My overall impression after rewatching the FSU game was that the performance by Wake differed in many respects from what we saw against Indiana. Mostly positive. I’ll touch on some of these points below. I’m not sure how much related to differences in opponent, game plan, or simply execution.
HINTON AND THE PASSING GAME
The passing game featured a short, quick hitting approach that showcased Cortez Lewis and Cam Serigne. Those two combined for 18 receptions and a number of other pass targets. 20 of the 27 pass completions went for 8 yards or less. Hinton – whose scouting report going into this game was likely that he struggled with short and intermediate passes – missed on his first two passing attempts before going on a 13-for-14 roll over the rest of the half. The second half wasn’t quite as good: 14-for-26 (54%, which was more in line with what he has done in previous games).
I took a long look at the play that briefly knocked Hinton out of the game. It was originally a 3-man rush that was stymied by our OL. FSU brought a 4th rusher from a blitz position but Tyler Bell read it correctly and picked up it up. Hinton chose to leave the pocket and rolled to his left. I’m not sure that was a bad decision if he was trying to buy more time (or maybe he was trying to get a better line of sight?), but he did leave a pocket that was giving him time to throw. It was the second time in the game that I thought he left a pocket early and exposed himself to getting hit after a throw.
RUNNING BACKS
Tyler Bell and Matt Colburn combined for 22 carries (versus only 8 carries against Indiana). Those two had a strong first half with all 11 rushing attempts going for 3 or more yards, and featuring runs of 14 and 18 yards. They were less successful in the second half when 7 of 11 rushing attempts went for less than 3 yards, and the longest run was just 5 yards.
BIG PLAYS
Just two plays of 20 or more yards this week. That is a season low. After weeks of 6, 4 and 5 big plays against Syracuse, Army and Indiana respectively. Wake had no big plays until the 4th quarter against FSU.
Wake’s defense gave up just 3 plays of 20 or more yards in the game. Another impressive effort on that front.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The biggest difference between the Indiana game and the FSU game? Indiana was effective at pressuring Hinton with 4 pass rushers. FSU needed to blitz.
I didn’t note a single negative play by the O-line until the very last play of the first half. I admit that I actually graded a little harder to come up with the 7 negative plays noted below (down from 13 negative plays against Indiana):
Haynes (2): Allowed 2Q sack on Hinton when he was beaten by an outside rush. Haynes also gave up a QB pressure – and was lucky to avoid a holding penalty – on the 4Q play that resulted in KJ Brent drawing a flag for PI.
Intemann (2): Was beaten badly late in the 3rd quarter on a play where he ended up drawing a holding penalty. Was also beaten during a blitz in the 4Q.
Herron (2): Failed to pick up a blitzing LB (or S?) in the 3rd quarter. Was also beaten during a blitz in the 4Q.
Harris (1): He allowed a DL to push him back into Hinton.
Hayworth (zero)
It’s worth noting that the number of quick hitting pass plays limited the time that the OL had to pass protect. That was especially true in the first half.
We can focus on the negative plays from Herron and Haynes, but I thought I’d also mention what we are not seeing. The mental mistakes noted in the Elon and Syracuse games didn’t reappear against Indiana and FSU. They have had surprisingly few penalties. They don’t get overpowered. The biggest areas for improvement: 1) they are inconsistent picking up blitzes and 2) Haynes is susceptible to outside speed rushes. I have noted before that I have all the patience in the world for Haynes given his inexperience at the position. I think this year and next have to be viewed as development years for him.
One last interesting note is that Wake used a “heavy package” with 6 OLs on a couple of plays (at least I think so, the TV coverage didn’t give me a great look at it). Patrick Osterhage appeared to be the 6th OL in those packages.
RUN DEFENSE
In large part the missed tackles from the Indiana game didn’t repeat against FSU.
Of course the obvious exception was the 94 yard run by Dalvin Cook. That play started with a loaded box with FSU lined up with a single wide receiver. Zach Dancel was basically lined up as a linebacker. Cameron Glenn was the single high safety. Dancel was in position to make the tackle, but Cook ran right through him. Same with Brad Watson. Cameron Glenn came downhill to make the play but allowed himself to get partially taken out by Brad Watson’s missed effort. From there Cook was off to the races.
