I mostly agree, but thought Miami showed right off the bat, we weren’t going to win with efficiency. Once Rueben Bain wrecked our offensive line, IMO, you have basically now conceded the efficiency game on that side of the ball.
I touched on this in another thread, but the problem with going slow is it allows specific defensive play-calls, including stunts to come in. Going tempo puts the defense in a “base” package which eliminates 95% of the exotic calls a defense may have. They can mix-up coverage in the backend a bit, but it’s usually very vanilla as well.
To start the 3rd Q, we finally went tempo a bit. It wasn’t Ole Miss fast, but a couple times we didn’t huddle, and we usually snapped the ball with about 22-23 seconds left on play clock.
I’m the first to admit, it’s hard to decipher the offensive success to start the 3rd Q with going more tempo versus Miami just going more vanilla to protect a 14-0 lead.
That said, when you going against comparable talent, especially elite talent at DE where that position specifically, can wreck games, you need to neutralize that threat. Tempo can absolutely do that. Indiana and Miami both used stunts to destroy our offensive line…..I really think tempo would’ve neutralized that bc stunts are typically signaled in once a defense has a chance to see offensive alignment.
I’m also very confident, for example, the pick 6 Sayin threw, is likely just a busted play rather than an interception if that comes from tempo. The ability to read and react to shifts and tendencies they’ve seen on tape, really allows Miami to play “downhill” in the first half, whereas it felt like we were playing on our heels.
I 100% get the efficiency argument and how effective it can be. I’d argue, especially with Sayin missing wide open throws (probably bc he’s a freshman?) that playing for nearly perfect execution is likely a mistake against a team with a very good, if not elite, defensive line.
Also, and not to pile on, but if Day wants to go down the efficiency rabbit hole, he better learn clock management, bc he flat out sucks at managing it. When you minimize our teams possessions by playing so slow, at least understand the best use of TO’s to maximize opportunity. It’s really not hard to get a GA, or even clock “expert” to be on staff to advise best use of TO’s….tons of coaches have humbly acknowledged they’re too engrossed in the game to make great decisions with end of half or end of game TO’s. He’s brutal at it….
