Elephant in the room…

[kcsu]

I seem to recall that Dale Williams and James Vollono were among the last assistants to be hired. Most of of fans on this board believed the OL was the most important position coach on he staff. Fran had a bunch of assistants lined up to join him, but he apparently didn't have an OL or ST coach in his inner circle.

Remember the Purdue game in the dome 2 years ago? That was Dale Williams. Brohm replaced Williams with Richard Owens to coach the OL at Louisville, and Owens' OLs have been spectacular. Williams did not have an on-field position at Louisville.

Denaburg has never been accurate as a FG kicker. He's great at booming kick offs. You may recall, Andre Szmyt's worst year of placekicking was the one season he also did kick offs. It messed him up.

I was glad to see a back up getting a chance at FG kicking yesterday, but surprised it was Jaydn Oh and not Jackson Kennedy, the transfer from Cornell. Kennedy has college experience and made All-Ivy twice. Oh is just a RS-FR.

Stanford beat us with their FG kicker. We had 3 TDs they only had 2, but they won the game. SU needs a good FG kicker, or we'll end up on the losing end of competitive games. This has to be fixed.

As for the bad snaps, that's on Vollono. STs has been really bad under Vollono. Blocked punt, blocked FGs, botched on sides kick, now they can't make non-pressure FGs in a dome on turf. Note to Fran: never hire the guy again who has to constantly over sell himself for the job. Maybe he should be given a marketing job in the ticket office.

They need to rethink the use of players to help their NFL resume. They put Jack Stonehouse at holder this year (to help his NFL resume), instead of the player with the best hands (was Justin Barron last year). I haven't found any fans who think it's a good idea to have OG on STs coverage either (just because the NFL might like that). He's coming off a lisfranc injury - why the hell over-use him when there are other players would love to get that PT and concentrate on being good at coverage. This is just dumb.

Speaking of OG and his disappearance... in the Stanford game, after the bye, it seemed like he spent a lot of time on the sideline when the offense was in. Why would he not be in on offense for nearly every snap? If you think he disappeared, he wasn't on the field a lot vs Stanford. But then of course they did send him out there to cover on STs...

So far I'm holding judgment on Dale as he has kept Kyle relatively clean and that more than running the ball is and should be his primary objective. Plus, I don't believe he has attempted any card tricks which is always a plus. As to our special teams coach unless he pulls it together asap I think he needs to go.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I don't like our run scheme and I think we don't have enough balance in our pass vs run calls... that being said Allen is getting 5.42 ypc vs FBS teams this year. His prior two years he had 4.18 and 4.38 ypc. Tucker had 4.52/5.85/4.57 in his three years here.

 

[Norman Dale]

With Erob his tactics don’t make sense to me. He brings 3 knowing we struggle to generate any kind of pressure, and even when you’re dropping 8 back it’s difficult to defend receivers for that long, a good QB will carve it up. The best way to make up for a weak secondary is pressure. I’d like to see us blitz more and not ask our struggling secondary to defend for 4,5,6 seconds while their o line only has 3 to worry about. His unwillingness to change has frustrated me so far. The play before the 4th and 9 against Stanford we bring pressure and Daniels throws a bad ball setting up the 4th and 9. He struggled under pressure all night, so why not do it again? Why sit back, send weak help, and not just have a safety straight over the top shadowing 13 and make Daniels look elsewhere? The frustration with Erob is a lot of his mistakes have been situational and avoidable.

EDIT: Also are tackling has been some of the worst I’ve seen. Only team we consistently wrapped up against was Holy Cross.

We desperately need Wax back. Our linebackers look very slow.

 

[Domedog84]

Yes, some people will fail to see that. Total 203 yards total offense, I will take it

We had solid yardage, the issue was three straight drives that were promising, one even had first and goal from the 7 and we came away with zero points.

 

[DCUNITED13]

Interceptions last few games are troubling. Also, beginning of 1st game as well from McCord. We have tighten up those attempts. Drops at crucial times hurt us as well making us rely on dpectacular completions downfield. We perfect the 8-10 yard completion(with our qb, running back & tight end) on 3rd down, we will win 9-10 games.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Why can't our fans just be happy with what is? The potential for this program is higher than it has been in a long time. Clearly, this team, even with all the influx of talent, is not as good as we all hoped, at least, not yet. There is still a lot of season left.

The whole point is to keep getting better, from week to week. This was Dino's biggest shortcoming, IMO. Even his best teams peaked early and got worse as the season went on. Sure, some of that is injuries to a team that's not so deep. But his teams usually didn't get better.

 

[IthacaMatt]

The team looks unprepared and undisciplined, no matter how many years of experience the HC has or doesn't.

We have cut way down on penalties. We're around 40th in the nation, averaging 6 penalties for 55 yards a game.

We are also 3rd in the nation in passing offense. This team is the best we've had since 2012, and still has a lot of room to get even better.

 

[tipphill]

Elijah Robinson was hyped by the head coach as the best DC in the country. His words, not mine.

Our HC was the position coach for a group at Georgia who was the best in the country.

Nixon -- who I think has actually done a pretty good job -- was an NFL coordinator.

There was a ton of hype. It is not nonsense.

nixon has called a good games no complaints on my part

 

[HRE Otto IV]

We have cut way down on penalties. We're around 40th in the nation, averaging 6 penalties for 55 yards a game.

We are also 3rd in the nation in passing offense. This team is the best we've had since 2012, and still has a lot of room to get even better.

We still need to prove that we are better than 2022. Those first 7 games were well ahead of what we have shown thus far. We have the potential to be the 3rd best team since 2001 but we still have a long way to go.

