Lots of takeaways from the 45-3 win. Mostly positives, but obviously there is still room for improvement on the offensive side of the ball.
We still don't know what to do with the running backs. All of the tailbacks played well Saturday, with Mangus, Edmunds, and Caleb all scoring. I think Caleb could find a place in the run game to relieve Edmunds on a few third downs. He's quick since he's not a "big back," but he certainly doesn't shy away from contact. Coleman played great for his first game this season, averaging over five yards per carry. Edmunds, however, should still be the primary back, and I hope the coaches give him 15-20 carries every game. Because of the depth, 25 carries is not necessary for him.
Mangus is a different story. He obviously is quick and has the moves in space, but he should be the guy in the position coaches had originally designed for DJ Coles. Moving from the slot position to H-Back and vice versa keeps him flexible, and he could be very effective catching the ball on screens or out of the backfield.
Wide receiver overhaul. Everybody noticed that Coles didn't get into the game until the second quarter, and even after he caught the touchdown, he never got another catch. Not only that, but Logan obviously wasn't looking in the direction of Coles or even Demitri Knowles near as often as last game. Willie Byrn had four catches, as did Josh Stanford, who I think is our best receiver right now. He has the surest hands on the team based on what we've seen so far in game play.
New tight end. We don't quite know if Kalvin Cline will take over as the starter at TE, but he certainly got the most looks in the passing game. DPM was in on a lot of run plays, but it was Cline who caught four balls, and should have had a fifth for a touchdown. The true freshman appears to have a planned role for the future as a pass-catching threat.
Personal note: I still hate the deep ball. Against Alabama, the deep ball may have been used to open up the run game and keep the safeties honest. But only one problem occurred: we didn't complete them. Teams won't be afraid of the bombs if we can't connect on them. In the WCU game, Logan attempted less passes downfield, but what happened when he did? First attempt: interception. Later in the game, a 25-yard attempt: interception. I haven't looked at the film to see exactly how many 20-yard attempts he had, but it was between 4-6, and no more than 2 were completed. In my humble opinion, I would much rather A) pound the rock, or B) attempt high-percentage passes, where it's easier for the WRs to make the catch and easier for Logan to be more accurate.
Lastly, I was glad to see a few starters on special teams, as zero big plays were given up on punts or kickoffs.
The ECU game will be the first true measuring stick for our offense. We've played a great defense, and a not great defense. ECU is a team we should lay at least 30 on, but they're more of an in-between D compared to our first two games. I'll be looking for an earlier commitment to the run, as well as the progression of Byrn, Stanford and Cline. Also, the defense putting everybody on their ass once again. That will be fun too.
Comments
Edmunds is definitely the number 1, but Mangus, Caleb, and of course Coleman all are a great complement to him.
QBs can't force passes into coverage, even when they're strong like Logan.
Receivers were improved today, though still a few drops. I agree Logan is still trying to force to many passes in there. Loeffler talked this past week about how he wanted Logan to check down on several plays vs Alabama. When it's not there Logan needs to take what he can get and not force. Two interceptions in the end zone isn't going to cut it.
My only point on that is that Demitri should have been playing DB on both of those. Logan did not put a good throw on it, underthrowing the first one significantly, but Knowles needs to recognize that and use his body and hands to make sure the other team does NOT have a chance to make a play. Just as much on Demitri as it was on Logan.
I think the ECU game could be the breakout game for the offense. The defense should be great too, as always.
Logan didn't look improved which was unfortunate
I thought his throws were improved. His decision-making, however, was not (see above comments about forcing ball into coverage in the red zone).
I think those throws were actually good decisions, based on what Loeffler was saying. He got his playmaker matched up one-on-one with a defender (and an inferior one at that) and that's the throw he has to make there. He just needs to put it a yard or so farther back and Demitri can't let a bad DB manhandle him like that and cut in front to pick it off. He's gotta make a better play on the ball.
I haven' rewatched the game yet, but with the few replays I saw, I just really did not like that second INT Logan had. I'm ok with him throwing that ball, but not to Knowles. Knowles is fast, but he is hardly a playmaker and he is very average height for a WR. If you're throwing that back shoulder to the end zone, it HAS to be to a more physical receiver.
I really like what I saw out of Logan. Do I think those two INTs were smart? No, but Knowles doesn't seem to be making the most intelligent decisions on the field.
I had never heard of Willie Byrn until today. Kid can ball.
