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On to 2024: Tougher schedule, younger team, less talent?

Bucs90

Active Member
Sep 22, 2019
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Well 2024 starts today. The schedule? Somehow maybe even tougher. Our talent?? Rattler and XL likely both gone. Portal gonna be brutal. We may be less talented across the roster in general in 2024.

4-8? 5-7?
 
Looking forward to being in a combat zone next year so I won't be able to watch how bad it will be without Rattler.
 
4 patsies, including 3 ooc patsies and vandy.

Just need two games to be bowl eligible.
 
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4 patsies, including 3 ooc patsies and vandy.

Just need two games to be bowl eligible.
Akron, Wofford and Old Dominion, yes, those are basically guaranteed wins. Vandy should be also. Although Old Dominion has some App State/Jax St giant killer in them, be careful.

Im struggling to see win 5 other than an upset we pull, which we probably will. But 6??? I just dont see it anywhere.

Maybe A&M gets wrecked by the portal and we get em at home. And Kentucky on the road?? Maybe. Otherwise all Ls
 
Akron, Wofford and Old Dominion, yes, those are basically guaranteed wins. Vandy should be also. Although Old Dominion has some App State/Jax St giant killer in them, be careful.

Im struggling to see win 5 other than an upset we pull, which we probably will. But 6??? I just dont see it anywhere.

Maybe A&M gets wrecked by the portal and we get em at home. And Kentucky on the road?? Maybe. Otherwise all Ls
The way we played last night, I wouldn't call ODU, Wofford, Akron, or Vandy a guaranteed wins
 
Akron, Wofford and Old Dominion, yes, those are basically guaranteed wins. Vandy should be also. Although Old Dominion has some App State/Jax St giant killer in them, be careful.

Im struggling to see win 5 other than an upset we pull, which we probably will. But 6??? I just dont see it anywhere.

Maybe A&M gets wrecked by the portal and we get em at home. And Kentucky on the road?? Maybe. Otherwise all Ls
We are going to need a drastic overhaul. From what I see:

Should win: Akron, Wofford, Vandy
Not easy, but winnable: Old Dominion, Kentucky, Clemson, Texas AM
Probable losses: Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee
Not going to win: LSU

I don’t even know who else is on the schedule. Don’t even care right now. We suck.
 
We are going to need a drastic overhaul. From what I see:

Should win: Akron, Wofford, Vandy
Not easy, but winnable: Old Dominion, Kentucky, Clemson, Texas AM
Probable losses: Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee
Not going to win: LSU

I don’t even know who else is on the schedule. Don’t even care right now. We suck.
Ole miss is also in the schedule.
 
We are going to need a drastic overhaul. From what I see:

Should win: Akron, Wofford, Vandy
Not easy, but winnable: Old Dominion, Kentucky, Clemson, Texas AM
Probable losses: Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee
Not going to win: LSU

I don’t even know who else is on the schedule. Don’t even care right now. We suck.
You forgot Alabama. 🙄
 
Last night's game was very bizarre. Our offense had those two quick turnovers and still managed to play well and move the ball throughout the 1st quarter. From that point on, it's as if someone turned off the lights. We've seen that happen several times this season under Loggins.

We had some bad injuries and lost key players to the portal. However, the lack of creativity and adaptation was self-evident. We were a two-man show for most of the year and any decent defense was going to take advantage. All of the coaches on the offensive side of the ball probably need a hard look this off-season.

On the positive, the defense seems to be coming along. These last 3 games of playing more aggressively paid off. Clemson with only 3 long field goals against them which were all set up by a crappy offensive series. Kentucky held to 2 scores last weekend unloads on #10 Louisville yesterday. The offense provided the defense very few favors for much of the year -- yet they continue to persevere. Props to White his staff for both development and adjustments made.
 
The schedule:


Old dominion
Akron
Wofford
Clemson

Bama
Kentucky
LSU
Oklahoma
Ole miss
Missouri
A&M
Vanderbilt

ODU, Akron, Wofford, Vandy and Kentucky get us 5 wins. If we get one more, i'm sure our fanbase will be looking forward to 2025 as "the year"
 
The schedule:


Old dominion
Akron
Wofford
Clemson

Bama
Kentucky
LSU
Oklahoma
Ole miss
Missouri
A&M
Vanderbilt
Gotta beat A&M at home, Vandy, three small schools and Kentucky on road for 6. All easier said than done. The other six will be very tough. If we make a bowl it'll be the dollar tree bowl in Birmingham.
 
