OK, enough with the nice-eties.

[CUTater]

I don't know anything about Wake's corners yet. I like our rotation at the position as much as any group since we had Butler, Maxwell, Gilchrist, and Chancellor on the same team. But I do think our fans have overrated Mackensie Alexander a bit. Teams definitely don't throw his way much, but he has been beaten. Even though it is cool to see a RS-FR draw the toughest assignment every week.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

The way our secondary plays, we're guaranteed to give up at least one huge passing play. We love to play in soft coverage, and our safeties have been sub-par this year. If our linebackers can't get to your QB, it's going to be a brutal evening for us.

 

[Pyle]

Last year Clemson's DBs absolutely destroyed our WRs at the line. That will determine everything on offense. If we can't beat the press coverage then our short passing game will be disrupted, anything deep will take extra time to develop allowing Clemson's DL to wreak havoc on AJ. We certainly aren't capable of jamming the ball down their throats so it comes down to the WRs being able to get into their routes without getting mauled.

Defensively...we need to outcoach them. The blitz has to disrupt the offense because we don't have the guys to physically own the LOS against Clemson. We just don't.

 

[Crusty]

Last year Clemson's DBs absolutely destroyed our WRs at the line. That will determine everything on offense. If we can't beat the press coverage then our short passing game will be disrupted, anything deep will take extra time to develop allowing Clemson's DL to wreak havoc on AJ. We certainly aren't capable of jamming the ball down their throats so it comes down to the WRs being able to get into their routes without getting mauled.

Defensively...we need to outcoach them. The blitz has to disrupt the offense because we don't have the guys to physically own the LOS against Clemson. We just don't.

True enough, but different DB's and different WR's. It will be interesting.

 

[SmilinBob]

True enough, but different DB's and different WR's. It will be interesting.

Agreed along with what the refs allow the players to do and what players take advantage of that.

 

[OrangeMojo]

with the new OC I'm hopeful that the TFL plays will be limited. With the old OC there would've been multiple TFL given up on each drive - both in the running and passing game.

 

[AAM62]

I'll walk away highly impressed if we don't have multiple sacks/TFL on Saturday. It's just come to be expected from this team that we're going to wreak havoc in the opposing team's backfield. It does leave us vulnerable to the short passing game as you saw against UNC... but if you don't have the talent to execute it, it won't do any good as you saw against NC State.

As for the guy who asked about special teams above, I'd say our kick-off guy/punter are good but coverage is shaky. Our KR unit is garbage. Our PR is decent but we typically play very conservative there because of the faith we have in our offense. That may change now that our offense doesn't warrant much faith.

Our FG kicker has been good of late but I have no confidence in his if he has to kick a game-winner.

I would be scared if they slid Beasley over the right tackle but that Hickey vs. Beasley matchup last year was the only fun thing to watch.

 

[CUTater]

Last year Clemson's DBs absolutely destroyed our WRs at the line. That will determine everything on offense. If we can't beat the press coverage then our short passing game will be disrupted, anything deep will take extra time to develop allowing Clemson's DL to wreak havoc on AJ. We certainly aren't capable of jamming the ball down their throats so it comes down to the WRs being able to get into their routes without getting mauled.

Defensively...we need to outcoach them. The blitz has to disrupt the offense because we don't have the guys to physically own the LOS against Clemson. We just don't.

I had actually forgotten how well our CBs played y'all last year. Our CBs are better this year. Have y'all upgraded at WR?

You can control the LOS when we are on offense. That is an indictment of our situation along the OL. We've been decimated by injuries up front.

 

[CUTater]

I would be scared if they slid Beasley over the right tackle but that Hickey vs. Beasley matchup last year was the only fun thing to watch.

I don't think we'll see Beasley move around. He has destroyed every tackle he's faced this year, including Erving at FSU.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

I had actually forgotten how well our CBs played y'all last year. Our CBs are better this year. Have y'all upgraded at WR?

We have 5 injured WRs at the moment, including both of our slot guys. We have a true frosh we think is emerging. We have a couple of guys who sometimes get open and catch the ball, then immediately get tackled. That's... about it.

 

[CUTater]

We have 5 injured WRs at the moment, including both of our slot guys. We have a true frosh we think is emerging. We have a couple of guys who sometimes get open and catch the ball, then immediately get tackled. That's... about it.

I can't say I'm upset to read that.

 

[Entropic]

Did you just refer to Riley Dixon as being merely "capable"?

He's all of the Avengers rolled into one! How dare you!?



No but seriously I would say he's legit one of the 10-ish best punters in the country. And he would look cool in an Iron Man suit.

