Last night, my Wahoos got stomped by Auburn. Some of you will say, "what did you expect, CW? Auburn is the defending national champion and they play in the SEC.". We heard quite a few SEC chants, especially in the swcond half. I would like to believe that we were beaten by a better team last night and perhaps we were. Only problem I have, is that you simply couldn't tell that from the game I watched. We were thoroughly outcoached and thoroughly outprepared, but the team that UVA fielded last night was not the team that beat Ga Tech, Miami, and Fla St this year. Some particulars:
Special teams: UVA has been only average on special teams this year. Every punt return is an agonizing wait to see if the return man will botch a fair catch or if the uncaught ball will bounce into one of our clueless players. Our kick return team has been unsatisfying all year. Last night? An average unit took the field without sufficient preparation. Two blocked punts. A botched fake field goal. An out of bounds kick. A ridiculously underdefended free-kick after a safety. The special teams were simply not ready to play, and that is a coaching issue. UVA coach London owned up to it after the game, but a head coach needs to be able to count on his assistants. London cannot count on Anthony Poindexter.
Tackling: Yes, I know. Auburn was fast, and fast guys make you miss tackles. But last night? Even their not so fast guys were breaking tackles. UVA's defense was simply out-prepared; Auburn's misdirection offense takes timing to execute, amd it was obviously well-prepared.
I think any Auburn fan who watched the game last night believed that they were in for a rough game after the first 20 minutes or so. Our offense moved the ball at will. If our special tems had shown up, we might have been able to get into an offensive shootout, since neither team seemed to be able to stop the other. But that game didn't happen, because we were not ready.
Later tonight after I return home, I will dutifully post an Auburn emblem on my Facebook page for 72 hours, and I will plan on once again taking The Hammer to dinner to pay that debt. Great to see a ton of old friends in Atlanta, I only wish the team had shown up. Sorry for typos, doing this on my iPad.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
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4 comments:
Special team play can kill you. Virginia's cost them any opportunity to win that game. I can relate, State's have sucked since O'Brien has been there. We let Louisville back in the game due in part to crappy special teams play.
But don't feel so bad, it could have been worse. At least you didn't lose to Missouri in friggin' Shreveport, Louisiana.
"Sorry for typos, doing this on my iPad." - Conservative Wahoo.
"It's a poor carpenter who blames his tools." - Michael Bluth
But, even the most gifted of carpenters is limited by poor quality tools and shortness of time.
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