Here for the Wins

I’d agree with you a bit on the Oline improvement that it was perhaps more modest than some believe. OU, for example, was pretty poor pass protection but Arch hit Wisner on two check downs I believe. Then rolled right to hit Livingstone. We ran the ball for yards, but Wisner had a lot of YAC. Arch did better. I believe the play calling helped too. Unfortunately at Georgia we dropped too many balls then fell apart late. I am in the minority on this. I think we’ll be fine here. I may be more concerned about RB pass protection.

If you weren’t aware, there were only 3 guys drafted last year as Centers. Just how many teams do you think have bonafide hits? Arch was pretty solid at making one defender miss all throughout the season.

The strength of conference and strength of schedule wouldn’t necessarily correlate these days. In that conference comparison of Big 10 versus SEC, it just depends on how it plays out. Each year is different. Your strength of schedule was built off the post season. You had a conference championship game and a national championship game. With expanded playoffs, there should be no historical comparison because there’s no history to this format. The important aspect of strength of schedule should end prior to conference championships. It does matter to that point but is irrelevant once once the postseason begins. As to your point #3, this had very little discussion leading up to and after the selection. Miami and Ole Miss from what I recall had 8 home games. Miami did leave home until October. Texas had 4 consecutive weeks away from home, 42 days. And Kentucky was the 3rd of those weeks. MSU was the 4th. Whatever metrics are referenced likely do not give a value to those facts. Kentucky had two weeks to prepare while Texas was coming off the OU game. Even UF had two weeks to prepare. Texas did too, but it was critical for UF. Far too little emphasis is placed on where you team X but also within the sequencing of the season. Now to Kennesaw State, Old Dominion in comparison to SJSU, UTEP and SHSU. These potentially skew strength of schedule. Some games need to be thrown out. Texas wasn’t losing to any of these teams. Indiana wasn’t either. I’m not sure where you cut them but when a team presents no chance at a victory it should not be part of the evaluation. I’d be interested to see strength of schedule recalculated without the gimmes.

This year you get a B-. That plan should pull in an A next year.

Agree on the single play, even if it’s the last one. Guards should be somewhat easy to hide. I’m certain there are quite a few out there that aren’t good. I’d love to hear the behind the scenes discussion here. Part of me feels like there was internal conflict amongst the staff. But in spite of what happened there, it was that we weren’t rock solid other places. For me, I’d expected better play across the board early and really that LG had the lowest expectations. Guys just need to pick each other up, and it didn’t happen enough.

Poor strategy Mr. Flood. You should have planned better. Be more half assed, for longer.

You said initially it was the single position that killed our chances. I don’t believe it’ll ever come to down to one position. I have watched those games just in the last week. I’d stand on the thought any one win versus Ohio State, UF or Georgia gets us in the playoff. With that said, versus OSU, Baker allowed the most pressures and the most penalties. Campbell had a hold that negated a 2nd and 3 inside the OSU 35 or so. A play or two later we throw a pick. On drive 1 and and the late drive from the 1, they were snuffed from the right side of the line. So certainly not all on the LG. UF is crazy one. The defense wasn’t good. I’m still baffled by the Brooks play. I don’t blame him but, yes, that was individually the most problematic position in this game. But we seemingly have some momentum then Brooks gets back to back penalties then we throw a pick. I can’t begin to understand the decision here but even so the defense didn’t do their job. I think special teams gave up 2 but also failed to kill a punt inside the UF 5, if I remember correctly. In my opinion, this was a total team cluster. Then Georgia. There were a number of good individual plays but tons of missed opportunities here. We struggled to pass protect from the LG spot but likely less egregious than the drops and the defense and special teams falling apart. Also, pass protection had some losses at multiple positions. LG was certainly the most curious and at times some of the ugliest play. Much of the critique falls on Stroh, when the precipitous drop was Brooks. Brooks had the 2nd lowest pass efficiency rating in the past 5 years. I do not think we’ll have that again. We didn’t get that out of Stroh. We didn’t get it out of Hutson. We didn’t get it out of Neto in his short tenure. I can’t imagine we would have gotten it out of Kibble. I don’t imagine we’ll get it next year. But no guarantees. All that said, I can’t blame our failures on one position. Far too many snaps for someone else to make that game changing play.

Do you really believe this?

Funny thing is that people here mess their drawers because we missed on two guys from Michigan. A Michigan that got their ass handed to them by the Ohio State. At home. Late in the season. Our LG was not our biggest issue versus OSU either. UF was probably the worst LG game, but the issues went beyond that. Georgia was largely an offensive meltdown. Few teams, if any, will have 5 above average olinemen. Even in the portal world, that’s a tough ask. The vocal majority see a “starting quality” guy enter and think that’s an upgrade. It doesn’t matter who they played or how they performed versus quality opponents. We don’t need volatility. Constant, consistent, due your job effort is needed. And you know where you won’t see that? In highlights. Goosby is to be a star. He needs to play like one. Baker needs to play near that status. Same for the Wake T. Play like it then everyone else’s job is easier.

Perhaps this will offend some, but you really don’t need all 5 to play at a high level. Would you like that? Sure, but it is not particularly realistic. You need your stars to play at high levels and your role players to perform consistently.

This is the way. You know what’s hell on a QB? 4 man pressure then having to decipher 7 on the back end. I’ve never known a team that created too much pressure on the opposing QB.

Realist, since we’re at it, we want 25 years worth of data as you’ve presented for all teams so we can compare.😃

Baker, hold on the first offensive play in OT. Least think it was play 1.

My biggest concerns are his height, his age and his build as he’s kinda slight. Otherwise, all American candidate.

He’s at LG on the right side because Robinson has center locked down.

Our dreams? Our hearts?

Look at their damn roster dude. A transfer from Notre Dame. The top backup in terms of snaps. Freshman. One guy spent two years at Indiana, left and returned. The other 3 are Indiana guys. Not exactly portal city.

Yes. Yes, they are.

PFF numbers reflect him to be a poor run blocker. Let’s say he’s Kelvin Banks level pass protector. But poor in the run game. Are fans going to whimper and whine when we can’t run the ball in those big games?

Where does one draw the line here? Brooks has been in the system. He’s started or played a decent number of snaps against 4 SEC teams. Three on the road and one at a neutral site. That’s more experience than Baker had going in to last year. So say a non P4 guy has started but has few starts in such an environment are you taking that guy? Or a guy that’s a low level P4 that’s started 2 years?

I have at least 30 I can give him.

I understand what you’re saying. My initial response was a discussion/question that would lead a reader to the belief that their 2nd and 3rd units did have NFL starters. Based on what I’m seeing, that is not accurate. Even the starters from that team are struggling to be starters in the NFL.

I was responding to a comment about their 2nd and 3rd teamers starting in the NFL. However I do suspect some were a product of the system, maybe the chaos of the year too.

The 2nd team QB is starting, the first string is not. Duvonta Smith is doing well. Waddle has fallen off. Robinson, Harris both backups after being disappointing. Dickerson is probably the only lineman who hasn’t disappointed. Who else?

But that’s not how message board warriors critique our guys.