Does anyone not believe this is a different team?

[TheCusian]

my major concern before the season was the defense, and it has played out. he needs to recruit the beef for both ol and dl, otherwise nothing works

Yep. But I wouldn't say "nothing works"... the O will get better with a better OL - but a lot yards and points "work."

 

[Ish88888]

Biggest thing is giving him the time to figure it out.

And I would say that about any coach.

I think Dino is the right guy, just hope the whole program continues to improve.

Love dino, imagine this offense with an attacking defensive scheme? yes , Shafer would have coached the talent given him this year way better as a dc. this defense can only work with nfl defensive ends and corners . good luck with that.

 

[TheCusian]

This team can go either way next year. If ED is done, we are left with Mahoney. Pitt's defense sucks and is no measure of anything so let's not forget how bad he was against good defenses. We might very well have a true or redshirt freshmen starting. On the other hand, maybe one of them is a Dungey. Whatever the case he will not have AET to throw to and that is a problem.

The O Line is the major question. If they get bigger and stronger and can hold their blocks just a bit more we could have a running game. The jury is out till next fall.

While the defense may be more experienced next year and therefore schematically better, nobody is getting any taller or faster so, the defense is still likely to be a problem. We gave up 39 points per game. Let me repeat that - we gave up 39 points per game! And we gave up more points than any game in program history in the last game of the season after having the benefit of 11 games of experience. The problems on D run broad and deep and improvement may come grudgingly.

A couple of important take aways are the impact a couple of skill players can make (ED and AET), and how bare the defensive fingers was. If both the aforementioned are gone, we could take a big step backwards on offense. Absent some great recruits or JUCO, it would seem we need a couple more years to fix the D.

I think we face an uphill battle with many ups and downs. I just want to see progress next year. Anything more is frosting in the cake.

I keep reading that losing AET will be a problem.

1. Last year at this time we didn't have an AET to look fwd to.
2. This system and coaching makes WRs better.

 

[TheCusian]

Love dino, imagine this offense with an attacking defensive scheme? yes , Shafer would have coached the talent given him this year way better as a dc. this defense can only work with nfl defensive ends and corners . good luck with that.

This system doesn't need NFL corners. It needs bigger corners (that bump the hell out of WR) and safeties with range.

Shafer's system needed NFL corners. Just like Narduzzi, they leave them out there and get roasted. Remember how ND bubble screened us to death at MetLife? We just did that to Narduzzi.

 

[leftytg]

I keep reading that losing AET will be a problem.

1. Last year at this time we didn't have an AET to look fwd to.
2. This system and coaching makes WRs better.

this, this, a thousand times THIS.

I have nothing but respect for AET and wish him well, but do people truly believe he was some dormant massive talent at Maryland that was unleashed at Syracuse? Seems to me that yes, he is very talented and had the benefit of 4 years of polish and conditioning in a college program, but the bigger factor was the system. THIS IS A SYSTEM DESIGNED TO GET HUGE NUMBERS OUT OF AVERAGE TALENT. It was created by Briles at a small west Texas high school to allow him to compete with the bigger schools. It was refined at Houston, and then at Baylor - both places with lesser talent. The whole point is to shrink the gap in talent via scheme.

The season AET had was hugely impressive and he deserves all the credit in the world for buying in and executing to the best of his ability. But to ignore or underplay the impact of the system, and then to wring hands at how to replace his production, seems to ignore the role that this offense had in helping AET/Dungey/Mahoney/Phillips etc reach the record setting numbers they achieved.

As long as Dino is the head coach, I'm not worried about the QB position or the WR position. Lets worry about the lines and the defense.

 

[Stern]

TOTally agree which brings us back to the scheduling conundrum.

BC just won 6 games and has momentum and they stink. Their qb is a statue and is still upright. They scheduled UCONN as their marquee OOC game. We put up 60 and are done and face a tough LSU next year. We just don't help ourselves.

And the cross-over game is AT Miami. Not exactly a walk in the park and another program littered with NFL talent

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

This team can go either way next year. If ED is done, we are left with Mahoney. Pitt's defense sucks and is no measure of anything so let's not forget how bad he was against good defenses. We might very well have a true or redshirt freshmen starting. On the other hand, maybe one of them is a Dungey. Whatever the case he will not have AET to throw to and that is a problem.

The O Line is the major question. If they get bigger and stronger and can hold their blocks just a bit more we could have a running game. The jury is out till next fall.

While the defense may be more experienced next year and therefore schematically better, nobody is getting any taller or faster so, the defense is still likely to be a problem. We gave up 39 points per game. Let me repeat that - we gave up 39 points per game! And we gave up more points than any game in program history in the last game of the season after having the benefit of 11 games of experience. The problems on D run broad and deep and improvement may come grudgingly.

