Shafer has his built in excuse

[Crusty]

West is 5th alltime in SU history with career receptions. If he isn't a playmaker to you then I don't know your definition.
I was asked to list playmakers recruited by Marrone. I said West and Jerome Smith. Marrone didn't recruit great but this narrative is a joke.

I think you were responding to the post that said Shafer has recruited better than Marrone. Taken at face value, without any DM rationalization, I think that is true. DM never recruited a QB and beside JW no WRs. We had no return men either. In other words, no skill players. There are always reasons for everything, some valid some not. But, the statement rings true. And everything you disagree with is a not a "joke". You can disagree without being disagreeable.

 

[Alsacs]

I consider West a very good possession receiver...not remotely close to a playmaker.

# of receptions is a bad way to judge a playmaker.

Playmakers threaten to break one every time they touch the ball. That wasn't west.

Smith...meh. Solid, more of a playmaker than west. But defensive coordinators didn't lose sleep facing them.

Your opinion is fine but I was asked and answered. I think West was better than you.

 

[CIL]

West is 5th alltime in SU history with career receptions. If he isn't a playmaker to you then I don't know your definition.
I was asked to list playmakers recruited by Marrone. I said West and Jerome Smith. Marrone didn't recruit great but this narrative is a joke.

We'll never know about Marrone. He didn't have the luxury of an IPF or the ACC to sell to potential recruits. His last class was looking decent but it fell apart upon his departure to the NFL.

As for West and Smith, I don't think I would defined them as play makers. They very slightly above average college players who would have been depth players at another program. There's a reason they have a combined 0 NFL yards between them, and it isn't lack of NFL size.

 

[Sudano]

Fell terrible for TH, but being "forced" to play a true freshmen QB because you lost your 5th year senior in the first quarter gives Shafer a lot of room to maneuver.

Win/loss expectations get thrown out the window.

He is . . . . . . . . to play anyone he wants. He can rotate in his three deep if he wants to because it just doesn't matter.

He recruits all the players. He wasn't forced to play a freshman. He played the 2nd best QB on the team which happens to be the backup due to a lack of experienced talent at the position because of our recruiting. Teams do well all the time with talented backup QBs. They even win national championships with them. No excuses. Just win.

 

[Scooch]

Yeah, you are.

Good, glad to hear it.

 

[anomander]

I think they will be all ACC players. Not sure about this season but in their careers. Wouldn't rule out they could could be AA type players before they are done. No sure you could expect true frosh to look any better than those 2. I do think that Fredricks could get 1000 yards this year. I think it's realistic.

Don't get me wrong, I think they looked great too, and the potential is definitely there for them to be excellent ACC players. I just thinking making it after a win over a severely over-matched RI is jumping the gun a bit.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

I consider West a very good possession receiver...not remotely close to a playmaker.

# of receptions is a bad way to judge a playmaker.

Playmakers threaten to break one every time they touch the ball. That wasn't west.

Smith...meh. Solid, more of a playmaker than west. But defensive coordinators didn't lose sleep facing them.

Agreed. That's like saying Paulus was the greatest QB in SU history because he has the highest career completion percentage. West was a solid #3 receiver, but not a playmaker.

 

[dasher]

If we all agree McDonald was awful, then why is it Marrone's fault that Hunt/Drew Allen weren't any good. It was clear that Marrone/Hackett were putting their offense in Zach Allen's hands, so not sure what we can take away from that.

Are the younger running backs better than McFarlane/Morris? Yes, they probably are, but the cupboard wasn't bare on the roster.

Zack Allen? The back up wide out from TCU? That Zach Allen?

 

[anomander]

Zack Allen? The back up wide out from TCU? That Zach Allen?

Hey he only botched 1 hold on Friday night, other then that he was flawless.


In his defense though if we were to put things in perspective he got beat out by the possible Heisman front-runner in Trevon Boykin, and Kenny Hill. The kid will never get a chance to show what he had at QB, and that's his fault (or maybe he doesn't even care?), but I don't think we can make any judgments on how good or bad he is because he got beat out by quarterbacks we would salivate to have on our roster.

 

[dasher]

Hey he only botched 1 hold on Friday night, other then that he was flawless.


In his defense though if we were to put things in perspective he got beat out by the possible Heisman front-runner in Trevon Boykin, and Kenny Hill. The kid will never get a chance to show what he had at QB, and that's his fault (or maybe he doesn't even care?), but I don't think we can make any judgments on how good or bad he is because he got beat out by quarterbacks we would salivate to have on our roster.

I think we can. because if he was a really good qb, they wouldn't change his position. Maybe he wouldn't play, but he would still be a qb.

 

[anglerman]

Don't get me wrong, I think they looked great too, and the potential is definitely there for them to be excellent ACC players. I just thinking making it after a win over a severely over-matched RI is jumping the gun a bit.

I think even you agree that they look like elite players. Who they played doesn't matter. You cant fake the skill sets they possess. George Morris played against he same team and I think he looked less than average and I think that's being kind.

 

[cusefan88]

Everyone and I mean everyone knows that. Just sit back and enjoy the moment.

Very true. Sadly when it comes to SU I stay too pessimistic. Imagine if they can pull 6-6 from this. 15 extra + bowl with all these freshman. Bodes well for the future.

 

[GoSU96]

Very true. Sadly when it comes to SU I stay too pessimistic. Imagine if they can pull 6-6 from this. 15 extra + bowl with all these freshman. Bodes well for the future.

If they go 6-6 the guy deserves a 5 year extension, because that will be an incredible job.

