Mavric

I'm not saying the line couldn't improve as well, but when I said "results", I was talking about the overall result of the play and, as a whole, the game. The results of some of those plays was not great. But I didn't really find much the line could have done differently to improve the results. By and large, they did their job well. The blame for the lack of results lies elsewhere. But that's not what a lot of people - fans, media, etc. - have been saying. I've heard A LOT about how bad our line is. I wasn't giving them enough credit myself. But - at least in the first half against Miami - the offensive line was probably playing the best out of any position group we had.

Several interesting notes in this OWH article:

Bump ... in case anyone needs a refresher. Cheers.

I thought almost exactly the same thing as that kick barley made it inside the right upright. "You know, without that personal foul to get them started, that kick would have been wide right."

They moved him to DT. Story was they thought he fit better as a "quicker" DT than at DE. Long-term that could be. But I'm pretty surprised by that move given our lack of depth/production at DE and relative depth at DT. Might have been able to wait a year on that.

Looks like he's found the way to the weight room since he got here.

Cardinals

Iowa

Several posts have been moved to where they belong. Posts appropriate for this thread can continue on.

Eh ..... shorts are nice. Jerseys are meh.

That's what the commentators broadcasting the game said. It doesn't mean that they are right, but they probably more objective than many of us here. Can't find the link right now, but several days ago there was a post where a number of national analysts said that NU was the best 1-2 team in the country. I assume they're objective also. And who is our competition for that title? Well, a few would be: Virginia Texas South Carolina Arkansas So two teams that were 7-6 last year, one that was 6-7 and one that was 5-7.

ESPN

That's what the commentators broadcasting the game said. It doesn't mean that they are right, but they probably more objective than many of us here. Can't find the link right now, but several days ago there was a post where a number of national analysts said that NU was the best 1-2 team in the country. I assume they're objective also. And who is our competition for that title?

https://twitter.com/TDBynum/status/647115896951955456

There was an excellent QB sweep play called on a 3rd down early in the game. It was blown up, Lewis couldn't hold his block. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jyjtlreRhk?t=20m26s I like the play, and wonder how it will be utilized going forward. Just getting around to re-watching the game and noticed that play as well. It's an interesting look but it's not so much Lewis not holding his block as it is Carter not getting his down block. But the guy Carter is supposed to block down on is inside the tackle. That's a long way to go to get a block. That guy doesn't make the tackle but he disrupts the timing of the play. If TA gets to the hole quicker, it was probably there. There was also another called run for TA a few plays before that so there were a couple here and there. Good point. I guess you always really catch the most obvious portion of a play that doesn't work. In this case, the guy that tackles him. Overall, I think all the runners in our offense could hit holes quicker. That's something I think we are lacking in our running game. Granted, we've gotten pretty spoiled with watching eventual NFL draftees hitting holes consistently quickly. As much as I'd hate to say it, seeing as this is a pro-Wilbon thread, I think Wilbon consistently doesn't hit holes fast enough. It's mainly because he seems eager to juke someone out, but he essentially jukes the hole out when he just needs to hit that hole as fast as he can. Maybe I'm crazy for seeing that, and maybe I'm wrong about that. But if I am correct, it's something that experience will teach him. He's gotta get used to the speed of the college game and how we play it. But he's gotta get more snaps to get that experience. Definitely agree with the backs not being as aggressive as they need to be. I remember 2-3 times against BYU that I thought Wilbon was dancing around too much but he found a way to slip through and pick up a couple yards. Newby also needs to be more decisive. Seems like they're both trying make the big play too much instead of just putting a shoulder down and getting a couple more yards while they can.

It's also pretty easy to lead all running backs in yards per carry when suddenly you're basically the only guy getting the touches. It is what it is I guess. If the guy has the play making ability that was talked about all spring not to mention the flashes he showed in his first game at BYU if you're going to throw as much as you decided to against Miami wouldn't you want to give MW a few passes thrown his way to give that defense something to think about? Heck if anything he's a pretty nice release valve for Armstrong because he can make people miss. How about a different style of runner to come at the Canes with? He looks too good to not be on the field imo. Perhaps he is getting all of the carries because he is averaging 6 yards per carry? He hasn't done anything to lose the starting job. I'm sure that game against the mighty D of the South Alabama Jaguars had nothing to do with inflating that 6 yards per carry stat that you're hanging your hat on. Our backup RB's got more time when Ameer Abdullah was our starter so apparently Newby must be 10 times the back that AA was.... Well, technically it did but Newby averaged 5.9 against Miami as well so it's not like the USA game is the complete outlier (as far as YPC goes - he averaged 7.1 in that game). Newby only averaged 4.3 against BYU. Cross was slightly better at 4.9. Wilbon was much worse at 2.3. One game is a pretty small sample size but that's the only game they all got a similar number of carries.