SFbayCane
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- Joined
- Nov 3, 2011
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* In pro sports there's an expression that says, "There's no such thing as an 'ugly win' in the post season." In CFB that translates to, "There's no such thing as an ugly win against your rivals." Given that... Yesterday's win was a Da Vinci portrait overlaid on a Monet landscape. It will become more and more priceless over time.
* The single biggest difference between this year and last is the success of the Utough program. You see it most directly in the open field tackling. Over the last several years we saw our defenses show an inability to get off the field primarily because every carry netted our opponents and extra 3+ yards before we could get them to the ground. Make no mistake, Matt Jones is a beast of a running back who will have a very solid season, yet he got very few yards after contact yesterday. The on-field difference is amazing.
* My concerns about Stephen Morris continue. In the biggest game of his career, he had his worst performance. I will temper this comment with the next 2 bullet points.
* The people who said we would miss coach Fisch are being proven correct. I have very serious concerns about coach Coley as a game-planner and play caller. Why he continued to roll Stephen Morris to the short side, against him throwing arm is something I find inexplicable. As well, the predictability of his play calling was kinda scary. Once teams get enough film on Coley's UM offense, I fear that it may cost us a game that we wouldnt otherwise lose. We know he was brought in for his recruiting prowess, which is a known asset, but his gameday work MUST improve tremendously for us to win a national title.
* Last year Stephen Morris developed a really nice on-field vibe with Rashaun Scott. He was our best receiver last year. For some reason our coaching staff decided to bury him on the depth chart. I believe that is hurting Stephen Morris more than we realize. I've always known that QB's have a "go-to" guy that they use when nothing else works, for Morris in 2012 that was Rashaun Scott. Scott's best attribute is his ability to catch the ball while being covered. We have yet to find anyone else in our WR corps who can replace that. (I used to joke that whenever Ken Dorsey got in trouble he would just chuck the ******' ball in the general direction of Jeremy Shockey knowing that Shockey would likely come down with it.) That was the dynamic between Morris and Scott last year. We needed that element yesterday.
* As much as it pains me to type this, I must. FRANCHISE IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT (ouch
) That uf front seven is as dominant of a front 7 as you'll see in CFB. We will not see anything near the level of that unit until we face Alabama in the title game...(slow your roll there SFbay... )
* Im not a fan of Duke Johnson on kickoffs. The return game is a wholly different animal that running from scrimmage. Duke's biggest skillset comes from his ability to go from 2nd to 4th gear faster than anyone else. That's kinda useless in the return game where the skillset is sprinter speed with a couple of minor direction changes. I'd like to see a Herb Waters or Stacy Coley back there; Or others, but not our horse.
* An under-rated play in this game was coach muschamp going for 2 after their 1st TD. I dont know why he felt the need to channel his inner Chip Kelly but that move really cost uf more than met the eye. They had stolen the momentum with the blocked punt and quick TD, yet when they kicked off we still had the lead. Quality stop by our special teams D on that play.
* We NEVER trailed in this game. HUGE!!!
* For the first time in 2+ years I think we were able to evaluate coach Dorito. My take: He called a near perfect game and was totally on-point with his schematic planning. The only criticism I had of him was the one drive where we had a 2 score lead, Dorito wen to a prevent and we gave up a fast TD. That was the only drive of the game where we used a 3 man line. Aside from that one drive, his plan and execution were superb IMO.
* Final analysis on yesterday's game: The Canes are epic and the gators suck. Those of us who are long enough in the tooth knew this the whole time, it's just so wonderful to see the current and future generations of Canes fans learn this as well. As always, It's great to be...
* The single biggest difference between this year and last is the success of the Utough program. You see it most directly in the open field tackling. Over the last several years we saw our defenses show an inability to get off the field primarily because every carry netted our opponents and extra 3+ yards before we could get them to the ground. Make no mistake, Matt Jones is a beast of a running back who will have a very solid season, yet he got very few yards after contact yesterday. The on-field difference is amazing.
* My concerns about Stephen Morris continue. In the biggest game of his career, he had his worst performance. I will temper this comment with the next 2 bullet points.
* The people who said we would miss coach Fisch are being proven correct. I have very serious concerns about coach Coley as a game-planner and play caller. Why he continued to roll Stephen Morris to the short side, against him throwing arm is something I find inexplicable. As well, the predictability of his play calling was kinda scary. Once teams get enough film on Coley's UM offense, I fear that it may cost us a game that we wouldnt otherwise lose. We know he was brought in for his recruiting prowess, which is a known asset, but his gameday work MUST improve tremendously for us to win a national title.
* Last year Stephen Morris developed a really nice on-field vibe with Rashaun Scott. He was our best receiver last year. For some reason our coaching staff decided to bury him on the depth chart. I believe that is hurting Stephen Morris more than we realize. I've always known that QB's have a "go-to" guy that they use when nothing else works, for Morris in 2012 that was Rashaun Scott. Scott's best attribute is his ability to catch the ball while being covered. We have yet to find anyone else in our WR corps who can replace that. (I used to joke that whenever Ken Dorsey got in trouble he would just chuck the ******' ball in the general direction of Jeremy Shockey knowing that Shockey would likely come down with it.) That was the dynamic between Morris and Scott last year. We needed that element yesterday.
* As much as it pains me to type this, I must. FRANCHISE IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT (ouch
) That uf front seven is as dominant of a front 7 as you'll see in CFB. We will not see anything near the level of that unit until we face Alabama in the title game...(slow your roll there SFbay... ) * Im not a fan of Duke Johnson on kickoffs. The return game is a wholly different animal that running from scrimmage. Duke's biggest skillset comes from his ability to go from 2nd to 4th gear faster than anyone else. That's kinda useless in the return game where the skillset is sprinter speed with a couple of minor direction changes. I'd like to see a Herb Waters or Stacy Coley back there; Or others, but not our horse.
* An under-rated play in this game was coach muschamp going for 2 after their 1st TD. I dont know why he felt the need to channel his inner Chip Kelly but that move really cost uf more than met the eye. They had stolen the momentum with the blocked punt and quick TD, yet when they kicked off we still had the lead. Quality stop by our special teams D on that play.
* We NEVER trailed in this game. HUGE!!!
* For the first time in 2+ years I think we were able to evaluate coach Dorito. My take: He called a near perfect game and was totally on-point with his schematic planning. The only criticism I had of him was the one drive where we had a 2 score lead, Dorito wen to a prevent and we gave up a fast TD. That was the only drive of the game where we used a 3 man line. Aside from that one drive, his plan and execution were superb IMO.
* Final analysis on yesterday's game: The Canes are epic and the gators suck. Those of us who are long enough in the tooth knew this the whole time, it's just so wonderful to see the current and future generations of Canes fans learn this as well. As always, It's great to be...
That said, I took a moment to look up last year's NCAA return leaders (after writing the OP), Im actually quite surprised at how much the numbers disagree with my take above. Duke Johnson was #7 in the nation in total average return yardage last year and actually had the best overall average on kickoffs only. Wow. The number force me to say I stand corrected. I must relent to an extent. My concerns about over-usage of our horse remain.