2021 ACC Championship Thread: WAKE vs. PITT (Dec 4 - 8pm)

[liveanddiedeac]

Yep. Our offense has been in decline since the end of the UNC game. Any team good enough to capitalize on it absolutely did.

The offense lacks dimensions. No throwing short passes in the middle of the field. The deep balls are all or nothing. Running game is bland. I think we only had one run for more than 10 yards. There was no Plan B after they shut down what little we did.

Hartman just isn’t a guy who can put the whole team on his shoulders against a good opponent and he didn’t have much help from his teammates or Ruggiero.

As good as Hartman is, his size hurts him in our offense. Many of his throws are so close to the line of scrimmage, he gets swallowed up sometimes. The thing that Jamie Newman had that Sam doesn't is Jamie was big and and could stand in there and still deliver the ball. Sam has to try to escape the pocket or eat the ball when it breaks down.

[BlackjackMc]

Disappointing game. Opportunity knocked. Wake didn't answer. Close but no cigar.

Keep in mind that this team finished the season with ten wins and a 7-1 record to win the Atlantic Division. That's the second best record in the history of Wake Forest football. I'd call it a very good season.

[Deac1244]

We're loaded at running at running back. I'd like to see more variety in the run game.

CBS was clearly not ready to play tonight. He was a step slow and you could see the ankle was still bothering him. Not sure why we ran him so much unless he is just that superior of a blocker compared to the other backs.

[demondeacfreak]

Very proud of this team and all they accomplished. They should hold their heads high.

[liveanddiedeac]

Well said, ELC.

We’ve got solid running backs but we don’t ask much of them in the running game.

We probably ask too much of them sometimes. Its all predicated on them using their vision to decide where to go with the zone blocking. I'd like to see us mix in some running plays out of the pistol where the play is designed to go here with the back having forward momentum to hit the hole.

[PhDeac]

We probably ask too much of them sometimes. Its all predicated on them using their vision to decide where to go with the zone blocking. I'd like to see us mix in some running plays out of the pistol where the play is designed to go here with the back having forward momentum to hit the hole.

Exactly. Hard to blame KWIII for leaving. I hope we keep Cooley and Marshall and tailor the running game around their skills.

[liveanddiedeac]

Disappointing game. Opportunity knocked. Wake didn't answer. Close but no cigar.

Keep in mind that this team finished the season with ten wins and a 7-1 record to win the Atlantic Division. That's the second best record in the history of Wake Forest football. I'd call it a very good season.

Great season, only the second time ever with 10 wins, best conference record ever I think. A bowl win would tie the best season ever from a record standpoint at least.

[rawarr]

Back from the game and it was a weird one. Obviously the offense let us down tonight -- it was really painful how out of sync Sam and the receivers were after the first quarter. Also noticed that we couldn't get into a rhythm to save our lives after the first. Any time we got something going a player would get injured or something else would cause us to never get into a cadence like we had early in the game.

[liveanddiedeac]

Exactly. Hard to blame KWIII for leaving. I hope we keep Cooley and Marshall and tailor the running game around their skills.

I don't think we need to throw the baby out with the bath water, but I think our offense needs to evolve a little bit. We've got smart guys here, they can handle a little thicker playbook.

[TheAbster]

I guess I'm old school and "not with the times". But, it used to be that the quickest way to keep a D-line honest was to help your QB with short, safe routes either to a TE, back or WR 5 yards down field.
Has the game changed that much and this no longer works?

I don't understand why our offense tonight was either a 30+ yard pass or nothing. A short game might have helped immensely tonight.

[deacz]

Unequivocally second in the ACC. That’s really good and it is far better than we have been in 14 years. The teams that beat us won at the line, and that would have been the case no matter what offense we ran.

A Gator Bowl berth vs. Auburn or Tennessee would be a good (and winnable) reward for this season. And does anyone really doubt that Clawson will maintain this level of play, or at least close? That might not mean ACCG appearances every year but we will compete for the Atlantic again soon.

[liveanddiedeac]

I guess I'm old school and "not with the times". But, it used to be that the quickest way to keep a D-line honest was to help your QB with short, safe routes either to a TE, back or WR 5 yards down field.
Has the game changed that much and this no longer works?

I don't understand why our offense tonight was either a 30+ yard pass or nothing. A short game might have helped immensely tonight.

It wasn't early on, maybe Pitt started taking that stuff away and we didn't adjust well?

[TheAbster]

It wasn't early on, maybe Pitt started taking that stuff away and we didn't adjust well?

I guess. I don't know. I need to re-watch when I'm not so emotionally involved with the game. Just seemed like we panicked in certain situations and forced errors that were not necessary.

[PhDeac]

I guess. I don't know. I need to re-watch when I'm not so emotionally involved with the game. Just seemed like we panicked in certain situations and forced errors that were not necessary.

We’ve been doing that for weeks and getting away with it.

[liveanddiedeac]

I guess. I don't know. I need to re-watch when I'm not so emotionally involved with the game. Just seemed like we panicked in certain situations and forced errors that were not necessary.

Absolutely we did. Feel really bad for Sam, such a great year and then have another game like this after the bowl game last year, it's going to be tough for him to get back up.

[liveanddiedeac]

We’ve been doing that for weeks and getting away with it.

I mean with our receivers when they get one on one it makes sense to let them try to make a play sometimes, they've made tons this year, but you can have that become you're "go to" play when you just need a first down.

[iodeac]

Did AT Perry have any catches in the second half?

I feel really bad for Sam, he had a horrible night, it happens.

I never knew the Pitt fanbase was so rednecky and trashy. I really wanted to win just to shut them all up. We left halfway through the 4th just because I didn't want to deal with them all on the way out.

[TheAbster]

I mean with our receivers when they get one on one it makes sense to let them try to make a play sometimes, they've made tons this year, but you can have that become you're "go to" play when you just need a first down.

And this was a 3 point game well into the 3rd quarter. Which makes our game management even more perplexing.

[liveanddiedeac]

And this was a 3 point game well into the 3rd quarter. Which makes our game management even more perplexing.

Would have never thought our offense would've let us down and the defense play pretty decent actually.

[cookoutdeac]

Did AT Perry have any catches in the second half?

I feel really bad for Sam, he had a horrible night, it happens.

I never knew the Pitt fanbase was so rednecky and trashy. I really wanted to win just to shut them all up. We left halfway through the 4th just because I didn't want to deal with them all on the way out.

Ugh yeah, they were as bad as any ACC fans I've ever encountered. Just zero humility or recognition that they'd been absolutely gifted some shit. Sitting in the middle of a WFU section and talking shit too.