Drew Allen to start Saturday...

[SUFan44]

Everyone should watch Lester's video.

http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootball/index.ssf/2013/09/video_syracuse_quarterbacks_co_1.html#incart_river

Fascinating that:

* "Drew made 72 good plays, 4 really bad ones."
* Hunt made a bad read on his TD.

I sense this coaching staff has a very solid resolve moreso than stubbornness. Interesting to see how this all plays out.

It's clear from that video that Drew Allen is this coaching staff's guy. And they will give him every opportunity to succeed (and fail).

Lester's demeanor when he talks about Hunt - he almost seems like he is finding things to say he did wrong. Of course Hunt is going to make mistakes - he is playing his first games at the D1 level too.

He is going out of his way to make sure people know that on the TD run he made a mistake. Which speaks volumes in my opinion. He also references one QB by his first name and the other QB by his last name. Take that for what its worth (I think it's something, others will probably think I'm crazy and call me out on it).

I'm not sure what the difference between "very solid resolve" and "stubbornness" is, but I do know body language and the way Lester talked about Hunt wasn't encouraging.

 

[TheCusian]

I thought it was an even take. He said Allen's still the guy but made 4 horrible plays (true) and that Hunt made the wrong read but made a great play (true).

Nothing to see here boys.

Allen gets the nod and the job unless he has a similar game. Hunt gets some run in the next two no matter what - as an insurance policy against another horrible game by Drew.

Logical. Smart. Fair.

 

[All4SU]

Apples to apples, true.

Considering the play was made against the opponent's third-string in a base D when the game is out of reach...

What string was Allen playing against in his last series?

 

[Doctor44]

This offense needs to get on the same page. We cant have wasted Time outs on play clocks running down in whats supposed to be an up tempo offense. If Allen cant get the team organized then it doesnt matter if he's a better player. If he can't get the ball past the line of scrimmage it doesnt matter if he's more accurate. If he stares down his WRs, it doesnt matter if he's got a stronger arm. If he's not a leader on the sideline and in the huddle, it doesnt matter if hes the senior.

I assume the staff thinks he's got a passing grade in all these areas.

 

[orangepassion]

There's something I like about Lester. he comes across well. Having said that, when he's talking about Allen's growing pains, it reminds me yet again why I want Hunt to start and get his growing pains out of th eway this year, so we can hopefully rock next year

 

[TheCusian]

This offense needs to get on the same page. We cant have wasted Time outs on play clocks running down in whats supposed to be an up tempo offense. If Allen cant get the team organized then it doesnt matter if he's a better player. If he can't get the ball past the line of scrimmage it doesnt matter if he's more accurate. If he stares down his WRs, it doesnt matter if he's got a stronger arm. If he's not a leader on the sideline and in the huddle, it doesnt matter if hes the senior.

I assume the staff thinks he's got a passing grade in all these areas.

You have a low opinion of the staff then.

My guess is the next two games all that stuff gets worked on, graded, etc. Either he'll get better or we'll have a new QB.

 

[anomander]

This has really been the disaster scenario for Shafer. Start out 0-2, getting blown out in 1 of those games. You have your OC getting criticized after the first game, the DC getting criticized after the 2nd game, and your star transfer qb has been as bad as anyone could have imagined. All this is leading up to a home opener against Wagner with absolutely no buzz, and a no win situation for at least another 3 weeks until we meet Clemson. Were due for some breaks soon, hopefully sooner rather then later. And on that downer i'm off to bed.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Lol. God that kick return was great. I was standing in a bar called Fargo in Aurora NY. I remember the women in the bar were more attracted to my wife than me. True story

Not surprising... you turned them to lesbians.

Spent a lot of time working in that town for a certain very wealthy gal. Rebuilding this, rebuilding that.

Have to remember Wells College was all women until a few years ago, probably still was 5-6 years ago.

 

[690West]

Spent a lot of time working in that town for a certain very wealthy gal. .

Hopefully she was Pleasant to work for

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Hopefully she was Pleasant to work for

Paid the bills, all I ask at this point

 

[IthacaMatt]

The resolve being?

What?

That Drew is the better option and must be given every chance to succeed?

If he gives us the best chance to win this year, why not? Do we throw the season away to train up Hunt in preparation for next year? We didn't do that with Paulus and Nassib, and Nassib avoided a fate like Andrew Robinson by having tastes of live action and special packages for him before he got the starting spot the next year.

 

[IthacaMatt]

This offense needs to get on the same page. We cant have wasted Time outs on play clocks running down in whats supposed to be an up tempo offense. If Allen cant get the team organized then it doesnt matter if he's a better player. If he can't get the ball past the line of scrimmage it doesnt matter if he's more accurate. If he stares down his WRs, it doesnt matter if he's got a stronger arm. If he's not a leader on the sideline and in the huddle, it doesnt matter if hes the senior.

