Kind’ve a random collection of thoughts but here it goes:
1.) A win! Wow did that feel good. Something about football and just the limited amount of games and how much prep goes into each one, you can just tell how much it means to players and coaches every single time you win. Easy as a fan to say 1-4, seasons over, focus on next year, but trying to win every single week matters so much in football and you could tell how good it felt for the players and coaches to get back on the winning side. And I think for fans too.
2.) Students continue to impress
3.) CV11 - wasn’t perfect and missed some throws but I was most impressed with how he seemed to be comfortable vs pressure and knew where the ball should go. The slant to Kenny, the quick outs, the one C’Bo dropped, etc. And the 2 TD passes were dimes. Much better performance than I was expecting and something to work with there for sure.
3.) Cignetti - that game is a good example that I think a lot of you guys’ criticism is misplaced at times. You love to call it this outdated offense, but we spent probably more time in shotgun than we didn’t and a decent amount with no RB in the backfield.
The issue isn’t that it’s too old - I think it’s just TOO MUCH. When it works - you can tell why PN likes it… on the same drive we can line up in the I and smash it down your throat and then throw PA to the TE… but then we can also line up 5 wide and hit some quick slants. With the right personnel and enough practice time, it probably would be a really good offense. The issue is that it’s better to be really good at a few things than avg to below avg at many things - and that’s what we are and what leads to the penalties, delay of games, botched plays, etc. The drives that work are a beauty but too many 3 and outs and confusion. Do think overall he called a good game and generally put CV in position to succeed.
4.) Kenny Johnson - not quite as talented as Addison or Boyd early on, but there’s just a smoothness to his game that those guys, especially Boyd, had. Looks like he’ll be pretty good here.
5.) Young LBers - Lovelace, Bass got on the field, Louis (hurt but played last few weeks) look good and that’s very encouraging
6.) CBs - Marquis Williams is REALLY good and doesn’t get nearly enough credit. Devonshire good too. Woods might stink but okay in limited snaps I guess. But as much as winning every week is important, would be nice if we could sneak in a COUPLE snaps to some younger guys. Again, I get it and I’m being a little hypocritical here, but it does worry me we may go into next year with basically not one CB with real game reps (especially if we don’t make a bowl).
7.) OL - Need more running lanes but with that makeshift of a line, helluva job
8.) Narduzzi - that game was a great example of why all of you calling to fire him are silly. That was the definition of a program win and that’s tough to do when you’re 1-4. You have to have a strong locker room and culture and Narduzzi has built that over the course of his tenure here. Much easier to fix the one thing broken right now (offense) than try to tear all the good stuff down and hope we have better luck with the next hire, which seems unlikely.
9.) Pretty ballsy to randomly put Che in at PR late in the game. If he can consistently catch them, he’ll be a nice weapon there. And had a nice return on what should have probably been roughing the punter (make up call?). But man was it ballsy putting him in on a cold wet night in a close game.
10.) Think I may have been overall too hard on the WRs early on. There’s still not enough top end talent there, but Mumpfield is a good 2/3 and Means looked at least OK with balls that were catchable. Johnson looks like a future stud. Again, we need more there - but will a real QB, they are at least servicable.
11.) Hammond usage is truly mind blowing. Lol. Even if he’s hurt, the usage seems so random.
12.) OOC losses, while very bad, are whatever. And UNC is likely just better than us. But man I wish we could get that VT game back.
13.) No reason to not beat Wake.
14.) Man, he should’ve been benched even earlier but I felt really bad for Phil on the sideline on Saturday. A couple months ago he was coming back for a big reunion with his OC, in his hometown, trying to get back on track.
Then he got boo’d in his hometown, and basically just stand there in shame for 6 more weeks knowing his football career is pretty much over. Just sucks on the human being side.
15.) Nice that there’s now some storylines to watch play out - can we sneak into a bowl? Can we steal one from ND/FSU? Should CV11 be the guy moving forward?
