After we beat USF this weekend...

[Rocco]

Back to USF.

As I recall, last year's game was our first road game, and Eric Dungey's first game away from the Dome.

We couldn't slow down their rushing attack--at all. Both their RB and their QB wracked up a ton of yardage against us.

Their defense got a lot of upfield pressure against us and disrupted many drives.

As lopsided as that game was, it was close for 3 quarters, and then we just collapsed [kind of like last Friday's game].

I believe that we wilted under the heat of playing in Florida that game.

The questions that will determine the outcome of the game in my mind are:

• How well will the offense execute?
• Does USF have comparable athletes on defense to Louisville, or will we be able to sustain drives, move the ball, and score a lot more points?
• Can USF's QB beat us through the air?
• Can our defense shut down the USF rushing attack "enough?"
• Will playing in the Dome instead of at their place help our cause?
• Can our defense regroup and take away the big play?
• Will our offense continue to show growth in game 3?

Biggest thing I remember was how much faster they were than us. Can't teach speed, but this team is far better conditioned than last year's squad.

 

[Rocco]

Come on Rocco, people walking out of the Dome after that game?? I bet all 32k of them walked out of the Dome saying many of the same things so often over the past 15 years.

That's like reading into the prediction thread.

The people on this board, and the 32k who go to the Dome are part of the solution, not the problem. They'll be back. Everyone else is the problem.

Ha, not sure if you're putting words in my mouth or what? "I'm... Ron... Burgundy... ?" is the face I'm giving right now. Ha.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Also, let's be honest here. You and BC are the Kansas and Kentucky of the ACC.

Leave football to better kids...

Your team went 2-10 in 2013 and 4-8 in 2014. This is some oddly placed chest-thumping.

 

[721Comstock]

Your team went 2-10 in 2013 and 4-8 in 2014. This is some oddly placed chest-thumping.

Yeah, but - they had an OK season last year after starting off like hot garbage, and won 2 whole games so far this year, so now they're 'Bama? :crazy:

ROLL DAMN FLAMERICA!!!

 

[Doc5120]

Ok guy. Your community college has never achieved anything, in any sport, ever. Just because your teams rise to mediocrity happens to coincide with our worst period in school history doesn't mean you can even sniff our jockstrap. Your school is right were they belong, in academic and athletic purgatory collecting the scraps from real programs plates. Run along now.

Thank you for replying to that much more eloquently than I could have. All I could muster up was (that wasn't R-rated material) was something like, "You're an idiot. Please return to your mother's basement immediately."

 

[Bayside44]

Also, let's be honest here. You and BC are the Kansas and Kentucky of the ACC.

Leave football to better kids...

Go back to your community college.

We had a system that was being implemented and worked and got us into the ACC. The coach left and our AD hired the defensive guy instead of the offensive guy who decided to scrap it.

We've been successful before, and will be successful again.

 

[bnoro]

We beat you 71-0 at home with our backup throwing 3 TDs bc we have something to prove against the P5.

How does it feel to know UCF will probably make the Big12 over your commuter school?

 

[anomander]

I really don't think the fanbase has turned on Babers. I know I haven't. I admit, I thought we would have had a much better showing against Louisville, but it's way way wayyy too early to even begin to start doubting. The only thing the Louisville game did was prove to me just how far behind our talent level has got, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I'm still not counting this year as a lost cause when it comes to making a bowl game, but all I really want to see is improvement throughout the year and the hope will build for next year.

 

[actorguy1]

If SU beats USF this weekend I am thinking 6 wins and bowl eligibility. If they lose I will be thinking 4-5 wins and hoping for next year. Either way I will accept it and still support Coach Babers. Saturday's result looms quite large for me.

 

[Orijinal]

If SU beats USF this weekend I am thinking 6 wins and bowl eligibility. If they lose I will be thinking 4-5 wins and hoping for next year. Either way I will accept it and still support Coach Babers. Saturday's result looms quite large for me.