54 Riley Dixon Syracuse attempts 34 --- total yards 1461 ---- average 43.0

His stats say he's 54th in the country

 

[RMH44]

I don't think we'll see Beasley move around. He has destroyed every tackle he's faced this year, including Erving at FSU.

Not saying Hickey can contain Beasley by himself, but imo, he's a better LT than Erving. It should be fun to watch.

 

[OrangeMojo]

54 Riley Dixon Syracuse attempts 34 --- total yards 1461 ---- average 43.0

His stats say he's 54th in the country

maybe that's because SU is so damn good at moving the ball down the field and then not scoring - he's not getting the opportunities for big punts because the Orange's drives are all stalling on the opponents side of the field :noidea:

kid has definitely been doing a good job

 

[Entropic]

Syracuse
FBS RANKINGOFFENSEDEFENSE
Rushing192.0 (46th)126.9 (31st)
Passing214.3 (84th)230.6 (63rd)
Overall73rd43rd

Clemson
FBS RANKINGOFFENSEDEFENSE
Rushing137.1 (94th)103.6 (13th)
Passing303.0 (22nd)179.4 (14th)
Overall46th5th

 

[Entropic]

Both teams are going to struggle to put points on the board based on statistics. The clemson offensive stats are blown up a bit from the current reality and syracuses are likely a bit lower than the current reality.

 

[jekelish]

54 Riley Dixon Syracuse attempts 34 --- total yards 1461 ---- average 43.0

His stats say he's 54th in the country

You realize that stats don't tell the entire story, right? He doesn't determine where he's punting from, but he's shown great placement on his punts. If he's punting from the 45 or 50 half the time, of course he's not going to average 50 yards per punt.

 

[Entropic]

You realize that stats don't tell the entire story, right? He doesn't determine where he's punting from, but he's shown great placement on his punts. If he's punting from the 45 or 50 half the time, of course he's not going to average 50 yards per punt.

I hear ya. I think Dixon is a good punter and one of the bright spots on Syracuse right now. I just don't think Syracuse has a top 10 anything on the team at this time.

 

[thevalley]

How have you guys fared with mobile QBS?

We shut down Marquise Williams (7 carries, -3 yds) who ran all over VT (19 for 94), ND (18 for 132), and GT (16 for 73). And after seeing Jacoby Brissett throwing off tacklers against FSU, I was nervous. We ate his lunch (16 carries, 14 yards). Used to be a weakness but having solid corners has changed that. I do wonder though if the D can keep from getting leg weary as the season wears on. They've had a helluva burden the last two weeks.

 

[AAM62]

We have 5 injured WRs at the moment, including both of our slot guys. We have a true frosh we think is emerging. We have a couple of guys who sometimes get open and catch the ball, then immediately get tackled. That's... about it.

True freshman aside, I would definitely consider Steven Ishmael an upgrade

 

[SmilinBob]

We shut down Marquise Williams (7 carries, -3 yds) who ran all over VT (19 for 94), ND (18 for 132), and GT (16 for 73). And after seeing Jacoby Brissett throwing off tacklers against FSU, I was nervous. We ate his lunch (16 carries, 14 yards). Used to be a weakness but having solid corners has changed that. I do wonder though if the D can keep from getting leg weary as the season wears on. They've had a helluva burden the last two weeks.

Good job vs some quality running qb's. Those teams depend on their qb running more than SU does but point taken.

 

[Crusty]

I had actually forgotten how well our CBs played y'all last year. Our CBs are better this year. Have y'all upgraded at WR?

You can control the LOS when we are on offense. That is an indictment of our situation along the OL. We've been decimated by injuries up front.

Your CB's are a bit better than last year but not quite as good (stat wise) as Wake. Our receivers are better and our QB is more accurate.

When our OL is healthy, they are pretty good.

 

[CUTater]

Your CB's are a bit better than last year but not quite as good (stat wise) as Wake. Our receivers are better and our QB is more accurate.

When our OL is healthy, they are pretty good.

Stats are a really bad way to evaluate CBs. The best ones don't accumulate any stats at all.

 

[Pyle]

Your CB's are a bit better than last year but not quite as good (stat wise) as Wake. Our receivers are better and our QB is more accurate.

When our OL is healthy, they are pretty good.

I seriously hope they aren't better because last year they held our #1, #2, and #3 WRs to zero catches. Zero, zilch, nada, goose egg, nothing, not even 1, at all, the entire game.

 

[ImperialOrange]

I'm a bit shocked no one (JarheadJim) has misread "nice-eties" and started posting NSFW pictures as result.