To those critical of our offensive line...
- Thread starter Myrtlecock
- Start date
The rushing is definitely impressive, but let's be honest about the sacks. The only reason there were none is because Sellers pulled off some crazy escapes. There should have realistically been like 5 sacks.
True, and A&Ms DL is on par w ours, a true national level D line.
There was some improvement with run blocking for sure, but A&M was in the backfield with Sellers all night.
OL haven’t been perfect this year but a lot of sacks weren’t on them this season. We dealt with growing pains of having a young QB
Shoulda woulda coulda! My butt! At the end of the game we didn't give up a sack! A big ZERO in the box.
Yes our QB got healthy, as did our RB. Our QB grew up some, our game plan evolved. All these things helped. It's unrealistic to think the OL can keep a perfectly clean pocket all the time against great rushers.
A lot of our protection problems were not all their fault.
Imagine if we had a true #1 possession receiver to take the quick slant and make them pay?
Yes our QB got healthy, as did our RB. Our QB grew up some, our game plan evolved. All these things helped. It's unrealistic to think the OL can keep a perfectly clean pocket all the time against great rushers.
A lot of our protection problems were not all their fault.
Imagine if we had a true #1 possession receiver to take the quick slant and make them pay?
Other than providing very little protection and several free shots at Sellers they were much improved.
I am one that has been very critical of our OL. I will say they were much better in the run. But you also can’t act like they did a great job in pass pro. The pressure came quickly. Sellars saved us a ton of sacks which often kept us ahead of the chains. That helps play calling.
We didn't do it against their front nearly as much as we did it against their edges and safeties. Look at the majority of the explosive plays last night by Sellers and Rocket - where the points of attack were. This line allowed a ton of pressure on Sellers. Thank God he was nimble and quick enough to step out of the line of fire.
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If they've been criticized it's because they have deserved to be criticized - over and over again.
Best performance by our OL in years!! Keep Shawn Elliott, Clayton White and every coach we have. The future is bright especially considering we could easily have won the LSU and Bama games. Having said that, if Vandy can beat all of these other teams they can beat us as well. They may be tougher than Missouri and Clemson. Their QB cannot be defended, ala Johnny Manziel. We don`t need to have the big win letdown must be focused. It was incredibly fun to see our running game do what it did to a good defense.
A&M also committed a few fortunate penalties last night that helped us. The one defensive holding call negated an awful sack and lost fumble. A&M had way too many guys running untouched into our backfield all night.
You have to acknowledge if Sellers wasn't incredibly illusive all night long, we could have easily had 8 or 9 sacks against. Their defenders were running untouched into the backfield on several plays. Zero sacks was not a reult of protection but escaping
Highly incisive. Some people can't experience euphoria without lapsing into delusion.
You chicken littles think I didn't watch the game? I saw every play you saw. I also have seen every other team have a quarterback that side steps a sure sack when one of our guys is free running in their backfield. Did we get credit for those sacks too? Hell naw we didn't!
Why the hell do you think we recruited a quarterback that could move? He's finally healthy and able to do so. All that stuff counts. You can't sit there and say our guys suck because of what could have happened.
I've been watching our guys do a decent job only to have the quarterback run right into pressure, hold onto the ball, the RB take the wrong lane, WR dropping a pass, and everything else.
I've seen very few teams have a quarterback that can stand back there and have lunch. Most of them could do that when they were facing OUR defense the last four or five years because we could never get pressure without blitzing.
But you're right I'm mostly messing with you guys. I do wish you would embrace success without continuing to sound like Eeyore. We finally have a quarterback that is going to help our offensive line look better. Celebrate that. We have a lot of talent there if they can stay healthy. A performance like last night out of all those parts of the offense can build confidence. Somebody said in the game thread early in the Oklahoma game that this was the worst offensive line we've ever had including the 0-21 years. That's a pile of crap.
Why the hell do you think we recruited a quarterback that could move? He's finally healthy and able to do so. All that stuff counts. You can't sit there and say our guys suck because of what could have happened.
