DiderotsGhost
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2011
- Messages
- 4,657
- Likes
- 23,705
Just a few more thoughts on the game, the SEC, and our competition moving forward.
App State
App State is an incredibly good team. The sky is not falling. We played like crap against a very good and very tricky to stop team, but we still won.
The Defense was Spectacular. I don't mind people complaining about our overall performance, which was bad, but I'm baffled by all the people saying our "D-line got manhandled." Did we even watch the same game? I saw a Tennessee team that, if not for a muffed punt return, would have only given up 6 points to a team that averaged 37 points per game last year. Moreover, our defense has been much better against the pass than the run over the past few years. Just as a reminder, App State ran the ball 43 times and passed 23, which means they ran 65% of the time. We still contained them. We made them one-dimensional. They relied extensively on trick plays that we sniffed out repeatedly. Our defense played spectacular. Stop the "OUR DEFENSE SUCKS" bullcrap, people! If you think our defense played poorly, you don't know anything about defense.
Mistakes Prevented Us From Controlling the Game. Why did we struggle so much? Early mistakes. That's pretty much the story of the game. It's not that our lines got "outplayed" (though, our O-line did occasionally get outplayed, unfortunately). We let App State gain control early and that allowed them to play their run-heavy run-down-the-clock style of offense. If we had gone up 10-0 or 14-0 in the 1st Quarter, App State would've been forced to "air it out" and the results would not have been very good. This is why, while it's important to close out games, it's also important to start them out well, particularly against teams that run the ball well. By gaining control early, App State did not have to take risks in the passing game (and as we all saw, when they did have to take those "risks" they didn't fare very well against our secondary).
Shortening the Game. How much did App State shorten the game? We had 65 plays in regulation. Here are some comparisons from last year.
Vanderbilt: 77
Georgia: 90
Florida: 70
Bowling Green: 87
Arkansas: 70
Kentucky: 69
Alabama: 61
Northwestern: 83
App State limited us to fewer plays from scrimmage than almost any of our opponents last year, other than Alabama. And note, Bama had 69 plays in that game, whereas App State only had 62 plays in regulation against us. So the takeaway is that App State was incredibly effective at shortening the game. They would not have been as effective if we hadn't made so many early mistakes.
Vs Arkansas 2015. Anyone remember the last few times we played teams with similar offensive philosophies as App State? Arkansas 2015 is a good comparison. While App State and Arkansas have different running attacks, they both focus heavily on the run. We did not fare very well against Arkansas last year. We looked much better against the run versus App State this year. I don't think it's a bad comparison.
The QB Situation
Vanilla. One criticism I do agree with is that we played a very vanilla offense vs App State. I understand that's by design. We have a Murderer's Row stretch of games coming up that includes Va Tech, Florida, Georgia, A&M, and Bama. It's understandable that DeBord would not want to show too much of the playbook, but I think he also greatly underestimated App State.
Dobbs Does Not Do Well with Vanilla. Here's the thing: Dobbs may be the best overall QB on our team. However, he's not the best passer on our team, or even the best "game manager." I'm not sure whether this was a strategy by DeBord, or whether it was an intentional choice by Dobbs, but Dobbs very rarely ran in the App State game. His stat line reads 9 runs for -4 yards, but that includes sacks and busted plays. His long was only 13 yards and can only remember 1 or 2 true runs by Dobbs. I don't think Dobbs fares very well with a "vanilla" offense. He's an improvisor. He adds an extra dimension. He's not a "game manager" pocket-passing type of QB.
Dobbs vs Dormady. I don't want to ignite a QB controversy, because certainly there were games last year where Dobbs legs won us the game. Dobbs likely gives us the best chance against teams like Bama and Georgia. I do think, however, our staff needs to consider the fact that Quinten Dormady is a better fit for a "vanilla offense." If Debord is dedicated to going vanilla against Ohio two weeks from now, I think we'd be better off giving QD the start, rather than using only 50% of Dobbs' talents in the game. I understand that this is controversial and a lot of people hate the "2-QB system", but the problem here is that DeBord is putting Dobbs into situations where he can't thrive. If the goal is to protect Dobbs' health, then just throw Dormady in, rather than having Dobbs only utilize part of his talents. Dobbs is a mature leader and I think he can understand that. I just don't think we can continue this waffling act, where we make Dobbs the starter, but we make him walk on pins and needles in order to protect himself. Either we unleash Dobbs or we throw QD in the game.
Quinten Dormady. Some food for thought: if Dormady were on Florida or Georgia's roster, he'd likely be the starting QB.
The Rest of the SEC
Arkansas. We weren't the only ones to struggle this week. Arkansas barely beat a Louisiana Tech team that is likely nowhere near as good as App State. LA Tech was rated #81 in Sagarin last year and finished with a 9-4 record. Unlikely we play Arkansas this year, but still interesting.
Texas A&M. Looked very impressive against UCLA. Reiterates the idea that A&M may be one of the most underrated teams in the SEC this season and that our visit to College Station will be one of the toughest games of the year.