However, I counted just three other obvious missed tackles: Kemp (1), Hunter Williams (1) and Zach Dancel (1). I had noted nine missed tackles against Indiana.
DEFENSIVE LINE
With all of the improvements made by Wake in the FSU game, I didn’t see a lot different from the D-line. They remain a weak spot. The final stat line showed modest improvement: 3 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks, zero tackles for loss (other than the sacks), zero forced fumbles and 1 QB hit.
The highlight for the DL came early in the fourth quarter when FSU tried to roll Golson out to his left in what was probably a designed run. The FSU blockers couldn’t prevent Wendell Dunn from tracking Golson and keeping him from cutting up the field. Ultimately Dunn shed his blockers and dropped Golson for a 7 yard loss. Easily one of the best plays from a Wake DL this year.
Those looking for other positives will note a few other modest QB pressures. Zeek Rodney had one very nice bull rush in the first half and stood out on two other plays. Josh Banks had one relatively effective pass rush. Two other QB pressures that looked good when watching live weren’t as impressive on film. Chris Stewart - for reasons I couldn’t figure out – was given free release off the line to pressure Golson. On another Willie Yarbary was given a run at Golson when his blocker was knocked to the ground by his FSU teammate.
ZACH DANCEL
No player on defense showed up more on film than Zach Dancel. For both good and bad plays. This came after what I thought was a bad game against Indiana.
Let’s start with the negative plays. I mentioned above that he was one of the victims in the 94-yard run by Cook. He also missed a tackle on the 3Q touchdown. FSU’s 51 yard pass play in the 3Q came when Dancel allowed FSU’s Wilson to get behind him in pass coverage. Dancel nearly gave up another TD when he was beaten in pass coverage but Golson was off the mark with his pass.
On the positive side, he made a great play chasing down Golson on a 2Q blitz and might have saved a TD on special teams when FSU’s kick returner got free down the sideline.
THIRD DOWN SUBPACKAGE
So far this season the performance of the 3rd down subpackage has been mixed, but they (and Coach Elko’s play calling) came up HUGE twice down the stretch. The first came early in the 4th quarter when Brandon Chubb and 3rd down subpackage staple Josh Okonye both got through on a blitz that ended up with a forced fumble by Chubb (ruled an incomplete pass). If Chubb hadn’t gotten there first it looked to me like Okonye would have had a clean shot at Golson. The second play came late in the 4th quarter when Okonye again came through the line – literally spinning through the OL – to disrupt the play and flush Golson into a sack that ended up being cleaned up by Chubb and Sheldon Lewinson.
I admit that Okonye is somewhat of a personal favorite of mine. I like watching him play and he often shows up on film despite limited playing time. I wrote before the season that I hoped that the staff could find a role that fit his skill set. I’m glad to see him thriving on third down.
Personnel notes: the subpackage’s most effective player (Zack Wary) missed the game with a minor injury (ankle I think). Sheldon Lewinson made his debut in the subpackage. I have seen some info indicating that he has been hindered by an injury this season. I would like to see more of him on 3rd down as long as it doesn’t come at the expense of playing time for Wary.
DECIDING FACTORS
I left the game very discouraged by the “what-ifs” – by the breaks that we didn’t get. You could point to 1) the near punt block by Jonathon Williams, 2) the INT that was dropped by Brad Watson, 3) Chubb’s fumble that wasn’t, 4) two shots to the head of Hinton that weren’t flagged or 5) the odd encroachment call on Cortez Lewis that came at a very critical juncture. But the bottom line is that we came away with only 9 points on three drives that reached the 5 yard line, the 11 yard line and the 6 yard line. That’s not going to cut it when you are trying to pull an upset. I saw that there is a separate thread dedicated to the playcalling aspect of that. I look forward to reading it, although I’m more focused on our failure to execute on the first three downs.
THE CROWD
I get that the weather has been poor, but attendance has still been disappointing. Maybe even embarrassing. This is a young team, but they are playing hard and playing at a level above where they should be given the lack of experience. I think they deserve more support than they are getting. Just my two cents.
