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    Monday, November 03, 2008

    Nole Defense Stung By Jackets


    The Noles did rally against Georgia Tech late in the game but came up a fumble short of a win. The main storyline was that the Nole defense could not stop the triple option:

    Offensive Line: The Seminoles allowed five sacks but by and large the offensive line was ok. The line was not overwhelmed by a good defensive front.
    Grade: C

    Running Game: Jermaine Thomas had a great day as he rushed for 130 yards. Antone Smith saw limited action and ended up with 35 yards. The fumble by Marcus Sims at the three yard line was a disaster.
    Grade: C


    QB
    : QB play was adequate although Ponder did have an interception and a fumble. D'Vontrey Richardson had a great fourth-quarter 39-yard touchdown pass to Preston Parker.Ponder showed his inexperience with a throw to tight end Caz Piurowski in the end zone that should have been intercepted.
    Grade: B-

    Offensive Coaching: Game plan was ok but you have to question why Fisher chose to give ball to Marcus Sims on the three yard line instead of to Thomas or Smith.
    Grade: B

    Receivers: A good day for the receiver corps. Preston Parker had a good game with five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.Carr had another good game as he had five receptions for 68 yards. He made some tough catches as well as had a good day blocking also.
    Grade: B

    Defense and Defensive Coaching: What can you say other than the fact that the defense could not handle the triple option. This was not a good day for Mickey Andrews and his defense.

    The defense gave up 288 yards rushing to the Yellow Jackets. There were too many missed assignments and holes big enough to drive a semi-truck through.

    Linebackers were out of position a lot. The mantra that we had heard last week that it was important to stay disciplined and stick with your assignments. That did not happen.

    Secondary was average with the exception of the Patrick Robinson interception. Secondary was out of position that allowed huge runs and TDs by Tech. All in all a terrible day for the defense.
    Grade: F

    Penalties: Hard to believe but the Noles had only 22 yards in penalties.
    Grade: A

    Special Teams: Graham Gano was once again a perfect two for two in field goals. He also had a good day punting and kicking off. Kick coverage by special teams is still a problem and needs to be corrected.
    Grade: B

    7 comments:

    Seminoles Source said...

    I have said this to several people who wonder why Jimbo gave the ball to Simms on the Goal line rather then JT. It is most likely that JT is not part of the goal line package since he is a 2nd team RB. Plus he suffered a concussion last week and putting him in a position to play power football is probably not the best idea in the world.

    At the end of the day it was a good call, if Sims holds on to the ball we get it at the 1 and punch it in for the win.

    tallynolefan said...

    That may be true but Sims has not been exactly spectacular. Why not give the ball to someone who brought you to the dance? Just a question. I am not going to be overly critical of Fisher but I would have given it to Thomas or Smith before Sims.

    Seminoles Source said...

    I see what you are saying but you have to consider what you have to work with. JT was running tired and like I said before you want to be careful with him being injured in the previous game. I honestly think JF best option was to either run it with Sims or run it with Halloway considering you had a banged up Smith and a tired JT. Halloway has only had one one rush for 0 yards and so that leaves Sims as the runner.

    You could have thrown it but if it is an incomplete pass then you are facing 3rd and 3 with under 50s. In this situation you are faced with deciding to try and score the TD or eat up more clock and get the first down. Not to mention if you throw the ball that leaves the possibility of an INT. Check out my blog I did a whole post on this.

    Unknown said...

    Where was Smith? Was he that hurt? Step up. And why did JT step out of bounds?!?! What kind of players wouldn't step up and ask for the ball to nail the win??

    As far as the defense - they get a solid 'F' for under-performing and being the worst Tech has faced all year. Mick says it takes more than a week to prepare. BS....other teams have shut them down like Virginia.

    tallynolefan said...

    Mike, I agree with you. I went back and changed my grade to an "F" for the defensive coaching and defense. I guess I was being somewhat soft since I think Andrews has been so strong for so many years. This game he was clearly out coached.

    Seminoles Source said...

    tallynolefan,

    I don't know if you saw this from Andrew Carter of the Orlando Sentinel.

    http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_fsu/2008/11/andrews-explain.html

    It appears that Mikey had an entirely new defensive scheme he was running for the GT game only. This would explain why our players looked so confused.

    tallynolefan said...

    seminoles source, yes I saw that. Mickey said he had three new defensive schemes. That may have been too much for the players to have learned in one week. I am a huge Mickey Andrews fan but the bottom line is that Mickey got out coached on Saturday. It was an awful defensive showing.