George McDonald is absolutely terrible

[tep624]

Other then Ishmael who has he brought in? The guys this year don't have any other offers? Grab the Davante Davis and then he can earn the recruiter label.

Estime.

 

[RF2044]

I dont agree. He killed drives with his play calling. We needed to keep it very simple today. Run the ball. They had injuries inside and we were destroying them if you watched the game. Our guards and center were blowing them off the ball. 3-5 a crack was there all day. Hunt was off as anyone who was watching the game could see. His running was exceptional but his passing was beyond poor all day long he just didnt have it. So yes play calling was horrible as he kept trying to push something that wasnt working and to what end. If he had stuck to the run we would have won this game. Good OC's take what the D gives they dont try and force their agenda when it isnt working. Good OC's should also know their players to the point that it is obvious that Hunt was off. My focus is solid i just wish that cool kid would have focused a little better

Okay, so now at least you're getting more specific instead of just pounding the drum about how the offense and coaching suck. That's progress. Playcalling. Red zone execution. Offensive flow. Those are specific things that you can point to without griping universally about "OFFENSE."

One last point I want to make, because I think you are exaggerating unintentionally to prove your point. Hunt didn't have a great passing day. He was off, as you point out. But "beyond poor all day long?" Nah. His accuracy was subpar, to the tune of 50%, which included a ton of drops. He passed for 219 yards, and had a TD pass wiped off by the WR being slightly out of bounds. He wasn't as sharp as he normally can be, but "poor all day long he just didn't have it" isn't really that accurate, even with him being a little off.

"Poor all day long he just didn't have it" would be going something like 5-17 for less than 100 yards. We've had those kind of performances here post-McNabb. Lots of guilt offenders over the years. Hunt's "off day" certainly doesn't equate to those poor standards.

Perspective.

 

[Millhouse]

Okay, so now at least you're getting more specific instead of just pounding the drum about how the offense and coaching suck. That's progress. Playcalling. Red zone execution. Offensive flow. Those are specific things that you can point to without griping universally about "OFFENSE."

One last point I want to make, because I think you are exaggerating unintentionally to prove your point. Hunt didn't have a great passing day. He was off, as you point out. But "beyond poor all day long?" Nah. His accuracy was subpar, to the tune of 50%, which included a ton of drops. He passed for 219 yards, and had a TD pass wiped off by the WR being slightly out of bounds. He wasn't as sharp as he normally can be, but "poor all day long he just didn't have it" isn't really that accurate, even with him being a little off.

"Poor all day long he just didn't have it" would be going something like 5-17 for less than 100 yards. We've had those kind of performances here post-McNabb. Lots of guilt offenders over the years. Hunt's "off day" certainly doesn't equate to those poor standards.

Perspective.

2010-2012, 37% of our games have been under 20 points

it sucks that we had so few points with so many yards but we've had fewer points more than a third of the time with nassib as the starter.

 

[anomander]

Estime.

Estime is solid, but he basically fell into our lap. He wanted to commit to NC ST, but they wouldn't let him. Sure he got him, but he didn't really have any options left at that point.

Obviously this is just my opinion, but I kind of expect more from someone with a great recruiter label.

 

[RF2044]

2010-2012, 37% of our games have been under 20 points

it sucks that we had so few points with so many yards but we've had fewer points more than a third of the time with nassib as the starter.

Which leads me to another point: we're still rebuilding, no matter how much some would like to pretend otherwise. Don't get me wrong--we've come a LONG way since 2009. Talent and depth overall have improved quite a bit, but we still lack playmakers at WR. So when I see the above bitching about "we haven't scored that much under McDonald" -- well, that's true, but part of it is the talent.

There has been lots of back and forth on this board about whether system implementation or customizing the offense to the players is the right approach. Marrone did the latter [more or less], prompting lots of criticism about him lacking a system, or not implementing it soon enough. Some even expressed the opinion that they'd rather see us get the foundations of the system in place to build upon instead of trying to maximize short term wins by doing something completely different to slow the game down and squeeze out a few more wins.

Well, isn't that kind of the mode we're in now? McDonald has implemented his system, even though we don't have personnel perfectly suited to run it. Factor in that execution has also been poor at times. I get that ultimately, all of the blame rolls up to the coaches. But sometimes it is more about execution than it is players / coaching.

And McDonald is far from perfect. He's also in a stretch role, and hopefuly will improve with experience. Nobody was that high on Hackett until we had one breakout season, and then everyone laments his departure. The grass is always greener on this board. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing what the offense will be able to do when Ishmael / Custis get their sea legs, to go along with Estime. We need a #1 receiver in the worst way.

 

[Upstate]

McDonald gets our team almost 570 yards and people complain. Jesus Christ. If you're going to make unreasonable arguments, go to syracuse.com with them first, please. GM didn't lose the game for SU.

