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1. Due to business travel couldn’t be at the Rent. Watched the game from the sports book at Bellagio (and then the men’s game on Delta’s in flight satellite TV system, and then the hockey OT on ESPN on an internet stream from my plane) so will do a somewhat abbreviated version this week as many of you will have noticed plenty of details that I didn’t. Haven’t read the post-game thread yet so forgive me if folks with better views this week covered it.
2. Before I forget to make the point, if our long snapper is starting again next year we should all boycott a game. Christ. At Army, in ‘22, Mora benched his punter in the middle of the game. How many terrible snaps do we have to watch before we see a change?
3. I said last week in 241 that the week after our other 2 ACC games we came out totally flat, and that it would be a test for coaches and team leadership to avoid that this week. Well, our play in the first half, despite the score, was just poor. I assume it was, again, the same thing although this time at least we came out of it at halftime. Also contributing — I think the team was absolutely shaken up by Fagnano throwing the pick on the second drive. Which is actually funny when you think about it.
4. Speaking of the Fagnano pick, not blame from me for throwing one in week 11, but what the heck was that throw? Did the ball slip out of his hand in the cold. Did he think he was going to hook up with the deeper receiver who had four guys on him? Did he overthrow the open short route by 10 yards? Very strange play.
5. You can’t be pushed around a field more than we were for the first 30 minutes yesterday. That we were up 2 at the half was unfathomable. Credit to Mal McLean for an outstanding play on the 4th and goal, and thanks to the AFA coach who twice turned it over on downs instead of taking points when everything was going well. At half time I told the Wisconsin fan sitting next to me (who said he wasn’t surprised Bell was having a great year once he got rid of the dropsies) that we couldn’t play worse than we had just played, and being up we should be fine.
6. And then the second half was much better. The offense, at home, for the second straight week scored on every possession it had in the second half, the defense with more rest played much better, and the win was relatively easy at the end. If not the classic effort that last week was against Duke, well done.
7. Didn’t we hear last week about how all the talk about northeastern teams not being able to totally rely on the pass for years was BS? LOL. First cold weather game of the year, and as only when we gave up on throwing downfield and combined running the ball down their throat with the passes being mixed in being short swing passes that let Bell gain yards with his legs that the offense clicked. Cam Edwards was great. I hope part of that was being more healthy, but he was still not given the ball the number of times that I would have liked to have seen. Whatever it costs, we need to make sure he’s back for his senior year. (I know, that’s not possible. There is a number for a major P-4 that we couldn’t meet, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed. My gut tells me he’s not looking to move, but would have to listen to what he’s offered.)
8. Box score shows another large number of tackles, but I thought Parham had one of his quieter games.
9. So we win the 3 game, 3 week homestand, and finish the year undefeated at home. And 12-1 the last two years. Quite a turnaround and hopefully drives increased season ticket sales. Haven’t read the post-game thread yet, but will see if people think there were 31k in the building or if that was a wildly inflated number.
10. We are 2-3 on the road, and have lost twice on the road to G-5 opponents. This will be FAU’s senior day. We’re a better team but it is unlikely to be an easy win. Let’s hope the players want to close out their regular season careers in style, and not let FAU stay in the game and think they can beat us.
2. Before I forget to make the point, if our long snapper is starting again next year we should all boycott a game. Christ. At Army, in ‘22, Mora benched his punter in the middle of the game. How many terrible snaps do we have to watch before we see a change?
3. I said last week in 241 that the week after our other 2 ACC games we came out totally flat, and that it would be a test for coaches and team leadership to avoid that this week. Well, our play in the first half, despite the score, was just poor. I assume it was, again, the same thing although this time at least we came out of it at halftime. Also contributing — I think the team was absolutely shaken up by Fagnano throwing the pick on the second drive. Which is actually funny when you think about it.
4. Speaking of the Fagnano pick, not blame from me for throwing one in week 11, but what the heck was that throw? Did the ball slip out of his hand in the cold. Did he think he was going to hook up with the deeper receiver who had four guys on him? Did he overthrow the open short route by 10 yards? Very strange play.
5. You can’t be pushed around a field more than we were for the first 30 minutes yesterday. That we were up 2 at the half was unfathomable. Credit to Mal McLean for an outstanding play on the 4th and goal, and thanks to the AFA coach who twice turned it over on downs instead of taking points when everything was going well. At half time I told the Wisconsin fan sitting next to me (who said he wasn’t surprised Bell was having a great year once he got rid of the dropsies) that we couldn’t play worse than we had just played, and being up we should be fine.
6. And then the second half was much better. The offense, at home, for the second straight week scored on every possession it had in the second half, the defense with more rest played much better, and the win was relatively easy at the end. If not the classic effort that last week was against Duke, well done.
7. Didn’t we hear last week about how all the talk about northeastern teams not being able to totally rely on the pass for years was BS? LOL. First cold weather game of the year, and as only when we gave up on throwing downfield and combined running the ball down their throat with the passes being mixed in being short swing passes that let Bell gain yards with his legs that the offense clicked. Cam Edwards was great. I hope part of that was being more healthy, but he was still not given the ball the number of times that I would have liked to have seen. Whatever it costs, we need to make sure he’s back for his senior year. (I know, that’s not possible. There is a number for a major P-4 that we couldn’t meet, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed. My gut tells me he’s not looking to move, but would have to listen to what he’s offered.)
8. Box score shows another large number of tackles, but I thought Parham had one of his quieter games.
9. So we win the 3 game, 3 week homestand, and finish the year undefeated at home. And 12-1 the last two years. Quite a turnaround and hopefully drives increased season ticket sales. Haven’t read the post-game thread yet, but will see if people think there were 31k in the building or if that was a wildly inflated number.
10. We are 2-3 on the road, and have lost twice on the road to G-5 opponents. This will be FAU’s senior day. We’re a better team but it is unlikely to be an easy win. Let’s hope the players want to close out their regular season careers in style, and not let FAU stay in the game and think they can beat us.
