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Message: [QUOTE="Archbold44, post: 5510231, member: 10528"] Really, this all sets up well for Syracuse. 1. At 3-1, losing your starting QB, there is a built-in understanding that it can hamper a season's success. Most teams are not built to have a backup QB that will perform at the same level as the starter over the course of a long season. So, if the wheels fall off, there is a built-in reasonable excuse for the drop off from 2024 to 2025. Recruiting will not take a hit... especially if Angeli comes back in 2026 (and potentially 2027). But if the wheels fall off, the momentum regarding Fran (and to some extent even Nixon) leaving would be stalled. An SEC team cannot hire a coach from a sub. 500 team and expect the fans to accept that. But, internally, the momentum keeps moving because the issue was that our QB2 was just not quite good enough against this gauntlet of a schedule. 2. If you told any of us that we would be 3-1 at this point of the season, we would be happy. We got the road upset we needed to give us a mulligan on the home slate. We just need to win 3 of 8 to go bowling.He only needs to win 3 of 4 home games to get us bowling. The team is playing well enough across the board that SMU is not a gimme loss anymore. Miami and ND have been very good, but mortal. Georgia Tech is its own QB injury away from being very beatable. He has picked up meaningful PT against Clemson, as well as just that garbage time against Colgate. He also has more experience going into this Duke game than he had if he was the started for Tennessee. If Ricky is even 80% of Angeli, this team can win 4 or 5 more games. 3. At 3-1, Ricky takes over a game ahead of the curve for a bowl. The team around him has proven itself to be pretty good. We understand that Willis can be a force and that Nixon is a good dump off option. We know the WRs can fight for balls in the air and that Villari is strong as a receiving TE. The OL has had its moments of very good play. But having the road win means we can lose to Duke and still win 3 home games. Because he was not the QB1, the expectations for him are tempered. If he had started against Tennessee, it would have been the other way around. On the other hand, the offensive staff has 4 games of experience with the rest of the team to know what they are... they only need to figure out what he is and how best to use him. So it is a perfect scenario. Of course, if he does well, this would put him in a position to either (a) portal elsewhere to be a starter next year; or (b) give Angeli real competition for next year. If he does very very well, then things get really interesting in a really really good way. So, no matter what happens, he is in a great situation to be put into the QB1 role. 4. The only concern I have as a team is how playcalling is impacted now that we are down a QB. With Carney at QB2, do we have to be concerned about a Collins injury? Even so... I think this team rolls the dice and will go down to QB5 if they need to for the same reasons set forth above. Every new QB comes in with less pressure and more upside development with a good core and good coaches. We have seen far worse coaches win with far worse QBs. Whether we finish the season 3-9 or 11-1, this season has already been what we hoped in terms of keeping momentum going. [/QUOTE]

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