Hate to be a broken record but we recruit 9-10th in the SEC on average.

We're currently tied for 8th place in the overall SEC standings.

UGA and BAMA consistently recruit the top classes and sit at the top of the SEC.

There's no secret sauce for continued success when you're competing against the top of D1.

We need to continue recruit better, refine the staff, raise more NIL money or leave the SEC and try our hand against the Chadwells in Conference USA.

Coaching is a much bigger piece of the puzzle when your conference sits outside of the Top 30 talent pool.
 
Gotta beat A&M at home, Vandy, three small schools and Kentucky on road for 6. All easier said than done. The other six will be very tough. If we make a bowl it'll be the dollar tree bowl in Birmingham.

A&M, and UK seem to be the best bets for getting to 6. It'll be telling if we net gain or net lose to the portal and to people leaving for the NFL.

UK and a&m could be toss ups, or major hurdles depending on that.
 
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Hate to be a broken record but we recruit 9-10th in the SEC on average.

We're currently tied for 8th place in the overall SEC standings.

UGA and BAMA consistently recruit the top classes and sit at the top of the SEC.

There's no secret sauce for continued success when you're competing against the top of D1.

We need to continue recruit better, refine the staff, raise more NIL money or leave the SEC and try our hand against the Chadwells in Conference USA.

Coaching is a much bigger piece of the puzzle when your conference sits outside of the Top 30 talent pool.

Shocker the Clemson fan with the, "you're just always going to suck so you have to accept it" comment
 
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A&M, and UK seem to be the best bets for getting to 6. It'll be telling if we net gain or net lose to the portal and to people leaving for the NFL.

UK and a&m could be toss ups, or major hurdles depending on that.

Yeah, the portal is going to be telling about the culture within the building.
 
Both joined in 2021 as well. Couldn't be more obvious of a troll job.

SockMaster lacks any imagination.

Speaking of imagination -- Picture a pickup football game of 10 people. You and I are captains. I get the first 3 picks before you get your first pick. Who is likely going to win the game?

That's life in the SEC for us right now.
 
Both joined in 2021 as well. Couldn't be more obvious of a troll job.

Didn't you have a running argument with the gococks handle about the name she used prior to Beamer's hiring?

Regardless, in a couple years, there will be a couple or three new handles that join when we hire a new coach. One will froth at the mouth and flame half the board, and one will be used to pretend to be the calmer one.
 
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Last night's game was very bizarre. Our offense had those two quick turnovers and still managed to play well and move the ball throughout the 1st quarter. From that point on, it's as if someone turned off the lights. We've seen that happen several times this season under Loggins.

We had some bad injuries and lost key players to the portal. However, the lack of creativity and adaptation was self-evident. We were a two-man show for most of the year and any decent defense was going to take advantage. All of the coaches on the offensive side of the ball probably need a hard look this off-season.

On the positive, the defense seems to be coming along. These last 3 games of playing more aggressively paid off. Clemson with only 3 long field goals against them which were all set up by a crappy offensive series. Kentucky held to 2 scores last weekend unloads on #10 Louisville yesterday. The offense provided the defense very few favors for much of the year -- yet they continue to persevere. Props to White his staff for both development and adjustments made.
I think that odd realization is quite simple. Clemsons defense kinda tested the waters and their coaches asked their D line what it was like out there. Coaches always do that, just to gauge a feel. If the D line says they can handle the OL without needing blitz help, its on. An OL always has a feel about em that D lineman sense affer a few early drives. Clemsons DL said straight up “they cant block us, period” and we couldnt. From that point on, they let loose, took risks, got aggressive, because they knew we couldnt block em.

I dont think its anything more complicated than that.
 
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I think that odd realization is quite simple. Clemsons defense kinda tested the waters and their coaches asked their D line what it was like out there. Coaches always do that, just to gauge a feel. If the D line says they can handle the OL without needing blitz help, its on. An OL always has a feel about em that D lineman sense affer a few early drives. Clemsons DL said straight up “they cant block us, period” and we couldnt. From that point on, they let loose, took risks, got aggressive, because they knew we couldnt block em.

I dont think its anything more complicated than that.

There's no doubt adjustments played a role. They seemed pretty aggressive from the onset though. We were countering with things like a moving pocket in Q1 and moved away from that after the first 15:00 minutes. Our offense seemed to do that a lot this year.
 
