What will be the biggest advantage of the bye week for us?
KQ- I think it's a chance to heal up. The team is super banged up and guys like Jamal Haynes and LaMiles Brooks need time off to get healthy. Duke has UNC this week in a huge rivalry game so that could be an emotional game for them as well.
- Obviously shotgun is the bread and butter, but why do you think Buster doesn’t have an under center QB sneak package? Seems like it would be right up Key’s alley with the physicality stuff, especially after 4th and short in the gun has had struggles with penetration and either making the wrong read or getting blown up.
KQ- I've never been a fan of that gun/pistol goal line stuff. I like under center and the options that gives you. I feel like they've run under center a couple of times maybe, but that is it.
- Pyron has only run the ball out of his TD vulture package, IIRC. Think we’ll see him throw out of that to keep defenses honest? One of those 4th and 1s inside the 10 could have been a good time to spring that on Louisviile with the O-line issues.
KQ- They definitely will throw it and I would put money on him doing the Tebow duck/jump throw at some point too.
- Not asking you to agree or disagree with game mgmt bc that is subjective. But on the consistency piece, CBK has been all over the map. Go for 4th and 1 at the 16, then 4 plays later kick on 4th and 1 from the 6 was one example. One thing I never expected from Key was waffling. Does it stand out to you or are some of JOL making too big of a deal the last couple weeks?
KQ- I think he hasn't learned to trust his instincts yet and is trying to go off the book but also second-guessing himself. A great example of this was the drive where they kicked the short FG after taking the delay of game. If you are going to take the delay of game there, tell Weston to not snap the ball and go run a freeze play, it was fourth and less than five. Then take the delay of game penalty. That is something you learn from getting more reps coaching the game IMO though. I watched Alex Golesh struggle at times at USF with this and other young coaches in a similar boat to Key running their ship for the first time and even some older guys who truly suck at it like Mario Cristobal. The one area where GT was a little spoiled was having a guy like Paul Johnson as a HC who had 100% believe in what he is was doing and that it would work and was two or three chess moves ahead most of the time. Most coaches are not like that including many with rings like the guy down the road to the East.
I know Key wants to win, and I know as all coaches are, he's stubborn. However, with how Tech has lost games like the Louisville one, do you think Key has the personality to look very hard in the mirror and adjust?
KQ- Absolutely, you've seen him make adjustments both with his coaching style, staff and personnel. The one thing I'll tell you about Key is that he wants to win no matter what it takes. I think he is smart enough and capable of figuring out the things that are his shortcomings and working through that. I think there are some larger issues with this team that go beyond his coaching or his staff as well.
Any idea what the hold up is with Lockett?
KQ- Key said last week he thought Duke (basically saying 2-3 weeks at the time) was the target. Clearly he wasn't bullshitting. Lockett broke something and had a cast on his arm so it is not like he is dogging it to not play.
Louisville’s RT was holding on just about every passing down(some real obvious ones where the rushers shoulder pads were flopped in the air). Refs aren’t going to call it every play, but how can you get them to keep calling it?
KQ- They've got to be on the line judges ass and the players might have to do some flopping or acting to draw some calls unfortunately.
What do we do with Efford on obvious passing downs? He was better in the second half in coverage but has been a weak spot in coverage this year
KQ- I think you can sub him if you want to, but maybe he needs to be the pressure guy or spy in those situations.
Adding this to overreaction video also so please ignore if you answer but going into the bye outside of getting guys healthy, what are the top things that need to be addressed on offense, defense and special teams?
KQ- I'll get into more detail on the video, but the running in the A-gap has been awful, the left side of the OL is really struggling with run blocking. That is pretty much killing the run game on it's own. Defensively they've got to get more pressure on the QB and get some sacks. GT has two sacks in three P5 games this season.
The kicking thing with Aidan Birr is very strange, but he is the third kicker in a row to have some sort of second-year meltdown, Gavin Stewart the guy whose job he took had the same issue last year where he was great in 2022 and then sucked in 2023 and lost his job. Birr was great but inconsistent this year. I don't get it.
We’ve now played 5 games without a single interception from the defense. Is the main cause for that our scheme? Not getting enough pressure to QBs to force errant throws? Seems odd to be almost halfway through the season with so few defensive takeaways
KQ- It is a strange stat for sure. I think the lack of QB pressures as I mentioned above has factored into that a lot and some weird balls that have been tipped haven't gone in the right direction. GT hasn't had a ton of luck with that stuff this year like blocking the kicks at Cuse and those kicks went forward and not backward for scoop and score opportunities. They just haven't had a lot of opportunities for turnovers. They have also played mostly older QBs who don't throw a lot of interceptions. DJU had 7 INTs the previous two seasons as a full-time starter, Kyle McCord threw six last year at Ohio State, Tyler Shough wasn't a full-time starter for whole seasons prior to this year, but has 2:1 TD-INT ratio career and has 8 TDs and 0 INTs this year and the kid at Ga State Christian Veilleux has an 8:1 TD-INT ratio this year after being a 50/50 ratio guy at Pitt, so that hurts. They are going to see QBs who are more turnover prone as the season moves along.
Other than spending a bazillion dollars what has Miami done to become so successful?
KQ- They invested in their line of scrimmage. I was talking to a staffer at USF over the weekend and he said Miami was so much better than Bama in the trenches and he was shocked to see that having seen both teams over the years at multiple stops. That is where Key is trying to fix things, but it is not as easy as snapping your fingers here and doing it. That is why UGA is so good. Kirby spends most of his money on that DL and they go three deep and then typically have a good OL to go with it on the other side.
