And that is the sound, sports fans

[Chris02M]

Maybe we should change the scheme if it isn’t working. Especially in the secknd half.

scheme is sound , undersized aac level starting lbers is not

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Pitt was very frustrating...

I'm with Fairfax; Pitt was unacceptable, both because of who they are, the lead we blew, and it is Year 3.

I give the D a pass for Clemson. Yeah, they get a full ride through college to enter a game on the final drive and keep the opposition from driving the full length of the field and scoring...

Well, reading what I just wrote maybe I give them just a little pass instead of a full pass. But it was hot, it was Clemson, etc etc

But today? No.

The offense did enough to win. The D had over an hour of weather delay to rest, listen to iTunes, pretend to pay attention to position coaches, or whatever they do in the locker room for an hour during the middle of the game.

If I am the AD, I want my team to...at least by Year 3 in a coach's tenure... win the games against the "peer schools." In the old Big East, that used to be everybody. Currently...for me at least...it is most teams not named Clemson or FSU because those schools treat football like they do in the SEC. Louisville is also possibility in that group because they treat academics like the SEC. Certainly Pitt is our peer, Certainly, BC , Certainly Wake. Certainly Duke. Probably NCSt and I can't even believe that I used the word "probably"

If you coach at Michigan, part of your job description is beating OSU. If you coach at USC, I assume part of your job description is beating UCLA. You get the point. If you coach at Syracuse, beating Pitt is part of your job description. Not because they are good but rather because if you have really turned the program around, that is what you get paid for. They are a peer. You compete for many of the same recruits. You sure as heck shouldn't blow a late lead.

If you coach at SU in Year 3 of your tenure, part of your job description is beating Pitt. I don't get emotionally attached to coaches. Heck I thought Maloney should have had the opportunity to recruit using the Dome as a tool. But I'm an alum/fan. AD's have their own metrics and I would bet that beating peer schools is part of that.

This is one Dino needed to win.

 

[bigmike]

I guess Clemson did lay 2 losses on us.

 

[OburgOrange]

My loyalty is to my Alma Mater, first and foremost.

I'm neither on nor off the Dino bandwagon. He seems to have made strides in some areas but not in others. He seems like a good guy, maybe a more polished and eloquent version of Coach Mac and I hope he succeeds. But that is not because my ego is tied to Dino; rather because if Dino does well, SU does well.

I never bought into the "belief without evidence" thing. That's fine as a religious philosophy but not for someone who is making millions of dollars every year in a job. If a manager that reported to me used that line when I hired him/her, the first thing I would have said was "let's get this clear; I don't believe anything but results." The issue is never "who else could I get if I replaced this guy" but rather "does this person merit keeping this job and this (big) salary". Every executive worth his or her salt is confident that they could replace an underperformer with a better performer. Every successful AD is too.

None of that is to say that his seat is hot. That is for his boss to decide at the end of the season. He has recruited what appears to be some young talent with good potential and that gives me hope.

But I am an evidence guy. After 4-8, 4-8 there has to be real growth in a macro sense and not merely in small areas. The sky isn't falling for me; I was a student during Ben's downward spiral years and watching SU lose a close one to even the likes of Pitt can't compare to sitting in puddles on the cold concrete steps of Archbold in the rain while watching Ben run up the middle on 4th and long. It kind of gives a guy a sense of perspective.

At the end of the day, P5 football isn't an extracurricular activity and has not been one for a very, very long time. It is the entertainment division of the University, a big business, and it has long since dropped any façade of being about being a part of the educational mission of the university. As such, the coach will have to justify his salary by winning, putting butts in the seats, causing alums to donate $$$ to the athletic dept or failing that their old academic department.

Dino knows the score. I hope he succeeds. I hope I see the evidence.

I’m glad to see you back posting again. I love your insights.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Nonsense. Clemson might of been disappointing. Pitt was unacceptable. And our run defense has definitely been awful.

Agreed. We were out manned in Death Valley and couldn't hold on. Yesterday we were out coached and lost to a mediocre Pitt team, who will probably get steamrolled immediately after beating us. Because...that's what usually happens. Unacceptable that our guys were not mentally ready for this game. So many bad mistakes.

 

[kirbivore]

Of a huge amount of the good will Dino had built up with the fickle fan this season leaking out.

That fanbase you are referring to is in full hoops mode now.

 

[kirbivore]

Is it at NOON?

It will be now. If SU had won an subsequently made top 25 status perhaps a later time start would have been in order. The UNC game has 12:30 Raycom sports written all over it. There are only 4 ACC games that week. The premier one is NC St. at Clemson. The others are Wake at FSU and UVA at Duke.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

That fanbase you are referring to is in full hoops mode now.

Before Pitt: Dungey for Heisman!!!

After Pitt: You think Boeheim will play more man this year?

 

[Bayside44]

Why? He hasn’t earned any good will. The last two weeks were awful.

Good grief we go into Clemson and come within a whisker or beating a top 4 team. Yesterday a Pitt team that constantly flashes an NFL facility to out-recruit us needed every break in the world to win at home in OT.

Half the teams that play on Saturdays lose.

Awful was Scott Shafer cursing at Dabo, and GRob everything minus his hair.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Good grief we go into Clemson and come within a whisker or beating a top 4 team. Yesterday a Pitt team that constantly flashes an NFL facility to out-recruit us needed every break in the world to win at home in OT.

Half the teams that play on Saturdays lose.

Awful was Scott Shafer cursing at Dabo, and GRob everything minus his hair.

Is this about 'trying' or about getting results? Just wondering?

 

[Bayside44]

Is this about 'trying' or about getting results? Just wondering?

On the subject of "good will," a coach that inherited a very down program, undisciplined and small, has shown he can beat top national programs and go toe to toe with peers while undergoing a massive rebuild.

Linebacker is a pretty tough role to fill with underclassmen.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Guys, look, this team lost today and it’s crushing to us as fans. The reason is because we got all excited, thought we might be 11-1 and out doing something great and a BCS bowl. In all reality this team still could end up 9-3 with a loss to ND if we win the rest of our home games and scrap out a win at BC and beating Wake Forest.

Even if we lose at BC and ND we still end up 8-4. At the start of this season 99% of us on here would take that.

This season isn’t lost. Win the homes games (all of your support will help) and try to steal a couple on the road and this season can still be special and catapault us to something great next season.


With that being said, we need to learn to stop the run and to tackle at the feet. We are constantly trying to drag people down by their shoulders. This needs to change and this is on coaching.

If we can't beat Pitt, we aren't winning 9 games, or 8 games. We need to get to six games.

 

[Millhouse]

Good grief we go into Clemson and come within a whisker or beating a top 4 team. Yesterday a Pitt team that constantly flashes an NFL facility to out-recruit us needed every break in the world to win at home in OT.

Half the teams that play on Saturdays lose.

Awful was Scott Shafer cursing at Dabo, and GRob everything minus his hair.

that empty NFL facility is the saddest looking thing to appear on my TV ever if you don't include the new murphy brown and god friended me commercials

 

[TheCusian]

What team are you comparing this team to? Honestly. It seems people keep comparing us to the best teams from the 80’s and 90’s and then getting disappointed we’re not that.

“I’ve been waiting for 20 years and I can’t do this anymore!!!” I feel your pain, but we’re 4-2 and have a bunch of winnable games on the schedule. We have a very good coach and an improving pool of talent.

Compare this team to Shafer’s 2013 team. Or even Marrone’s 2012 team. Disappointing losses, good wins. Bowl win. Your mental health thanks you.