A couple of important take aways are the impact a couple of skill players can make (ED and AET), and how bare the defensive fingers was. If both the aforementioned are gone, we could take a big step backwards on offense. Absent some great recruits or JUCO, it would seem we need a couple more years to fix the D.

I think we face an uphill battle with many ups and downs. I just want to see progress next year. Anything more is frosting in the cake.

I think some guys will get taller, and lots of guys will get faster.

 

[Whitey23]

I keep reading that losing AET will be a problem.

1. Last year at this time we didn't have an AET to look fwd to.
2. This system and coaching makes WRs better.

It's a problem until it's not. At this point it's a problem.

 

[BKCuse]

To be fair Dino said a season and a half for the OFFENSE to click. He didn't say anything about the Defense. And I think scoring 61 with a back-up QB today proves his O has clicked. The D needs both a talent upgrade and current youth to develop.

But can we please be honest about our QB situation ?

Eric Dungey is not the answer. I love the kid but IF he's ever cleared to play again ( and I think that is a very big IF ) he'll never last a 12 game season. He's 0-2 so far and players are more succeptable to concussions once they experience 1, or 2, or 3 or however many he's had so far, diagnosed or not.

We need a PG transfer QB in here DESPERATELY. We should have our pick of transfer QB's so let's hope there is some talent looking to move.

 

[SaltineWarrior]

Great, there is a lot of offense both ways when we lose this year. We are like Loyola Marymount basketball under Westphal, a program that had a quick rise and even quicker fall.

I like Babers's attitude and clearly the kids love him. However right now we just aren't tough. Specifically the defense cannot stop any sort of run and we are shakey inside the red zone with this offense. This program has a LOT of work to do.

We are losing some experience on offense and I fear a few of the younger players (has ED's career ended due to injuries? Does Franklin rise on the NFL draft board and leave early?). I am looking for improvement on both lines to lead this program. We need it.

I don't see this program's potential yet. Primarily the defense has yet to impress me. Outside of the VT game, we just haven't been tough this year. And please understand I am called an Orange "homer" by my close friends. I am looking for reasons to be optimistic.

 

[jgeorge322]

I keep reading that losing AET will be a problem.

1. Last year at this time we didn't have an AET to look fwd to.
2. This system and coaching makes WRs better.

True but aet is a nfl receiver. Just watch him run. He looks different. What maryland was doing with him for 3 years is unknown. Even dino says hes a top 10 wr he coached and hes coached some good ones

 

[tipphill]

Yep. But I wouldn't say "nothing works"... the O will get better with a better OL - but a lot yards and points "work."

not trying to be argumentative, but a lot of yards and points don't work if u don't win. thats the bottom line. we had a lot of yards and points and lose. we need the beef, on both sides of the ball. nothing happens without them---no run game,which makes us totally one dimensional, no pressure on the qb,puts more pressure on lb and defensive backs to make plays etc etc. i am a babers fan,love how he handles himself, the players and press.i believe he is well aware of EVERYTHING. it will be interesting to see the recruiting of for the remaining slots we have left and 2018.
the guy has sold me(and i was a marrone fan)---it would help matters if su would get the plan and timetable out for dome renovation---babers needs that----or we may lose him too

 

[TheCusian]

It's a problem until it's not. At this point it's a problem.

The takeaway shouldn't be "we lost a great talent and our history shows that we don't plug and play" it should be "the staff identified and coached a player to be good and the system makes talent better - which is reproducible."

They did it at BG too. It would be a bigger shock if we don't see very capable replacements for Estime and AET.

 

[TheCusian]

True but aet is a nfl receiver. Just watch him run. He looks different. What maryland was doing with him for 3 years is unknown. Even dino says hes a top 10 wr he coached and hes coached some good ones

"He's coached some good ones" is the very reason I'm not that worried. I'd rather have a few NFL guys on the line and one at QB. This system will churn out good WR.

 

[TheCusian]

not trying to be argumentative, but a lot of yards and points don't work if u don't win. thats the bottom line. we had a lot of yards and points and lose. we need the beef, on both sides of the ball. nothing happens without them---no run game,which makes us totally one dimensional, no pressure on the qb,puts more pressure on lb and defensive backs to make plays etc etc. i am a babers fan,love how he handles himself, the players and press.i believe he is well aware of EVERYTHING. it will be interesting to see the recruiting of for the remaining slots we have left and 2018.
the guy has sold me(and i was a marrone fan)---it would help matters if su would get the plan and timetable out for dome renovation---babers needs that----or we may lose him too

You're not being argumentative at all - my "yep" agreed with all that.