I think that odd realization is quite simple. Clemsons defense kinda tested the waters and their coaches asked their D line what it was like out there. Coaches always do that, just to gauge a feel. If the D line says they can handle the OL without needing blitz help, its on. An OL always has a feel about em that D lineman sense affer a few early drives. Clemsons DL said straight up “they cant block us, period” and we couldnt. From that point on, they let loose, took risks, got aggressive, because they knew we couldnt block em.

I dont think its anything more complicated than that.


Watched the game with a mixed crowd last night. One of the tiger fans claimed that their defense tends to give up early drives, then settle down. As if their DC is feeling out what the offense is doing.

Can't claim its true, from what I've seen, but it sure fit the pattern of our game. And corroborated what you proposed.
 
Watched the game with a mixed crowd last night. One of the tiger fans claimed that their defense tends to give up early drives, then settle down. As if their DC is feeling out what the offense is doing.

Can't claim its true, from what I've seen, but it sure fit the pattern of our game. And corroborated what you proposed.

Or you can just watch the game and see if they made adjustments rather than relying on heresay?
 
Watched the game with a mixed crowd last night. One of the tiger fans claimed that their defense tends to give up early drives, then settle down. As if their DC is feeling out what the offense is doing.

Can't claim its true, from what I've seen, but it sure fit the pattern of our game. And corroborated what you proposed.
Yep. They’re our rival but I wont lie about opponents and one thing for certain is Clemson has had elite D linemen the last 10 years. So it makes sense for them especially to let their DL get a few series, feel out the OL, and let coaches know how much freedom In play calling they have. Last night, their D line was just far far superior to our OL and after the 1st quarter they just unloaded on us. Their DBs knew they could play tight coverage bc they wouldnt have to hold it long. LBs could be aggressive. Safeties could play shallow for run support bc any deep balls would take time and Rattler would not have that time.

It all snowballed after their D line felt us out and relayed to their coaches that it was a mismatch
 
Yep. They’re our rival but I wont lie about opponents and one thing for certain is Clemson has had elite D linemen the last 10 years. So it makes sense for them especially to let their DL get a few series, feel out the OL, and let coaches know how much freedom In play calling they have. Last night, their D line was just far far superior to our OL and after the 1st quarter they just unloaded on us. Their DBs knew they could play tight coverage bc they wouldnt have to hold it long. LBs could be aggressive. Safeties could play shallow for run support bc any deep balls would take time and Rattler would not have that time.

It all snowballed after their D line felt us out and relayed to their coaches that it was a mismatch

That's typically what happens when you've got far more talent on the field than the opposing team.
 
That's typically what happens when you've got far more talent on the field than the opposing team.
True but sometimes it just doesnt feel that way, especially in the OL/DL battle. Lineups shift, blocking schemes change or they just feel particularly strong/weak off/on that day. Like boxers feeling out round 1, the initial OL/DL fight says a lot about how the rest of a game will go.
 
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I think that odd realization is quite simple. Clemsons defense kinda tested the waters and their coaches asked their D line what it was like out there. Coaches always do that, just to gauge a feel. If the D line says they can handle the OL without needing blitz help, its on. An OL always has a feel about em that D lineman sense affer a few early drives. Clemsons DL said straight up “they cant block us, period” and we couldnt. From that point on, they let loose, took risks, got aggressive, because they knew we couldnt block em.

I dont think its anything more complicated than that.
Agree completely. If UK d-linemen stayed in our backfield last week you knew Clemson would too. The first drive and score by us was them adjusting to our calls.
 
True but sometimes it just doesnt feel that way, especially in the OL/DL battle. Lineups shift, blocking schemes change or they just feel particularly strong/weak off/on that day. Like boxers feeling out round 1, the initial OL/DL fight says a lot about how the rest of a game will go.

It's too bad that the offense couldn't do a little more over the course. That was a pretty close game outside of the lateral miscue. Dabo was certainly right about his D being top notch.
 
It's too bad that the offense couldn't do a little more over the course. That was a pretty close game outside of the lateral miscue. Dabo was certainly right about his D being top notch.
It really was. Their kicker was 1-6 over 40+ and goes 3-3. If we dont give em that 7, and he goes 2-3, its a toss up who wins. Our defense played very well considering they had no offensive help
 
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Agree completely. If UK d-linemen stayed in our backfield last week you knew Clemson would too. The first drive and score by us was them adjusting to our calls.

Same could be said about many of our losses this year.

Teams with better talent making in-game adjustments to take advantage of that talent gap.

This is why you can come in with a really good game plan and still lose over the course of 60 minutes.

If football games were limited to 1st quarters, we would be something like 10-2 this season.
 
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