Nathan Peterman's Improvement and Our Passing Game Woes

#1
DiderotsGhost

DiderotsGhost

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#1
We're 2-3 now and we've managed to lose in a lot of different ways. During the Oklahoma game, our O-line struggled to protect the QB. During the Florida game, our defense struggled to get 4th down stops. During the Arkansas game, the offense simply stalled out.

While we've had different issues throughout the season, I will generally say that I'm happy with the progress of most of our coaching staff. Jancek hasn't been perfect, but he's turned the worst defense in the SEC into one of the best in a relatively short time. Even our much derided O-line coach, Mahoney, has done a reasonably good job given the circumstances. Too often, people forget that Mahoney was left a giant turd sandwich from Dooley, with a complete dearth of talent and experience for the 2014 and 2015 seasons on the O-line. In spite of the challenges, Mahoney's O-line has improved EVERY WEEK! The pass protection against Arkansas wasn't perfect, but it was a dramatic improvement over the game against Oklahoma. So in spite of the issues on O-line, I'm happy with the progress there.

Yet, in three years, if you were to name the one thing that has never worked regardless it's the passing game. It doesn't seem to matter who our QB is, how much talent we have at WR, or how well the O-line protects the QB. It simply never works under any scenario. At this point, I'm starting to think our passing game needs a major overhaul and I'm starting to question whether Zach Azzanni, our WR Coach and Passing Game Coordinator, is the problem. Then again, we've seen before how a head coach can hold back the offense in the Fulmer years. Randy Sanders was awful at UT, but has had much greater success at Florida State.

Regardless, there are major issues with the passing game. I think our problems are further showcased by Nathan Peterman's dramatic improvement at Pitt.

Nathan Peterman

Peterman struggled at UT, but looks much better at Pitt. His completion percentage has jumped from 50% to 65%. His QB rating is up from 8.6 to 61.6. He's not Peyton Manning, but if you watch him play, he looks much more confident and poised at Pitt than he ever did here. You can see that in these highlight videos.

Highlights vs Akron

Highlights vs Virginia Tech

In fairness, he hasn't been perfect. He did throw 2 INTs versus Iowa. Nevertheless, he was 20-29 for 219 yards in that game.

Highlights vs Iowa

It's particularly worthwhile to watch Peterman's clutch play on a TD drive at the end of the Iowa game. Unfortunately, Pitt would still go on to lose, as Iowa scored a FG to win the game, but certainly, Peterman's strong play late game contrasts with our blunders.

Peterman's Clutch Late-Game TD Drive

I don't claim to have inside knowledge or be an expert here, but I can say it's plainly obvious that our coaches are not doing a good job with developing the passing game. Seeing Nathan Peterman's dramatic improvement at Pitt makes me question our approach to the passing game even more. We've now had three different QBs (Worley, Peterman, and Dobbs) and none of them have had much success throwing the ball. Perhaps Dormady is the solution, but I have to think that there's a deeper issue here than merely the QB.
 
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#3
#3
I agree with most points DG, but after Saturday it's hard to say our D is top tier in the SEC. Like many areas, there have been flashes, moments of greatness. However, I feel that losing Maggit has affected our DL greatly and having Jumper at MLB has been a complete nightmare. Even our Secondary seems to have digressed in many aspects since last year. It's hard to believe this, but I truly think our Offense looked much more in sync last year, especially the 2nd half of the year. Simply put, Debord must go.
 
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#7
#7
I was at the va tech game and watched peterman play. Heck. I would be a lot more confident playing an ACC schedule than I would knowing I had to line up against the SEC. A lot of the game is mental. That would make a huge difference to me.
 
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#10
#10
This is ridiculous. Dobbs would be an absolute world beater against that competition week in and week out.
 
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#13
#13
TheBigOne10 said:
I agree with most points DG, but after Saturday it's hard to say our D is top tier in the SEC. Like many areas, there have been flashes, moments of greatness. However, I feel that losing Maggit has affected our DL greatly and having Jumper at MLB has been a complete nightmare.
Click to expand...

Losing Maggitt has definitely hurt, but I still think if you analyze the defense objectively, we're in the top 4 or 5 in the SEC. People are overreacting to the Arkansas game, as our defense simply matches-up poorly against Arkansas's offense. We run a 4-3 attacking defense that's better designed to defend against a balanced or pass-oriented attack. It struggles when pitted against a smashmouth team like Arkansas.

Yet, take a look at the Oklahoma and Florida games. We held a high-powered Oklahoma offense to only 17 points, and even that was partly a result of a futile offense. Similarly, this Florida offense scored 38 points against the supposed best defense in the SEC. We held them to 28. When you start to look at how we've fared relative to other teams, our defense looks top-notch.

