A few observations | Syracusefan.com

A few observations

billsin01

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So obviously really refreshing first effort. Figured I'd throw a few observations out there for discussion.

The positive

The coaching staff:
I've long believed that outside of head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators and offensive line coach were the three most important positions on a staff. The coordinators are obvious, but the offensive line coach is one I don't feel like many pay attention to. Regardless, this is the first time under Babers that we've had credible folks (White may even be a superstar) at all three spots. Add in a solid QB coach and that's a really good thing. Not sure it means we'll be in the running for a big prize, but it's pretty obvious this team has far more going for it than it has in the past several years.

Tucker: Kid's a stud and really happy he wasn't seriously injured, not just for the season, but for him in general. Fun to watch and hope he stays healthy all year. Just a total stud.

Line play: Cuse controlled the line almost all game on both sides of the ball. It remains to be seen how good Louisville is in this department, but they got destroyed last night. Our pass blocking was decent, run blocking was very solid and defensively there was so much penetration all game. Fun to watch and a great sign, considering how young we are in that department.

Shrader: I'm going to wait before declaring he's a really effective passer, but I will say the way he looked off defenders was impressive. He looked comfortable throwing the ball and looked in complete command, even when the throws weren't perfectly accurate. Had a couple nice back-shoulder deliveries and could have had a bigger day if not for the drops. Hard to find too much to knock. Running the ball, he was brilliant. Loved the hidden ball play -- looked so calm. Kinda reminded me of a josh allen type confidence.

Specials: PK was good, punting was better than last year, Pena had a nice punt return ... overall solid effort form this group.

LBs/DBs: DL was a question mark, but we all expected big things from LBs and DBs. They did not disappoint. Williams was great, Chesnut wasn't tested, Barron had some moments, Jones was excellent. Really nice performance overall. Think these groups will be fun to watch all year.

The negative

Penalties:
Babers seems to have no ability to get consistent disciplined performance out of his teams in this department. Those penalties were embarrassing. Brutal. There is literally no excuse for that. Needs to change. I think he's done a lot of good things, I'm on the Dino train, but between time management (although he did play the end of the first half perfectly) and this, he's got to get better.

DL looks small: Nice speed and athleticism on the DL, but they look like a small group. Wondering if we'll have trouble against more physical teams.

WR drops: No need to dwell on it. Thought they did a decent job getting open, just need haul in those passes. Shrader throws a catchable ball so we need these guys to make some plays.

Injuries: Thompson and Ellmore getting hurt blows. Really not awesome to see the L'ville DL go out either. Sucks for those guys. Hope they are not done for good. Part of the game, but hate to see it.

Overall: Really outstanding to see this team come out and play well. Should mean we are in a good spot to start the season in pretty impressive fashion. Think this is a group that has potential to do some really good things. Just likely need some good health on luck and hopefully we can hold up against more physically imposing OLs/DLs.
 
Goal line stand. Turnover margin 3 - 0. Can’t overstate the importance of those 4 components of the win. Plus Shrader.
Yeah, goal line stand is huge. 17-14 or 17-10 vs 17-7 with the ball is a huge difference. And turnovers, although I will say even if turnovers weren’t a factor, cuse’s dominant line play would have given us the edge, imo.
 
So obviously really refreshing first effort. Figured I'd throw a few observations out there for discussion.

The positive

The coaching staff:
I've long believed that outside of head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators and offensive line coach were the three most important positions on a staff. The coordinators are obvious, but the offensive line coach is one I don't feel like many pay attention to. Regardless, this is the first time under Babers that we've had credible folks (White may even be a superstar) at all three spots. Add in a solid QB coach and that's a really good thing. Not sure it means we'll be in the running for a big prize, but it's pretty obvious this team has far more going for it than it has in the past several years.

Tucker: Kid's a stud and really happy he wasn't seriously injured, not just for the season, but for him in general. Fun to watch and hope he stays healthy all year. Just a total stud.

Line play: Cuse controlled the line almost all game on both sides of the ball. It remains to be seen how good Louisville is in this department, but they got destroyed last night. Our pass blocking was decent, run blocking was very solid and defensively there was so much penetration all game. Fun to watch and a great sign, considering how young we are in that department.

Shrader: I'm going to wait before declaring he's a really effective passer, but I will say the way he looked off defenders was impressive. He looked comfortable throwing the ball and looked in complete command, even when the throws weren't perfectly accurate. Had a couple nice back-shoulder deliveries and could have had a bigger day if not for the drops. Hard to find too much to knock. Running the ball, he was brilliant. Loved the hidden ball play -- looked so calm. Kinda reminded me of a josh allen type confidence.

Specials: PK was good, punting was better than last year, Pena had a nice punt return ... overall solid effort form this group.

LBs/DBs: DL was a question mark, but we all expected big things from LBs and DBs. They did not disappoint. Williams was great, Chesnut wasn't tested, Barron had some moments, Jones was excellent. Really nice performance overall. Think these groups will be fun to watch all year.

The negative

Penalties:
Babers seems to have no ability to get consistent disciplined performance out of his teams in this department. Those penalties were embarrassing. Brutal. There is literally no excuse for that. Needs to change. I think he's done a lot of good things, I'm on the Dino train, but between time management (although he did play the end of the first half perfectly) and this, he's got to get better.

DL looks small: Nice speed and athleticism on the DL, but they look like a small group. Wondering if we'll have trouble against more physical teams.

WR drops: No need to dwell on it. Thought they did a decent job getting open, just need haul in those passes. Shrader throws a catchable ball so we need these guys to make some plays.

Injuries: Thompson and Ellmore getting hurt blows. Really not awesome to see the L'ville DL go out either. Sucks for those guys. Hope they are not done for good. Part of the game, but hate to see it.

Overall: Really outstanding to see this team come out and play well. Should mean we are in a good spot to start the season in pretty impressive fashion. Think this is a group that has potential to do some really good things. Just likely need some good health on luck and hopefully we can hold up against more physically imposing OLs/DLs.
Thank you for a great post. One correction: Jason Beck is more than solid, that dude is a godsend for this program
 
Thank you for a great post. One correction: Jason Beck is more than solid, that dude is a godsend for this program
Don’t disagree — just not entirely familiar with him and my point was more that coordinators and ol coach are hugely important. But a really good qb coach, which beck appears to be, is outstanding. Just my ignorance having not watched much uva in general.
 
I was thinking about this the other day, if you take our OC, DC, STC as a whole. You'd have to put them up with almost anyone in college football, right?

Not to mention an OL coach, QB coach who I think many would like to have.

Moose and Rocko helped the judge find his checkbook.
 
Great post, always enjoy your observations.

While the WR drops were disappointing, I agree that it was encouraging that guys were getting open. Having a competent OC really does wonders in that regard.

And for my sanity I choose to believe there was something up specifically re: the OL penalties. Something that can be rectified this week in practice.
 
I was thinking about this the other day, if you take our OC, DC, STC as a whole. You'd have to put them up with almost anyone in college football, right?

Not to mention an OL coach, QB coach who I think many would like to have.

Moose and Rocko helped the judge find his checkbook.
Great work Dino!

And, John Wildhack!
 
I was thinking about this the other day, if you take our OC, DC, STC as a whole. You'd have to put them up with almost anyone in college football, right?

Not to mention an OL coach, QB coach who I think many would like to have.

Moose and Rocko helped the judge find his checkbook.
It's really incredible that we've been able to put together this coaching staff. Things are aligning for a VERY special season. Now, it's up to us to show up and be loud at the LOUD house.
 

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