Vanderbilt. Very good on defense. Terrible on offense. Pretty much what I expected from them.
Georgia. Don't sleep on them. That running game is one of the best in the nation. Very impressive win vs UNC. Btw, Georgia ran the ball 52 times and passed it 20 times. Chubb picked up 222 yards. While Greyson Lambert may have started, Jacob Eason got most of the work at QB. However, it's clear that UGA is going to try to avoid going to the air as much as possible. From our perspective, what we learned from App State is that we need to try to control the 1st half and force UGA into passing situations where we'll have an advantage.
Florida. Looked terrible vs UMass. Obviously, we played poorly this week, but UMass was a 3-9 team in a weak conference last season. Took till the 4th Quarter for Florida to get any separation. Frankly, I think our performance was more impressive than Florida's.
Missouri. Still has no offense whatsoever. Lost to West Virginia 26-11.
LSU. We don't play them this year, but LSU once again looked one-dimensional on offense against quality competition. Brandon Harris has a 6.9 QB rating. That's awful! Leonard Fournette is the entire offense. Defense was very good, as usual, but I don't think LSU can win the West solely by running Fournette every single play.
Alabama. Wow. That's all I have to say. Obviously, even in Knoxville, still the toughest game on our schedule.
Kentucky. Didn't see any of the game, but they lost to Southern Miss in Lexington. Southern Miss is a good team, but still a bad loss for Kentucky.
Outlook Moving Forward.
Virginia Tech. Va Tech played a cupcake game in Week 1 vs Liberty, so difficult to draw any conclusions from that. A lot of the VT fans think the close-call with App State is a good sign for them, but I think it means our Vols come into the VT game much more focused than they would've otherwise. Should be a very interesting game, one way or another. VT is capable of beating us if we play poorly. If we play well, then we win the game.
Ohio. As I said, I think we should start Quinten Dormady against Ohio if we're going to play "vanilla." It's not a QB controversy. It's just a realization that QD at 100% is better than Dobbs at 70%.
Our Schedule. I don't think there were any huge surprises to me from the teams on our schedule. Every team performed about as I expected, except for Florida. And Florida may have been a similar opening-week sleepwalk act, so I wouldn't draw too many dramatic conclusions from that. Otherwise, Kentucky still looked weak, Missouri and Vandy still had no offense, South Carolina look OK but not great, Alabama looked spectacular, A&M proved they are underrated, and Georgia looked impressive albeit one-dimensional on offense.
Jacob Eason. Perhaps the only thing we did learn is that Jacob Eason may be starting for Georgia by the time we visit Athens.
App State
App State is an incredibly good team. The sky is not falling. We played like crap against a very good and very tricky to stop team, but we still won.
The Defense was Spectacular. I don't mind people complaining about our overall performance, which was bad, but I'm baffled by all the people saying our "D-line got manhandled." Did we even watch the same game? I saw a Tennessee team that, if not for a muffed punt return, would have only given up 6 points to a team that averaged 37 points per game last year. Moreover, our defense has been much better against the pass than the run over the past few years. Just as a reminder, App State ran the ball 43 times and passed 23, which means they ran 65% of the time. We still contained them. We made them one-dimensional. They relied extensively on trick plays that we sniffed out repeatedly. Our defense played spectacular. Stop the "OUR DEFENSE SUCKS" bullcrap, people! If you think our defense played poorly, you don't know anything about defense.
Mistakes Prevented Us From Controlling the Game. Why did we struggle so much? Early mistakes. That's pretty much the story of the game. It's not that our lines got "outplayed" (though, our O-line did occasionally get outplayed, unfortunately). We let App State gain control early and that allowed them to play their run-heavy run-down-the-clock style of offense. If we had gone up 10-0 or 14-0 in the 1st Quarter, App State would've been forced to "air it out" and the results would not have been very good. This is why, while it's important to close out games, it's also important to start them out well, particularly against teams that run the ball well. By gaining control early, App State did not have to take risks in the passing game (and as we all saw, when they did have to take those "risks" they didn't fare very well against our secondary).
Shortening the Game. How much did App State shorten the game? We had 65 plays in regulation. Here are some comparisons from last year.
Vanderbilt: 77
Georgia: 90
Florida: 70
Bowling Green: 87
Arkansas: 70
Kentucky: 69
Alabama: 61
Northwestern: 83
App State limited us to fewer plays from scrimmage than almost any of our opponents last year, other than Alabama. And note, Bama had 69 plays in that game, whereas App State only had 62 plays in regulation against us. So the takeaway is that App State was incredibly effective at shortening the game. They would not have been as effective if we hadn't made so many early mistakes.
Vs Arkansas 2015. Anyone remember the last few times we played teams with similar offensive philosophies as App State? Arkansas 2015 is a good comparison. While App State and Arkansas have different running attacks, they both focus heavily on the run. We did not fare very well against Arkansas last year. We looked much better against the run versus App State this year. I don't think it's a bad comparison.
