⚡ CFB Dashboard

This team/staff just does not seem to have a high football IQ and it's often just the little things. - We get in a predictable pattern of 1st down runs. If fans see that, opposing coaches certainly see it and they load up for it. When it's 2nd and 10 or more, this offense is not in a good position to succeed. I realize we don't have the talent we should have out there if P4 schools hadn't lured it away, but play calling needs a major overhaul, in terms of not being so predictable. - When they went under center with a single back on Saturday, the RB was lining up 8 yards behind the LOS. Our line is not capable of sustaining blocks long enough for a back to pick out his running lane as he approaches the line. Lining him up that deep just creates an opportunity for bigger negative plays when a defender sheds a block and gets in our backfield, which happens way too often. They need to shitcan that concept until they have an O line that can move defenses backward. Our coaches should know their personnel and know we should not be in that kind of a set unless we have a decided advantage on the line. Very frustrating to see. - I saw some little intangibles of game awareness that was lacking on Saturday. One example is when we were punting very late in the 2nd quarter, maybe around 1:30 or so left on the clock. The punt rolled and our guys surrounded it. A guy grabbed it while it was still barely moving, which stopped the clock. I pointed out to my buddies that they should have not touched it at all and let the clock run until the refs blew it dead. They could have run off another couple of seconds. I said, "Now watch, USF will end up scoring with a second left and touching that punt will make it possible." Well, after a few plays and the clock winding down, the QB scrambled and went into a slide when he got into FG range. Clock was at 0 and the players started leaving but officials put 1 second back on the clock, which allowed them to line up for a very makeable FG. Lucky for us he missed it, but the point is, smart players that have situational game awareness drilled into their consciousness would have never touched that ball on the punt and as a result, USF would have never gotten off that FG attempt. That sounds like nitpicking, but it's those little details that get missed that can end up costing us and it drives me nuts. We may get outmanned from a physical talent standpoint, but that's not an excuse not to play smart. - Going for that 4th and 1 late was a really bad decision. I would normally say you should be able to get a yard when you need it and I would pull the trigger, but if our coaches had been watching the same game I was watching, they would have seen that our line was getting overwhelmed on obvious running situations and the chances of us making that were extremely low. We just don't have the kind of O line that can manhandle anyone. The flip side of that was our defense was playing well and they were not sustaining any drives against us. Punt in there and pin them deep. By going for it, we just played right into their hands and gave them all the momentum they needed. It's like our own coaches don't seem to know what our own players can and can't do and this far into the season, that doesn't make sense to me.