Connelly Preview | Syracusefan.com

Connelly Preview

really it points out 2 issues.. 3rd and long D killed us and not being able to run a lick without the QB doing it..

Oline play has to get better when people know the run is coming.. I think lost in the collapse after ED got hurt was the fact that without and real solid QB play we actually finally saw a running game

32-178 almost 6 yds a carry vs wake
45-197 vs UL 4.5 a carry
28-137. almost 5 yds a carry.

almost 5 yds a carry those 3 games,

if we can get 5 yds a carry this year the offense will solid.

As for a pass rush.. have to create one. As much as we lived on our LBs they were not very good when they blitzed so that just made it worse for secondary that was dinged all year.
 
This is just an eye test thing to me but hear me out. Losing Ish and Erv is a tough loss, sure. But how big of a loss is it? We do not know how reliable our returning WRs are and that is for sure a cause for concern, but I believe Erv thrived in the system. I think Ish did too but I think he has better WR tools than Erv.

I can see Erv being more easy to replace as the key to a lot of his successes was the mismatches he created with slower LBs or slot corners. To me there are replacement options for Erv and I would honestly be stunned if Erv's replacement didn't catch 75+ passes.

I am much more concerned at LB than I am at WR, but maybe that's the sentiment across the board
 
Thats about as good a preview as we'll get.

Depth is the defensive problem in my opinion. They have to do whatever it takes to get the 2s more snaps in September.

I'm worried about the safety spot. Hopefully Cordy stays healthy, doesn't bite on play fakes and the 2s grow up fast.
 
I assume Cordy plays safety but right now he's listed as a WR on the roster. I would loved to have seen a post Spring depth chart, disappointed they didn't list one.
 
Really good review, enjoyed reading it. Typically with these I stop a paragraph or two in lol.
 
He's pretty spot on. I'd say 5 wins is probably a pretty accurate prognosis.
 
I understand his concerns about depth in the secondary, but I believe that unit will be twice as productive as last year. Its not deep enough with experience yet but the talent and size is their now.
 
I don't get Wake being only a 27% chance to win. Same % as Florida State. Wake has won the last two (one being in the hurricane) and the game is on the road but come on. Am I the only one who thinks they take a HUGE step backwards losing what might be their greatest QB of all-time ?
 
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I don't get Wake being only a 27% chance to win. Same as % Florida State. Wake has won the last two (one being in the hurricane) and the game is on the road but come on. Am I the only one who thinks they take a HUGE step backwards losing what might be their greatest QB of all-time ?
Their projected starter at QB has a ton of experience. Wolford had Dungey-esque levels of injury.
 
I don't get Wake being only a 27% chance to win. Same as % Florida State. Wake has won the last two (one being in the hurricane) and the game is on the road but come on. Am I the only one who thinks they take a HUGE step backwards losing what might be their greatest QB of all-time ?

It’s not Wake’s fault, they didn’t know
 
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wake 2016 the hurricane game. it was 14-9 late.. wake scores we drive down the field and fumble they return it 80+ to make it look like a blow out.

we had first down at the 10 and not only didnt score but turned it over
first down at the wake 35 and went backwards
first down at the wake 20 and fumbled for TD return.

Wofford again had 2-3 huge scrambles and the TE made a couple long catches..

do people ignore the fact that without our QB we scored 43 and were up 35-24 at the half and 43-40 going into the 4th. they lose the QB and we gain the QB. Which team is more likely to duplicate what happened?
we gave up 2 20 yd drives that just added on to the score.. pretty even game.
 
really it points out 2 issues.. 3rd and long D killed us and not being able to run a lick without the QB doing it..

Oline play has to get better when people know the run is coming.. I think lost in the collapse after ED got hurt was the fact that without and real solid QB play we actually finally saw a running game

32-178 almost 6 yds a carry vs wake
45-197 vs UL 4.5 a carry
28-137. almost 5 yds a carry.

almost 5 yds a carry those 3 games,

if we can get 5 yds a carry this year the offense will solid.

As for a pass rush.. have to create one. As much as we lived on our LBs they were not very good when they blitzed so that just made it worse for secondary that was dinged all year.

My concern with these facts is how much of the success was due to the fact that we were down big in all of those games and were teams just playing the pass and giving us the run. We shall see.