The QB Situation
Vanilla. One criticism I do agree with is that we played a very vanilla offense vs App State. I understand that's by design. We have a Murderer's Row stretch of games coming up that includes Va Tech, Florida, Georgia, A&M, and Bama. It's understandable that DeBord would not want to show too much of the playbook, but I think he also greatly underestimated App State.
Dobbs Does Not Do Well with Vanilla. Here's the thing: Dobbs may be the best overall QB on our team. However, he's not the best passer on our team, or even the best "game manager." I'm not sure whether this was a strategy by DeBord, or whether it was an intentional choice by Dobbs, but Dobbs very rarely ran in the App State game. His stat line reads 9 runs for -4 yards, but that includes sacks and busted plays. His long was only 13 yards and can only remember 1 or 2 true runs by Dobbs. I don't think Dobbs fares very well with a "vanilla" offense. He's an improvisor. He adds an extra dimension. He's not a "game manager" pocket-passing type of QB.
Dobbs vs Dormady. I don't want to ignite a QB controversy, because certainly there were games last year where Dobbs legs won us the game. Dobbs likely gives us the best chance against teams like Bama and Georgia. I do think, however, our staff needs to consider the fact that Quinten Dormady is a better fit for a "vanilla offense." If Debord is dedicated to going vanilla against Ohio two weeks from now, I think we'd be better off giving QD the start, rather than using only 50% of Dobbs' talents in the game. I understand that this is controversial and a lot of people hate the "2-QB system", but the problem here is that DeBord is putting Dobbs into situations where he can't thrive. If the goal is to protect Dobbs' health, then just throw Dormady in, rather than having Dobbs only utilize part of his talents. Dobbs is a mature leader and I think he can understand that. I just don't think we can continue this waffling act, where we make Dobbs the starter, but we make him walk on pins and needles in order to protect himself. Either we unleash Dobbs or we throw QD in the game.
Quinten Dormady. Some food for thought: if Dormady were on Florida or Georgia's roster, he'd likely be the starting QB.
The Rest of the SEC
Arkansas. We weren't the only ones to struggle this week. Arkansas barely beat a Louisiana Tech team that is likely nowhere near as good as App State. LA Tech was rated #81 in Sagarin last year and finished with a 9-4 record. Unlikely we play Arkansas this year, but still interesting.
Texas A&M. Looked very impressive against UCLA. Reiterates the idea that A&M may be one of the most underrated teams in the SEC this season and that our visit to College Station will be one of the toughest games of the year.
Vanderbilt. Very good on defense. Terrible on offense. Pretty much what I expected from them.
Georgia. Don't sleep on them. That running game is one of the best in the nation. Very impressive win vs UNC. Btw, Georgia ran the ball 52 times and passed it 20 times. Chubb picked up 222 yards. While Greyson Lambert may have started, Jacob Eason got most of the work at QB. However, it's clear that UGA is going to try to avoid going to the air as much as possible. From our perspective, what we learned from App State is that we need to try to control the 1st half and force UGA into passing situations where we'll have an advantage.
Florida. Looked terrible vs UMass. Obviously, we played poorly this week, but UMass was a 3-9 team in a weak conference last season. Took till the 4th Quarter for Florida to get any separation. Frankly, I think our performance was more impressive than Florida's.
Missouri. Still has no offense whatsoever. Lost to West Virginia 26-11.
LSU. We don't play them this year, but LSU once again looked one-dimensional on offense against quality competition. Brandon Harris has a 6.9 QB rating. That's awful! Leonard Fournette is the entire offense. Defense was very good, as usual, but I don't think LSU can win the West solely by running Fournette every single play.
Alabama. Wow. That's all I have to say. Obviously, even in Knoxville, still the toughest game on our schedule.
Kentucky. Didn't see any of the game, but they lost to Southern Miss in Lexington. Southern Miss is a good team, but still a bad loss for Kentucky.
Outlook Moving Forward.
Virginia Tech. Va Tech played a cupcake game in Week 1 vs Liberty, so difficult to draw any conclusions from that. A lot of the VT fans think the close-call with App State is a good sign for them, but I think it means our Vols come into the VT game much more focused than they would've otherwise. Should be a very interesting game, one way or another. VT is capable of beating us if we play poorly. If we play well, then we win the game.
Ohio. As I said, I think we should start Quinten Dormady against Ohio if we're going to play "vanilla." It's not a QB controversy. It's just a realization that QD at 100% is better than Dobbs at 70%.
Our Schedule. I don't think there were any huge surprises to me from the teams on our schedule. Every team performed about as I expected, except for Florida. And Florida may have been a similar opening-week sleepwalk act, so I wouldn't draw too many dramatic conclusions from that. Otherwise, Kentucky still looked weak, Missouri and Vandy still had no offense, South Carolina look OK but not great, Alabama looked spectacular, A&M proved they are underrated, and Georgia looked impressive albeit one-dimensional on offense.
Jacob Eason. Perhaps the only thing we did learn is that Jacob Eason may be starting for Georgia by the time we visit Athens.
Last edited:
