Only one man is up for this task...
Hey I need you to get a proper picture of Peter!
Only one man is up for this task...
One more thing. Rafi is content to see a glass with 50% wine so he can proclaim it’s half full. I want red ruddy rhenish filled up to the brim.
Please don’t try to put words in my mouth. I don’t appreciate it.
As I already wrote, I think Wake football can compete for championships, I’m not at all happy with the loss yesterday (nobody is), and I think we’ve had a good season. All of those thoughts can coexist. This isn’t complicated.
I also think we’ll be even better next year, and that Clawson has built a really good program that’s headed in the right direction.
Please don’t try to put words in my mouth. I don’t appreciate it.
As I already wrote, I think Wake football can compete for championships, I’m not at all happy with the loss yesterday (nobody is), and I think we’ve had a good season. All of those thoughts can coexist. This isn’t complicated.
I also think we’ll be even better next year, and that Clawson has built a really good program that’s headed in the right direction.
you've stated with relative certainty that Newman and Sage will be back - on what basis?
One of the keys to next season will be completing the turnover of the offensive line. Justin Heron, last of the original "Beef Boys" will be gone. Some of the youngsters will need to step up at the tackle positions. How well they do will have a big impact on Wake's season.
I agree with many of the comments above. A few positives, lots of negatives(to's and penalties. Yet with that aide and criticisms(deserved about our offense), the most disappointing thing to me was our defense. We never could stop their up the middle runs and when we got them in passing situations, somehow their qb was able to scramble and find open receivers. I still believe that for the most part, our dl is not big enough.
Please don’t try to put words in my mouth. I don’t appreciate it.
As I already wrote, I think Wake football can compete for championships, I’m not at all happy with the loss yesterday (nobody is), and I think we’ve had a good season. All of those thoughts can coexist. This isn’t complicated.
I also think we’ll be even better next year, and that Clawson has built a really good program that’s headed in the right direction.
If you do believe those things and think it should have been a better season, then we agree.
Not sure what to make of the fairly obvious fact that if Hartman starts this game we win. Our 2nd best win was a Hartman start against FSU. He also came in for arguably the biggest loss of the season, Louisville, and had double the QB rating of Newman with 3 TD's in 2 minutes but was too little too late. Donavon Greene had 3 receptions 2+ games with Newman, then goes for 172 yards with Hartman for less than a full game minus some injury time.
Is Newman just a QB that only throws to "his" guys? Is he the type to follow a script instead of actually seeing the field and hitting open receivers? His RPO decision making clearly improved this year but he still doesn't seem to catch teams cheating as often as Hartman or Wolford in this offense.
Granted, this is a system that absolutely requires a great backup QB because of the hits it subjects our QB to, and Newman's size/strength are a good fit. He's won some huge games with some great late heroics. Who knows who will leave and who will stay next year, but 3 years of starters in Hartman, Walker, and Greene sure does look like a rock solid foundation right now.
Finally got to watch the game today and I’ll be honest I have read the thread and saw the tweets about everyone defending the D so I was going in with that in mind, and while the offense did put them in a hole, those cuse receivers were often wide open at times and Mo Neal looked ended up looking like Cam Akers out there.
Also:
- Greene is not playing like a guy who needed the first 8 games to get college ready, he made guys miss early and often, he was big and fast out there. Would it have made a difference to have him play in the Louisville game?
- Qbs are not the same without Sage, couple balls behind or overhead which may have been catches for Sage were missed balls in this game.
- Watching live the Hinton fumble must have been a huge gut punch. We were driving and looking to win and then WHAM.
Not sure what to make of the fairly obvious fact that if Hartman starts this game we win. Our 2nd best win was a Hartman start against FSU. He also came in for arguably the biggest loss of the season, Louisville, and had double the QB rating of Newman with 3 TD's in 2 minutes but was too little too late. Donavon Greene had 3 receptions 2+ games with Newman, then goes for 172 yards with Hartman for less than a full game minus some injury time.
Is Newman just a QB that only throws to "his" guys? Is he the type to follow a script instead of actually seeing the field and hitting open receivers? His RPO decision making clearly improved this year but he still doesn't seem to catch teams cheating as often as Hartman or Wolford in this offense.
Granted, this is a system that absolutely requires a great backup QB because of the hits it subjects our QB to, and Newman's size/strength are a good fit. He's won some huge games with some great late heroics. Who knows who will leave and who will stay next year, but 3 years of starters in Hartman, Walker, and Greene sure does look like a rock solid foundation right now.
Finally got to watch the game today and I’ll be honest I have read the thread and saw the tweets about everyone defending the D so I was going in with that in mind, and while the offense did put them in a hole, those cuse receivers were often wide open at times and Mo Neal looked ended up looking like Cam Akers out there.
Also:
- Greene is not playing like a guy who needed the first 8 games to get college ready, he made guys miss early and often, he was big and fast out there. Would it have made a difference to have him play in the Louisville game?
- Qbs are not the same without Sage, couple balls behind or overhead which may have been catches for Sage were missed balls in this game.
- Watching live the Hinton fumble must have been a huge gut punch. We were driving and looking to win and then WHAM.
Interesting. My simple observations:
s
We ran out of emotional gas. Collectively. Injuries played a part for sure, but I think we expended more energy than most getting to 5-0. A lot of close hard fought wins with 4th quarter comebacks and 4th down throws. I expect us to regroup and with three weeks or so to rest and prepare for a bowl, I think we'll play pretty well.
I am somewhat worried we lose Clawson. I think he CAN do better at Wake than he did this year, I really do, but I think we are very lucky that his son is still in high school and daughter who LOVES football and attends most if not all of our home games, is just down the road. The year his daughter graduates and son is in college is the year I will be very uneasy going into our bowl game.
As for our RPO offense - yes, we have essentially run the same offense for four years, but Wolford was just artful with it. Newman and Hartman are pretty good with a lot of time left at Wake. I am reminded of Wolford's first two years and how basic our horrific offense was. For better or worse, Clawson calls plays, allows the offense he feels we can run and not commit turnovers or make mistakes. I wouldn't call it safe. It is more like a parent with a teenager of drivable age. The kid can drive until the moment they make a mistake, and then the keys are taken away after dark. One more mistake and then you are only allowed to drive to school and back. That is his MO. He believes he is putting players in the best possible position to succeed.
If we are lucky (for once) and Newman and Sage come back, then I think he might open things up a bit more next year. I also think we might play both quarterbacks. Hartman runs the RPO differently than Newman and I think Hartman's success against Syracuse was more about HOW he runs it. His RPO is faster and he decides to throw it more. In other words, he takes more chances. When we play teams stacking the line (as our opponents have done with Scotty and Sage out), Hartman's approach is more successful than Newman's.
But anyway, my point is that you come into next year with three new starters on the OL and a lot of returning talent at WR, RB and QB, I think we add more to Newman and Hartman's plate. That has been Clawson MO if you look at Wolford. He likes veteran QBs. He's going to have one or two next year with Kern, whom I think he also trusts to some extent.
Getting to 10 wins with that staff is going to be about finding really good NFL level linebackers. That has been our achilles with this staff in regards to recruiting. I do think some our redshirt LBs could really surprise. For example, I thought Jaylen Hudson looked good on Saturday in limited snaps. I think Jones has looked potentially good. Monroe, not so much.
The next step, I feel, is getting a team cruising to some early victories so by the time you are 4-0 or 6-1, you are just hitting your stride and have plenty of gas left in the tank. I think it'll help to be ranked preseason so that we are NOT fighting tooth and nail for our first national ranking in a decade through the first 4 weeks - then reacting to different interview requests/attention, etc... I also think a preseason ranking - even if it is 25th, will help us fill seats early against Villanova et al. I do think our home schedule next year bodes well attendance wise - Notre Dame (in charlotte), App State, BC, Miami, Syracuse, Clemson. Only Villanova stands out as being a challenge to fill 90% of the seats. I don't think you can overestimate the effect on recruiting preseason ranking have ...
App will be solid next year. They should return their QB, leading RB, top 3 receivers and 4 of their 5 starters on the OL. They will lose more on their D, 6 starters, including their two leading tacklers.
With that said, the key loss may be their coach Drinkwitz. He has been linked to the Arkansas job, and he could take some of the Apps redshirt juniors with him. If Drinkwitz returns, App could be ranked to open next season.
I think we'll be ranked if all we lose is Boogie.