Dino's Game 2 Press Conference for Pitt | Syracusefan.com

Dino's Game 2 Press Conference for Pitt


Coach Babers says it was a lot of "self mistakes" against UNC. For 3 quarters it was a heck of a football game, but they left too much meat on the bone with those mistakes.

Babers said Chris Elmore was one of Syracuse's best players at North Carolina. "For someone to play that position at that level vs. the defensive linemen he was playing, he played extremely well. He was one of the guys who I thought played winning football."

On Elmore switching to guard- "He's played running back, fullback, tight end---it's not like the guy is 225 pounds, he's 285 pounds. And I promise you wouldn't say something mean about his mom if you saw him in bar"

Babers said the offensive line in general needs to get a better push. Think anyone who went back and watched the UNC tape could see that.

Babers on facing UNC and Pitt's d-lines early: "I think it's a good test."

Babers believes Syracuse's receivers had four drops in the UNC game.

Babers on QB Tommy DeVito: "I think that everybody improves greatly from their first game to the second game." Dino reminds everyone that there was no scrimmaging this spring, and that DeVito didn't get a ton of live reps during the fall.

Babers said he expects the offensive communication to be "drastically improved" in Week 2.

Babers implies there won't be significant scheme/personnel changes made before Week 2. He wants to get two games' worth of sample size before making adjustments.

Babers on minimal TE usage: "We ran a lot of formations with four wide receivers. I'm not sure how many times they were even out on the field. Different defense this week. Different opportunities."

Babers on Andre Szmyt's missed FG vs. UNC: "It's his third year and his kicking percentage is around 80-something percent for his entire career. When Andre misses, I really don't say much to him because he doesn't miss all that much."

Babers said "we've got some guys who are banged up" from the UNC game. He doesn't offer any specifics, but says practice time will be affected.

Babers on how happy he is to be playing college football right now: "I was talking to an official during the UNC game, and I told him even though it was a bad call, I'm just excited to be out here and playing. We don't know if we can play all 11 games, but we'll see."

Babers on the defense's strong outing vs. UNC: "I'm really optimistic about our defense. I know people are down on our offense. We're waiting to see what Pitt can do against a team with our talent level. I think we're going to learn a lot more about our football team this week."

Babers implies Syracuse is at a bit of a disadvantage, having shown a full game of tape to Pitt whereas the Panthers beat up on Austin Peay 55-0.

Babers says the playbook is smaller than usual to start the year, but it shouldn't stay that way. "As the season goes, the book grows."
 
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Still defending TD. I keep hearing limited time as an excuse. The defensive players also had limited time and an entire new scheme but they did great. Elmore moved to a position he has not played since high school and did really good. TD on the other hand has been in the same system for 4 years. Gilbert maybe new but it is the same system and same wr minus Jackson. Did he completely loose timing with all his other receivers? TD stat line was something like 11 for 32. If his receivers only dropped 4 passes his passing percentage is below 50 percent.
 
The emphasis on game tape is getting a little old. How many times have we played a Narduzzi coached team? We should know 80-90% of what they will do and focus on that. We should be able to adjust off of that during the game.
 
Spreading the field with 4 wide outs was confusing to me (given our tight ends have proven to be capable pass catchers). So you can imagine how confused I was when we did spread out 5 wide a couple of times.
 
The emphasis on game tape is getting a little old. How many times have we played a Narduzzi coached team? We should know 80-90% of what they will do and focus on that. We should be able to adjust off of that during the game.

I think it has more to do with personnel than plays. just my opinion.
 
I think it has more to do with personnel than plays. just my opinion.
Maybe, but what do we not know about their personnel? We probably have a high percentage of recruiting overlap and presumably 75% of the roster was on last year's team and probably a higher percentage than that for their impact players.
I just don't see a lot of successful coaches bemoaning a lack of film and we seem to hear it frequently.
 
After listening to the presser, it seems like there may be some interesting personnel changes after the Pitt game if these players can't figure things out.
 
I just don't see a lot of successful coaches bemoaning a lack of film and we seem to hear it frequently.

