To those that foolishly say that we have the talent we

[dasher]

need to compete, a challenge. Let's rank our units vs the rest of the league. There are 15 other schools. Where does each of our units rank in the league. This is at full health.
1 qb
2 rb
3 o-line
4 wide recievers
5 d-line
6 linebackers
7 d-backs

We have one unit that might be in the top 10 in the ACC. Linebackers. We need talent. We need speed at rb, wide out and at the cornors. We need quality bulk on the lines. Oh, and a qb wouldn't hurt as well.

 

[phil77]

recruiting is also a job for the coach...So they are not doing a good job of coaching up lesser talent or doing a good job of bringing in talent for us to win. Both fall at the feet of the coaches. Need to clean house.

 

[qdawgg]

Speed is low on my list of what makes a good RB and just because our RB's don't break one for a TD on every play doesn't mean they lack quality speed.

 

[Trueblue25]

Personally, its became blatantly obvious to me that talent isn't the problems. Coaching is the problem right now, and I've been a firm supporter of each of the coaches/trainers since day 1.

 

[Blaster]

1. Qb- there isn't a Qb on this roster that can lead this team into the top 25. Your team can only go as far as the Qb can take them.

2. Ol depth- starting five has been good for a few years, but soon as there is an injury oh boy.

3. Db- they were more improved from last year. Gave up less big plays got some turnovers, but left some plays out there and had some talking troubles at times

I thought the team was ok this year but 1 and 2 really killed them as the year went on. Defense was good this year and will continue to be going forward.

 

[Toga]

We want them under the radar guys if I understand correctly.

 

[Whitey23]

 

[tbonezone]

Speed is low on my list of what makes a good RB and just because our RB's don't break one for a TD on every play doesn't mean they lack quality speed.

i'll take burst over speed any day.

 

[Chris02M]

need to compete, a challenge. Let's rank our units vs the rest of the league. There are 15 other schools. Where does each of our units rank in the league. This is at full health.
1 qb
2 rb
3 o-line
4 wide recievers
5 d-line
6 linebackers
7 d-backs

We have one unit that might be in the top 10 in the ACC. Linebackers. We need talent. We need speed at rb, wide out and at the cornors. We need quality bulk on the lines. Oh, and a qb wouldn't hurt as well.

our LB group is definitely in top 10 of all acc teams close to top 5

 

[orangeinjersey]

we've been "in" all of our games save LVille. I think the talent is good enough to win games. Not National Championships, but win some games. The coaching has GOT to get better. Our offensive philosophy (do we even have one) blows.

 

[qdawgg]

we've been "in" all of our games save LVille. I think the talent is good enough to win games. Not National Championships, but win some games. The coaching has GOT to get better. Our offensive philosophy (do we even have one) blows.

Completely agree with the stuff in bold. Exactly how I've felt this season.

 

[Crusty]

need to compete, a challenge. Let's rank our units vs the rest of the league. There are 15 other schools. Where does each of our units rank in the league. This is at full health.
1 qb
2 rb
3 o-line
4 wide recievers
5 d-line
6 linebackers
7 d-backs

We have one unit that might be in the top 10 in the ACC. Linebackers. We need talent. We need speed at rb, wide out and at the cornors. We need quality bulk on the lines. Oh, and a qb wouldn't hurt as well.

This post is pure hyperbole. Here are just a few facts.
Versus ACC opponents
Total Defense 4th
Scoring Defense 5th
Passing Defense 5th
Rushing Defense 6th
Tackles for loss 6th
Sacks 10th
Fumbles recovered 2nd
Passes Defended 6th
Interceptions 5th
TO Margin 8th
Punting 5th

 

[CuseOnly]

This post is pure hyperbole. Here are just a few facts.
Versus ACC opponents
Total Defense 4th
Scoring Defense 5th
Passing Defense 5th
Rushing Defense 6th
Tackles for loss 6th
Sacks 10th
Fumbles recovered 2nd
Passes Defended 6th
Interceptions 5th
TO Margin 8th
Punting 5th

Not to mention that these stats are against 5 top 25 ranked teams of the 10 games we played.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

This post is pure hyperbole. Here are just a few facts.
Versus ACC opponents
Total Defense 4th
Scoring Defense 5th
Passing Defense 5th
Rushing Defense 6th
Tackles for loss 6th
Sacks 10th
Fumbles recovered 2nd
Passes Defended 6th
Interceptions 5th
TO Margin 8th
Punting 5th

These rankings bolster my perception that our defense is above average. Unfortunately, our offense -- in part due to injuries -- is well below average. Coaching, including recruiting, has also been well below average. Game prep, in-game decisions and clock management and recruiting all need to be brought up several notches if we are going to compete in the ACC. In my opinion our problems are both coaching and talent, particularly on the offensive side. Looking at what other northeastern football teams are doing these days I wonder how much room we have to grow without resorting to massive SEC-style spending (cheating?).

 

[xc84]

With a depleted roster resulting in do depth, a 4th string QB, no O-line... We were tied going into the 4th quarter against one of the best teams in the ACC.

 

[KCJax03]

Personally, its became blatantly obvious to me that talent isn't the problems. Coaching is the problem right now, and I've been a firm supporter of each of the coaches/trainers since day 1.

They had enough talent to win 6 games with this schedule, of that I am convinced. This team did not execute in crucial situations against beatable opponents this year. Disapointing for a team looking to continue an upward trend and convince more talent to come play here. The goal as far as I was concerned was to get to a bowl game, any bowl, give the coaching staff something positive to talk about with recruits. Now it will be all about winning the last two games and at least finishing one win shy of bowl eligibility, to finish with 3 wins is an ugly thought that hopefully will not end up a reality.

