It feels like Mihota's health will play a major part of this game. We need power on the defensive line to stop the rushing attack, especially if Ekanem isn't 100%. Tremaine Edwards will also be an x-factor in the backfield. It will be fascinating to see how Bud deals with this. In the past when Bud's D hasn't gotten a ton of pressure things go south pretty quickly.
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In the past when Bud's D hasn't gotten a ton of pressure things go south pretty quickly.
Every defense functions better when they are getting pressure. I do not think "things go south pretty quickly" is an accurate way to describe one of, if not the best, defensive coordinators of the last 20+ years. I think his track record in these situations is way, way above the mean.
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I disagree entirely. Because Bud IS one of the best defensive coordinators of the last 20+ years, you can clearly see he sticks to what's worked for the last 20+ years and every now and then when a team comes in ultra prepared and focused and attacks efficiently and gets up early, Bud DOES stick to his bread and butter a little too long and DOES fail to adjust due to the innate stubbornness that's a product of being so successful for so long. Nobody is taking anything away from the guy lmao. It's OK to admit that even the best coaches have weaknesses. Bud is one of the best damn DC's to ever do it. That's resulted in some stubbornness IMO, look no further than our corners playing 8 yards off the line on 3rd and short against CUSE.
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look no further than our corners playing 8 yards off the line on 3rd and short against CUSE.
Yeah, this is extreme recency bias and is a perfect example of the "if it happens once, this must always be the case" mentality that people seem to easily fall into. That was an example that I didn't fully understand, and I would have personally pressed them on those downs. But overall he didn't lose us that game.
The Cuse game sucked, and eventually the defense caved, but he kept them off the board from a 17-3 lead until the second half of the fourth quarter which should have been plenty of enough time for us to come back.
Also, this completely ignores the many, many times that he has made tremendous ingame and halftime adjustments. You remember when ECU scored 21 in the first Q and then didn't score again until the very end of the game? We lost that game sure, but he made significant adjustments that paid off very quickly.
Games off the top of my head where he made great second half or in game adjustments.
2014 Duke
2014 ECU
2013 Miami
2012 GT
2012 FSU
2010 pretty much every game, since he had no pass rush and had to scheme for turnovers and bend don't break style (we had a tight end as a starting defensive end this year)
2009 Miami
2009 Tennessee
2008 LOLUVa
2008 UNC
2008 Maryland
2007 Miami
2007 FSU
2007 LOLUVa
2005 Louisville
Literally just off the top of my head.
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I wouldn't say that's "recency bias." I'd say its more "I didn't have to look back more than two weeks to find an example of a time he didn't adjust well."
AND THAT'S NOT TO SAY THERE HAVEN'T BEEN TONS OF TIMES WHERE HE HAS!!!
I'm just saying sir, you've got to find a middle ground right here haha. You need to understand that even the best of the best get exploited and have bad days. Even Belichick has his bad days in the office. The better ones just have them fewer and farther between.
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My point was more focused on the original point, which was that "things go south pretty quickly" whenever he isn't getting pressure on the QB, which I don't think is accurate at all because it implies that most of the time we don't get pressure, we don't play good defense and that just isn't the case.
I know Bud gets beaten sometimes, any scheme can be exploited by excellent one on one play and execution, but I think people put things like this on Bud and don't realize this happens to everyone.
Everyone gets beat by running QB's sometimes, especially on scrambles, this is not unique to us.
Everyone fails to make adjustments sometimes, Narduzzi (at Mich St), Foster, Venables, Aranda, Jeremy Pruitt, etc, all those guys get beat sometimes. I've watched multiple Clemson games where Venables stubbornly refused to change his defense and they won because of the offense (NC State, Syracuse, last year for example) and in the NC where Lane Kiffen was setting him up and knocking him down with big plays all night.
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I would like to see more of what we saw back in 2013 when we had 4 DLine men and then dadi basically playing the whip and just being a BEAST setting the edge on one side of the field and also in the pass rush. bring that back BUD!!
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It will almost certainly be personnel based, but I would expect to see lots of Mook to help deal with all the east-west stuff they do now with Quadree Henderson.
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Mook's problem hasn't been in run support. It's been in pass coverage. In man, in zone - frankly, he's been the name we've all been yelling in anger in the last 2 games. (Our corners got picked on, too, vs Tenn & ECU - we have generally been in good position on 50/50 balls and have made very few plays - but that shouldn't be as much of an issue vs Pitt.).
We'll need to adjust some things - I'm sure we'll see less stand-up from our ends, more stunts on passing downs, maybe more zone coverage. But with the way Pitt runs it, we'll need everything Mook does best - decisive filling on the edge, sound tackling, a well-timed blitz or two - to win this game.