 

[SUFan44]

The speed and wiggle I saw from Estime, Erv, And power/ wiggle/balance from Fredericks haven't been here in years. Strickland literally coasted in on his TD.

Those players showed skills that translate against better competition. Especially the first three.

Still not sold in the OL and wish we had a burner to stretch the D.

Speaking of D...i think our front 7 will be fine. There is size and speed to compete with our peers. Biggest issue to me are the corners.

Granted URI didn't have much on offense, but I thought our corners were better than OK last night. Not sure how last night really translates to higher level competition (all around, really), but I think our D will once again be a relative strength.

 

[Phillymoose]

I think you have a fair point. Whatever someone may think about Shafer, there can be no doubt he has had a very bad run of luck. A true freshman QB has to be taken into account unless Coyle just wants his own guy. That said, if we show major improvement that simply falls short in the win column, I would say Shafer should be safe for next year. Every coach says that recruiting is 90% of the job. If that is true, IMO this staff deserves a chance to see what they can do with these kids (and next year's class as well).

Actually, what happened last night was good luck for Shafer. (but extremely bad luck for TH).

 

[TexanMark]

He is saying we didn't run it up ... We played as conservative as we could because, well, because it's over Johnny

HCSS called off the dogs after the half

He called off the dogs cuz he respects where he came from...he is a man of integrity.

 

[skytop44]

If they go 6-6 the guy deserves a 5 year extension, because that will be an incredible job.

A 5 year extension? Idk about that but I would give him 3 years for sure. Overall body of work would not be worth 7 years under contract. Unless you mean just tear up the old one and give him a new 5 year deal. Gets to a bowl this year and it could be a possibility. But let's see how the season plays out. That was just one game against a really bad team but it was a good start.

 

[RMH44]

Don't get me wrong, I think they looked great too, and the potential is definitely there for them to be excellent ACC players. I just thinking making it after a win over a severely over-matched RI is jumping the gun a bit.

Kind of like declaring that a certain JUCO LB is a waste of a scholarship before having seen him play? I kid...I kid, a soft ball I couldn't resist. ;-)

 

[Chris02M]

its going to be all on the OL as to how successful our offense is . Dungey is capable and better than wilson and aj by a lot saw that the first time i saw him at fanfest and last night was no different. This is not a last yr situation where were done without hunt we can still compete in and win the majority of our games especially with how our defense played and our stout LB core

 

[SUbear]

We ran the ball pretty much the entire second half. We were 2 for 3 in the RZ. The score could have been much higher with more TDs.

We ran a very conservative offense, did not remotely open up the play book,and did not even try to score in the final quarter. All in all I think they played pretty decent for a first game all things considered. Will they dominate ACC competition? Probably not, but I saw many reasons to believe this team can be competitive with most of the schedule and may be able to upset someone who we would not have dreamed last season.
I see some light going forward
, and that frankly was and is my greatest desire for this team, this year. I think this should be a pretty fun team to follow this year. Go Orange!

 

[Crusty]

I am going to say what many of us are thinking. Dungey may be better for us this year than Hunt. I feel terrible for Hunt, but it seems to me that Dungey was sneaking up on him anyway. He is a good runner, but a far better passer. If the ACC game slows down for him as the season progresses, we could have just as many wins as we might have had with Hunt and have the bonus of a QB with a full season of experience under his belt going in to 2016.

A true dual threat QB is a big deal - even is he is a true freshmen.

 

[suloyalfan]

but we didnt do well - 3 tds against that defense says as much

It was actually 4 TDs by the offense.

After the first 3 possessions with Hunt (the third of which he was hurt), then the next 5 offensive possessions for Syracuse were TD, FG, TD, missed FG, TD. The last TD in that stretch was the first possession of the 2nd half and that made the score 38-0.

After that they called off the dogs and the starters were removed (though Dungey played 1 more possession). From there, the offense scored one more TD in the 4th quarter and were driving for another at the end of the game, but chose to just run out the last 9:30 of the 4th quarter clock instead. Those last 3 possessions with Wilson at QB, Syracuse only attempted 1 pass and still moved the ball for 1 TD and could have had another if they wanted to at the end.

I'd say given the circumstances, the offense was working just fine against this RI defense. I think if they'd left the starters in for the whole 2nd half and kept running the offense the score would have been +60, but what would that have proved? I don't think it was worth the risk to key players for a couple extra TDs.

 

[Oakland]

It is possible that this injury saves SS's job. The natural thing is for SS to start the 5th yr senoir and previous starter over a freshman. However, TH's TD/INT ratio was 1/4 last season and he throws an int on his first pass this season - a 5 yd slant! It is quite possible that Dungey is better right now than an uninjured TH - and the injury simply forced SS to make the right choice.

Fell terrible for TH, but being "forced" to play a true freshmen QB because you lost your 5th year senior in the first quarter gives Shafer a lot of room to maneuver.

Win/loss expectations get thrown out the window.

He is . . . . . . . . to play anyone he wants. He can rotate in his three deep if he wants to because it just doesn't matter.

 

[Alsacs]

Agreed. That's like saying Paulus was the greatest QB in SU history because he has the highest career completion percentage. West was a solid #3 receiver, but not a playmaker.

Solid #3 WR wow. I am sorry to Doug Marrone for how I treated him. Please tell me the QB play West had his Junior and Senior years?
We deserve the luck we have gotten with stuff like this.
What would you call Alec Lemon? a#2 WR possession WR masquerading as more.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Solid #3 WR wow. I am sorry to Doug Marrone for I treated him. Please tel me the QB play West had his Junior and Senior years?

He didn't have good QB play at all, but that doesn't change the fact that he was a decent receiver.