 

[dasher]

For all of you who cite stats on our d or say we have been in games, how do you know it isn't the coaching and not the talent that has kept us close? Once again, where does a healthy Hunt or whoever you rank as our top qb rank in the ACC? Where do our running backs rank in the ACC? Our o-line? Our wide outs? Our d-line? Our linebackers? Our d-backs? We aren't talented guys.

 

[dasher]

This post is pure hyperbole. Here are just a few facts.
Versus ACC opponents
Total Defense 4th
Scoring Defense 5th
Passing Defense 5th
Rushing Defense 6th
Tackles for loss 6th
Sacks 10th
Fumbles recovered 2nd
Passes Defended 6th
Interceptions 5th
TO Margin 8th
Punting 5th

Please rank our units? Or just tell me how many units we have that are in the top 10 in the ACC? How many teams would tradee their qb for ours? Their running backs for ours? etc., etc

 

[KCJax03]

These rankings bolster my perception that our defense is above average. Unfortunately, our offense -- in part due to injuries -- is well below average. Coaching, including recruiting, has also been well below average. Game prep, in-game decisions and clock management and recruiting all need to be brought up several notches if we are going to compete in the ACC. In my opinion our problems are both coaching and talent, particularly on the offensive side. Looking at what other northeastern football teams are doing these days I wonder how much room we have to grow without resorting to massive SEC-style spending (cheating?).

I agree. I do believe though that some of the best young talent on this team is on offense. I like Steve Ishmeal and Erv Phillips. I think AJ Long showed some moxy as a true freshman playing quarterback, not even Donovan McNabb himself played as a true freshman. It just isn't enough, they need to put more around these guys - a season like this doesn't help to accomplish that.

I am in my early 40's and have been a fan my entire life, I saw this team rise from very bad in the early 80's to a perennial top 20 program by the latter years of that decade and into the 90's. I saw McPherson and Graves through McNabb and all the NFL caliber talent that played with them.

I am losing all hope that this program will ever get back to even half of what they were throughout the 90's.

 

[dasher]

I agree. I do believe though that some of the best young talent on this team is on offense. I like Steve Ishmeal and Erv Phillips. I think AJ Long showed some moxy as a true freshman playing quarterback, not even Donovan McNabb himself played as a true freshman. It just isn't enough, they need to put more around these guys - a season like this doesn't help to accomplish that.

I am in my early 40's and have been a fan my entire life, I saw this team rise from very bad in the early 80's to a perennial top 20 program by the latter years of that decade and into the 90's. I saw McPherson and Graves through McNabb and all the NFL caliber talent that played with them.

I am losing all hope that this program will ever get back to even half of what they were throughout the 90's.

Well, we sure won't with our coach talking about getting guys no one else wanted. That is loser talk.

 

[KCJax03]

What I find most interesting about the talent Vs. coaching argument is that even back in the 90's when Syracuse had a roster that included McNabb, Konrad, Johnson, Spotwood, Darius, T. Jones, Bulluck, W. Allen, J. Turner, etc... folks were still defending the coaching staff by citing a lack of talent for the annual losses to teams like East Carolina (at home), a mediocore NC State team (twice), a bad Oklahoma team and a god awful Minnesota team. So I am not sure anymore what constitutes enough talent as it relates to evaluating coaching. Obviously more talent is always welcome but the real question for me is how well does the coaching staff do at getting the most out of the talent they have game to game? How many games are won and lost on shear talent Vs. poor game planning / lack of in game execution? I would say this year they did get more out of the defensive side of the ball Vs. the offense which was hot garbage for much of the year. I still believe given the schedule that the talent was good enough to win more then three games to date so I would lean towards coaching as one of the primary deficits this year and yes more talent would also be helpful.

 

[Millhouse]

Please rank our units?

chip, this is all you

 

[dasher]

chip, this is all you

No, no, not those units

 

[dasher]

What I find most interesting about the talent Vs. coaching argument is that even back in the 90's when Syracuse had a roster that included McNabb, Konrad, Johnson, Spotwood, Darius, T. Jones, Bulluck, W. Allen, J. Turner, etc... folks were still defending the coaching staff by citing a lack of talent for the annual losses to teams like East Carolina (at home), a mediocore NC State team (twice), a bad Oklahoma team and a god awful Minnesota team. So I am not sure anymore what constitutes enough talent as it relates to evaluating coaching. Obviously more talent is always welcome but the real question for me is how well does the coaching staff do at getting the most out of the talent they have game to game? How many games are won and lost on shear talent Vs. poor game planning / lack of in game execution? I would say this year they did get more out of the defensive side of the ball Vs. the offense which was hot garbage for much of the year. I still believe given the schedule that the talent was good enough to win more then three games to date so I would lean towards coaching as one of the primary deficits this year and yes more talent would also be helpful.

what pros do we have on this team? When is the last time we had an every down back on a nfl team?

 

[Alsacs]

Our talent won 7 games last year. We lost Jerome Smith, Jay Bromley, Marquis Sprull, R'shard Anderson.

Our talent is not significantly worse than last year's talent and we are 3-7 looking at 3-9. That is on the coaching staff.

We have played 12 games against ACC and P5 non-conference opponents and have only scored 30 points 1 TIME in 12 games. In an era where offense is easy because of the rules. Our offensive coaches SUCK.