GNFP Podcast (NOT vids) Vandy

OFFENSE

• Vandy stuck with 7+ all day. The standard book all year, but Vandy did it better than anyone else.
• Vandy beat our OL 1v1 on the reg.
• Vandy picked our plays at a troubling rate.
• Vandy filled every gap at the snap, and sold out because they counted on us stubbornly sticking with disadvantaged numbers.
• In that regard, it was no fluke. It was a game plan, and it worked.
• One of the "most brazen" cover 0 usage James has ever seen. We got them with it early on the MJ drop, but seemed to comply from there, until late.
• 7/16 against pressure, 4/13 against M2M/ 1/8 against 6 man pressures. All of these ratios are directly in line with Vandy's season trends. IOW, nothing unexpected.
• AR keeps: the reads were correct the overwhelming number of times. Vandy had 1 and sometimes 2 waiting on keeps. Even the two plays out of the half, they had guys waiting on the keep. You can argue that AR can just try it anyway, but it was not handing off when the read mandated otherwise.
• Missing WR's: not the reason either. Guys were still getting open, although Bowman had troubles.
• James: coaching win for Vanderbilt.
• UF is 124th in RZ O. 12 personnel issue much-discussed here. 12, run-run-pass.
• Should we have tried to force more AR runs: the potential runs for AR are level 1 creativity. Nothing like the RB run game which is creative and varied. We NEVER roll him out left. BN continues to stick with structure over tactics. AR needs different looks in the run game. TE usage has to change down to what we have. BN did seem to do this getting RP in the jet sweep spot. But otherwise tactics are simply not much of a thing so far.
• 2XP's were the right calls, but the plays themselves are weak.

CHANGES WE WANT TO SEE

• More tactics. Bad teams especially need tactics to overcome deficiencies. Belichick is the known example of tactics, game to game is a different product up and down. BN has thus far been the opposite end of the spectrum.
• Must abide by the numbers. Running into heavy boxes is not a winning idea even with superior personnel.
• Gotta have a plan to do something different when your base foundation just isn't going to work. Not like suddenly installing air raid, but enough tweaks and targeting to change the flow.

DEFENSE

• A lot to like. Without penalties, some discipline issues on edges and techniques, the D was decently sound.
• Muffed punt TD, fluke pick TD, short field FG. 17 cheap points.
• TAM and USC film also showed that plays are there against the D. Vandy is better than those teams and got some of those plays. But generally, the D showed that some of the recent improvement appears to be real.
• Burney holding call is so bad that James feels it warrants a demerit for that ref's eval. Not that it wasn't technically holding, but it was borderline and nothing to do with the play, and ref seemed to make the call after the play.
• Ryland-Powell is making BCox dismissal seem like nothing. Went upfield too deep once, and of course the facemask, but otherwise he was good.
• Another good Ventrell game. The D was not as helpless after he went out as we were earlier, but we were weaker against the run afterwards. But they didn't fall apart.
• 70 D plays. Biggest difference in NFL and college is consistency. UF has a wild range from good to bad. The bad plays are really bad. But without the auto-firsts, Vandy is more like 3/14 on 3rd down. But the worst has almost vanished, the bad is way down, and the good is way up.
• One of Marshall's best games (defensively....)

CHANGES WE WANT TO SEE

• Vandy gave up early that they were going to go quick. Vandy 4/5 with 3 TD's against pressure. But Vandy was 113 QB rating against pressure, 73 against 3 rushers coming in. We ran 3 ONE TIME. We basically did exactly what they are significantly better at. Relentlessly play the trends that are plain as day on film.
• "Gamechangers." They are making way too much news on this podcast. Something new every week. Newly bad.

END OF FIRST HALF

• Not Mayday sitch for us, although it is for Vandy. Both are frustrated with the lack of trying to steal points in this spot, all year. Not too much to say that they don't say every week.
• Onside kick: kick away. The odds of getting it are so slim that having to get a stop is almost a certainty. But getting the ball back at the 40 or so if the stop is after a kick. Onside kicks should be either surprises or desperation.
• Loss: on a scale of "not good" to "fireable." James says "Terrible", two steps from fireable. Not fireable, which means all hope is gone because the data has mounted. Not "devastating" because that is a loss that puts you one step away from "fireable" or ruins something huge, like UT at USC. But it's terrible because it killed all the program momentum, coaches were bad, players were bad, and it also just plainly looked back. But this loss means NOTHING for the BN 3 year test. But dents the armor and raises a lot of questions. Allen agrees. Allen points out that putting a loss to Vandy on your resume can't possibly be good. Perhaps fans feel this is a headline loss much more than outside the nation. Most other fans and media just simply aren't zoomed in on UF football. It's sadly just not shocking right now outside of The Nation.

