Mailbag 10/18

gtbadcarma: I am a big fan of the idea of fair play and the sanctity of the game aka ethics. I believe there should be a rule that any action that is against the intent of the game/rules is punishable. Plays like Oregon purposely putting 12 men on the field and Teams like ole miss (and now unfortunately Gatech) with “injuries” to slow the oppositions offense utilize “loop holes” to change outcomes of the game. To me, the aforementioned is clearly against the intent of the game/rules. Are you ok with teams finding and using loop holes, which are clearly not intended, or would you like to see penalties handed down such as coaching suspensions to curb unethical play?

Jack: Coaches are going to find any way they can to win. Part of what makes players/coaches elite is their knowledge of the rule book and how take advantage of it for your gain. I think this is much less of a moral dilemma considering it’s backyard game, not politics or something far more significant. Also, by finding these loopholes and exploiting them, that’s how we find out they exist and need to be fixed up, so in a way this is natural troubleshooting of the rules.

Logan: Whenever someone brings up exploiting rules I think of this video about Roger Neilson. A coach’s job is to find a way to win, that is literally what they are paid to do, and if there are loopholes then coaches are in the right to use them. The reason we get new rules is because someone exploited a loophole, and the league had to adapt. Personally, I hate the fake injury crap, it is in bad taste. But just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean coaches will stop using the loophole to try to win games. I’m hoping the NCAA will figure out a way to have a rule in place for these issues in the future.

Chris: I think there’s a big difference between those two examples. Oregon exposed a niche situational quirk in how the rules work - I have no issue with that because it’s a very specific failure of the rule to evenly apply a disadvantage to the offending team in all scenarios. It’s only applicable in a very very small number of scenarios, and it still ultimately comes down to a tactical gamble (i.e. “do I care more about yardage or time?” - there is not always a “right” answer). Faking an injury for a clock stoppage on the other hand is unsportsmanlike - it’s intentionally taking advantage of a rule that is inherently sportsmanlike by being misleading. Oregon wasn’t being dishonest by putting 12 men on the field; teams that fake injuries are being dishonest. Still, they’re both ultimately fixable by rule changes; I have no problem with a rule change to close the intentional penalty loophole (though I think it’s a bit ridiculous that the NCAA said they’d investigate it after just one instance when there’s tons of other stuff that happens every single game that they haven’t rushed to comment on, such as injury faking), and I actively want a rule change to fix the injury faking problem.

Ben: What Chris said. There’s a difference between finding a loophole and faking an injury. Faking an injury is dumb and people shouldn’t do it.

DressHerInWhiteAndGold: What’s your go-to “weird” dish?

Logan: I don’t think I have any super weird dishes that I like... I think some people believe Taco pie is weird I guess.

Chris: Hmmm I don’t think I have anything particularly weird, I’m probably more guilty of thinking stuff other people like is “weird”.

Ben: I call it rice goop. It’s rice with cooked meat (generally ground beef), a canned veggie (peas or corn), a can of cream of mushroom, and seasoning of your choice (for me, it’s generally salt, pepper, and garlic powder). It’s the definition of pure sustenance, but man it hits the spot sometimes.

Frodo Swagginz: In the spirit of feeling Mariah Carey thawing out, what’s everyone’s favorite holiday season?

Jack: Independence Day. That never ceases to be my favorite day of the year with the traditions my family has at home. Our neighborhood basically turns into one massive block party that lasts all day and we’ve hosted our own party for 20+ years, it’s always perfect.

Logan: Christmas. You get presents, spend time with family, get a bunch of time off, I love the decorations, music is generally great... there are so many reasons, Christmas is great.

Chris: It’s hard to beat Christmas for all the reasons Logan mentioned. There’s a great lead up with decorations, parties, etc. throughout the month, then the big payoff on the actual day, then a little downtime afterwards that’s a great reset heading into the new year.

Ben: For me, it’s Thanksgiving. It’s the best holiday for food, especially when you cook a turkey really well.

Yeller Bug: If Pyron starts, how short a leash will the OC put on him? How short should it be? Why not play loose and go all out?

Jack: In principal, I don’t think Pyron will have a “leash” of what they’ll allow him to do. We’ll have our scripted plays to start the game where we’ll get a sense of how ND is treating our offense. If they’re giving Pyron some space to throw, I bet we adjust to allow him to do so. Our east/west screen game should not be impacted regardless. If their safeties are staying back like UNC did, that gives us running room and we might see a lot of the same we’ve seen the last two weeks with a heavy Jamal Haynes usage rate.

