger. There is ok depth there, but really the depth at the spot won't kick in till next year if they can hold Cronkrite and Scarlett.

Seriously though, I think the D will benefit the most from depth. I don't think we will see the days anymore when scrubs were regularly in the two deep or guys like Grimble had to get significant minutes in his first game at UMD as a true freshman. That was just awful.

This is a unit whose talent is becoming plentiful and if used right will be a monster eventually (15 and 16).

In a couple years the front will look like this

End Thomas (he will get into the 280s easy)
Nose Jenkins
End Moten
WOLB Muhammad and DJ
WILB Grace (if he can get to 225-230)
SILB Young
SOLB Owens

That's a very good front. In fact the DL will be a huge ***** for OL to deal with in the run game. The LB group is athletic and versatile. You have some good pass rushers on the weakside, an all around Sam who can wreck a lot of things once he fills out, and a speed guy paired with a thumper inside. The key is Grace putting on some more weight. If he can gain enough that he isn't a huge liability vs the run in this front, then this is a BADASS front.
 
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The loss of Duke and Dorsett was kind of a shot to the foot.

We lost two of our biggest offensive threats, and on top of that, our starting QB was playing with one good ankle.

The D also had a lot to do with that, it got progressively worse as the season went on.

If we hadn't lost Duke and Dorsett and Morris wasn't injured, we would have won at least two more games IMO (Duke and VT).
 
Who did we play the first 7 games compared to the last 6 games? I think that has more to do with it than anything.
 
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CaneAlmighty said:
CaneCounty said:
Who did we play the first 7 games compared to the last 6 games? I think that has more to do with it than anything.
Click to expand...

We would have beaten Duke had we played them early in the season. VT as well.
Click to expand...

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I doubt it, we lost the game on the defensive side of the ball. Those games weren't even close. Here's to a better 2014.
 
LOL, thanks for the comedy thread first thing in the morning.

All this football you have watched, you haven't learned much. And talk about no bias.... LMAO.

I suggest you watch the last 5 games again.
 
CaneCounty said:
CaneAlmighty said:
CaneCounty said:
Who did we play the first 7 games compared to the last 6 games? I think that has more to do with it than anything.
Click to expand...

We would have beaten Duke had we played them early in the season. VT as well.
Click to expand...


I doubt it, we lost the game on the defensive side of the ball. Those games weren't even close. Here's to a better 2014.
Click to expand...

We were down 1 pt. to Duke going into the 4th. Sure, our D could/should have held up better in the 4th, but the losses of Duke (Johnson) et al on offense definitely played a role in our lack of production, forcing a weak D onto the field more down the stretch.
 
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Truth is , the VT and Duke losses were inexcusable . This is where the general mopery comes from , if under Al Golden we lose 2 games a year to very beatable teams , we will no longer be the the Miami Hurricanes , we will be Penn State .
 
CaneInHeelCountry said:
CaneCounty said:
CaneAlmighty said:
CaneCounty said:
Who did we play the first 7 games compared to the last 6 games? I think that has more to do with it than anything.
Click to expand...

We would have beaten Duke had we played them early in the season. VT as well.
Click to expand...


I doubt it, we lost the game on the defensive side of the ball. Those games weren't even close. Here's to a better 2014.
Click to expand...

We were down 1 pt. to Duke going into the 4th. Sure, our D could/should have held up better in the 4th, but the losses of Duke (Johnson) et al on offense definitely played a role in our lack of production, forcing a weak D onto the field more down the stretch.
Click to expand...

Be careful when you mention DJ as vital part of our team to some of these dudes. Some think it was no big deal losing your best player that was averaging more than 185 total yards.

Dudes are dead set on more points and more yards from the O not being of help to a struggling defense.
 
RickDerris said:
Truth is , the VT and Duke losses were inexcusable . This is where the general mopery comes from , if under Al Golden we lose 2 games a year to very beatable teams , we will no longer be the the Miami Hurricanes , we will be Penn State .
Click to expand...

it's not just the losses but its how we lost. especially VT who was atrocious on offense all year until playing us and looked like a juggernaut
 
Defense get scholl8es to stop offenses. To bring up anything else is excuse. Its simple as that. Im weary of people who like to make excuses. We had some terrible offenses in Cokers latter years and our D never sunk as low....nor under Shannon. Fact
 
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OldManCane said:
A team that starts 7-0 and ends 9-4, if you didn't know what team I was talking about, didn't have any bias about the coach, what would you think happened?

I'll tell you boys what, I've been around a lot of football seasons, and one thing that pops out to me when you see any team start that strong and end that weak is that team had good starting talent but they LACK OF DEPTH.

Injuries take their toll on all teams, and if you don't have the depth you can drop off pretty badly. Seen it time and again.

Now we all know we had injuries, some to very key pieces on our team. It's no excuse but it is what it is.

Now do we have better depth this year? Yes, but I still don't believe it is where it needs to be.

We WILL have injuries next year. It's inevitable. If we don't... if we go out there every game with the same kids playing.... we will go 11-1 this year. I guarantee that.

But we WILL have injuries. Here's to hoping our kids have a good summer, get in good condition, and prevent as many of them as possible.
Click to expand...

Sure, depth has something to do with it but you're also forgetting that starting off strong also had to do with the fact that the teams we were beating were sh1tty teams.
 
I don't think the loss to Duke was inexcusable. Losing to them by 18 was. Duke was a legitimately good team last year. They beat the crap out of A&M for 70 percent of the game something we could never accomplish with last years team.

VT on the other hand was inexcusable. They were a garbage team last year.
 
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Duke was a much better team last year than anyone is willing to give them credit for. That said, we were right in that game until the end. Our defense was putrid. Watching Highsmith just take some of the most atrocious angles I've ever seen makes me want to puke.
 
well I would look at who they beat in the first 7 games and look at the scores, stats, etc. then I would look at the last 6 games to see who they played, the outcomes, stats, etc.

in this case while losing Duke and Dorsett hurt obviously, there is a much much more systemic problem, and not coincidentally, we were CURB STOMPED by the better teams on our schedule that were all loaded up on the back end of our schedule.

in summary, we didnt play anyone in the first 7 games, eeked out wins vs really ****** teams, then got destroyed by the decent-good teams

very simple
 
Giving up 40+ points to Dook and VT is inexcusable and cannot be blamed on injuries to Duke or Dorsett.
 
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