HINTON AND THE PASSING GAME
The passing game featured a short, quick hitting approach that showcased Cortez Lewis and Cam Serigne. Those two combined for 18 receptions and a number of other pass targets. 20 of the 27 pass completions went for 8 yards or less. Hinton – whose scouting report going into this game was likely that he struggled with short and intermediate passes – missed on his first two passing attempts before going on a 13-for-14 roll over the rest of the half. The second half wasn’t quite as good: 14-for-26 (54%, which was more in line with what he has done in previous games).
I took a long look at the play that briefly knocked Hinton out of the game. It was originally a 3-man rush that was stymied by our OL. FSU brought a 4th rusher from a blitz position but Tyler Bell read it correctly and picked up it up. Hinton chose to leave the pocket and rolled to his left. I’m not sure that was a bad decision if he was trying to buy more time (or maybe he was trying to get a better line of sight?), but he did leave a pocket that was giving him time to throw. It was the second time in the game that I thought he left a pocket early and exposed himself to getting hit after a throw.
RUNNING BACKS
Tyler Bell and Matt Colburn combined for 22 carries (versus only 8 carries against Indiana). Those two had a strong first half with all 11 rushing attempts going for 3 or more yards, and featuring runs of 14 and 18 yards. They were less successful in the second half when 7 of 11 rushing attempts went for less than 3 yards, and the longest run was just 5 yards.
BIG PLAYS
Just two plays of 20 or more yards this week. That is a season low. After weeks of 6, 4 and 5 big plays against Syracuse, Army and Indiana respectively. Wake had no big plays until the 4th quarter against FSU.
Wake’s defense gave up just 3 plays of 20 or more yards in the game. Another impressive effort on that front.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The biggest difference between the Indiana game and the FSU game? Indiana was effective at pressuring Hinton with 4 pass rushers. FSU needed to blitz.
I didn’t note a single negative play by the O-line until the very last play of the first half. I admit that I actually graded a little harder to come up with the 7 negative plays noted below (down from 13 negative plays against Indiana):
Haynes (2): Allowed 2Q sack on Hinton when he was beaten by an outside rush. Haynes also gave up a QB pressure – and was lucky to avoid a holding penalty – on the 4Q play that resulted in KJ Brent drawing a flag for PI.
Intemann (2): Was beaten badly late in the 3rd quarter on a play where he ended up drawing a holding penalty. Was also beaten during a blitz in the 4Q.
Herron (2): Failed to pick up a blitzing LB (or S?) in the 3rd quarter. Was also beaten during a blitz in the 4Q.
Harris (1): He allowed a DL to push him back into Hinton.
Hayworth (zero)
It’s worth noting that the number of quick hitting pass plays limited the time that the OL had to pass protect. That was especially true in the first half.
We can focus on the negative plays from Herron and Haynes, but I thought I’d also mention what we are not seeing. The mental mistakes noted in the Elon and Syracuse games didn’t reappear against Indiana and FSU. They have had surprisingly few penalties. They don’t get overpowered. The biggest areas for improvement: 1) they are inconsistent picking up blitzes and 2) Haynes is susceptible to outside speed rushes. I have noted before that I have all the patience in the world for Haynes given his inexperience at the position. I think this year and next have to be viewed as development years for him.
One last interesting note is that Wake used a “heavy package” with 6 OLs on a couple of plays (at least I think so, the TV coverage didn’t give me a great look at it). Patrick Osterhage appeared to be the 6th OL in those packages.
RUN DEFENSE
In large part the missed tackles from the Indiana game didn’t repeat against FSU.
Of course the obvious exception was the 94 yard run by Dalvin Cook. That play started with a loaded box with FSU lined up with a single wide receiver. Zach Dancel was basically lined up as a linebacker. Cameron Glenn was the single high safety. Dancel was in position to make the tackle, but Cook ran right through him. Same with Brad Watson. Cameron Glenn came downhill to make the play but allowed himself to get partially taken out by Brad Watson’s missed effort. From there Cook was off to the races.
