What isn’t working for our run game and what is the solution?
BillOBrienEnthusiast: As a man who went bald very young, can you explain Duncan Powell’s choice to go with the Dr. Phil for his hairstyle?
Logan: I’m glad I’m not the only person curious about this. I saw him during the game and I had to turn to my wife and ask if that haircut looked as bad as I thought it did. I have no explanation, other than maybe he lost a bet or did it for a Halloween costume.
gtbadcarma: When comparing Miami and Gatech, the games where the teams have face the same opponents, it doesnt look great for Gatech on paper. I am going to prepare for a long game, any drink that you find particularly soothing or helping in forgetting your woes when its been a tough Saturday on the football field?
Logan: I’m going go karting afterwards so I don’t think I’ll be drinking. I’m just planning to get some frustration out on the course. I’m still not convinced we have no chance though, so if we win I guess I’ll be doing a victory lap.
Ben: My best advice would be to remember that it’s just a game and to not let all of your happiness depend on its outcome. Make plans for something to do that afternoon to get your mind off of it. Or, you could also go with a whiskey clear. That seems like the most appropriate response.
Chris: Pick another game in the time slot to flip flop to. Schedule an activity for immediately after the game.
GTalbatross: Key has stated in a few press conferences, scheme is personnel driven and you can’t just flip to a different scheme on a dime when you loose personnel.
What isn’t working for our run game and what is the solution? Does it take Paul Johnson level experience on adjustments needed to get the run game going again?
Logan: Not having King has hurt the versatility of the offense. I don’t know how good Philo is at running but Pyron is a power runner and so is Jamal Haynes, although I would say Haynes can make people miss in the open field. We tend to run inside runs and power or counter plays which rely on pushes from the o-line to allow our power runners to move straight at the defense. It’s not the most exciting thing to watch but it grinds down a defense and can consistently get yards. Haynes King has been the x-factor as he is nimble enough to make people miss on read options and turn short pass plays into outside run plays which means the defense has to plan for both. Without Haynes King we lose the outside run game and become more predictable. If the defense knows it can stuff the box and stop half our plays that makes it harder to maintain long drives and we are no longer grinding down the defense. So there’s some of the issues, but just because we have issues doesn’t mean we can change to outside runs though as they require different blocking schemes.
The reason the veer was so effective under Paul Johnson was because all of those options are available on a given play, but it also means the QB has to make quick and accurate decisions or else the play could end in catastrophe. For more straight forward offenses your blockers and runners have to know what they are looking for and where to run. It seems simple in a video game, but getting all your players on the same page and to accurately block and make reads takes time. In the regular season you don’t get much time to make changes. I’m not a coach so I don’t have an easy solution to provide to the offensive issues, but I would generally agree with Key, if you practice a certain type of offense all offseason and halfway through the season something bad happens that doesn’t mean you can just change things up and expect them to work. That is something Paul Johnson would agree with as well I believe, you can’t just change things because they aren’t working you have to find ways to make the scheme you have work. I don’t think that answers your question, but maybe it provides some insight as to why we haven’t changed things up as much as people have hoped.
Ben: Logan hit the nail on the head with Haynes King going down, but I think Tech’s running woes go even deeper. Everybody saw just how dangerous Tech’s running game was last season with Jamal Haynes. But what they also saw (and have seen this year) is that if Tech doesn’t have a running game, they don’t have much of an offense. In Tech’s five wins this season, they have rushed for at least 190 yards, with three of those wins featuring over 200 rushing yards. In the four losses, though, Tech has failed to eclipse 100 yards rushing in three of them, with the one outlier being the 112 rushing yards against Cuse. For better or for worse, Tech’s offense lives and dies on its ability to run the ball, and defensive coordinators know that. That stat wasn’t quite as egregious last year. In losses last year, Tech averaged 163.5 rushing yards per game compared to 238.3 rushing yards per game in wins. If a defensive coordinator knows that if they can shut down your run game, they’ll shut down your whole offense, they’re going to do everything in their power to shut down the run game, and that’s what we’ve seen this year.
Chris: Logan gave an excellent answer – a lot of it hinges on King.
Frodo Swagginz: The DL has not been able to get home to the QB consistently this season, but you cannot run the ball on this group. They clog holes and make RBs improvise fairly often, if they don’t downright get through the line.
Is this a position group that Key should target in the portal? What are some groups that you see as clear portal-must this cycle?
Logan: I think Edge and D-line should have been a priority for the past 5 years. We have consistently had one of the worst pass rushes in college football, it would be good to see us get a little more pressure on QBs.
Ben: I would love to continue adding more Edge guys in the portal. I’m of the opinion that you can never have too many. I wouldn’t mind adding another linebacker that’s less of a liability in pass coverage.
Chris: Yup, I would like to focus on both lines a lot.
Jellopacket98: I believe the ACC asked Miami what time they preferred for kickoff and they chose noon because they wanted to play in warmer weather with a tamer crowd as opposed to a significantly colder night game with a rowdy (properly tailgated) homecoming crowd at Grant Field, based on their past performances.
Am I drinking too much of the kool-aid?
Logan: I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it doesn’t seem like the craziest concept. GT seems to bend over backwards to help the ACC with scheduling, I’m hoping we’re getting something in return for it. I’m not convinced the time of kickoff will change much, but we shall see.
Ben: Miami can be as dumb in the middle of the day as they can after a late night. I don’t know that there’s any truth to your conspiracy theory.
Chris: Eh. The temperature difference isn’t crazy, and I don’t think anyone really thinks that Tech crowds are rowdy. It probably just comes down to network considerations – the ACC wants to put their playoff hope in front of more eyes than the ACCN offers, so they have to contend with finding a slot where someone like ESPN will carry it. Bama/LSU, FSU/Notre Dame, Oregon, and Tennessee are all playing night games so there’s a lot of competition and we are not a particularly enticing TV offering in terms of 1) product and 2) volume of people who will watch.