Being self-employed means, I can watch YOUTUBE replays when I have a light day! So I watched the games and here are my thoughts
I watched the game again.
1. I'm not as worried about our offense long-term, Brooks might be the best wideout I've seen as a Cardinal. I'll put him above Devante Parker and that's saying something. There was an early TD he dove for and just dropped and one on the last drive that would've tied the game. He's a special player. I will say, if Brooks was injured then idk if we'd have a winning record. That's where the Devante comparison comes, he can just change a game with one play. We need to appreciate him.
2. We are a little too deep ball reliant, seems like Shough isn't as comfortable with the check downs and tight-ends early on. Turner's injury has changed the direction of things. Jeff just seems like he's a bit off with everyone, which is something that happens when you bring in an entirely new group. You can teach them plays, but the guys have to know each other too in terms of where the like the ball and where others will be.
3. The OL is what it is at this point, I think longterm I'd like to see it build more with multi-year pieces. I think it will get better, but it's a bad time for struggles during this tough stretch. Would've been great for us to have played SMU week 3 and had the bye week this week before the Miami and Clemson stretch.
4. I'm not sure about the defense. Where I compared Brooks to Devante, I compare Quincy Riley to Jaire Alexander in terms of what we're missing with him out. Remember how bad the defense was when we didn't have Jaire, but then it all turned around the second he returned in 2017? I just look at the group as a lot of pieces, but I don't see anything special.
5. Ashton has really disappointed me, but teams saw his film from the last 2 years and now they will not overlook him. I'll point this out
-2023 games 2-10 (9 games) he had 13 Tackles for a loss, 10 sacks
-2023 last 4 games he only had 1.5 tackles for loss, had none against Miami, FSU, and USC, 1 sack against Kentucky
-2024 in 5 games this year, he only has 1.5 tackles and 1 sack for loss and they all came against Austin Peay
In his last 9 games only 3 tackles for a loss (2 sacks) compared to 13 (10 sacks) in the 9 games before it, and only 1.5 (1 sack) in his last 8 games against Power 4 competition, which Kentucky has a terrible offensive line is who he got them against. That is a concerning trend for Ashton.
6. We assumed we had the best pass rusher and corner in the ACC, 2 game changers. But Quincy has been hurt and Ashton hasn't been playing well. We do not have a single Interception or Sack from either of those guys against a Power Conference opponent this year. Now Quincy is hurt, that's not his fault. But that's a big issues when your 2 game changers aren't changing the game. The one game-changing play was Quincy's forced fumble against Georgia Tech, and guess what??? That won us the game.
I think this team is a bit better than last, but last year we had a pretty light start to the year. We had some good luck too, because we easily could have lost to GT, IU, & NC State and would've been 2-3 or 3-2 going into that ND game. This year we didn't have the benefit of playing some lighter teams, we got Notre Dame earlier and then SMU a week later. We also have had injuries to Quincy, Turner, and Lacy too, so the injury bug didn't go our way. Last year's team having the line and run game to lean on was an easier transition, but this year we're still developing that identity.
I feel better about things. We can go out and beat the crap out of Virginia and get some momentum. Then come home healthier and ready to prove something against a Miami team that isn't as good as we thought. Then take it to BC and go into Clemson with nothing to lose. IDK what will happen, but I'm not as down. But this is a key stretch and this is a key year. I don't think next year the team will have this combo of proven talent and incoming talent, so we need to maximize it. It's been sloppy, that's on the staff. Get it fixed or he faces the same heat Satt did, that's only fair.
LETS GO CARDS!
I watched the game again.
1. I'm not as worried about our offense long-term, Brooks might be the best wideout I've seen as a Cardinal. I'll put him above Devante Parker and that's saying something. There was an early TD he dove for and just dropped and one on the last drive that would've tied the game. He's a special player. I will say, if Brooks was injured then idk if we'd have a winning record. That's where the Devante comparison comes, he can just change a game with one play. We need to appreciate him.
2. We are a little too deep ball reliant, seems like Shough isn't as comfortable with the check downs and tight-ends early on. Turner's injury has changed the direction of things. Jeff just seems like he's a bit off with everyone, which is something that happens when you bring in an entirely new group. You can teach them plays, but the guys have to know each other too in terms of where the like the ball and where others will be.
3. The OL is what it is at this point, I think longterm I'd like to see it build more with multi-year pieces. I think it will get better, but it's a bad time for struggles during this tough stretch. Would've been great for us to have played SMU week 3 and had the bye week this week before the Miami and Clemson stretch.
4. I'm not sure about the defense. Where I compared Brooks to Devante, I compare Quincy Riley to Jaire Alexander in terms of what we're missing with him out. Remember how bad the defense was when we didn't have Jaire, but then it all turned around the second he returned in 2017? I just look at the group as a lot of pieces, but I don't see anything special.
5. Ashton has really disappointed me, but teams saw his film from the last 2 years and now they will not overlook him. I'll point this out
-2023 games 2-10 (9 games) he had 13 Tackles for a loss, 10 sacks
-2023 last 4 games he only had 1.5 tackles for loss, had none against Miami, FSU, and USC, 1 sack against Kentucky
-2024 in 5 games this year, he only has 1.5 tackles and 1 sack for loss and they all came against Austin Peay
In his last 9 games only 3 tackles for a loss (2 sacks) compared to 13 (10 sacks) in the 9 games before it, and only 1.5 (1 sack) in his last 8 games against Power 4 competition, which Kentucky has a terrible offensive line is who he got them against. That is a concerning trend for Ashton.
6. We assumed we had the best pass rusher and corner in the ACC, 2 game changers. But Quincy has been hurt and Ashton hasn't been playing well. We do not have a single Interception or Sack from either of those guys against a Power Conference opponent this year. Now Quincy is hurt, that's not his fault. But that's a big issues when your 2 game changers aren't changing the game. The one game-changing play was Quincy's forced fumble against Georgia Tech, and guess what??? That won us the game.
I think this team is a bit better than last, but last year we had a pretty light start to the year. We had some good luck too, because we easily could have lost to GT, IU, & NC State and would've been 2-3 or 3-2 going into that ND game. This year we didn't have the benefit of playing some lighter teams, we got Notre Dame earlier and then SMU a week later. We also have had injuries to Quincy, Turner, and Lacy too, so the injury bug didn't go our way. Last year's team having the line and run game to lean on was an easier transition, but this year we're still developing that identity.
I feel better about things. We can go out and beat the crap out of Virginia and get some momentum. Then come home healthier and ready to prove something against a Miami team that isn't as good as we thought. Then take it to BC and go into Clemson with nothing to lose. IDK what will happen, but I'm not as down. But this is a key stretch and this is a key year. I don't think next year the team will have this combo of proven talent and incoming talent, so we need to maximize it. It's been sloppy, that's on the staff. Get it fixed or he faces the same heat Satt did, that's only fair.
LETS GO CARDS!