1.) A win! Wow did that feel good. Something about football and just the limited amount of games and how much prep goes into each one, you can just tell how much it means to players and coaches every single time you win. Easy as a fan to say 1-4, seasons over, focus on next year, but trying to win every single week matters so much in football and you could tell how good it felt for the players and coaches to get back on the winning side. And I think for fans too.
2.) Students continue to impress
3.) CV11 - wasn’t perfect and missed some throws but I was most impressed with how he seemed to be comfortable vs pressure and knew where the ball should go. The slant to Kenny, the quick outs, the one C’Bo dropped, etc. And the 2 TD passes were dimes. Much better performance than I was expecting and something to work with there for sure.
3.) Cignetti - that game is a good example that I think a lot of you guys’ criticism is misplaced at times. You love to call it this outdated offense, but we spent probably more time in shotgun than we didn’t and a decent amount with no RB in the backfield.
The issue isn’t that it’s too old - I think it’s just TOO MUCH. When it works - you can tell why PN likes it… on the same drive we can line up in the I and smash it down your throat and then throw PA to the TE… but then we can also line up 5 wide and hit some quick slants. With the right personnel and enough practice time, it probably would be a really good offense. The issue is that it’s better to be really good at a few things than avg to below avg at many things - and that’s what we are and what leads to the penalties, delay of games, botched plays, etc. The drives that work are a beauty but too many 3 and outs and confusion. Do think overall he called a good game and generally put CV in position to succeed.
4.) Kenny Johnson - not quite as talented as Addison or Boyd early on, but there’s just a smoothness to his game that those guys, especially Boyd, had. Looks like he’ll be pretty good here.
5.) Young LBers - Lovelace, Bass got on the field, Louis (hurt but played last few weeks) look good and that’s very encouraging
6.) CBs - Marquis Williams is REALLY good and doesn’t get nearly enough credit. Devonshire good too. Woods might stink but okay in limited snaps I guess. But as much as winning every week is important, would be nice if we could sneak in a COUPLE snaps to some younger guys. Again, I get it and I’m being a little hypocritical here, but it does worry me we may go into next year with basically not one CB with real game reps (especially if we don’t make a bowl).
7.) OL - Need more running lanes but with that makeshift of a line, helluva job
8.) Narduzzi - that game was a great example of why all of you calling to fire him are silly. That was the definition of a program win and that’s tough to do when you’re 1-4. You have to have a strong locker room and culture and Narduzzi has built that over the course of his tenure here. Much easier to fix the one thing broken right now (offense) than try to tear all the good stuff down and hope we have better luck with the next hire, which seems unlikely.
9.) Pretty ballsy to randomly put Che in at PR late in the game. If he can consistently catch them, he’ll be a nice weapon there. And had a nice return on what should have probably been roughing the punter (make up call?). But man was it ballsy putting him in on a cold wet night in a close game.
10.) Think I may have been overall too hard on the WRs early on. There’s still not enough top end talent there, but Mumpfield is a good 2/3 and Means looked at least OK with balls that were catchable. Johnson looks like a future stud. Again, we need more there - but will a real QB, they are at least servicable.
11.) Hammond usage is truly mind blowing. Lol. Even if he’s hurt, the usage seems so random.
12.) OOC losses, while very bad, are whatever. And UNC is likely just better than us. But man I wish we could get that VT game back.
13.) No reason to not beat Wake.
14.) Man, he should’ve been benched even earlier but I felt really bad for Phil on the sideline on Saturday. A couple months ago he was coming back for a big reunion with his OC, in his hometown, trying to get back on track.
Then he got boo’d in his hometown, and basically just stand there in shame for 6 more weeks knowing his football career is pretty much over. Just sucks on the human being side.
15.) Nice that there’s now some storylines to watch play out - can we sneak into a bowl? Can we steal one from ND/FSU? Should CV11 be the guy moving forward?