I've been watching our guys do a decent job only to have the quarterback run right into pressure, hold onto the ball, the RB take the wrong lane, WR dropping a pass, and everything else.
I've seen very few teams have a quarterback that can stand back there and have lunch. Most of them could do that when they were facing OUR defense the last four or five years because we could never get pressure without blitzing.
But you're right I'm mostly messing with you guys. I do wish you would embrace success without continuing to sound like Eeyore. We finally have a quarterback that is going to help our offensive line look better. Celebrate that. We have a lot of talent there if they can stay healthy. A performance like last night out of all those parts of the offense can build confidence. Somebody said in the game thread early in the Oklahoma game that this was the worst offensive line we've ever had including the 0-21 years. That's a pile of crap.
I was only able to turn the game on sporadically here and there until the final quarter, but it seemed like A&M was in our back field on a regular basis. Sellers looked to be on the run constantly.
Every play. We were double teaming them up the middle without a back staying at home and rushers were in our backfield literally on every play.
If you were to read comments from the TAM boards, they had a totally different perspective.
Yes, the TAM fans were frustrated their team couldn’t seem to tackle Sellers (and Sanders) because “they were bigger than our players” and “didn’t wrap up” but they also thought our offensive coaches had schemed plays to allow penetration by the defense so the Gamecocks could take advantage of it.
If their perspective is valid, then TAM was out coached and out played. 44-20 would seem to indicate that’s true.
Instead of continuing to bash our teams OL with the same tired opinions, I prefer to celebrate our run game blocking and scheming, and the growth of the young QB play in being elusive and decisive. As one writer said, we beat TAM in every aspect they normally do well.
Yes, the TAM fans were frustrated their team couldn’t seem to tackle Sellers (and Sanders) because “they were bigger than our players” and “didn’t wrap up” but they also thought our offensive coaches had schemed plays to allow penetration by the defense so the Gamecocks could take advantage of it.
If their perspective is valid, then TAM was out coached and out played. 44-20 would seem to indicate that’s true.
Instead of continuing to bash our teams OL with the same tired opinions, I prefer to celebrate our run game blocking and scheming, and the growth of the young QB play in being elusive and decisive. As one writer said, we beat TAM in every aspect they normally do well.
Sounds to me like they're trying to make themselves feel better about their D just not being able to get the job done against us.
Yeah, our offensive coaches really planned on letting blitzers come free every-other-play because they knew Sellers could absolute-Houdini his way out of the sure-fire sacks each and every time. Not directed at you, but that's one of the stupidest things I've heard in a while. On a screen play, that's what you do, sure, but we didn't run 20 screen plays...
I think the OL did play better than they have been playing (even if that is a low bar) - there were holes for Rocket to run through. But, Rocket also bounced a lot of runs when there was no hole there. Credit to Rocket and Sellers; They were an absolute problem for A&M, and I hope they stay healthy and can be big problems for everyone remaining on our schedule. If by some good fortune, the OL can just continue to improve............
Another positive - for the OL and the whole team - is they played pretty disciplined Saturday night. We only had a few accepted penalties. Overall / all-in-all arguably the best complete game of the year.
A&M did tackle pretty poorly. How much of that was just bad tackling vs our players fighting tackles off is subjective. That factor alone, however, doesn't account for a 24 point shellacking. It also does not account for the goose egg their offense put up in the 2nd half.
Good perspective.
It’s really interesting to read comments by opposing fans. Their take on a game can be vastly different than ours. One thing holds true though: there are definitely “half full“ and “half empty” fans on ALL boards! Some TAM fans were ready to fire their coach after our game while others bemoaned the fact that TAM always loses when on the precipice of becoming elite. Sounds familiar.
It is amazing how well Sellers handled the pressure and he was definitely pressured. I think we call too many straight drop back plays. I’d still like to us to roll him out more.
