I think it's safe to say that the defense is NOT the liability...

[Ish88888]

Lol -- are you serious?

C'mon...

Great win and its almost like we took care of biz bc we are the better team. Just think thst taggert is a mess at preparing a team and i guess jimbo did leave the oline cupboard bare. This is a good thing, we have higher expectations. Our awesome Dline play today was the biggest takeaway.

 

[RF2044]

Great win and its almost like we took care of biz bc we are the better team. Just think thst taggert is a mess at preparing a team and i guess jimbo did leave the oline cupboard bare. This is a good thing, we have higher expectations. Our awesome Dline play today was the biggest takeaway.

I agree with that, I was referring to more to the we might not know what we have until Clemson point you made above. The reality is, Clemson is one of the best five or six teams in college football. That's not going to be a barometer, nor the only benchmark. I said another thread that I can't wait to see what we do against our peer teams, because of today was any indication playing against a team stacked with five stars, we're going to perform exceedingly well.

 

[anomander]

Really the defense has been very good for 11 of 12 quarters. People keep brining up WMU, but the damage happened after we were up 31-7 and pulled our starting QB. Basically took the foot off the gas. We just didn't beat FSU, we dominated them from start to finish. We didn't just squeak by them in a close game. That was thorough domination start to finish. This defense is plenty good enough for us to win big. With this offense all we really need is for the defense to be average. They are easily average, but probably better then that.

 

[cuse309]

...that many were wringing their hands about after the 3rd quarter against WMU.

All three units looked great today. LBs are rounding into form, our staring DL is comprised of four studs, and we have unprecedented depth in the secondary. Players are making tackles in space, and the youngsters seem to be learning from their early season mistakes. We have playmakers in all three positional units.

Those first two games were intentionally vanilla, because our coaches were confident that they could win against those two opponents playing that way. The hounds are now unleashed.

The benefit of quality depth is becoming readily apparent.

but but but...the Tampa 2...

 

[NKR1978]

Lol -- are you serious?

C'mon...

We’re measuring ourselves against the #2 team in the country in one of the hardest places to play in American sports.

 

[rrlbees]

Zero explosion plays today. It was glorious how well the D played today.
Disciplined, no real bad penalties, got a turnover, and kept everything in front of them and got pressure.

That Akers kid that was going to hurt us had 1 decent run of about 15 yards. No big hitting runs and did nothing besides the 15 yarder. We were great against the run.

 

[cuse309]

Lol -- are you serious?

C'mon...

I actually agree with that post. Don't get me wrong, I love where we are heading, and feel great being 3-0. However, beating Wagner, and WMU, and a team that, although full of speed and size, may end up being the worst team in our division, doesn't really tell me what this team can do vs. a top 25 team. The fact that for the first time in a long time, we're winning games we're supposed to win, by margins we should be winning, is enough to make me optimistic heading forward. I do need to see them play a capable team first. Florida State, is not a capable team this year...that can't be argued right now.

 

[TheCusian]

I think Taggert will be fine. He’s been good at his other stops. It’s a big job and the team was in disarray last season. It’s a rebuild.

There OL is hot garbage

 

[PhatOrange]

I actually agree with that post. Don't get me wrong, I love where we are heading, and feel great being 3-0. However, beating Wagner, and WMU, and a team that, although full of speed and size, may end up being the worst team in our division, doesn't really tell me what this team can do vs. a top 25 team. The fact that for the first time in a long time, we're winning games we're supposed to win, by margins we should be winning, is enough to make me optimistic heading forward. I do need to see them play a capable team first. Florida State, is not a capable team this year...that can't be argued right now.

I don’t think anybody is questioning vatechs win over them. We were better.

Tech scored 17 on 319 yards allowing 327. And FSU had 5 turnovers.

We nit pick our team to death but point is we’re probably every bit as good as the rest of the teams in our league

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Well today was a pretty damn good example of a great pass rush.

Not sure if it was our DE’s or FSU’s horrific OLine. Regardless, I’ll take it

Little of column a, little of column b.

The more cohesive unit bullied the less cohesive unit. It's awesome because that's how it's supposed to work.

 

[RF2044]

Really the defense has been very good for 11 of 12 quarters. People keep brining up WMU, but the damage happened after we were up 31-7 and pulled our starting QB. Basically took the foot off the gas. We just didn't beat FSU, we dominated them from start to finish. We didn't just squeak by them in a close game. That was thorough domination start to finish. This defense is plenty good enough for us to win big. With this offense all we really need is for the defense to be average. They are easily average, but probably better then that.

What a difference having some quality depth makes defensively.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

What a difference having some quality depth makes defensively.

Yeah, Kingsley Johnathan had a nice game. And he's like our 4th defensive end?

 

[LAOrange]

And context is important there, given how our offense sputtered when Dungey got pulled.

