It depends how confident they are in Fagnano. If they trust Fagnano...they should be aggressive offensively to catch NC St off balance and take advantage of their home field advantage.I still see this as a control the clock kind of game and shorten the game length by running the ball and being opportunistic with passing. I'll expect 20-25 pass attempts with about 160-175 yards.
I would also love to see Fagnano put up 40 passes, complete 25 of them, throw for 275 and a couple of TD's. I just don't see that happening in game one against NCST.
It depends how confident they are in Fagnano. If they trust Fagnano...they should be aggressive offensively to catch NC St off balance and take advantage of their home field advantage.
The conservative approach....the Edsall approach...would be to go run heavy on offense...shorten the game...hope defense and specials get you points...and hope that by the end of the game you are close and can eek out a win. And minimally you have a close loss to a good team.
I think they will be aggressive...and it will be at least 50% pass.
Ideally early on we will lean slightly more passing than running but as the game moves on we move towards running the ball more.
If we can pull this off, we'll keep their defense off balance, making it easier to both run and pass throughout the game and the desired fourth quarter scenario will be running the ball to shorten the game while protecting the lead.
What I don't want to see is us throwing the ball because we have to in order to try to cut into their lead.
I'll be happy if we run it down their throats; I just don't want to see us running because we're afraid to pass. Run to win, not to shorten the game. Hopefully, we can make them pay for loading the box.
Their secondary looks a bit inexperienced for a P5. I'm thinking take a shot on the first play from scrimmage just to see what they've got.Let's take what the defense gives us. I love a power running game but if we find a weakness in the pass defense, exploit it.
Their secondary is supposed to be very strong, especially their cornerbacks.Their secondary looks a bit inexperienced for a P5. I'm thinking take a shot on the first play from scrimmage just to see what they've got.
To me if you want to be aggressive and knock a good team off balance, this is what you do. But... again...you really have to trust the QB.I’d love the first play to be a play action pass—.just as long as it’s not a bubble screen, Don’t be surprised if we play up tempo in the first half with several downfield shots. Once we get the lead we’ll become more run dominant.
... and the defense. In short, you have to feel like you have some margin to accept a little risk. We haven't been there in a while.To me if you want to be aggressive and knock a good team off balance, this is what you do. But... again...you really have to trust the QB.
Ideally the 2nd or 3rd string QB is throwing it all over getting some much needed reps.Ideally we don't throw a pass all 4th quarter...