Logan: Like Jack said, I expect some short screens and read option runs to start the game to get Pyron in the groove. After that I expect Faulkner to decide what plays they want to run. It’s not like King was throwing deep much either, so we may not even do that with Pyron as long as the short plays are working. With helmet speakers being a thing I feel like Pyron won’t get many play call restrictions but will probably get some advice like “If you see tight coverage don’t you dare throw that ball” before the actual play starts.

Chris: I don’t think it’s a “leash” per-se, but I agree with Logan and Jack - I think we’ll see a ton of runs and short passes/screens. Like Logan said, it’s not like we were throwing the ball around the yard with King anyways, so I don’t expect us to really look all that different with Pyron.

Ben: I think I’m the weird guy who could see us throwing it more. Bear with me for a second and adjust your tin foil hats. We have not utilized the deep passing game all season. When we have, it’s been an abject failure. What if that is because King has been dealing with a lingering injury that has kept him from being able to take advantage of the deep passing game but it wasn’t unbearable until last week? Now, I’m not saying that Pyron is gonna throw 50 passes for 700 yards, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pyron get a chance to sling it some. He’s got a good arm.

popehats: ESPN put out a list of their top 25 college football players at the mid point of the season. Kyle Kennard was ranked #14 with his 7.5 sacks so far on the season (we have 9 as a team for the year). If he was still on the team with his impact, hypothetically do you think we find a way to win either of the 2 games we lost?

Logan: It wouldn’t hurt things. We lost Syracuse because McCord went off on us through the pass game, so having a rusher that could pressure him would certainly have helped. It felt like the Louisville loss was based around some mistakes. Not even a ton of mistakes, but enough big ones to put us in a tough spot. I don’t know if you can say 1 player turns around an entire team, but it always helps to have more talent.

Chris: I certainly would like to have him either way! We’ve been sorely lacking in pressures and sacks, and I don’t think it’s crazy to think that one star play can elevate a defense. As far as those specific games though, I think Logan’s right - maybe a better pass rush gets us over the hump against Syracuse, but the Louisville game was a different beast (and a game where the defense already played well).

Ben: If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas! Having more pressure against Cuse probably would have helped, but who’s to say Kennard would be having that type of season with Tech? Last season, his numbers were inflated by a pretty big game. He may have stepped into a better coaching situation than what he had here, so there’s no guarantee he’d be putting those numbers up for us. That being said, though, yeah, it would have been nice to hold onto him just to have some more experience there, but I can’t say that he’d be a game-changer.

GTalbatross: Hypothetical scheduling choice: Option A: you get no input on opponent team scheduling and/or bye week, but get priority selection for time of kickoff. Option B: vice versa option A.

Jack: Option B all the way. I don’t care if we played at 9am, just get me a schedule that makes sense and gives us a chance to succeed.

Logan: Option B, always. The time that the game is played doesn’t impact too much in the grand scheme of things. Weather might play a factor, but you can’t really plan for that with time scheduling. The reason the scheduling is a feature in NCAA 25 Dynasty mode and not the game time is because one of those things is significantly more important than the other. I want to know who I’m playing and when to set up bye weeks at the best time.

Chris: B for sure. I absolutely want the power to sequence the opponents favorably and insert the bye week(s) at the best possible times.

Ben: Option B. I don’t care if we play at 6:00 in the morning or for #ACCAfterDark (which is a thing now).

chilidogringsFO: What did Northern Illinois do so successfully against ND that allowed them to win? Is this something we can emulate or is that loss to NI something that galvanized ND into a stronger team?

Jack: I didn’t catch that game until near the end, but at least statistically, ND was having trouble moving the ball with only a 41% success rate. Minus explosive plays, their passing was not good in that game. The best case scenario for Tech I actually think is to have our run defense lock it down like it has been and force Riley Leonard to start throwing. We’ve found success with four rushers to give the secondary more time to lock dudes down. It’s still not perfect in our secondary of course, but they are getting better week by week.

Logan: NIU got out to an early lead and then ground the clock to try and make it difficult for ND to come back. Riley was not as familiar with the offense at this point and through some interceptions. NIU did a decent job defending the rush. We can defend the rush and control the clock, the rest of the factors will be more difficult to control.