If he stays in the game, I think we probably score on that final drive of first half, maybe even on the opening drive of the second half, and things unfold differently. Maybe that WMU resurgence never gets started.

I'm kinda glad that WMU torched us. Cordy and Cisco are better safeties because of it. Cisco's coverage on the play where our corner fell down was a thing of beauty.

 

[RF2044]

I actually agree with that post. Don't get me wrong, I love where we are heading, and feel great being 3-0. However, beating Wagner, and WMU, and a team that, although full of speed and size, may end up being the worst team in our division, doesn't really tell me what this team can do vs. a top 25 team. The fact that for the first time in a long time, we're winning games we're supposed to win, by margins we should be winning, is enough to make me optimistic heading forward. I do need to see them play a capable team first. Florida State, is not a capable team this year...that can't be argued right now.

The eye test counts at this point. The capabilities we're displaying are evident -- doesn't matter who the opponent is. I am quite confident that we'll hold up against peer programs -- most of which will not have the same talent / speed / athleticism that FSU has.

 

[AlaskaSU]

FSU is a bunch of individuals that are no semblance of a team. They committed penalties without any regard to the team. They were yelling at each other on the bench. A hot mess indeed.

 

[TheCusian]

FSU is a bunch of individuals that are no semblance of a team. They committed penalties without any regard to the team. They were yelling at each other on the bench. A hot mess indeed.

A lot less Hangman

 

[sufandu]

I loved what I saw from the secondary. For the most part, there was little separation from WRs and when a ball was caught there was often a quick tackle. The safeties always seemed to be in the right position too.

 

[Yegorange]

Since when are we “supposed” to beat FSU? 1966? Rebels just for kicks.

 

[CanadianSU]

I mean the calls to fire the DC after one quarter (3rd @WMU) wereeeeeee pretty overboard...

 

[OrangeFoo]

I am enjoying the fact that if doesn’t look like men against boys on D anymore like it has the last several years since Marrone’s recruits left. Shafer’s recruiting strategy of undersized and slow led to some epic butt kickings where our D looked like a FBS d against a BCS D. Now at least we look the part of an ACC d. My big concern is the attrition these guys are going to suffer over the course of the year from the sheer number of plays they will be on the field. The offense needs to find and maintain some efficiency or the D will fall apart in the home stretch just like last year.

 

[Finwad32]

I'll tell you one liability on the field yesterday - FSU's RT Kelly Jr. He's absolutely horrendous. Bad technique, bad feet, and looked flat out in bad shape at times.

 

[SmilinBob]

This is the DL many of us expected. They looked like the staff had not fed them in a week and Francois was a steak dinner. They stepped up and I could not care less if FSU's line was or is struggling, you still have to take advantage of the situation. If these guys play like this for the rest of the year many good things will happen for this D and maybe most importantly, confidence in playing the DB positions.

I thought the DB's played wonderfully with their angles to the ball and being on the WR's side the whole game.

I liked the hustle from the LB's who when Akers got by the line, they ran back to get into the play while Akers was trying to juke the secondary.

 

[shandeezy7]

I'm kinda glad that WMU torched us. Cordy and Cisco are better safeties because of it. Cisco's coverage on the play where our corner fell down was a thing of beauty.

Was that the same play as the WR pass they threw? Cisco made a great read on that when the receiver should have been wide open.

 

[SUskibum]

I am enjoying the fact that if doesn’t look like men against boys on D anymore like it has the last several years since Marrone’s recruits left. Shafer’s recruiting strategy of undersized and slow led to some epic butt kickings where our D looked like a FBS d against a BCS D. Now at least we look the part of an ACC d. My big concern is the attrition these guys are going to suffer over the course of the year from the sheer number of plays they will be on the field. The offense needs to find and maintain some efficiency or the D will fall apart in the home stretch just like last year.

We are averaging 66 defensive plays per game. This is below average (bottom 1/3) for FBS. This is also below average for the past 10 years and past 4 coaches at Syracuse.

Our offense is averaging 86 snaps per game which is 6th in FBS (we were 1st last year iirc)

FAST PACED OFFENSE DOESN’T NESSESSARILY CAUSE MORE SNAPS/STRESS FOR THE DEFENSE

For the millionth time.

 

[Cusefan0307]

We are averaging 66 defensive plays per game. This is below average (bottom 1/3) for FBS. This is also below average for the past 10 years and past 4 coaches at Syracuse.

Our offense is averaging 86 snaps per game which is 6th in FBS (we were 1st last year iirc)

FAST PACED OFFENSE DOESN’T NESSESSARILY CAUSE MORE SNAPS/STRESS FOR THE DEFENSE

For the millionth time.

We had the ball for 37 minutes yesterday. FSU was gassed.