The Arkansas game was a struggle, but like I said, we don't match up well against Arky's giant O-linemen. They simply wore us down. But even given that --- we held Arkansas to 7 points in the 2nd half. Our defense continued to come up with big stops in the late game, as well. I think those blaming the D are barking up the wrong tree. The D gave us a chance to win that game. The offense that only put 3 points on the board in the 2nd half lost it.
 
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#15
#15
rtb1983 said:
I was at the va tech game and watched peterman play. Heck. I would be a lot more confident playing an ACC schedule than I would knowing I had to line up against the SEC. A lot of the game is mental. That would make a huge difference to me.
Click to expand...

It's true that SEC defenses tend to be tougher, but it goes well beyond that. Peterman just looks more confident and poised. To me, that's the difference between good coaching and mediocre coaching.

Regardless, Virginia Tech is not exactly a pushover on defense. The program has generally been known for having some of the best defenses in the nation. Their struggles have mostly been on the offensive side of the ball.
 
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#20
#20
DiderotsGhost said:
Losing Maggitt has definitely hurt, but I still think if you analyze the defense objectively, we're in the top 4 or 5 in the SEC. People are overreacting to the Arkansas game, as our defense simply matches-up poorly against Arkansas's offense. We run a 4-3 attacking defense that's better designed to defend against a balanced or pass-oriented attack. It struggles when pitted against a smashmouth team like Arkansas.

Yet, take a look at the Oklahoma and Florida games. We held a high-powered Oklahoma offense to only 17 points, and even that was partly a result of a futile offense. Similarly, this Florida offense scored 38 points against the supposed best defense in the SEC. We held them to 28. When you start to look at how we've fared relative to other teams, our defense looks top-notch.

The Arkansas game was a struggle, but like I said, we don't match up well against Arky's giant O-linemen. They simply wore us down. But even given that --- we held Arkansas to 7 points in the 2nd half. Our defense continued to come up with big stops in the late game, as well. I think those blaming the D are barking up the wrong tree. The D gave us a chance to win that game. The offense that only put 3 points on the board in the 2nd half lost it.
Click to expand...

Stats say otherwise on defense
 
#25
#25
DiderotsGhost said:
We're 2-3 now and we've managed to lose in a lot of different ways. During the Oklahoma game, our O-line struggled to protect the QB. During the Florida game, our defense struggled to get 4th down stops. During the Arkansas game, the offense simply stalled out.

While we've had different issues throughout the season, I will generally say that I'm happy with the progress of most of our coaching staff. Jancek hasn't been perfect, but he's turned the worst defense in the SEC into one of the best in a relatively short time. Even our much derided O-line coach, Mahoney, has done a reasonably good job given the circumstances. Too often, people forget that Mahoney was left a giant turd sandwich from Dooley, with a complete dearth of talent and experience for the 2014 and 2015 seasons on the O-line. In spite of the challenges, Mahoney's O-line has improved EVERY WEEK! The pass protection against Arkansas wasn't perfect, but it was a dramatic improvement over the game against Oklahoma. So in spite of the issues on O-line, I'm happy with the progress there.

Yet, in three years, if you were to name the one thing that has never worked regardless it's the passing game. It doesn't seem to matter who our QB is, how much talent we have at WR, or how well the O-line protects the QB. It simply never works under any scenario. At this point, I'm starting to think our passing game needs a major overhaul and I'm starting to question whether Zach Azzanni, our WR Coach and Passing Game Coordinator, is the problem. Then again, we've seen before how a head coach can hold back the offense in the Fulmer years. Randy Sanders was awful at UT, but has had much greater success at Florida State.

Regardless, there are major issues with the passing game. I think our problems are further showcased by Nathan Peterman's dramatic improvement at Pitt.

Nathan Peterman

Peterman struggled at UT, but looks much better at Pitt. His completion percentage has jumped from 50% to 65%. His QB rating is up from 8.6 to 61.6. He's not Peyton Manning, but if you watch him play, he looks much more confident and poised at Pitt than he ever did here. You can see that in these highlight videos.

Highlights vs Akron

Highlights vs Virginia Tech

In fairness, he hasn't been perfect. He did throw 2 INTs versus Iowa. Nevertheless, he was 20-29 for 219 yards in that game.

Highlights vs Iowa

It's particularly worthwhile to watch Peterman's clutch play on a TD drive at the end of the Iowa game. Unfortunately, Pitt would still go on to lose, as Iowa scored a FG to win the game, but certainly, Peterman's strong play late game contrasts with our blunders.

Peterman's Clutch Late-Game TD Drive

I don't claim to have inside knowledge or be an expert here, but I can say it's plainly obvious that our coaches are not doing a good job with developing the passing game. Seeing Nathan Peterman's dramatic improvement at Pitt makes me question our approach to the passing game even more. We've now had three different QBs (Worley, Peterman, and Dobbs) and none of them have had much success throwing the ball. Perhaps Dormady is the solution, but I have to think that there's a deeper issue here than merely the QB.
Click to expand...

he took 5 sacks vs VT
 
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