I guess it is about the coaching

[kcsu]

Great job Coach Lester. Amazing how much better our talent seems to be when they have good coaching. Just wish that he would have been at the helm from day one as we would have another win or two or three under our belts. What a great effort by the team. So proud of them and so proud of HCSS for making a tough call. Bowl or no bowl this year the future is looking much better just wish we had those earlier games over. Go Orange! or blue...

 

[upperdeck]

we still let so many get away. last week 2 td drops.. today 2 Int drops and several big drops to keep drives alive. FSU scored twice after we dropped those INTs,

i think the play calling was much better but it was helped but much more effective passing most of the game.

 

[Cootface]

we still let so many get away. last week 2 td drops.. today 2 Int drops and several big drops to keep drives alive. FSU scored twice after we dropped those INTs, i think the play calling was much better but it was helped but much more effective passing most of the game.

I wish people would stop calling the first ball to Lewis a drop. The CB had his arm in between the ball and Lewis's chest and ripped it out as they went to the ground.

 

[rrlbees]

Great job Coach Lester. Amazing how much better our talent seems to be when they have good coaching. Just wish that he would have been at the helm from day one as we would have another win or two or three under our belts. What a great effort by the team. So proud of them and so proud of HCSS for making a tough call. Bowl or no bowl this year the future is looking much better just wish we had those earlier games over. Go Orange! or blue...

I don't get your post. What coaching did they get today? That's during the week. You probably mean the same thing others thought they saw which was different play calling and different players. Neither was really much different except due to injuries.

 

[kcsu]

I don't get your post. What coaching did they get today? That's during the week. You probably mean the same thing others thought they saw which was different play calling and different players. Neither was really much different except due to injuries.

really do you think that they just roll out the ball on game day and dont coach. I dont get your post

 

[rrlbees]

really do you think that they just roll out the ball on game day and dont coach. I dont get your post

Nope, they don't just roll it out. But how much coaching do they do up in the box?

 

[kcsu]

Nope, they don't just roll it out. But how much coaching do they do up in the box?

My point is that it isnt just about the talent. I used "coaching" as a catch all. Game planning, play calling, player selection, is all part of coaching and i thought that our coaching today was much improved.

 

[CU44SE]

Nope, they don't just roll it out. But how much coaching do they do up in the box?

It was the same calls for the most part but they were called in a much better sequence. It's not just about the plays called but how they are set up. Plus, how many jet sweeps did we run this year? We run 2 in a row for about 14 and 8 yards respectively and then use that and fake a jet sweep and run up the gut I believe for another 10 yard gain. It's how he gets the plays in and sets up future plays with his current play calls. He's always thinking ahead, McDonald never did that.

 

[rrlbees]

It was the same calls for the most part but they were called in a much better sequence. It's not just about the plays called but how they are set up. Plus, how many jet sweeps did we run this year? We run 2 in a row for about 14 and 8 yards respectively and then use that and fake a jet sweep and run up the gut I believe for another 10 yard gain. It's how he gets the plays in and sets up future plays with his current play calls. He's always thinking ahead, McDonald never did that.

You, nor I, can recite what sequence we ran plays in before. We ran the same plays minus Hunt stuff. We got the same results. We did even worse than our season norm in the red zone. The biggest difference was throwing catchable downs field which makes everything else easier. Lester is going to do better than cool kid IMO. But these 1 game declarations make no sense.

 

[orangeinohio]

I'd like to think that Lester did a better job but the guarded optimism that I'm feeling is more about having a new QB.

 

[Crusty]

The plays seemed to come in faster, which is great. However, let's understand the FSU is like 9th in total defense in the ACC - they are a fair to middling D.

For every good play calling sequence, there was a lousy one. We are kidding ourselves if we think that there was this great coaching change. We gained 11 yards in 15 RZ plays! McD was even the one who suggested the 2nd TD pass.

I have every hope for Lester given time, but in this game the difference was the play of the two QBs. They can pass accurately. They hit receivers in stride, which is huge on screens and slants and they can throw fades!

The real tests will be against Clemson, BC and Pitt. Then, we will have an idea what we have in Lester. I am hopeful.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

The plays seemed to come in faster, which is great. However, let's understand the FSU is like 9th in total defense in the ACC - they are a fair to middling D.

For every good play calling sequence, there was a lousy one. We are kidding ourselves if we think that there was this great coaching change. We gained 11 yards in 15 RZ plays! McD was even the one who suggested the 2nd TD pass.

I have every hope for Lester given time, but in this game the difference was the play of the two QBs. They can pass accurately. They hit receivers in stride, which is huge on screens and slants and they can throw fades!

The real tests will be against Clemson, BC and Pitt. Then, we will have an idea what we have in Lester. I am hopeful.

