Can anyone watch these games and still think our d is the problem?

[OrangePA]

Lots of teams score, few teams shut people down. we are going to have the same qb and offensive coordinator for a third year after two years in the bottom quartile. Aye yi yi

I was at the Fiesta Bowl last night.

I can tell you a few things.

First, both defenses, especially the Stanford defense, hit hard and tackle well. If SU had played either team last night the opponent score would have been in the 70s I suspect.

There were a lot of very talented players on the field - big, tough, fast.

Justin Blackmon may be the best WR I have seen in years.

And the two QBs, well, nothing to say there.

The most noteworthy part of the game for me was this - it was mentioned during pre-game that T. Boone Pickens has given over $200 million to the OSU Football Program.

We saw two very different offenses last night. The Stanford offense reminded me of the Marrone offense.

It's not about systems. It's about money and talent.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

The Stanford offense reminded me of the Marrone offense.

Glad to hear you had a good time at the game.

I think your statement above is a big time stretch, but if it gives people a reason to hope and some optimism I'm glad to hear that you feel comfortable with that comparison.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I was at the Fiesta Bowl last night.

I can tell you a few things.

First, both defenses, especially the Stanford defense, hit hard and tackle well. If SU had played either team last night the opponent score would have been in the 70s I suspect.

There were a lot of very talented players on the field - big, tough, fast.

Justin Blackmon may be the best WR I have seen in years.

And the two QBs, well, nothing to say there.

The most noteworthy part of the game for me was this - it was mentioned during pre-game that T. Boone Pickens has given over $200 million to the OSU Football Program.

We saw two very different offenses last night. The Stanford offense reminded me of the Marrone offense.

It's not about systems. It's about money and talent.

I actually agree with OPA here, money and talent will get you a winner... Syracuse has neither, money will allow you to hire a coach who can attract players, it will also allow you to build facilities and attract talent. Granted there is huge room for improvemnt for Syracuse in its current state but 8-4 and what was on display last night are 2 different things. Rutgers was 9-4

 

[Millhouse]

I was at the Fiesta Bowl last night.

I can tell you a few things.

First, both defenses, especially the Stanford defense, hit hard and tackle well. If SU had played either team last night the opponent score would have been in the 70s I suspect.

There were a lot of very talented players on the field - big, tough, fast.

Justin Blackmon may be the best WR I have seen in years.

And the two QBs, well, nothing to say there.

The most noteworthy part of the game for me was this - it was mentioned during pre-game that T. Boone Pickens has given over $200 million to the OSU Football Program.

We saw two very different offenses last night. The Stanford offense reminded me of the Marrone offense.

It's not about systems. It's about money and talent.

i think stanford will fall back down to earth in 2 or 3 years hard. harbaugh could sell and luck is great. just a prediction though.

blackmon wasn't that highly thought of out of high school. so there's hope there. i think we have more hope lucking out with talented normal size skill players. i don't think we'll be able to get an offensive line like stanford. I think the best approach is to reduce the number of players who can hit your qb by making them cover receivers instead.

stanford had the misfortune of playing 2 of the 7 teams ranked ahead of them in offense.

more than one way to skin a cat but it's hard enough for stanford to be stanford, much less us.

 

[timkay99]

fwiw syracuse was 66th in defense

oklahoma state was 106
oregon was 63
houston was 65

they beat defenses ranked 25, 8, and 10

it was a good day for gimmick offenses yesterday. it's just one day, i know.

even the georgia michigan state game had a lot of points (not a lot of yards though). two top 5 defenses ended 27-27 in regulation

Syracuse was ranked 66th on defense and was probably on the field far, far less then the 3 teams you listed above.

You are looking at these in overalls. With how fast Oregon scores, their defense is obviously on the field more, so there defense should be worse then Syracuse.

Do you honestly think Oklahoma State has a worse defense then Syracuse? Stanford would put up 60 on Syracuse.

You also factor in that these defenses were probably occasionally in prevent type defenses, give up small chunks but don't let them score b/c we have a lead. So, their yardage numbers should be a bit worse.