However, I counted just three other obvious missed tackles: Kemp (1), Hunter Williams (1) and Zach Dancel (1). I had noted nine missed tackles against Indiana.
DEFENSIVE LINE
With all of the improvements made by Wake in the FSU game, I didn’t see a lot different from the D-line. They remain a weak spot. The final stat line showed modest improvement: 3 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks, zero tackles for loss (other than the sacks), zero forced fumbles and 1 QB hit.
The highlight for the DL came early in the fourth quarter when FSU tried to roll Golson out to his left in what was probably a designed run. The FSU blockers couldn’t prevent Wendell Dunn from tracking Golson and keeping him from cutting up the field. Ultimately Dunn shed his blockers and dropped Golson for a 7 yard loss. Easily one of the best plays from a Wake DL this year.
Those looking for other positives will note a few other modest QB pressures. Zeek Rodney had one very nice bull rush in the first half and stood out on two other plays. Josh Banks had one relatively effective pass rush. Two other QB pressures that looked good when watching live weren’t as impressive on film. Chris Stewart - for reasons I couldn’t figure out – was given free release off the line to pressure Golson. On another Willie Yarbary was given a run at Golson when his blocker was knocked to the ground by his FSU teammate.
ZACH DANCEL
No player on defense showed up more on film than Zach Dancel. For both good and bad plays. This came after what I thought was a bad game against Indiana.
Let’s start with the negative plays. I mentioned above that he was one of the victims in the 94-yard run by Cook. He also missed a tackle on the 3Q touchdown. FSU’s 51 yard pass play in the 3Q came when Dancel allowed FSU’s Wilson to get behind him in pass coverage. Dancel nearly gave up another TD when he was beaten in pass coverage but Golson was off the mark with his pass.
On the positive side, he made a great play chasing down Golson on a 2Q blitz and might have saved a TD on special teams when FSU’s kick returner got free down the sideline.
THIRD DOWN SUBPACKAGE
So far this season the performance of the 3rd down subpackage has been mixed, but they (and Coach Elko’s play calling) came up HUGE twice down the stretch. The first came early in the 4th quarter when Brandon Chubb and 3rd down subpackage staple Josh Okonye both got through on a blitz that ended up with a forced fumble by Chubb (ruled an incomplete pass). If Chubb hadn’t gotten there first it looked to me like Okonye would have had a clean shot at Golson. The second play came late in the 4th quarter when Okonye again came through the line – literally spinning through the OL – to disrupt the play and flush Golson into a sack that ended up being cleaned up by Chubb and Sheldon Lewinson.
I admit that Okonye is somewhat of a personal favorite of mine. I like watching him play and he often shows up on film despite limited playing time. I wrote before the season that I hoped that the staff could find a role that fit his skill set. I’m glad to see him thriving on third down.
Personnel notes: the subpackage’s most effective player (Zack Wary) missed the game with a minor injury (ankle I think). Sheldon Lewinson made his debut in the subpackage. I have seen some info indicating that he has been hindered by an injury this season. I would like to see more of him on 3rd down as long as it doesn’t come at the expense of playing time for Wary.
DECIDING FACTORS
I left the game very discouraged by the “what-ifs” – by the breaks that we didn’t get. You could point to 1) the near punt block by Jonathon Williams, 2) the INT that was dropped by Brad Watson, 3) Chubb’s fumble that wasn’t, 4) two shots to the head of Hinton that weren’t flagged or 5) the odd encroachment call on Cortez Lewis that came at a very critical juncture. But the bottom line is that we came away with only 9 points on three drives that reached the 5 yard line, the 11 yard line and the 6 yard line. That’s not going to cut it when you are trying to pull an upset. I saw that there is a separate thread dedicated to the playcalling aspect of that. I look forward to reading it, although I’m more focused on our failure to execute on the first three downs.
THE CROWD
I get that the weather has been poor, but attendance has still been disappointing. Maybe even embarrassing. This is a young team, but they are playing hard and playing at a level above where they should be given the lack of experience. I think they deserve more support than they are getting. Just my two cents.
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