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Post by rgs318 on Sept 12, 2016 8:32:10 GMT -5
The defense is the bigger issue IMO. 389 total yards given up against Morgan State, 552 vs. UNH. Albany ran for 252 in the win at URI Saturday night. HC's ability to stop that run is going to be a huge factor this weekend. Albany has a strong running game, I have to agree that stopping it will be essential.
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Post by rgs318 on Sept 12, 2016 8:52:21 GMT -5
Albany was outgained 403 yards to 283 by Buffalo. However, UB had 4 turnovers and that was their undoing. Albany's top rusher is Ibiokun-Hanks. He has run for 104 yards and 178 yards in Albany's first two games.
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jstew
Sophomore
Posts: 28
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Post by jstew on Sept 12, 2016 10:52:16 GMT -5
Lack of a strong running game continues to be an issue for HC as it has been for much of the last decade. How many fourth quarter leads have we squandered by not being able to control the clock late in the game. Until coach Gilmore can figure out a way to control the ground game we'll continue to see these games slip away in the 4th quarter. Since 2009 we've seen a RB for HC gain over 100 yards only four times. The last time it happened was 2013.
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Post by sader1970 on Sept 12, 2016 11:15:31 GMT -5
I know TG is aware of this. We had a verbal commit from what may have been an answer to our problems but kid reneged and went to a FBS school.
Effort there but no results . . . . yet.
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Post by gks on Sept 12, 2016 11:16:33 GMT -5
Guild has to stay on the field. His injury was key. Rushing is also a mentality. If you constantly line up in shot gun and four wides you're not going to be a good rushing team.
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Post by beerseach on Sept 12, 2016 11:43:14 GMT -5
Gabe's injury as well as the other players mentioned earlier all hurt Holy Cross's chances to win the game. It doesn't appear the Walker is the answer at RB. Maybe they should give the freshman an opportunity to see what he has. Walker's running ability is ok but if you watched the game as I did, his inability or lack of willingness to pass block for Pujals was a huge key in the game. When Guild went down, Pujals started to get pressured from the outside and I saw at least three instances where Walker gave a half-hearted effort to protect Pujals and led to sacks. I was shocked they just stuck with walker at RB and didn't give Alexander a shot. I can't believe he would have done any worse. Also, I thought the defense played ok until the QB broke off several long runs off of broken plays. Seemed to hurt our defense's confidence after that as they never got into good tackling form again after that. Even then our defense came up with several big plays to keep us in the game and our offense couldn't capitalize. All in all pretty disappointing defeat but I still think Holy Cross is poised to have a very good season. With all the injuries the other night, I would like to see some freshman from this last class get some time and see if they can contribute. The younger players on this team have got to step up!
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Post by hcgrad94 on Sept 13, 2016 6:47:08 GMT -5
Playing freshmen is a dicey proposition with a few rare exceptions. Hard for kids with no red shirt year to be physically and mentally ready to go up against 21 and 22 year olds at this point in the season.
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Post by bringbackcaro on Sept 15, 2016 18:50:42 GMT -5
I disagree with the notion that the defense lost the UNH game for HC, and think they were actually the only reason we were in the game.
The defense gave the offense he ball at the HC 45 wth the interception on the first drive, then forced a stop on 4th down to give the offense the ball at the UNH 43 on the second drive. This field position led to two touchdowns and HC up 14-0 at around the 5:00 minute mark in the 1st quarter.
UNH then scored to make it 14-7, and HC answered with a touchdown drive to take the lead 21-7 with under a minute left in the 1st quarter.
After that possession, the offense had the ball 10 more times in quarters 2-4 (not counting the final possession when the game was over) and got points on 1/10 of those drives. You're not going to beat a CAA team with that type of offensive performance for 3/4 of the game.
The first huge miss came at the end of the 2nd quarter, when HC had the ball up 21-13 with a chance to expand the lead, get the ball at the start of the 2nd half and put UNH away. We get to the UNH 38 with about 1:40 left, and the next two plays were Pujals rushing for no gain and then Pujals taking a horrible sack. After a short pass to Wieczorek that he turned into a gain of 13, it put us into a 4th and 5 situation where we were out of field goal range because we took a sack on 2nd down. On 4th, Pujals threw to Wieczorek short of the sticks for a turnover and a huge missed opportunity.
With 1:26 left in the 3rd quarter, the offense got the ball after a UNH touchdown to make the score 32-28 UNH. HC the had the ball for FIVE consecutive possessions with the defense holding the score there, and the offense failed to do anything with any of those 5 possessions.
Those 5 possessions: 1. 3 plays, 9 yards, 1:40 2. 4 plays, 25 yards, 0:33 3. 3 plays, 7 yards, 1:07 4. 4 plays, 9 yards, 1:30 5. 3 plays, 0 yards, 0:15
5 drives, 50 yards.
Somehow, some way the defense kept UNH from scoring that stretch, which is miraculous, but it was the offense that really let us down by not converting on anything. I expect a lot more from the offense in these situations, especially with a QB who has started for 4 years.
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Post by hchoops on Sept 15, 2016 19:04:03 GMT -5
Fine analysis Very little was wrong with the 4 year QB Now the play calling and the loss of GG was another story
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Post by bringbackcaro on Sept 15, 2016 19:15:13 GMT -5
Fine analysis Very little was wrong with the 4 year QB Now the play calling and the loss of GG was another story PP played a nice game, but was extremely quiet when the game was on the line. Also, It seemed like the largest play calling critique was running Walker on 4th and 1, but people forget that we should have never been in that position if the short throw to Walker on 3rd down was on the mark and had not led him directly out of bounds short of the sticks.