I think we will see more 12 sets once Moore gets healthy and Lester gets time to practice the formation. After a few weeks we will see if Lester is a better coach then McDonald. I like two tight ends in the redzone, spreading the field inside the 10 never seems to work for SU.

 

[rrlbees]

The plays seemed to come in faster, which is great. However, let's understand the FSU is like 9th in total defense in the ACC - they are a fair to middling D. For every good play calling sequence, there was a lousy one. We are kidding ourselves if we think that there was this great coaching change. We gained 11 yards in 15 RZ plays! McD was even the one who suggested the 2nd TD pass. I have every hope for Lester given time, but in this game the difference was the play of the two QBs. They can pass accurately. They hit receivers in stride, which is huge on screens and slants and they can throw fades! The real tests will be against Clemson, BC and Pitt. Then, we will have an idea what we have in Lester. I am hopeful.

That's where I'm at. I think moving Lester to OC was a great move but we're getting a little to giddy over this 1 game where the difference was mainly 4-5 passes bring on target and a reduced playbook with 2 new QBs. But it is promising.

 

[Doctor44]

Coaching makes all the difference. One of my biggest frustration is that while we sit in football irrelevancy, teams like Mississippi State, Baylor, TCU, Ole Miss, East Carolina, Duke, and Boise State have been able to gain national relevancy.

Coaching Matters. None of these are places that are able to out-recruit the national powers nearby.

 

[CuseOnly]

The plays seemed to come in faster, which is great. However, let's understand the FSU is like 9th in total defense in the ACC - they are a fair to middling D.

For every good play calling sequence, there was a lousy one. We are kidding ourselves if we think that there was this great coaching change. We gained 11 yards in 15 RZ plays! McD was even the one who suggested the 2nd TD pass.

I have every hope for Lester given time, but in this game the difference was the play of the two QBs. They can pass accurately. They hit receivers in stride, which is huge on screens and slants and they can throw fades!

The real tests will be against Clemson, BC and Pitt. Then, we will have an idea what we have in Lester. I am hopeful.

We also dropped 3 passes in the RZ of those 15 plays, 2 of which would have been 1st downs or TD's. Ish dropped a really well defended jump ball, good play by the DB. Those are execution and concentration, not coaching. Maybe the receivers/RB's on these plays were expecting the ball to be off target ala Hunt and they were surprised that the ball was easily catchable.

1/3 of those 15 RZ plays were the right call, they just weren't executed.

Agree with the accuracy of both QB's, they were hitting receivers like a D1 QB should.

I disagree, I didn't see any lousy play-calling sequences...except for the 3 AAM runs in a row in the RZ. Uggh...but if he would have punched it in, today I would be praising the call.

 

[Doctor44]

My only thought on the sequence with the 3 AAM runs followed by the lob pass to Ishmael was that Lester had made up his mind early that he was going for it on fourth down. He essentially decided on 3rd down that he was going to try to get at close as he could to the goal line and take his shot on 4th down.

Which makes sense . . . except if the play call is a fade. That pattern usually works best when the wide receiver has room to work with, Probably should have gone to Custis on that play.

 

[Crusty]

Coaching makes all the difference. One of my biggest frustration is that while we sit in football irrelevancy, teams like Mississippi State, Baylor, TCU, Ole Miss, East Carolina, Duke, and Boise State have been able to gain national relevancy.

Coaching Matters. None of these are places that are able to out-recruit the national powers nearby.

I couldn't agree more. But, in CFB, that usually (not always) means recruiting.

 

[TheCusian]

I couldn't agree more. But, in CFB, that usually (not always) means recruiting.

I think it's about coaching and recruiting - and both require time at this point. Time to evaluate Lester - and time to see just how good this freshman class can be.

Long/Ish/Phillips/Custis - as juniors and seniors? Lots of promise. Amped.

 

[nccusefan]

I know its only been one game but the Syracuse offense seemed to move and flow better with a freshman QB playing for the first time and a new OC against the #1 team and defending National Champion.

I'm glad HCSS finally applied his "next man up" approach to the coaching staff when McDonald went down with a lower body injury (I believe it is butthurt). I hope to see continued progression from the QBs and coaching staff and that McDonald will stay on in the role of Recruiting coordinator and receivers coach.

 

[Orangetradition44]

I think there were signs that Lester is a better play caller other than the sprinkling of deep balls... Watching the replay... I've seen these signs...

More setup of plays off of previous plays
Returning to plays that have worked
more open receivers
Less side to side stuff
When we did side to side, the rec was open
Nice mix of run / pass

You, nor I, can recite what sequence we ran plays in before. We ran the same plays minus Hunt stuff. We got the same results. We did even worse than our season norm in the red zone. The biggest difference was throwing catchable downs field which makes everything else easier. Lester is going to do better than cool kid IMO. But these 1 game declarations make no sense.

