Dameon Pierce, the player I'd most like to see IF we get a nice lead on the Doremats. You?

Zambo

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One thing that always tends to happen IMO when you rotate too many guys is that they try to make too much happen when they finally get their hands on the ball. I think Toney is really starting to do this if you watch him.
 

Fishon

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One thing that always tends to happen IMO when you rotate too many guys is that they try to make too much happen when they finally get their hands on the ball. I think Toney is really starting to do this if you watch him.
yeah, two plays stand out to me. the first was the kickoff return that he should've knelt. Instead we get the ball at the 11 and conservative play calling ensues. The second was on his reverse. He got a huge gain on it, but I think he cut it back inside unnecessarily. The sideline was blocked well and it looked like he could've scored if he just ran hard north and south
 

Ancient Reptile

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No history. It happens. Kid is really good and waiting his turn. How do we know? We fell behind early and suddenly he gets 1st half snaps. Coincidence? Doubtful. Mullen knows what he’s sitting on.
Which is precisely why he didn't play last game.
 

Marine1

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Which is precisely why he didn't play last game.

Whatever. You’re going to be very disappointed in his success. He is an outstanding back and our leading rusher in ypc after 7 games. I suspect you don’t want him on the field. Great. I think Mullen used him perfectly today.
 

Ancient Reptile

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Whatever. You’re going to be very disappointed in his success. He is an outstanding back and our leading rusher in ypc after 7 games. I suspect you don’t want him on the field. Great. I think Mullen used him perfectly today.
A lot of totally unwarranted assumptions. I look forward to his play by this year and in the years to come. I think CDM is handling him just right.
 

The Lateral Move

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The fumble was pretty bad but he's still a freshman. I still think he's gonna be one of the best we've had in a long, long time when he gets coached up and gets his turn
 

Marine1

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A lot of totally unwarranted assumptions. I look forward to his play by this year and in the years to come. I think CDM is handling him just right.

Today was perfect....including putting him right back in after his first career fumble. Everybody played better with this approach and the two back alignment has great potential. Coach nailed it.
 

Ancient Reptile

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Today was perfect....including putting him right back in after his first career fumble. Everybody played better with this approach and the two back alignment has great potential. Coach nailed it.
You are correct; it was. And his handling of him in the LSU game was perfect as well.
 

YLGator

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Agreed. Pierce is the real deal. Loved that they went right back to him after the fumble. He's got a chance to be an all timer for us when its all done.
 

AugustaGator

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One thing that always tends to happen IMO when you rotate too many guys is that they try to make too much happen when they finally get their hands on the ball. I think Toney is really starting to do this if you watch him.
Agree with Toney. If we run as many plays as today that will help alleviate.
 

Ancient Reptile

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Another result-player. Where was your comment before the game doubting Pierce? And if what Mullen "knew" was that Pierce is fumble-prone (which he's not) or that he's not yet experienced enough to be playing, then why was he playing in a tight game like this at all?
The tense, pressure game was LSU at home against a bitter rival. Vandy had a far different feel. CDM understood that and handled Pierce perfectly. If you were not one of the ones yelling for Pierce to play against LSU, then you had nothing to learn from the fumble.
And, btw, Pierce averaged 4 yards/carry while Perine went for 5.1 and Scarlett for 7. Scarlett caught a pass and Perine was our leading receiver and we won't even discuss blocking.
 

Ancient Reptile

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True, but only by a difference of three plays. Scarlett and Perine had breakaway runs of 48 and 25 yards, respectively, and Pierce lost 4 on his fumble. Take those away and S & P both averaged 4.3 YPC, vs. 4.8 for Pierce.
If wishes were horses we'd all take a ride.
 

Marine1

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Look we are only having this discussion because we have 2 really good older players ahead of him. Suddenly some are tagging Pierce as someone who cannot be trusted with the ball and suggesting it as the reason he was benched.

Honestly no one has been a bigger supporter of Scarlett than me from the jump. Through all the negativity directed at him I supported him and still do. I’ve also been very complimentary about Perine. I’ve acknowledged they certainly have a better handle on the nuances of the position than Pierce. The kids a freshman.

All I’ve ever said is Pierce is a real special talent and we need to take advantage of that ability and use him in spots other than the 4th quarter. Let him get some touches throughout the game. How Coach used him yesterday was damn near perfect. The only thing I would have done different is mixed in a little more Toney.

Everything can be summed up concerning Coach’s confidence in Pierce with this...when we fell disastrously behind early...he turned immediately to Pierce in the first half instead of holding him for the 4th quarter. The game and therefore the season was on the line and he made that move. Then after a 4th qtr fumble he was so concerned he put him back out there. Says it all. The kid is going to a great one....even if God forbid...he fumbles again.
 