I would go back to saying 6 wins IF Syracuse wins. But whose gonna stop the running QB? Who's gonna cover receivers sprinting down the field? Maybe better question: Who WANTS to hit and tackle?

 

[elimunelson]

If SU beats USF this weekend I am thinking 6 wins and bowl eligibility. If they lose I will be thinking 4-5 wins and hoping for next year. Either way I will accept it and still support Coach Babers. Saturday's result looms quite large for me.

Same feeling here. I think this is a major major game where a superior team can be had b/c it's being played in CNY vs FLA. This will be a springboard game for a bowl.

 

[sufandu]

We're really thin (as Dino said Friday night). We don't have enough DL to generate the front 4 pass rush that this defense requires. We don't have the depth or talent in the secondary to cover the WRs in this league. And worst of all were the basic running plays at the end of Friday night for 48 and 30 yard TDs.

Our offense is going to have to get much more efficient in a hurry to keep up.

It's not just that we don't have enough, it's that they're not good enough. We've always had trouble consistently recruiting rush ends.

 

[Chip]

It's not just that we don't have enough, it's that they're not good enough. We've always had trouble consistently recruiting rush ends.

Don't disagree, at least right now. I do think Pickard and Coleman will be pretty good. But first taste of action for both. Redshirt and True Frosh. Just not ideal. Behind them, Black and Nelson. Ruff somewhere in the mix (I think?).

I'm not saying there's a Freeney or Chandler Jones in that group, but they are all good size for their current age, and were recruited by peer schools. If they stick around..

I went to look at MSU to see where Sherrod landed. He's #2 on the depth chart. All their starters are juniors or seniors. Going to take us some time.

 

[RF2044]

Don't disagree, at least right now. I do think Pickard and Coleman will be pretty good. But first taste of action for both. Redshirt and True Frosh. Just not ideal. Behind them, Black and Nelson. Ruff somewhere in the mix (I think?).

I'm not saying there's a Freeney or Chandler Jones in that group, but they are all good size for their current age, and were recruited by peer schools. If they stick around..

I went to look at MSU to see where Sherrod landed. He's #2 on the depth chart. All their starters are juniors or seniors. Going to take us some time.

Having to play true frosh on either line is not a formula for success [I recognize that Pickard is a redshirt frosh, but still]. What we have to hope is that next year and for the following three years, that these four guys who are overmatched now are going to be better equipped and turn DE from a liability into a position of strength / depth.

I think that Pickard, Newton, Black, and Coleman could form a solid, effective nucleus. They just need to be immersed into a collegiate S&C program and get some game experience under their belts, which they should get this year.

And then, of course, we try to recruit over this group in upcoming classes to the best of the staff's abilities.

Right now, alarm bells go off every time I look at what we're fielding at DE, but in two years it might be a completely different story.

 

[Chip]

Having to play true frosh on either line is not a formula for success [I recognize that Pickard is a redshirt frosh, but still]. What we have to hope is that next year and for the following three years, that these four guys who are overmatched now are going to be better equipped and turn DE from a liability into a position of strength / depth.

I think that Pickard, Newton, Black, and Coleman could form a solid, effective nucleus. They just need to be immersed into a collegiate S&C program and get some game experience under their belts, which they should get this year.

And then, of course, we try to recruit over this group in upcoming classes to the best of the staff's abilities.

Right now, alarm bells go off every time I look at what we're fielding at DE, but in two years it might be a completely different story.

Yep, try to recruit over them, and try to keep them off the mary juwana.

 

[CuseCactus]

Embarrassed that my alma mater is 2-7 all time vs Flamerica Community College. Everything about that school screams meth lab in a Winnebago. It's even directionally challenged.

 

[RF2044]

Yep, try to recruit over them, and try to keep them off the mary juwana.

The Sherrod situation was a huge blow. I wish that situation could have worked out better with the coaching staff, because there is no doubt in my mind that he would have started and had a big impact. Not suggesting that he would have been Dwight Freeney as a pass rusher, but he would have helped. And he would have been physically ready to play / contribute, unlike our true frosh that we've had to rush out onto the field just to cobble together a rotation.