 

[Millhouse]

Which leads me to another point: we're still rebuilding, no matter how much some would like to pretend otherwise. Don't get me wrong--we've come a LONG way since 2009. Talent and depth overall have improved quite a bit, but we still lack playmakers at WR. So when I see the above bitching about "we haven't scored that much under McDonald" -- well, that's true, but part of it is the talent.

There has been lots of back and forth on this board about whether system implementation or customizing the offense to the players is the right approach. Marrone did the latter [more or less], prompting lots of criticism about him lacking a system, or not implementing it soon enough. Some even expressed the opinion that they'd rather see us get the foundations of the system in place to build upon instead of trying to maximize short term wins by doing something completely different.

Well, isn't that kind of the mode we're in now? McDonald has implemented his system, even though we don't have personnel perfectly suited to run it. Factor in that execution has also been poor at times. I get that ultimately, all of the blame rolls up to the coaches. But sometimes it is more about execution than it is players / coaching.

And McDonald is far from perfect. He's also in a stretch role, and hopefuly will improve with experience. Nobody was that high on Hackett until we had one breakout season, and then everyone laments his departure. I'm looking forward to seeing what the offense will be able to do when Ishmael / Custis get their sea legs, to go along with Estime.

I didn't mean to defend McDonald too much. I still think he's terrible. I wish the bills had scored 20 yesterday. I'm still waiting for some good offensive coaches.

 

[kcsu]

Okay, so now at least you're getting more specific instead of just pounding the drum about how the offense and coaching suck. That's progress. Playcalling. Red zone execution. Offensive flow. Those are specific things that you can point to without griping universally about "OFFENSE."

One last point I want to make, because I think you are exaggerating unintentionally to prove your point. Hunt didn't have a great passing day. He was off, as you point out. But "beyond poor all day long?" Nah. His accuracy was subpar, to the tune of 50%, which included a ton of drops. He passed for 219 yards, and had a TD pass wiped off by the WR being slightly out of bounds. He wasn't as sharp as he normally can be, but "poor all day long he just didn't have it" isn't really that accurate, even with him being a little off.

"Poor all day long he just didn't have it" would be going something like 5-17 for less than 100 yards. We've had those kind of performances here post-McNabb. Lots of guilt offenders over the years. Hunt's "off day" certainly doesn't equate to those poor standards.

Perspective.

All very good points that i agree with. I guess my main point is that i truly dont feel as if George has a good grasp of the flow of a game or of his players. His sub patterns are often head scratchers and he abandons what is working way to quickly. I hope that he continues to grow into the position

 

[RF2044]

All very good points that i agree with. I guess my main point is that i truly dont feel as if George has a good grasp of the flow of a game or of his players. His sub patterns are often head scratchers and he abandons what is working way to quickly. I hope that he continues to grow into the position

Me too. And sorry about the exchange the other day--I know you [and I both] are a die hard.

Here's what I think is best case scenario fo George McDonald:

• Hunt settles down and is solid for the rest of the year
• Ishmael / Custis continue to get developmental PT, and things click for them about 2/3 of the way through the season, the same way they did for Estime last year
• One of those two emerges as a legitimate #1 caliber WR / go-to guy by next year
• We go to a bowl game this year, just to continue the momentum on the recruiting trail
• We finish strong in recruiting, re-landing KJ Williams and Tears [the WR who decommitted from Nebraska]
• Hunt returns next year and has an even better senior season
• With better WR skill talent next year, some dud WRs get phased out and the offense gets a bit more explosive
• McDonald continues to recruit better and better players, until we have 2-3 players like Diggs that scares opposing DCs and forces them to make adjustments to their game plans
• Better skill players, better execution, play, stop, rewind

I'm not sure that he's ever going to be the top OC in college football, or an innovator on par with Chip Kelley. But I'm convinced that we're not that far off from his system working--more efficiency from the QB, better speed, and an infusion of better WR talent would do wonders for this offense. The rest of the template is in place, IMO--I like the OL they are bringing in, I like the RBs--we just need some more speed at WR.

 

[RF2044]

I didn't mean to defend McDonald too much. I still think he's terrible. I wish the bills had scored 20 yesterday. I'm still waiting for some good offensive coaches.

Well, that's because you want Texas Tech. And nothing short of that kind of all our air raid will make you like the coaches. ; )

Personally speaking, I don't give a flip what kind of offense we run--just so long as we do it well and score a lot of points. I wouldn't care if they hired Paul Johnson [just as an example] and we were run oriented, so long as we rack up a ton of yards, score points, recruit well, and win.

That's probably overstating it a bit--I recognize / agree with the perspective that we play half of our games in the perfect conditions of a dome, so we should take advantage of that. I'm just willing to give McDonald a little more time to grow on-the-job, and for the recruiting to pay off. We're trending in the right direction on that last point. Will it pay dividends soon enough is the question.

