Thursday, September 18, 2003

Defensive tiring...

We've been talking about the D getting worn out late in the game and someone at the AJC asked Gailey about rotating in younger players on the D. The response was interesting:

"We'd like to," he said, "but how do you do that if they don't have any experience, and if you don't get ahead in games, how do you play these guys? It's a tough little cycle we're in."

Hey, Chan, can you say "Reggie Ball?" I personally think that the Clemson game is the PERFECT game to let the second string line/corners spell the experienced seniors early in the game...maybe take on a series late in the second quarter to extend the halftime rest for the defense. How many times do we have to watch the defense fall apart at the end of the game before we decide to try something new?

Of course, we all know what the real answer to this problem is: ball control. We run the ball effectively and eat up clock and the defense sits around waiting. It'll be interesting to see if Gailey/Tenuta try to rotate people in and out with a small lead if we're lucky enough to have one early.