I don't think recruiting overlap from high school would have any bearing on what we know. Pitt would have to watch film to get an idea of Elmore playing guard for example. Or our new freshman linebackers or the running backs for that matter. I can't recall does Pitt have a new or returning QB? New or returning CBs or Safeties ?

How many other teams though do you follow to the level that you would hear about 'film' comments? I'm curious because I personally watch about a dozen games a week but I've never read or watched random team PCs; pre-game or post game or followed any other team to the degree where I'd hear a comment like that. You might be right about bemoaning film but it's not exactly something that a mainstream outlet would report. I've never seen a Syracuse 'film' comment on ESPN web page for example.

Regarding sports teams I'm involved with we always watch film and I'd be handicapped for sure if I didn't have a fresh scouting report or some film.
 
I don't think recruiting overlap from high school would have any bearing on what we know. Pitt would have to watch film to get an idea of Elmore playing guard for example. Or our new freshman linebackers or the running backs for that matter. I can't recall does Pitt have a new or returning QB? New or returning CBs or Safeties ?

How many other teams though do you follow to the level that you would hear about 'film' comments? I'm curious because I personally watch about a dozen games a week but I've never read or watched random team PCs; pre-game or post game or followed any other team to the degree where I'd hear a comment like that. You might be right about bemoaning film but it's not exactly something that a mainstream outlet would report. I've never seen a Syracuse 'film' comment on ESPN web page for example.

Regarding sports teams I'm involved with we always watch film and I'd be handicapped for sure if I didn't have a fresh scouting report or some film.
My comment about recruiting overlap only applies to the players that haven't seen the field against us yet. Narrow that down further to account for their impact players and were taking maybe a small handful of guys.
To your point about being handicapped by not having film or a fresh scouting report doesn't really apply in this case because, as I said, we play Pitt every year, which gets us at least 3/4ths of the way there and regardless of their opponent last week, there is some film to add pieces to the puzzle so that we should have a pretty good picture of what Pitt is bringing to the game on Saturday.
I probably watch about a dozen or so pressers of other coaches in a season - usually Saban, Swinney, Leach etc. Not a lot, to be sure, but Babers says it several times a season.
 
Maybe, but what do we not know about their personnel? We probably have a high percentage of recruiting overlap and presumably 75% of the roster was on last year's team and probably a higher percentage than that for their impact players.
I just don't see a lot of successful coaches bemoaning a lack of film and we seem to hear it frequently.
Did Sean Riley and N Johnson suddenly suck in 2019 after having very good 2018 seasons? Many here think so and have said as much. Heck, I even remember a few coaches talking about having to scheme to keep the ball out of Riley's hands in 2018...but last year he sucked?
When this offense is run correctly guys like Riley, Johnson, Phillips and Estime should (and have) thrive with quick hitters between the hashes busting the occasional big play. This isn't complicated, TD has to adjust/improve or this becomes another frustrating team to watch.
 
Shouldn't Babers be using TE's more also to help solidify a shaky OL? And give TD more time?
I'd say no to the thought of should the TE's be staying in to block in passing situations. They mainly rushed 4 guys and got to us. IF The TE is who you want in on those situations they should be in in there to catch the ball. Having them in the game as another blocker means less options out there running routes to pass to which creates more of a problem.
 
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I didn't listen to it but have to think Dino's game tape talk was less about us knowing what they will do and more about now they have an idea of what we will do on Offense (Same thing as last year) and Defense. Them seeing our defense is more significant. That can't be an excuse but we lose a possible advantage we had against UNC.
 
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After listening to the presser, it seems like there may be some interesting personnel changes after the Pitt game if these players can't figure things out.
Coach says that but I would love to see him actually do it. We all know seniors and juniors are favored no matter how they play.
 
Coach says that but I would love to see him actually do it. We all know seniors and juniors are favored no matter how they play.
He has played freshman before but is not often. Dino has said that the best player plays. After last weeks game on offense I hope not or it is going to be a very long season.
 
Last year we kept everyone in to block and it didn't work. This year we go five wide and it didn't work.

It's OL/Tommy stuff. They have to figure it out.
 

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