I mentioned this in another thread, but one thing I've noticed in watching Pitt game tape is that no team they've played rotates defensive linemen like we do - and no team they've played has anything approaching our DLine depth. With that said, fresh horses will be at a premium for the LPD in the box. Tonight, that includes Mook. So, we may actually see more of Shegog because that position will be seriously challenged tonight.
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The outside corner on each side doubled on the same guy twice leaving the tight end wheel open. At least one of those times I am certain it was Facyson.
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Wasn't a double I don't think - we got crossed up on what looked like a 2-receiver rub route. Similar thing happened on the TD at the end of the first half, except it was (again, IIRC) Trevon Hill and Mook getting tangled up.
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On the second one, Facyson ran with the guy attacking the deep middle of the field, but there was already a man on him. I can't say for sure on the first one because I can't recall seeing a good angle.
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Hard to tell without knowing the coverage responsibilities. The slot receiver went to the outside and the wide receiver went inside and it crossed up coverage responsibilities for the DBs.
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Mook really hasn't been consistently bad in coverage at all. I agree that he has been brilliant against the run, but the two tight end busts last game weren't on him and that first TD against Syracuse is just a man beater route, those are incredibly hard to cover and with no help over the top that route is damn near impossible to stop. He actually was the highest graded slot cover guy in the country coming into that game. I'm sure his season grading is still very favorable.
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Mook hasn't been asked to do a lot of coverage past 5-10 yards, but he's looked lost against teams who spread it out. The TD right before half vs. U was Mook getting lost on (IIRC) a wheel route to their short WR (#8?). Go back and watch the Syracuse game (if you can stomach it). Watch Mook be routinely confused. Other DBs too, but they gashed him pretty good. He was also on the bad end of a few short 3rd downs vs Miami that resulted in first downs. He's just not a great coverage player. Hence his position in this defense - I think he'll play great tonight.
Yes, it was Facyson on the busted coverage on the second touchdown. He hasn't been great either.
Our DBs have straight-up struggled against pass-happy offenses. A "man-beater" route isn't really a thing - but a blown coverage is. We talked about it after last week - seems like a lot of it has been about communication. Pitt is very vanilla in their pass game which hopefully means Mook and Chuck have big games. This game will be won -from our defensive standpoint - within 5 yards of scrimmage.
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man beater routes/route combos are absolutely 100% a thing, this is just objectively a fact, as are zone beating route combos like bench. Most teams would have stopped that route with over the top coverage, covering a sluggo with a weird bend back to the outside (essentially not even a real route) is damn near impossible to ask a corner to cover if the QB has time and the db has no safety help. The end of half at Miami definitely looked to be on him, but that was also the weakest spot in that zone on a play where once again, Kaaya had time.
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Yeah but again, it was more about our own confusion on that play than the route. Facyson's first 3 steps are downhill and inside. Terrell Edmunds steps outside as if he's staying with the TE, then effectively dekes out Facyson by staying to cover the inside route.
Facyson knew he had no safety help (Chuck was shaded hard the other side) and still got sucked inside. That's a timely play call, but that's also some mind-bendingly poor technique. Hope we get it fixed
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Oh yes, I wasn't impressed with anyone on those plays, but I saw quotes somewhere from the players talking about how they addressed it with the coaches. I'm hoping they really did get these issues worked out, but I think we see less of the the formations that have given our secondary troubles tonight.
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No doubt. Not a lot of nuanced passing game for Pitt. It'll simplify our approach greatly.
Should be a great game. When Pitt has the ball, it will resemble an old-school Big East game - strength on strength, slobber-knocker football. (Sounds like Ekanem will play? Nigel hopefully?) And with VT on offense, I hope it looks like a track meet. They are great against the run, top 10 nationally in sacks, and they're still #122 vs the pass???? We should FEAST on this secondary. Timing routes and bubbles early, take a couple shots downfield, open up the middle of the defense and then the world is our oyster.
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From Narduzzi quotes they want to put an extra guy in the box and are expecting their db's to cover Bucky, Ford, and Cam one on one. He said his corners will make or break the game because if they are getting beat, he will pull guys out of the box.
Looks like an opportunity for Bucky, Ford, and Cam to make plays one on one. I am still concerned about our pass pro though, so it may also become a test for Evans to get the ball out quickly and accurately.
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Yeah that's why I'm betting on early timing routes, inside WR screens, and I bet we take a shot downfield early. Def with you re being worried about our protection - gotta get the right calls made at the line pre-snap, GOTTA SNAP THE FOOTBALL CORRECTLY, and gotta control our emotions. (Looking at you, Wyatt.)