And, in bowl games with long weeks to prepare, the offense tends to benefit. It shouldn't be a big surprise then for teams to put up points.

And, I also challenge the people that say Stanford has no speed. Tyler Gaffney, one of their RB's, has 80 baseball speed. So he can fly. They may not use him right, but the dude can flat run.

 

[Scooch]

It's not about systems. It's about money and talent.

At a macro level I largely agree. But when you haven't spent a lot of money and the talent isn't quite good enough yet, a system can cover some warts.

Among the programs who gained more offensive yards than SU this year:

Nevada
Toledo
Northern Illinois
Southern Miss
Air Force
Western Michigan
Arkansas State
Tulsa
Northwestern
Middle Tennessee State
New Mexico State
Army
Navy
SMU
East Carolina
Central Michigan
Bowling Green
San Jose State
Wake Forest
Buffalo
UAB

Now I understand that schedule strength plays a role in this ranking. I also have no idea what system all of these programs employ, nor what their relative money and talent situation is vis a vis Syracuse.

But as a wise man once said, don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. We can't be Oregon with our money and talent levels, but I'll be damned if we can't be better than some of the programs on that list.

 

[Millhouse]

Syracuse was ranked 66th on defense and was probably on the field far, far less then the 3 teams you listed above.

You are looking at these in overalls. With how fast Oregon scores, their defense is obviously on the field more, so there defense should be worse then Syracuse.

Do you honestly think Oklahoma State has a worse defense then Syracuse? Stanford would put up 60 on Syracuse.

You also factor in that these defenses were probably occasionally in prevent type defenses, give up small chunks but don't let them score b/c we have a lead. So, their yardage numbers should be a bit worse.

And, in bowl games with long weeks to prepare, the offense tends to benefit. It shouldn't be a big surprise then for teams to put up points.

And, I also challenge the people that say Stanford has no speed. Tyler Gaffney, one of their RB's, has 80 baseball speed. So he can fly. They may not use him right, but the dude can flat run.

we are pretty bad in time of possession. OSU and oregon were "worse" (ie they score too fast) but we were 83rd...

if only our time of possession woes were from scoring too fast.

 

[Rocco]

And where are all these 3 and outs you speak of?

Are you serious?

 

[kingottoiii]

Are you serious?

We were bad against UL and Cincy. The 5 other BE games we had 2 or less.

 

[Rocco]

We were bad against UL and Cincy. The 5 other BE games we had 2 or less.

I really don't know where to look to find those stats, please share a link.

 

[SWC75]

you should disregard URI. nassib does well against FCS teams regardless of what Hackett says to reporters.

It was 11 in a row vs. URI and 11 in a row vs. USC. It's not the opponent. It's us.

 

[Millhouse]

It was 11 in a row vs. URI and 11 in a row vs. USC. It's not the opponent. It's us.

USC was a pretty good day for nassib. 143 rating. but in the end it was 17 points and 331 total yards which isn't too impressive. fewest rushes of the season that day. 38 passes 21 runs. nassib wasn't the problem that day and USC's tough but the offense shouldn't hang their hat on that game too much.

 

[SWC75]

USC was a pretty good day for nassib. 143 rating. but in the end it was 17 points and 331 total yards which isn't too impressive. fewest rushes of the season that day. 38 passes 21 runs. nassib wasn't the problem that day and USC's tough but the offense shouldn't hang their hat on that game too much.

The point is, we functioned best when Nassib was firing away in an uptempo offense, as he was in that stretch againsty two very different opponents. He's a "rhythm" quarterback and when we started playing "Marrone Ball", his performance went downhill.

 

[Millhouse]

The point is, we functioned best when Nassib was firing away in an uptempo offense, as he was in that stretch againsty two very different opponents. He's a "rhythm" quarterback and when we started playing "Marrone Ball", his performance went downhill.

I'm skeptical of that but it's not like we were good about time of possession anyway, not much harm in trying it. we're already failing to control the clock