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Post by hchoops on Sept 15, 2016 19:19:22 GMT -5
Every throw cannot be perfect. PP was not near the top of the reasons we lost that game
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Post by timholycross on Sept 15, 2016 20:54:35 GMT -5
Every throw cannot be perfect. PP was not near the top of the reasons we lost that game ...and Walker did not distinguish himself on that play either. Seemed to lose track of where he was vis-a-vis the sideline, at least a little bit.
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Post by gateraider on Sept 16, 2016 0:07:49 GMT -5
Lack of a strong running game continues to be an issue for HC as it has been for much of the last decade. How many fourth quarter leads have we squandered by not being able to control the clock late in the game. Until coach Gilmore can figure out a way to control the ground game we'll continue to see these games slip away in the 4th quarter. Since 2009 we've seen a RB for HC gain over 100 yards only four times. The last time it happened was 2013. I had to read this post twice because I find it hard to believe. Even now I wonder if those stats could be right. It just doesn't seem possible to have a successful team with almost no running game even with the good QB's HC has had over the years..
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Post by joe on Sept 16, 2016 6:35:14 GMT -5
I concede that this is a compelling statistic. I can't recall how many posts I've made in the last few years about the getting a brusing back in the stable. I do think this was addressed in recruiting but it seems we're not ready for prime time on this quite yet. I've been saying our missing link is the ability to grind it out the 4th quarter like teams do to us time and time again. By having sustained drives it keeps the defense on the bench and helps prevent them from wearing down and breaking at the very end of the game. Based on what I know about football and having watched almost every game, every season, this is about the only criticism I would feel confident in making about this team. The rest is frankly playing Monday morning QB in my opinion. Apart from this, as I said from the stands at UNH, we have a very talented team, although lopsided with upperclassmen. Watching on TV or listened on the radio would probably lead the casual observer to wonder what this team is all about, as we are still a little unprdictable and our strategic moves often "confusing" at key moments.
I want more than anything to see CTG pull out a terrific season this year. He's run a clean, successful program, and graduated tremendous, upstanding guys who will go on to make HC proud. Big cups of Dunkin Donuts coffee on me at the start of the 4th quarter, on me!
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Post by sarasota on Sept 16, 2016 7:51:44 GMT -5
CTG has been "successful." In terms of WINNING? Really? Talk about low expectations.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Sept 16, 2016 8:51:58 GMT -5
I love bruising backs. We have not had a decade long drought of bruisers---Eddie Houghton was a very good, very punishing back--tough to bring down, good for the extra yard. I want one or more big back on the roster every year, but let's give Eddie his due.
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Post by bringbackcaro on Sept 16, 2016 10:56:55 GMT -5
Lack of a strong running game continues to be an issue for HC as it has been for much of the last decade. How many fourth quarter leads have we squandered by not being able to control the clock late in the game. Until coach Gilmore can figure out a way to control the ground game we'll continue to see these games slip away in the 4th quarter. Since 2009 we've seen a RB for HC gain over 100 yards only four times. The last time it happened was 2013. I had to read this post twice because I find it hard to believe. Even now I wonder if those stats could be right. It just doesn't seem possible to have a successful team with almost no running game even with the good QB's HC has had over the years.. When HC won the PL in 2009, Dom Randolph was the leading rusher with 480. The "top two" running backs (Bellomo and Houghton) had 442 and 389. The old fashion idea that you need a running game with a big, bruising running back is out-dated with the spread offenses in today's game, where short passes with a high completion percentage act as runs. The Patriots, for example, have been pretty damn effective without having even close to a star running back since (maybe) Corey Dillon. I would love to see us have a more dynamic Zone Read package, but we are way too predictable right now (the UNH QB was miles ahead of us in that package), and the other area where we are lacking is completing intermediate passes into tight windows when we need a 3rd down conversion. We are doing fine with the short passing game to replace running the ball with an RB 30+ times per game, but we need more if we are going to get over he hump, and I am afraid that the current offense has plateaued. We can accumulate a lot of yards, but it's a different story when the game is on the line and we need to convert a 3rd and 7.
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Post by gateraider on Sept 16, 2016 11:14:53 GMT -5
Add the two RB's totals and you have 831 yards. That is 8 games in 2009 with a RB at 100 yards a game. Add a few more yards from the other RB's and you are at 9 or 10 games with a 100 yard RB. In effect HC had a run game in 2009. It is good to have the ability to run.
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Post by bringbackcaro on Sept 16, 2016 16:04:06 GMT -5
Add the two RB's totals and you have 831 yards. That is 8 games in 2009 with a RB at 100 yards a game. Add a few more yards from the other RB's and you are at 9 or 10 games with a 100 yard RB. In effect HC had a run game in 2009. It is good to have the ability to run. By my quick tally, we had 4 games with RB's combining for over 100 yards in 2009. 12 games in 2009, so the RB's averaged 69 YPG. We had 62 yards from Walker and Guild vs UNH. Accuracy and ability to complete passes into coverage is a bigger concern right now than finding a 100-yard rusher.
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