I'll start by saying a win is a win, especially in the ACC on the road. Some thoughts:
- I think Pitt being 3-0 on the road in the ACC probably says more about their opponents but the truth is that I'll always take an ugly win.
- Pickett looked more like "UVA" Pickett. He bailed on plenty of clean pockets and the pick he threw to the safety was just a poor decision. He stared down the receiver and ignored the safety who was already running to that spot before threw it. I do think part of the issue is lack of any elite playmakers on offense but he has to do better with 3 winnable games on the horizon. I DO like that he threw the ball away on a number of occasions even though he did throw one back into the middle of the field from the sideline.
- I thought A.J. Davis had a really nice day. Nothing great, but he runs hard and doesn't get take down easy. What I don't understand, is how Vincent Davis breaks a 61 yard TD run and only touches the ball 5 more times.
- I hope you have Ffrench in your PPR leagues! What's really frustrating about Ffrench is that he's explosive but is averaging 6.5 yards on 11 catches. I also think he's more athlete than football player. His fumble was a perfect example of not knowing when a play is over and just to get down. Same on punt returns - there is no shame in a fair catch when you're about to get lit up.
- Who does Nakia Griffin Stewart have naked pictures of? This guy drops 1 -2 balls every week and I seem to be repeating myself every week. Is this just a recruiting pitch to tight ends? Where are you supposed to throw the ball if you can't trust his hands?
- Repeating myself again - Kylan Johnson is the hardest hitter we've had since Ramon Walker. That forced fumble was the difference in the game. Even though we sadly only got an FG, that was minimum a 6 point swing and likely a 10 point one.
- The defense was great again. If Paris Ford doesn't lose that ball in the sun he picks it off. A good lesson for the young man when the sun is that bad you need to play deeper so you can close on the ball, not track it. That play alone was over 25% of GTs yards on the day..
- Not great that Kessman missed the one FG but lets not forget that it was over 40 yards and he made the one from 49. It was his first missed FG since September.
- For all the crap we give Narduzzi about going conservative in the second half of a game, what is he supposed to do? This team can only hurt itself on offense some days. My original prediction for the game was 20-3 but if you get a lead with that defense and you know Pickett may throw a pick or Ffrench might fumble, what is the solution?
- As I stated, we are 6-3. I know everyone isn't as excited that we are bowl eligible but the truth is we missed a bowl as recently as two years ago. This means we have at least 4 games left (barring a miracle against Clemson if UVA slips) which means we HAVE to win at least 2 of them. UNC is a winnable game but they have a really good QB and Mack Brown is recruiting well (I can't imagine he's there long with how well he's been doing, might even see him at FSU soon). I would love to win these next two so we are in a position to get as many as 10 wins. UNC almost beat UVA, VT almost beat ND, and BC destroyed Syracuse so these aren't gimmes.