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I don't think our run game will be a bust. I'm looking for an "outside-in" approach tonight: I would not be surprised to see us run the ball outside early (or swing passes/bubble screens, which are basically running plays). It winds the front 7, spreads them out, and tests their DBs' willingness to tackle. If they're going to cover our receivers in man, we could also have success with Evans in RPO situations on the edge. Pitt hasn't played against a true dual-threat qb with Evans' skill level. He's the difference I hope.
<2hrs to go! C'mon baby!!!! Let's get this done tonight.
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Comments
It feels like Mihota's health will play a major part of this game. We need power on the defensive line to stop the rushing attack, especially if Ekanem isn't 100%. Tremaine Edwards will also be an x-factor in the backfield. It will be fascinating to see how Bud deals with this. In the past when Bud's D hasn't gotten a ton of pressure things go south pretty quickly.
Every defense functions better when they are getting pressure. I do not think "things go south pretty quickly" is an accurate way to describe one of, if not the best, defensive coordinators of the last 20+ years. I think his track record in these situations is way, way above the mean.
I disagree entirely. Because Bud IS one of the best defensive coordinators of the last 20+ years, you can clearly see he sticks to what's worked for the last 20+ years and every now and then when a team comes in ultra prepared and focused and attacks efficiently and gets up early, Bud DOES stick to his bread and butter a little too long and DOES fail to adjust due to the innate stubbornness that's a product of being so successful for so long. Nobody is taking anything away from the guy lmao. It's OK to admit that even the best coaches have weaknesses. Bud is one of the best damn DC's to ever do it. That's resulted in some stubbornness IMO, look no further than our corners playing 8 yards off the line on 3rd and short against CUSE.
Yeah, this is extreme recency bias and is a perfect example of the "if it happens once, this must always be the case" mentality that people seem to easily fall into. That was an example that I didn't fully understand, and I would have personally pressed them on those downs. But overall he didn't lose us that game.
The Cuse game sucked, and eventually the defense caved, but he kept them off the board from a 17-3 lead until the second half of the fourth quarter which should have been plenty of enough time for us to come back.
Also, this completely ignores the many, many times that he has made tremendous ingame and halftime adjustments. You remember when ECU scored 21 in the first Q and then didn't score again until the very end of the game? We lost that game sure, but he made significant adjustments that paid off very quickly.
Games off the top of my head where he made great second half or in game adjustments.
2014 Duke
2014 ECU
2013 Miami
2012 GT
2012 FSU
2010 pretty much every game, since he had no pass rush and had to scheme for turnovers and bend don't break style (we had a tight end as a starting defensive end this year)
2009 Miami
2009 Tennessee
2008 LOLUVa
2008 UNC
2008 Maryland
2007 Miami
2007 FSU
2007 LOLUVa
2005 Louisville
Literally just off the top of my head.
I wouldn't say that's "recency bias." I'd say its more "I didn't have to look back more than two weeks to find an example of a time he didn't adjust well."
AND THAT'S NOT TO SAY THERE HAVEN'T BEEN TONS OF TIMES WHERE HE HAS!!!
I'm just saying sir, you've got to find a middle ground right here haha. You need to understand that even the best of the best get exploited and have bad days. Even Belichick has his bad days in the office. The better ones just have them fewer and farther between.
My point was more focused on the original point, which was that "things go south pretty quickly" whenever he isn't getting pressure on the QB, which I don't think is accurate at all because it implies that most of the time we don't get pressure, we don't play good defense and that just isn't the case.
I know Bud gets beaten sometimes, any scheme can be exploited by excellent one on one play and execution, but I think people put things like this on Bud and don't realize this happens to everyone.
Everyone gets beat by running QB's sometimes, especially on scrambles, this is not unique to us.
Everyone fails to make adjustments sometimes, Narduzzi (at Mich St), Foster, Venables, Aranda, Jeremy Pruitt, etc, all those guys get beat sometimes. I've watched multiple Clemson games where Venables stubbornly refused to change his defense and they won because of the offense (NC State, Syracuse, last year for example) and in the NC where Lane Kiffen was setting him up and knocking him down with big plays all night.
I would like to see more of what we saw back in 2013 when we had 4 DLine men and then dadi basically playing the whip and just being a BEAST setting the edge on one side of the field and also in the pass rush. bring that back BUD!!
Who are you thinking to fill that roll? Gaines if he is fast enough off the edge maybe. It would probably be a pretty good strategy.
It will almost certainly be personnel based, but I would expect to see lots of Mook to help deal with all the east-west stuff they do now with Quadree Henderson.
To me, this seems like a Mook point.
Ughhhhh..... take your leg.
Thanks. I was feeling kinda piratey this morning and thought "Mihota try a pun."
Oh no
Settle down now...
Rogers that. ..
Scroll through the rest of the sub-thread and have a drink on me sir!
I think I owe you the drink. You beat me to it but I hadn't gone that far in the thread. Great minds think alike.
...something something Motuapuaka
That one just didn't Click.
I'll get it Evans-tually
This song and dance again? It's the same old Carroll.
Whatever happens, I hope we see some good Reynolds Wrap up tackling.
I Ken not take it anymore! Too many puns!!!
Some Peoples just aren't cut out for the pun life.
Rogers that.
If I had a Bucky for every pun on this website I'd be a rich man
That was a Slye one my man.
Slye as a Fox.
Meh-tuapuaka. Still a leg, though
The cupboards are Baron?
There might still be some Deablo sauce from Wyatt's last run to Taco Bell.
Shegog to be kiddin' me!
It's a Motley crew.
You Ekanem, and you will.
You Divine Diablo you
If Mook can squash Henderson then Pitt will be Fayscon reality here real soon.
Will Shegog? Just Teller she'll be lit in Pitt FAM!
If she doesn't get it, just put a Slye look on your face as you Walker right out the door.
Just walker to Bethel, it's a beautiful school.
Well, it's no Nijman Marcus, but it's a little nicer than Hampton and Phoebus from what I can remember.
Yep, and don't be Shai about it.
I like lamp
Are you sure? Are you certain you like lamp or are you just naming random objects in the room?
Sounds like a thread title on SciFi.com.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Settle down Peoples, everything will be OK.
We'll be fine, just get your game Facyson
Reminds me of Dana Brooke (WWE).
Dana Brooke (for comparison)
That player on the goal line looks like he's in pee wee league
Run and Hide. I think I see a 45 on that shoulder...
It's either 45 or 46. After he hits you, you'll live but...you will not live well.
Nice knowin ya. It's been a real deal.
This is all I can think of every time I read Shegog's name. Also glad to know he and Rogers got over their past disagreements.
That was Shelob. I will accept the offspring of this spider, Shelob, with the spider from Harry Potter, Aragog, to merge into Shegog.
We would be friends.
I thought we were all friends...
Oh you know what I meant.
I know who it is, just saying the names remind me of each other. Love your spider offspring theory though
What the hell did I just read?
Someone asked a serious football question on TKP and you didn't expect a pun sub-thread?
I think that I am getting PUNch drunk.
Careful, you don't want to pass out with your Facyson the floor before kickoff. Then you'd be in some serious Payne.
That might have awakened something in me. Feel free to post Moore of these.
It seems that you like hitting my head. Stop, please just Pettit.
More like Shegod, amirite?
Ford chrissakes, listen to me on this:
Mook's problem hasn't been in run support. It's been in pass coverage. In man, in zone - frankly, he's been the name we've all been yelling in anger in the last 2 games. (Our corners got picked on, too, vs Tenn & ECU - we have generally been in good position on 50/50 balls and have made very few plays - but that shouldn't be as much of an issue vs Pitt.).
We'll need to adjust some things - I'm sure we'll see less stand-up from our ends, more stunts on passing downs, maybe more zone coverage. But with the way Pitt runs it, we'll need everything Mook does best - decisive filling on the edge, sound tackling, a well-timed blitz or two - to win this game.
I mentioned this in another thread, but one thing I've noticed in watching Pitt game tape is that no team they've played rotates defensive linemen like we do - and no team they've played has anything approaching our DLine depth. With that said, fresh horses will be at a premium for the LPD in the box. Tonight, that includes Mook. So, we may actually see more of Shegog because that position will be seriously challenged tonight.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Fayscon the one out of position twice last week that led to long passes/TDs for Miami?
The outside corner on each side doubled on the same guy twice leaving the tight end wheel open. At least one of those times I am certain it was Facyson.
Wasn't a double I don't think - we got crossed up on what looked like a 2-receiver rub route. Similar thing happened on the TD at the end of the first half, except it was (again, IIRC) Trevon Hill and Mook getting tangled up.
On the second one, Facyson ran with the guy attacking the deep middle of the field, but there was already a man on him. I can't say for sure on the first one because I can't recall seeing a good angle.
Hard to tell without knowing the coverage responsibilities. The slot receiver went to the outside and the wide receiver went inside and it crossed up coverage responsibilities for the DBs.