 

[Ozcuse]

Well, that's because you want Texas Tech. And nothing short of that kind of all our air raid will make you like the coaches. ; )

Personally speaking, I don't give a flip what kind of offense we run--just so long as we do it well and score a lot of points. I wouldn't care if they hired Paul Johnson [just as an example] and we were run oriented, so long as we rack up a ton of yards, score points, recruit well, and win.

That's probably overstating it a bit--I recognize / agree with the perspective that we play half of our games in the perfect conditions of a dome, so we should take advantage of that. I'm just willing to give McDonald a little more time to grow on-the-job, and for the recruiting to pay off. We're trending in the right direction on that last point. Will it pay dividends soon enough is the question.

As bad as we looked on Saturday I would take this team, scheme and this coaching staff over TTech right now. Have you seen them this season? Oof.

 

[RF2044]

As bad as we looked on Saturday I would take this team, scheme and this coaching staff over TTech right now. Have you seen them this season? Oof.

I was referring to the Mike Leach TTech offensive system--my bad for not clarifying!

 

[CanadianSU]

G mac coached a fine game

Move along now

 

[tipphill]

I'm sorry but I'm sick of the excuses. He is a great recruiter but what good is that if you can't take these great players and execute a halfway decent offense... It is honestly painful watching the offense and the play calling, I think deleone would give him a run for his money

 

[tipphill]

except for two bogus calls --he went to what was working---if hunt can't throw and receivers can't catch and the ol gets penalties---then its talent discipline etc. this team is not a team ----we are a mac team at this point---by the way ---tell the players to shut up --until they put up

 

[TheCusian]

If we had scored 45 points to go with the 600 none of these McDonald bashing threads would exist. Flush it and move on. Next game provides a chance for the whole team to get better.

 

[Crusty]

If we had scored 45 points to go with the 600 none of these McDonald bashing threads would exist. Flush it and move on. Next game provides a chance for the whole team to get better.

That usually takes until Wednesday morning.

 

[GoSU96]

2010-2012, 37% of our games have been under 20 points

it sucks that we had so few points with so many yards but we've had fewer points more than a third of the time with nassib as the starter.

The fact that before Marrone and Shafer got here they scored less than 20 pts 81% of the time the four years prior might have something to do with that.

If went from there to 42% in 2009, 46% in 2010, 42% in 2011, 23% in 2012.

Last year through Sat. it has been 38%.

 

[CuseOnly]

The fact that before Marrone and Shafer got here they scored less than 20 pts 81% of the time the four years prior might have something to do with that.

If went from there to 42% in 2009, 46% in 2010, 42% in 2011, 23% in 2012.

Last year through Sat. it has been 38%.

Against a completely different an better level of competition.

 

[GoSU96]

Against a completely different an better level of competition.

Are you saying that last years schedule was a much tougher schedule then recent ones?

You can't really believe that.

 

[CuseOnly]

Are you saying that last years schedule was a much tougher schedule then recent ones?

You can't really believe that.

Did you not reference 2009, 20010, 2011 and 2012 in your post?? Those years we were in the Big East. Like I said, entirely different level of competition than last year and this year.

 

[Millhouse]

The fact that before Marrone and Shafer got here they scored less than 20 pts 81% of the time the four years prior might have something to do with that. If went from there to 42% in 2009, 46% in 2010, 42% in 2011, 23% in 2012. Last year through Sat. it has been 38%.

We all knew that everything Gerg was a mess. If anything it's a surprise it wasn't worse

 

[swish7]

Not scoring was the issue..

Good thing for McDonald's job safety that his stated job responsibility is solely limited to gaining obnoxious amounts of yards. The actual scoring part of the offensive game plan, that's on his assistant OC. That guy is really worried.

Board is nuts. Hunt is great, but sucks, just look at all those 3 missed throws. McDonald sucks, but is great, just look at the yardage. Broyld blows, just look at the one drop, but he's such a stud, our only weapon. We lost the war, but won all the battles.

Rough game to watch. Down by 10 the whole time. Those are the worst. Guy runs unimpeded in a 10 yard bubble for 90 yards. The worst.

Hopefully just growing pains.

 

[GoSU96]

Did you not reference 2009, 20010, 2011 and 2012 in your post?? Those years we were in the Big East. Like I said, entirely different level of competition than last year and this year.

The 2012 schedule was decidedly more difficult than last year. Not really debatable. Much stronger 1-13. After FSU and Clemson, Louisville, Cinci, Missouri, WVU, USC, NWestern, Rutgers all better than the next best team on the schedule last year.

 

[GoSU96]

We all knew that everything Gerg was a mess. If anything it's a surprise it wasn't worse

You aren't going to tranform into a high powered machine immediately with that starting point.