"Coaching corner", which is about scenarios from other games. Interesting and informative, and also sometimes relates to UF games, but since it's mostly other teams I won't summarize at length. Quick hitters: Illinois should have won. Imaman Gundy forfeited. Georgia is the only team that might not lose every week, and they beat UK 16-6. James never misses a chance to refer to Levis as "The #1 Pick....", and he's not paying his respects. TCU not in top tier but what a magical run. PAC-12 is fun football.

FSU PREP

• Allen is just disgusted by the concept of Florida State, on general principle.
• James is too emotionally spent to rant against the Friday slot. The shine is off a bit. If FSU loses, they will also lose any momentum they have. Imagine their sitch: losing to a year one UF rebuild that just lost to Vandy. UF needs the win to not limp into bowl season and the off-season.
• The original tribe was actually Creek. Seminoles were actually a collection of tribes and runaway slaves fleeing from dominant Upper Creeks in Georgia.
• 1988: Bowden has ball snapped to Leroy Butler on fake punt at Clemson for famous play; in 1993 Butler created the Lambeau Leap.
• Garnet and Gold Guys use up to 6 pounds of glitter per week. I have never heard of this glam tradition (since 1998, anyway.) They also ride a tandem bike to each game. Alrighty then.
• Norvell is going to fail the 3 Year Test. That's not always an auto-fire, but the biggest problem here is recruiting. Time to go.
• 54% run. Spread it around including TE. 28% PA. Not much RPO or motion. Not much 12. Throw to all depths. 16th in YPC. 16th in YPP. 7th in 3rd down conversion. Ruh roh.
• They shred 5 man rushes. Worst against base 4. Not as good against C2M. Better against M2M than zone. Weaker against dime than nickel.
• O is super simple for QB. Not a lot of complicated reads. Hypothetically, if you can run a competent C2/C2M with effective 4 up front, with 6 man pressures mixed in, they can have problems.
• D has two good corners. Verse has 7.5 sacks. 24% pressure, usually 5. 41% M2M.
• Hard to see a scenario in which FSU doesn't have offensive success. Can base 4 get pressure? And then play zone behind it? FSU recipe for struggle: Travis <60% and 30 yards rushing. UF WR sitch looks bad, Ventrell out a half barring a miracle reprieve.
• Predictions--both pick FSU 30-20. If it makes you feel any better, they both picked UF blowouts last week.
• James trending down on BN on-field coaching. Sees him as a systems/culture/recruiting guy, needs to look at OC, QB coach, passing game coordinator, etc. In general, disappointed with on-field coaching at this stage. Allen feels like these additions are "easy", and why wouldn't you? James points out Andy Reid, McDaniel (Miami), Leach as guys known for offensive prowess that still have these coaching positions. Leach basically invented an entire passing offense, still has a passing game coordinator.

 

Not that I am aware of. He’s a UF/Wharton grad that started a hot shot wealth management company.

College of Health and Human Performance

 

Yeah, I can't believe I've never heard of this beloved tradition.

 

If past podcasts are any guide, James' commentary always matches the film review. He has of course heard all of the Internet coaching and QB play pro-tips also. He called the use of cover 0 "the most brazen" he's ever seen. They never went lighter than 7 in the box, and had bodies for all gaps and AR. This is why he consistently mentions BN not honoring the Rule of Numbers (don't run into heavy boxes, don't throw screens to even/minus numbers, etc.) and BN's lack of tactics (you simply are going to have to throw against cover 0 even if that isn't what you planned for or practiced against.)

All my speculation of course, since the films aren't posted yet. We shall see.

 

Eventually. It was 12/14 run/pass in H1, 7/10 Q3, and 2/19 Q4.