I assume the staff thinks he's got a passing grade in all these areas.

The last part is where you miss. I get the sense that he IS a leader in the huddle and on the sidelines. I saw him going over to pat his receivers on the helmet after dropped balls instead of yelling at them or calling them out, I saw him taking the blame when he made bad throws. Same thing with the linemen. Have you seen him lose it with the right tackle in particular, when he left rushers unblocked how many times now?

 

[RCDICK44]

The first and only perception I had about Hunt was that when he brought the team to the line there was no communication problems and the pace was much quicker.It has nothing to do with who they were playing against.It just looked like they did last year.I feel that Drew doesn't have a feel for the offense and don't like the fact he appears to stare down his receivers.The defense appears to know where he's throwing the ball before he does.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

The first and only perception I had about Hunt was that when he brought the team to the line there was no communication problems and the pace was much quicker.It has nothing to do with who they were playing against.It just looked like they did last year.I feel that Drew doesn't have a feel for the offense and don't like the fact he appears to stare down his receivers.The defense appears to know where he's throwing the ball before he does.

There has been one pass I have seen in two games ( Pass to Kobena PSU) where I though that was a nice pass that HUNT from what I have seen probably won't make. That said, if the goal is to dip and dunk, short to mid range passes that is fine but get the QB in there that can run too... I just don't get that. Like I said, Allen must really sling it in practice because he stinks on gameday. FOR SU to be successful on O they need to be able to run the ball and pass the ball, not good enough anywhere to be a one trick pony. Hell, even Leach and Holgorsen are struggling on O without the right parts and pieces, probably two of the best O minds in the college game

 

[storange]

Hell, it's a three game tryout.

They just need to make sure they win the next two and then the rest of the season is based on how each does against Clemson. That game is a throw away. Real season starts with NCSt.

so Go, your telling me to sell my Clemson ticket and go fly fishing

 

[OrangePA]

If he gives us the best chance to win this year, why not? Do we throw the season away to train up Hunt in preparation for next year? We didn't do that with Paulus and Nassib, and Nassib avoided a fate like Andrew Robinson by having tastes of live action and special packages for him before he got the starting spot the next year.

I'm not aruging the point. I just did not understand what MadNY was conveying - what he meant by "resolve." I'm still not sure what he meant.

But, clearly the coaches feel that Allen gives the team the best chance to win - that's why he's playing.

And, clearly, Hunt believes he won the QB competition this summer - that's why he took the coaches' decision so hard - he thought he out-played Allen.

I just hope that we get winning play out of the position starting this week.

 

[cuseinchina]

When Allen is throwing in practice, he is going up against the same passing defense we put on the field against Northwestern. He can throw a nice long ball but in game situations against tighter defense and with receivers who can't get separation, he gets picked off or can't move the ball. Culturally I suspect he has very little in common with the rest of the team who clearly were backing Hunt. Our strengths and weaknesses dictate the kind of offense we saw with Hunt vs the second stringers of NW, rather than what we were trying to do the rest of the game. Allen might be the better quarterback under ideal circumstances and with the right players, but does that make him the right quarterback for THIS team??

 

[SmilinBob]

If this works out and the 2 play the beauty part of this is that Clemson won't know which guy to game plan for. Hopefully we'll have a better sample study of Hunt but also we have to recognize what team he may be working with as well...2nd or 3rd string.

 

[GoSU96]

so Go, your telling me to sell my Clemson ticket and go fly fishing

That's up to you.

 

[orangenirvana]

They just need to make sure they win the next two and then the rest of the season is based on how each does against Clemson. That game is a throw away. Real season starts with NCSt.

.

Clemson is not unbeatable and this is the Dome we're talking about.

Now if we're 1-3 going into that game...

 

[ImperialOrange]

My cousin is a season ticket holder and just asked if we named a starter for this Saturday. His response when I told him was "awwww come on. that. Are you serious?"

I imagine that's how most who don't live on this board will feel when they see Allen trot out there. I hope for DA, and the coaching staffs sake he plays well. Otherwise it'll be like kicking a hornets nest when he throws a pick and the boo's will rain down.

 

[storange]

That's up to you.

Weird things happen in the dome from time to time Cards last year, ears the year before. Do I expect to win...no...but if this staff can get some things straightened out I think this team has some talent and has a chance. Quite a few things ironed out actually.

 

[JeremyCuse]

This has really been the disaster scenario for Shafer. Start out 0-2, getting blown out in 1 of those games. You have your OC getting criticized after the first game, the DC getting criticized after the 2nd game, and your star transfer qb has been as bad as anyone could have imagined. All this is leading up to a home opener against Wagner with absolutely no buzz, and a no win situation for at least another 3 weeks until we meet Clemson. Were due for some breaks soon, hopefully sooner rather then later. And on that downer i'm off to bed.

It can always get worse see Uconn vs Towson. That being said I expect Syracuse to win by about 40 this week.