Cornell Gameday...

[nyclax]

if petro is smart they will throw out some funky stuff on defense to catch gait off guard. they have nothing to lose. season is already over, might as well take some risks...

unc is a broken team but they will be up for this one you can count on that. i expect a relatively close game

 

[JeremyCuse]

if petro is smart they will throw out some funky stuff on defense to catch gait off guard. they have nothing to lose. season is already over, might as well take some risks...

unc is a broken team but they will be up for this one you can count on that. i expect a relatively close game

From an SU standpoint I agree, this is a very tricky game and one of the reasons I really wanted to get that Cornell win. UNC is not a great team but as you noted their gonna have nothing to lose and will likely be desperate, the Petro factor and the fact the game is at UNC are all little factors that are likely to get overlooked just looking at the matchup on paper. I feel like if this game was next week or at the end of the schedule and or at the Dome UNC would probably be in pack it in mode and SU could probably coast if they came out and got any sort of a half decent lead.

This feels like one of those games that if SU doesn't come out and set the tone early it's gonna turn into a long afternoon. Certainly don't expect a 7-0 opening like vs Cornell (lot of good it did us) but I think SU would do itself a world of favor to get out to a 4-0 or 5-1 start and get UNC into thinking its UVA all over again. I'm concerned UNC might come out on fire and before you blink its 3 or 4-0 and SU ends up chasing for the rest of the half and into the third. SU has done a good job of overcoming slow starts for sure but they've struggled mightily to finish back and forth games late ie Army, Maryland and Cornell to an extent. You'd like to see them at least 3+ late in this game.

As for Petro I have zero doubt he will throw a few wrinkles. Last time SU saw him in a similar situation was 2020 in a very similar type game at HOp and Petro double polled the SU midfield which he almost never did and tried a few other changes that didn't work but were certainly the opposite of his MO.