 

[Quazzum69]

Coaching makes all the difference. One of my biggest frustration is that while we sit in football irrelevancy, teams like Mississippi State, Baylor, TCU, Ole Miss, East Carolina, Duke, and Boise State have been able to gain national relevancy.

Coaching Matters. None of these are places that are able to out-recruit the national powers nearby.

You're being very, very generous by comparing SU to Miss St, Ole Miss, Baylor and TCU. Even the other schools have advantages SU doesn't have.

It's not like Miss St and Ole Miss came out of nowhere (Mannings). They are in an area - a very sparsely populated area - that has more top high school players than the whole northeast and recruit extremely well (Ole Miss was #5 in 2013 and #17 in 2014 on ESPNs recruiting). Texas obviously is full of players.

Dan Mullen is probably one of the best coaches in the country, if the not the best. He's already won 2 championships as OC at Florida before Miss St, not even comparable to where at SU is at now (it's not like we could have gotten Mullen unless we gave him 10 million a year).

 

[Franz69]

For the first time this season, I wasn't screaming at my tv due to baffling play calls. A step in the right direction for the offense and my sanity.

 

[wfschrec]

You're being very, very generous by comparing SU to Miss St, Ole Miss, Baylor and TCU. Even the other schools have advantages SU doesn't have.

It's not like Miss St and Ole Miss came out of nowhere (Mannings). They are in an area - a very sparsely populated area - that has more top high school players than the whole northeast and recruit extremely well (Ole Miss was #5 in 2013 and #17 in 2014 on ESPNs recruiting). Texas obviously is full of players.

Dan Mullen is probably one of the best coaches in the country, if the not the best. He's already won 2 championships as OC at Florida before Miss St, not even comparable to where at SU is at now (it's not like we could have gotten Mullen unless we gave him 10 million a year).

Of course at one point Mullen was on a staff at SU ... we could have had him ... to quote Ron Simmons ... DAMN!

 

[RF2044]

Great job Coach Lester. Amazing how much better our talent seems to be when they have good coaching. Just wish that he would have been at the helm from day one as we would have another win or two or three under our belts. What a great effort by the team. So proud of them and so proud of HCSS for making a tough call. Bowl or no bowl this year the future is looking much better just wish we had those earlier games over. Go Orange! or blue...

Was it coaching or execution? Because I saw a lot of the same old, same old--poor decisions that led to turnovers at key times, red zone struggles, penalties, etc. So I guess in a sense, it is about the coaching.

But there were positives, as well. Long [and Wilson, both] looked like better passers than Hunt has been. We moved the ball against the #1 team in the country [although for the record, I don't think they're as good defensively as the last two team's we've played--ND and Louisville]. Long in particular looked smooth as hell. I loved the introduction of the jet sweep. I also love how it was faked a few times to get the defense moving one way, only to have a counter inside handoff. Nice. Long is a true frosh, and yet he looked poised and in command, and the moment wasn't too big for him. Nor was the playbook--Long looked very comfortable out there, and showed a knack for making plays. Kid has a bright future here--I think he starts every game for the remainder of his career. And for once, it didn't seem like we were generally inept on offense.

The play calling also seemed better--although this goes back to my first point. The plays worked because Long / Wilson made throws. I don't necessarily credit Lester for that last TD pass [for example], which was a great read by Long and great individual effort from Ishmael. The same way I don't "blame" Lester for not executing on that fourth down attempt right before the half, or for Long throwing that pick after the muffed punt. Execution is the difference.

But as far as debuts go, it was an impressive debut for both Long and Lester, and to a lesser extent, Wilson too.

 

[Doctor44]

You're being very, very generous by comparing SU to Miss St, Ole Miss, Baylor and TCU. Even the other schools have advantages SU doesn't have.

It's not like Miss St and Ole Miss came out of nowhere (Mannings). They are in an area - a very sparsely populated area - that has more top high school players than the whole northeast and recruit extremely well (Ole Miss was #5 in 2013 and #17 in 2014 on ESPNs recruiting). Texas obviously is full of players.

Dan Mullen is probably one of the best coaches in the country, if the not the best. He's already won 2 championships as OC at Florida before Miss St, not even comparable to where at SU is at now (it's not like we could have gotten Mullen unless we gave him 10 million a year).

Not comparing their situation to ours. We're a team with tradition and historical relevance. As the power balance shifts, it's frustrating to me to watch other teams rise from irrelevance to top 10 teams, while we can't get over the hump (though I think if Marrone was in for the long haul we we're headed for eventual consistency seen in a top 25 team).

While Miss State plays in an area with better HS football, they also have to compete with Alabama, Auburn, Texas AM and LSU yearly in their division - I can't imagine a more difficult place to try to shift the power balance