 

[FrancoPizza]

This team is the best we've had since 2012, and still has a lot of room to get even better.

disagree. 2018 was clearly better at this stage because that defense was opportunistic. They had a legit pass rush with 2 solid bookends. The safety play was pretty good, too. They gave up a ton of yards at times as a function of the offensive style. Speaking of offense Dungey being a threat to run also was an added dimension that this team lacks.

2018 would rout this team and it’s not even close. 63-35 type score.

 

[GoSU96]

We still need to prove that we are better than 2022. Those first 7 games were well ahead of what we have shown thus far. We have the potential to be the 3rd best team since 2001 but we still have a long way to go.

I wouldn’t say that on offense.

Scoring ave 33.8 vs 33.9. Obviously passing and total offense is much better. 103.5 vs 179.3 yds rushing. 6.36 this year vs 6.49 yds per play

2022 defense to start the year was very good, but that was year two of Tony White. This is game four.

22.5 vs 17.7, 139 yds rush vs 123.3, 204.6 vs 171.1 343.8 vs 294.7. This years defense has been solid overall.

 

[JimBoston]

I think the biggest issue that Syracuse has to deal with is OL development. In my opinion, you have to develop OL from recruiting and only use the portal to fill a hole. It is very hard to find good OL that will fit what you are trying to do in the portal. This year, the two OTs are transfers which is a sign of poor recruiting/player development. If you can develop a solid OL year in and year out with a good QB, you will win a lot of games.

 

[upperdeck]

I don't like our run scheme and I think we don't have enough balance in our pass vs run calls... that being said Allen is getting 5.42 ypc vs FBS teams this year. His prior two years he had 4.18 and 4.38 ypc. Tucker had 4.52/5.85/4.57 in his three years here.

I dont think its balance in the calls, its balance in the production. Nixon is forcing runs but also knows it aint working

 

[richmondcuse03]

I think the biggest issue that Syracuse has to deal with is OL development. In my opinion, you have to develop OL from recruiting and only use the portal to fill a hole. It is very hard to find good OL that will fit what you are trying to do in the portal. This year, the two OTs are transfers which is a sign of poor recruiting/player development. If you can develop a solid OL year in and year out with a good QB, you will win a lot of games.

it's also why we added a lot of young, big bodies in our recruits last year and this year. Fran knows / wants to prioritize OL development internally over the portal. We cant outspend folks on OL transfers.

 

[JRHEETER]

I personally think we at fans are being WAY harder on this team and still have unrealistic expectations.

We aren’t Bama or Georgia………………..yet

 

[upperdeck]

Since the 17-18 run of offense we have had
games of 500 yds of offense
3
1
1
This yr 2 in 4 games
Really all four were over 400 but we had the long play called back vs Stan.

we managed 4 in 20-21 combined over 400

Lets see if this offense can get there 3-5 more times vs the better Ds

 

[Jcuse_44]

I thought it sounded like a horrible threesome.

OR, a great one if you like the biggins. Don't hate, celebrate.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I dont think its balance in the calls, its balance in the production. Nixon is forcing runs but also knows it aint working

Our lead RB is statically better than our lead in 2023, 2022, and 2020. So how bad can it be?

 

[Millhouse]

So you guys wanted the recruiter with no head coaching or coordinating experience and then expected him to be Dan Mullen on gameday? Some of you are delusional. It’s going to take some time. The talent on the field has improved drastically. Now Fran and the coaches need to get better game after game. I know Fran wants to win. That loss is only going to make him hungrier. People have to adjust their expectations.

I expect head coaches to be able to do the whole job. He's probably getting paid like he can do the whole job. If they can't, they shouldn't have the job.

Maybe he can do the job right now. But it's crazy to adjust what you expect a head coach to know how to do

 

[CU44SE]

I expect head coaches to be able to do the whole job. He's probably getting paid like he can do the whole job. If they can't, they shouldn't have the job.

Maybe he can do the job right now. But it's crazy to adjust what you expect a head coach to know how to do

I think that’s delusional. No one steps into a job that they have never performed before and immediately knows what to do. Everything is based on the job training.

Please tell me how someone is supposed to excel at something they have never done before? How is someone supposed to learn if they are dealing with situations they have never dealt with before?

You don’t hire someone to a brand new position and expect perfection. It’s impossible.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

I expect head coaches to be able to do the whole job. He's probably getting paid like he can do the whole job. If they can't, they shouldn't have the job.

Maybe he can do the job right now. But it's crazy to adjust what you expect a head coach to know how to do

Nonsense. No CEO know how to do every job. That's why you hire really good people and let them do their jobs with perhaps some oversight.

 

[cusefan88]

it's also why we added a lot of young, big bodies in our recruits last year and this year. Fran knows / wants to prioritize OL development internally over the portal. We cant outspend folks on OL transfers.

Yup. Just look at the Class of 2025 OL recruits. Excellent size already. You redshirt them and see where they're at in two seasons.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I think the biggest issue that Syracuse has to deal with is OL development. In my opinion, you have to develop OL from recruiting and only use the portal to fill a hole. It is very hard to find good OL that will fit what you are trying to do in the portal. This year, the two OTs are transfers which is a sign of poor recruiting/player development. If you can develop a solid OL year in and year out with a good QB, you will win a lot of games.

This is all true. But this is Fran's first year, and since you can't fix player development between January and August of your first year, you have to cut corners and go get the prototype of guys you want.

We've seen past OL's take 4 weeks or so to develop chemistry, and then went on to be pretty good teams. This back-to-back at UNLV and NC State will define the rest of the season. We need at least 1 win if we want to play in a good bowl. Win both, and we could still play in a very good bowl.

 

[upperdeck]

The worst part of the oline is that even when we block 6-7 we often still mess it up. We have a QB that can throw, keep him on his feet.

 

[rocklloyd]

My eye tells me our run game is better when nixon and Allen are complementing each other.