Ancient Reptile

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^ Exactly. It's like some of these responses (and the people up-voting them) are in the wrong thread. Again, the point of this one was that Dameon Pierce is a player who it would be nice to see more of IF WE GET A BIG LEAD, and can start resting starters. No one (in this thread anyway) was saying he should be the starter.

And his one fumble, by the way, was indicative of nothing. He got twisted around and came down with the small of his back right on the helmet of the player who tackled him, and let go of the ball. It happens. Franks fumbled yesterday, too. So what?


Nobody's talking about wishes, we're talking about facts. It's a fact that other than one play for each of the three backs, their YPC averages yesterday were more or less the same. If you want to focus exclusively on the numbers and disregard mitigating factors, then in that case you'd have to conclude that Pierce is a better runner than Scarlett or Perine. For the season both of them have an average YPC of 5.4, while Pierce has an 8.4
"... more or less the same.." Really? It is embarrassing to remove the long plays since so many of us think that the ability to bust a long run is a positive for a RB. However, if we do that we get the following:
Perine 4.36 yds/carry, Scarlett 4.33, and Pierce 3.56. If that seems to be the same to you, consider the first downs missed, the extra punts, the increased time on the field for the defense, etc.
One more time (see, I have hope for those calling for the frosh regardless of the situation) blocking and receiving are important in Mullen's offense.
 

GatorTom85

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Wow! Some of you guys totally amaze me!

We just had a game where our team fell behind by 18 and came back with the best offensive performance in a meaningful game since Tebow and it was done largely on the strength of the running game. We had not only one but two 100+ yard rushers and one of those had another near 100 yd. receiving performance as well. There were also major contributions made by everyone's favorite up and comers in Toney and Pierce and all some of you seem to want to do is complain! Need I remind you how much we have sucked offensively for the last decade?

Let me try and take a step back and try and evaluate the RB situation from a more holistic perspective. Coming into the season we had 5 RBs whom we all felt would give us a strong running attack. Unfortunately, the already questionable Oline struggled up front with an entirely new blocking scheme making them very ineffective in run blocking which seemed to be their only area of competence last year. On top of that Davis looked to have lost a bit from his injury and then got reinjured and so we were down to only 2 experienced backs. Meanwhile, Scarlett also seemed to have lost something over his year of penance but was at least still a beast as a pass blocker and was showing strength as a short yardage option. Perine, on the other hand, was our lone consistent contributor and has literally been getting better and better every week. That left the two new Freshmen RBs one of which, Lemons, who had showed massive potential in the offseason and then completely melted down once it began and the other, Pierce, who started showing serious potential when the season started albeit against the other team's 2nd team after the early games were in hand.

Once Davis went down, however, the RB position shrunk down to 3 with Pierce being thrust into the 3rd string position. Fortunately, at the same time, the OL started to gel to some degree and we started to have some success in the run game and the offense as a whole albeit moderate and intermittent. At that point Scarlett and Perine (and Franks to some degree) were largely on point in the running game due to their familiarity with the offense, their demonstrated ability to manage all the blocking schemes and their abilities catching the ball out of the backfield. Pierce remained in the late game closer role but was increasingly impressive with his raw skills of elusiveness, accelerating at the point of attack and surprising power after contact even though he is significantly smaller in stature and build than the other two. These trends have continued through each game until this week when Pierce started getting significant real playing time especially in the two back sets which were definitely a new wrinkle.

So, what does this all indicate about where all the RBs are relative to the coaches plans? To me it indicates that Scarlett and Perine have established themselves as the core RB group based on their experience, maturity, physical development and especially their overall grasp of the system. It also shows that the coaches have super high confidence and expectations for Pierce to the point that they are starting to be willing to put up with his inevitable freshman mistakes with missed blocking assignments and such and with his lack of physical maturity as evidenced by his fumble which was a result of his being man handled. The fact that they put him right back in and gave him the ball after his fumble says as much to me about their desire to help him grow into his bright future as anything because they need for him to learn from his mistakes and move on if he is going to learn to become the full contributor he seems destined to be. I therefore think the coaches are totally on top of this situation and the results since the KY game and especially this week clearly show we are heading in the right direction. I am therefore happy to chill, trust the coaches and celebrate the growth and overall results.
 

Silverback Gator

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Another result-player. Where was your comment before the game doubting Pierce? And if what Mullen "knew" was that Pierce is fumble-prone (which he's not) or that he's not yet experienced enough to be playing, then why was he playing in a tight game like this at all?
It really doesn't matter because he had significant carries early, fumbled, and finished the game well off his average and that of Scarlett and Perine for the game. Perhaps there is something to the tired defense theory?

Regardless of our uninformed opinions and assumptions it more likely that CDM is less "loyal" to upperclassmen and more loyal to the value of experience and one being more a complete back than just a gifted pure runner.
 

RiverRat

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If he was that much better bet your ass he would be playing more. He's a hell of a ball carrier who's time will come.
For the time being watch him get better as he keeps the pressure on the guys in front of him.
 

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