I do love that we add a good experienced tackle in Koda Martin and Aaron Roberts at Guard who had more pancake blocks than any of our offensive lineman in 2016. I think the OL will be pretty good. We have good depth for sure.
 
I was impressed that he referred to Elmore as a “fan favorite,” a detail you wouldn’t know unless you actually watch our games. It’s amazing that he writes a preview this detailed for every FBS team.
or read the board...
 
I don't get Wake being only a 27% chance to win. Same as % Florida State. Wake has won the last two (one being in the hurricane) and the game is on the road but come on. Am I the only one who thinks they take a HUGE step backwards losing what might be their greatest QB of all-time ?
didnt they have a QB that vaulted them in the top 5 or am I confusing them with USF?
 
Generally agree with most of this and it is amazing that he accurately goes this far in depth for every team.

-If this group of WR’s puts up big numbers, I’ll pretty much never worry about a WR corps under Dino again. This would seem to be the low water mark for a while.

-It’s really hard to overestimate how important Devito is. If he ends up being really good, we would appear to be pretty well setup starting next season(and maybe even this year if ED gets hurt again), when the schedule lightens up, the young WR’s have a year of reps, and we have the two transfers.

-Boston College going from likely win to us being an underdog is just such a killer. A few years ago, we had them sharpied in as a win every year. That could be the difference in whether we bowl, which is huge for our perception. There’s just not a lot of low hanging fruit in the conference/division as BC and Wake have improved. We're going to have to clean up in the OOC every year.

Many will look strictly at the win totals, but this is what a rebuild is supposed to look like. We are slowly cleaning out older players not recruited for this system and getting what appear to be more talented players, the best of which seem to be redshirting(Devito, Tyrell Richards, Coley, Cam Jordan, Melifonwu, etc.). It's been a slower process than many of us thought, but it seems like the worm will turn eventually as Dino is doing it the right way.
 
Their projected starter at QB has a ton of experience. Wolford had Dungey-esque levels of injury.


Opening Week: Suspension Opens Door for Tulane Cover vs. Wake Forest

Suspension Big Blow for Deacons
Deacons four-year starting QB John Wolford has moved on; he led an offense that ranked 21st in scoring (35.3 ppg) and 17th in yardage (465.8 ypg) last season. Hinton, a redshirt junior mentioned above, won the job in spring camp but has been suspended the first three games – along with reserve tight end Thomas Cole – for some off-field issues.
Hinton has made four career starts -- he beat out Wolford in 2016 but then got hurt -- and played in five games last season, passing for 399 yards and four touchdowns and for 190 yards and a score. Redshirt sophomore Jamie Newman and freshman Sam Hartman will compete for playing time in the first three games. Wake does return all five starting offensive linemen along with sophomore WR Greg Dortch. He was off to a monster start as a freshman last year with 53 catches for 722 yards and nine scores but didn’t play after October due to an abdominal injury and surgery
 
really it points out 2 issues.. 3rd and long D killed us and not being able to run a lick without the QB doing it..

Oline play has to get better when people know the run is coming.. I think lost in the collapse after ED got hurt was the fact that without and real solid QB play we actually finally saw a running game

32-178 almost 6 yds a carry vs wake
45-197 vs UL 4.5 a carry
28-137. almost 5 yds a carry.

almost 5 yds a carry those 3 games,

if we can get 5 yds a carry this year the offense will solid.

As for a pass rush.. have to create one. As much as we lived on our LBs they were not very good when they blitzed so that just made it worse for secondary that was dinged all year.
I have not looked up the stats, but I thought we were actually surprisingly good on 3rd down in the first half of the season or more. I think the injury situation last year created the impression that we are not good on 3rd down.
 
I have not looked up the stats, but I thought we were actually surprisingly good on 3rd down in the first half of the season or more. I think the injury situation last year created the impression that we are not good on 3rd down.

This is true. Supposedly we were one of the tops in the country for a good portion of the season.

Connelly did make one small mistake when he said everyone in the secondary lacks experience outside of Foster, Bradshaw, and Frederick. He forgot to mention Cordy. That's a big load of experience.

Everything else he said seems justifiable. I say fix the run game and a lot of other things may be taken care of as well
 

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