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Every offseason I promise to learn more but there’s just a huge amount of ground to cover

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Freeman's got so much riz they need to call him Aura Parseghian

was completely out of position on that play given the coverage. IMO we have overcorrected on these PI calls, where the DB getting flagged gets a participation medal for being "smart" and not giving up a TD. Fuck that noise. In that moment, Gray can't get beat deep like that. He's got to tighten that shit up. Plenty of guys on defense need to tighten up. Ash need to help them out, too.

I do think a lot of fan feeling about the game was based on that middle of 3rd quarter feeling when we were down 14 and it looked like the game was going to be a blowout. I felt that way! But then that didn’t happen. It ended up very close! Some of the commentary reads as if it was written in the middle of the 3rd quarter.

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At night, the ice weasels come.

I always learn a lot. On the PI, I'll give Gray credit for knowing that a 15 yard penalty was better than a TD. Or maybe it wasn't because if he'd scored we would've had a lot of time to drive for a TD. But it was the right play.

I (and I wasn't alone) underestimated the value of having a QB making his 28th start versus a QB taking his 5th snap.

I think the offense will be fine. But the defense plays like it has cement shoes on in crucial situations. It was only when it was do or die that they started to play fast and fly to the ball. Standing back there and trying not to make mistakes is a recipe for burnt toast.

Animal House reference. Keep it going, just going for a laugh.

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At night, the ice weasels come.

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https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=7119

Bowen blows it here. Has the chance to put them in 3rd and 8 and whiffs and instead it becomes 3rd and 2 and basically the ballgame

Gray just gets caught staring in the backfield when he should be in phase on his man. Brutal

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=7012

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=6636

we drop 8 again but with a wrinkle - this time we drop Traore and blitz Bowen so it winds up being Bowen, Dawson and Young rushing. Protection is totally confused and Beck just tries to lob it up to Toney but Moore is all over him. Should have been OPI on Toney

Miami goes downfield again. Definitely don't buy the "sat on the lead" narrative.

Tight cover 1. Key thing here: because we are in man, when Sneed sees his man (the RB) is staying in to block he triggers and gets a great rush on Beck. Beck has Toney matched up on Hobbs in the slot and makes a shitty throw in that direction. Hobbs not only has it covered up well, but Talich is in the perfect spot. Much better

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=5583

We drop 8 for the first time all game. Tight man on the outside, underneath zones along with I'm guessing one deep safety. Our DL just whups the Miami OL and Beck has nowhere to go. Looking like late 2011 Tommy Rees on this one. Nice changeup

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=5429

Cristobal going for the kill shot here.

ND goes tight man (no press) across the board. Onye destroys the guard and gets in on Beck and makes him throw off his back foot, while drawing a hold. Beck overthrows. Also, Smith does a nice job getting his hands on Toney in the first five yards and throws off his timing/route. Smith gets away with a hold at the end

Much better!

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=3903

We will call this one the X Watts difference. Watch Stroman and how long it takes him to process the pivot route from Toney and how long it takes him to get moving. Very tough ask for Gray and Stroman is a Robber. He needs to be feeling this out, especially because Miami ran this before in the game. Check minus. Stroman does not play on the next drive

Bonus: Watch SHuler as the robber to the other side and how much more quickly he triggers upon seeing the guy to his side do a pivot route.

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=3833

We send Moore on a blitz and are in much tighter man. Good call here. Nice play

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=2992

I honestly don't get what's going on here. Gray is to the field and plays off. He's got his eyes in the backfield the entire time so I don't know if this is zone or just really soft man. My guess would be that this wasn't even, strictly speaking, the route as drawn on this play. Lots of plays, especially in a system like Dawson's, will have rules for a WR to sit down if he's got free access. Beck sees it and gets it to him.

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=2923

We try to fool Beck - showing a Cover 1 look presnap but shifting (kind of lackadasically I must say) into a pattern-read zone at the snap

without knowing the coverage rules for this call in particular it's hard to say but I think there's a mix up here.

My best guess is that this is on Moore? His rules are probably that if either #1 or # 2 go vertical he is supposed to carry them deep. They release inside and that would leave Moore with the most dangerous man in the short zone. KVA is lined up over #3 inside and takes that guy basically man-to-man. That's totally plausible within a match zone, and it doesn't seem to faze Smith (who replaces KVA in his zone) so I think KVA is ok here (he doesn't get taken out after this play either). My best guess is Moore either screws up, or thinks Beck is going to throw that corner and is trying to go get it.

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=2759

as vanilla as you can go. By this point Toney has been just killing our man coverage, wonder if it factored into a call like this

https://youtu.be/pH-45Dz3tzg?feature=shared&t=2679

We go man, have a nicely drawn up blitz that basically gets ot the QB (Hinish and Sneed meet at Beck). You have to tip your cap sometimes. Beck does a really admirable job of standing in the pocket and firing a strike, not many college QBs will manage this; and Toney just cooks Devonta Smith