Before this season started, I was willing to give Elliott the benefit of the doubt because I believed that he had been dealt a very poor hand in terms of returning talent and depth, and this was very evident in the 2022 games and the first six games of the 2023 season. On the other hand, I was discouraged because of the poor performance on the field and the obvious recruiting results. This indicated to me that 2024 results were not likely to be significantly better. In addition, it seemed to me that Elliott was constantly hoping to win by drawing to an inside straight when it seemed to me that some things needed to change.
The first change that was obvious to me was that our Oline needed to be retooled. This process began a couple of games ago, and the results have been incremental until yesterday. The second related change was that it had become obvious that we were not successful in short yardage offensive plays with our backs seven yards behind the line of scrimmage. Against William and Mary we bought in Osterhaus at QB and put him under center in the tush push situations; it worked then and worked again against a much better UNC team. It also seemed to me that our passing offense would not be successful when we relied almost exclusively on Fields and Washington, regardless of their talent as receivers. I had hoped that we would make better use of our tight ends and running backs in passing situations.
Yesterday Wood (TE) was targeted 4 times with 3 completions for 62 yards, and three different backs each caught one pass for a total of 11 yards. Washington was still able to catch 12 passes for 115 yards and 1 touchdown. With better blocking and additional passing threats, our rushing was able to gain 228 yards and average 4.2 yards. Lastly, our special teams play also improved. Bettridge made a 45 yard field goal and has not missed since his first kick of the season. Sparks punted 5 times for 251 yards (50.2) average, and Ganyard kicked off 6 times for a 63.2 average.
For all of these reasons, I am willing to put my obituary in my sock drawer for at least a couple more games. I am not expecting a dramatic change, but today almost every friend that I saw commented on our performance against UNC. It has been quite a while since this has happened.
The first change that was obvious to me was that our Oline needed to be retooled. This process began a couple of games ago, and the results have been incremental until yesterday. The second related change was that it had become obvious that we were not successful in short yardage offensive plays with our backs seven yards behind the line of scrimmage. Against William and Mary we bought in Osterhaus at QB and put him under center in the tush push situations; it worked then and worked again against a much better UNC team. It also seemed to me that our passing offense would not be successful when we relied almost exclusively on Fields and Washington, regardless of their talent as receivers. I had hoped that we would make better use of our tight ends and running backs in passing situations.
Yesterday Wood (TE) was targeted 4 times with 3 completions for 62 yards, and three different backs each caught one pass for a total of 11 yards. Washington was still able to catch 12 passes for 115 yards and 1 touchdown. With better blocking and additional passing threats, our rushing was able to gain 228 yards and average 4.2 yards. Lastly, our special teams play also improved. Bettridge made a 45 yard field goal and has not missed since his first kick of the season. Sparks punted 5 times for 251 yards (50.2) average, and Ganyard kicked off 6 times for a 63.2 average.
For all of these reasons, I am willing to put my obituary in my sock drawer for at least a couple more games. I am not expecting a dramatic change, but today almost every friend that I saw commented on our performance against UNC. It has been quite a while since this has happened.