1 catch for 15 yards in 2011, 2 punt returns for 14 yards in 2012...really seems to have emerged out of nowhere, looking forward to seeing him continue to improve and give Logan an honest option in the passing game.
+1 for that Kodak moment you captured. That was the moment in the game where we BeatBama.
I thought Logan looked improved but still tends to make poor decisions, and forces the ball where he shouldn't. Enough of the long passes until he can get the other stuff down. Nevertheless, his receivers, while vastly improved, still probably dropped 5 passes. Had hoped we would have pounded the ball more but understand that the passing game needs work.
The young players are pushing the older ones, especially on offense
I know not many of us will like this, but concerning the RBs, we should give Edmunds and JC the ball about about 30 times a game, with Edmunds getting it a little over twice as much as JC. Mangus and Caleb have already burned their redshirt years, so why not give them a 1-2 carries a game each. I know we want to get away from the RB by committee look, but why not just put them in a few plays a game? We could throw 2 RB sets out there, and keep the defense on their heels with 3 possible runners.
35 carries a game, after adding in a few LT3 runs, would be nice for me.
I completely agree with this philosophy, but we have to understand that the success the run game had today was against Western Carolina. I'm not positive it will be as successful when we get into ACC play, so we may be forced to open up the play-calling more. But for these next two games, 35 runs per would be awesome.
Of course no one is talking about how well the line played...Only one bad snap...LT had plenty of time to throw and the backs had space to run just thought I would throw that out there
I felt like every throw over the middle Logan threw too high, which left his receivers out to get hit. And he threw a couple bad ones that the receivers saved him on. I can safely say that I wasn't thrilled with his performance. But the receivers looked great, especially Stanford. Hopefully Coles can get it together because he's still going to need to be a big part of the offense.
I agree. There was one that left me shaking my head, straight down the middle to Stanford where Logan hit him square in the hands, right in front of his face, splitting the D nicely. And what happened? Ball on the turf. I'll have to go back and look to see if it was a harder play than it looked, but live it looked like it should have been a pickup of 15-20 yards on one of the better throws of the day.
I think we saw a lot more passing than we normally do against this caliber opponent. Usually Beamer runs the ball a lot so you normally see 28 points on the board but the time of possession is heavily in VT's favor. I think it is clear Loeffler wanted Logan throwing the ball a lot to get a lot of work in during the game. I think during the bigger games you will see a lot more reliance on running. Also keep in mind the offense was fairly vanilla. We didn't see a lot of formations like Alabama did.
Glad you noticed. I felt the same thing, but I'll wait to see if French agree upon his film review.
yep. I think the biggest thing for the offense is just getting in a rhythm and having chemistry. Everyone is new to this offense and there are bound to be some growing pains. Just have to be patient.
^ Hit the nail on the head. Spot on.
Patience is a virtue. I won't worry unless Sept 26th comes around without enough progress.
anybody have an opinion on Caleb's running style? To my untrained eye I couldn't decide if he was just tall or ran a little upright. But I did like him running.
All I know is he hit guys and they went backwards.
He needs to learn how to play the position still in my opinion. He didn't really wait for his blocks or look for the hole, he just kinda decided where he wanted to go and went there one way or another. He has talent, just needs to be taught a little bit. In a year or two with some more muscle he could be very good. The running back situation is promising.
I honestly believe that by the end of the season Trey Edmunds will be better than what Cedric Humes was in his senior season and one of the three others will emerge as a better back than what Mike Imoh was (congratulations to him on being honored at the game, by the way). Maybe two of them will even emerge as the next "Untouchables" in the latter part of their careers.
Logan still needs work. He didn't look very smooth. He had time but was taking too long to make reads. He won't have that against better defenses. His accuracy is suspect too. He is not in sync with the receivers and not putting the ball where they can make plays. It was a better performance overall for the passing game but it was a weak opponent. Need to improve it a lot more this week. If he can't improve his game LT will be benched. I can't believe he is the best option right now.
I thought we went over this already
There are a lot of factors here, and they have been addressed. The receivers are just as new to the offense as LT is. Look at tom brady from yesterday...he is missing a lot of his targets and had a pretty average day because his receivers are new to him with no chemistry. LT has barely any chemistry and a brand new play book. If receivers timing, routes etc are off, it forces the QB to make a lot of adjustments. I think it will get better as the season progresses but it's hard to make snap judgements when our only two opponents are #1 alabama and mediocre WCU.
I agree completely!!!!! It's still hard to tell exactly where we are in our passing game.....given the two teams we've faced so far.