I have seen very few college football teams have much success especially in the last few years with a quarterback that stands in the pocket. Every now and then you get that rare talent of a guy that can take a two or three step drop and release the ball quickly every time he doesn't hand it off. Those guys get harder and harder to find. Even the NFL has a lot fewer Dan Marino's and Tom Brady's these days and more Russell Wilson's and Patrick Mahomes'.
The point is we are supposed to have quarterback that can run and slip away from sacks. The evolution of defensive schemes and freakish athleticism of the players especially along the DL have necessitated this.
I have said for years and years and cried too many tears over the fact that our teams biggest glaring weaknesses year after year were that we couldn't block and we couldn't pass rush. Beamer is addressing those weaknesses as fast and is hard as he possibly can. Look at the recruiting. The results are starting to show on the field.
All that said I am not blind. And no I'm not letting my "euphoria lapse into delusion". That's a stupid insulting thing to say.
The Aggies sent a delayed rusher multiple times that went unblocked during that game because they could see that was the only way they could get to the quarterback. The way the game has changed that is part of the cat and mouse game between the coordinators. Having a quarterback that can evade that situation is part of the game.
Again... Some of you guys are so hell-bent on being negative it defies logic. Look at the box score.
530 Total yards
286 yards rushing
0 sacks given up
Let's just hope we can continue that kind of play against Vanderbilt!
The point is we are supposed to have quarterback that can run and slip away from sacks. The evolution of defensive schemes and freakish athleticism of the players especially along the DL have necessitated this.
I have said for years and years and cried too many tears over the fact that our teams biggest glaring weaknesses year after year were that we couldn't block and we couldn't pass rush. Beamer is addressing those weaknesses as fast and is hard as he possibly can. Look at the recruiting. The results are starting to show on the field.
All that said I am not blind. And no I'm not letting my "euphoria lapse into delusion". That's a stupid insulting thing to say.
The Aggies sent a delayed rusher multiple times that went unblocked during that game because they could see that was the only way they could get to the quarterback. The way the game has changed that is part of the cat and mouse game between the coordinators. Having a quarterback that can evade that situation is part of the game.
Again... Some of you guys are so hell-bent on being negative it defies logic. Look at the box score.
530 Total yards
286 yards rushing
0 sacks given up
Let's just hope we can continue that kind of play against Vanderbilt!
But we all know the numbers don't tell the entire story.
A&M was in back field on a regular basis and Sellers made some phenomenal plays to avoid sacks. Was the OL better? Yes. But Sellers deserves the lion's share of the credit for the 0 sack number.
I'd say the O line looked even better tonight! Seems like I heard the TV crew slathering a ton of praise on them during the game as well.
But it was just Vanderbilt right?
I'm telling you guys they're way better than we've had in quite a while. They're actually supporting each other.
But it was just Vanderbilt right?
I'm telling you guys they're way better than we've had in quite a while. They're actually supporting each other.
True but when you watch them now verses that zone **** they were doing at the beginning of the year. Its been night and day. They are playing the way they need to by the end of the year.
Some of these guys have been so down on them for so long they can't see improvement. I've been down on them too since about 2014. But they're getting better.
The OL play has been improved.
However, we could still easily upgrade at OL coach. Will we? If the season continues on its current trajectory, I doubt it. Beamer doesn't strike me as the type to let anyone go after a successful season. It's the difference though between being good and being great.
However, we could still easily upgrade at OL coach. Will we? If the season continues on its current trajectory, I doubt it. Beamer doesn't strike me as the type to let anyone go after a successful season. It's the difference though between being good and being great.
They’re still zone blocking a lot. But we have mixed duo and some gap schemes in. Our OL is looking more comfortable. What also helps is Sanders. He is so patient. We used to teach running backs, slow to and fast through. And he does that so well.
ATM should have had 7 sacks if Superman was not our QB. Vandy had several too, if not for a generational type qb.
Our oline talent is very young and I think most people that know football knew it would take some time. You can see they are improving and not just by the rushing yards per game. They are starting to develop aggressiveness that I think has been missing for several years. You got to be a little nasty to play offensive line and it’s nice to see us doling out the contact to defenders.
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