Mook really hasn't been consistently bad in coverage at all. I agree that he has been brilliant against the run, but the two tight end busts last game weren't on him and that first TD against Syracuse is just a man beater route, those are incredibly hard to cover and with no help over the top that route is damn near impossible to stop. He actually was the highest graded slot cover guy in the country coming into that game. I'm sure his season grading is still very favorable.
Mook hasn't been asked to do a lot of coverage past 5-10 yards, but he's looked lost against teams who spread it out. The TD right before half vs. U was Mook getting lost on (IIRC) a wheel route to their short WR (#8?). Go back and watch the Syracuse game (if you can stomach it). Watch Mook be routinely confused. Other DBs too, but they gashed him pretty good. He was also on the bad end of a few short 3rd downs vs Miami that resulted in first downs. He's just not a great coverage player. Hence his position in this defense - I think he'll play great tonight.
Yes, it was Facyson on the busted coverage on the second touchdown. He hasn't been great either.
Our DBs have straight-up struggled against pass-happy offenses. A "man-beater" route isn't really a thing - but a blown coverage is. We talked about it after last week - seems like a lot of it has been about communication. Pitt is very vanilla in their pass game which hopefully means Mook and Chuck have big games. This game will be won -from our defensive standpoint - within 5 yards of scrimmage.
man beater routes/route combos are absolutely 100% a thing, this is just objectively a fact, as are zone beating route combos like bench. Most teams would have stopped that route with over the top coverage, covering a sluggo with a weird bend back to the outside (essentially not even a real route) is damn near impossible to ask a corner to cover if the QB has time and the db has no safety help. The end of half at Miami definitely looked to be on him, but that was also the weakest spot in that zone on a play where once again, Kaaya had time.
Ack - meant to reply but I posted as a new comment. My bad!
Yeah but again, it was more about our own confusion on that play than the route. Facyson's first 3 steps are downhill and inside. Terrell Edmunds steps outside as if he's staying with the TE, then effectively dekes out Facyson by staying to cover the inside route.
Facyson knew he had no safety help (Chuck was shaded hard the other side) and still got sucked inside. That's a timely play call, but that's also some mind-bendingly poor technique. Hope we get it fixed
Oh yes, I wasn't impressed with anyone on those plays, but I saw quotes somewhere from the players talking about how they addressed it with the coaches. I'm hoping they really did get these issues worked out, but I think we see less of the the formations that have given our secondary troubles tonight.
No doubt. Not a lot of nuanced passing game for Pitt. It'll simplify our approach greatly.
Should be a great game. When Pitt has the ball, it will resemble an old-school Big East game - strength on strength, slobber-knocker football. (Sounds like Ekanem will play? Nigel hopefully?) And with VT on offense, I hope it looks like a track meet. They are great against the run, top 10 nationally in sacks, and they're still #122 vs the pass???? We should FEAST on this secondary. Timing routes and bubbles early, take a couple shots downfield, open up the middle of the defense and then the world is our oyster.
From Narduzzi quotes they want to put an extra guy in the box and are expecting their db's to cover Bucky, Ford, and Cam one on one. He said his corners will make or break the game because if they are getting beat, he will pull guys out of the box.
Looks like an opportunity for Bucky, Ford, and Cam to make plays one on one. I am still concerned about our pass pro though, so it may also become a test for Evans to get the ball out quickly and accurately.
Yeah that's why I'm betting on early timing routes, inside WR screens, and I bet we take a shot downfield early. Def with you re being worried about our protection - gotta get the right calls made at the line pre-snap, GOTTA SNAP THE FOOTBALL CORRECTLY, and gotta control our emotions. (Looking at you, Wyatt.)
I agree, and that will be downright necessary if our running game is a bust. Agreed on the rest of those fronts as well.
I don't think our run game will be a bust. I'm looking for an "outside-in" approach tonight: I would not be surprised to see us run the ball outside early (or swing passes/bubble screens, which are basically running plays). It winds the front 7, spreads them out, and tests their DBs' willingness to tackle. If they're going to cover our receivers in man, we could also have success with Evans in RPO situations on the edge. Pitt hasn't played against a true dual-threat qb with Evans' skill level. He's the difference I hope.
<2hrs to go! C'mon baby!!!! Let's get this done tonight.
I think outside-in might be Fuente's preference overall. Force wide splits and then attack the middle.
And, right on cue, Mook Reynolds makes a beautiful coverage interception. Hahahaaaa I love it
I had to read that a couple of times.
I've never given so many legs in my life. Well done, TKP. You make me proud.
He was in for like, two plays- Two more plays than usual tho