I'll wait till the end of the season

[Pyle]

And execution is a direct reflection of the coaches is it not? One of two things need to happen if the players aren't executing, and they fall directly on the coaches to fix. Either 1, the coaches need to hold the players accountable and demand they perform simple fundamental plays such as WR blocking during bubble screens. There are plays to be made on bubble screens, poor fundamentals, mostly poor blocking has led to a simple play being extremely unsuccessful. Or 2, why are the coaches asking players to do things they are not good at? Should the coaches not be putting them in a position to utilize their strengths and execute properly? Execution is a reflection of the coaches.

It's also a reflection of talent, and ND has alot more than we do.

 

[CU44SE]

It's also a reflection of talent, and ND has alot more than we do.

Right, I forgot talent is the only thing that wins games. Guess Georgia Tech last year had 56-0 more talent then us? BC has more talent then USC! Indiana has more talent then Missouri! Talent always wins out!!!!

 

[Pyle]

Right, I forgot talent is the only thing that wins games. Guess Georgia Tech last year had 56-0 more talent then us? BC has more talent then USC! Indiana has more talent then Missouri! Talent always wins out!!!!

That's what you guys say about every lower tier team than us. We have better talent so a loss is inexcusable. Well ND had better talent so a loss to us would have been inexcusable. But since you threw a meatball right down the middle of the plate...I'll take it one step further...Kelly and company are better coaches too. There happy? This wasn't a Ty Willingham ND ala 2004 or a Charlie Weiss 2008. Kelly is proven. So we went up against a team with a more experienced staff, and with more talent and yet everyone still thinks we should have played better. Maybe you wanted us to play better and so did I, but realistically nothing about our program in on par with ND this year. The same can be said for FSU and Clemson. I hope everyone puts away the sharps for those games or there will blood in the streets of Syracuse.

 

[CU44SE]

That's what you guys say about every lower tier team than us. We have better talent so a loss is inexcusable. Well ND had better talent so a loss to us would have been inexcusable. But since you threw a meatball right down the middle of the plate...I'll take it one step further...Kelly and company are better coaches too. There happy? This wasn't a Ty Willingham ND ala 2004 or a Charlie Weiss 2008. Kelly is proven. So we went up against a team with a more experienced staff, and with more talent and yet everyone still thinks we should have played better. Maybe you wanted us to play better and so did I, but realistically nothing about our program in on par with ND this year. The same can be said for FSU and Clemson. I hope everyone puts away the sharps for those games or there will blood in the streets of Syracuse.

I said execution was a direct correlation with coaching and I wasn't just talking about the ND game. Lesser talented teams win all the time. I do not believe our coaches are good game coaches and I expect to win when we win the turnover battle 5-1. We weren't playing a Clemson (last years team) or Florida state, we were playing a team that I believe is a top 15-20 team, I don't believe they are a top 10 caliber team or unbeatable. You really want my thoughts on the coaching staff, here (http://syracusefan.com/threads/coaching-staff.80695/). Execution is lacking and thats on the coaches, that is my point. They need to put the players in a position to use their talents effectively and get their players to execute when asked to on simple bubble screens. We can't even complete a block to spring a player. It doesn't take much talent to make a block, blocking is defined by discipline and fundamentals. Talent does not cause teams to lose, it is only something that puts a team at a disadvantage. Teams overcome talent all the time, but if your coaches are not improving or harping on fundamentals, discipline, and actual in game coaching then you will not win many games. Look at Texas for an example, can you say they haven't been successful over the past 3 years because of a lack of talent? My point being talent is not everything, players need to be put in a position to succeed.

 

[storange]

And that makes you like 90% of the posters on this board.

Don't like the results so you criticize the staff but have no answers as to what, exactly, they should do differently.

You have a quarterback who struggles to throw the ball with consistent accuracy and we were unable to run the ball inside or outside.

You can call anything you like but if the players cannot execute, it doesn't really matter.

To be honest it wasn't that critical as internet message boards go. I said I will wait ...to come to any conclusions, I have to see what happens the rest of the way, we have a string of games where we are close in terms of talent .....hope they come through because I'm not looking forward to another change.

 

[eddie in nc]

That's what you guys say about every lower tier team than us. We have better talent so a loss is inexcusable. Well ND had better talent so a loss to us would have been inexcusable. But since you threw a meatball right down the middle of the plate...I'll take it one step further...Kelly and company are better coaches too. There happy? This wasn't a Ty Willingham ND ala 2004 or a Charlie Weiss 2008. Kelly is proven. So we went up against a team with a more experienced staff, and with more talent and yet everyone still thinks we should have played better. Maybe you wanted us to play better and so did I, but realistically nothing about our program in on par with ND this year. The same can be said for FSU and Clemson. I hope everyone puts away the sharps for those games or there will blood in the streets of Syracuse.

I just want us to play sound football. The talent issue is overblown. If we score a couple of times off the turnovers in the first half the other night and then ND came back for the win I could handle that and say they were better than us. I'm not sure what it is, but we played a terrible first half offensively and it wore down our defense later in the game. Just play smart, sound, aggressive football and I would be happy.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I just want us to play sound football. The talent issue is overblown. If we score a couple of times off the turnovers in the first half the other night and then ND came back for the win I could handle that and say they were better than us. I'm not sure what it is, but we played a terrible first half offensively and it wore down our defense later in the game. Just play smart, sound, aggressive football and I would be happy.

Why didn't we score a couple of times off the turnovers?

 

[Crusty]

I wanted Hackett out as late as the Syracuse v. Rutgers in 2012. I don't think I was the only one calling for his head at that point either. At the end of the same season, many here were calling for him to be the Head Coach. That was after 3 seasons as the Syracuse OC. I'm sure there will be a lot of opposition to this, but I really think he could be a great OC. He doesn't have the talent yet to run his full type of offense. Let's hold off on decapitating McDonald until the guy has at least another season to work out some things.

I am starting to feel the same way. I thought the game plan vs MD was excellent and he had them right where he wanted them. We simply don't have the horses to run his offense yet. BTW I don't think we have the horses to run any offense at this level. If we go to a bowl it will be a great coaching job.

I had thought our experience coupled with new talent would have been exciting this year, but Hunt has really not progressed as a passer as much as the news clippings led me to believe.

Our strengths have not been evident yet either while our weaknesses have revealed themselves. The OLine has been banged up and not up to 100% just yet. The DLine is a work-in-progress and the secondary was always a question mark.We will get better but with the schedule sledding will be tough.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Despise these holier than thou type posts...give me a break! It's the coaches jobs to find the answers, not the fans, arm chair QB's, etc., for Pete's sake. The coaches need to know their players and their capabilities/limitations and place them in the best position to win, so that they can execute. I don't have the answers, but to just say that it's purely up to the players to execute is a bit myopic imo.

It is Debate, and Real World, 101. If you make an argument, be prepared to back it up. Otherwise, it has no credibility.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

To be honest it wasn't that critical as internet message boards go. I said I will wait ...to come to any conclusions, I have to see what happens the rest of the way, we have a string of games where we are close in terms of talent ...hope they come through because I'm not looking forward to another change.

I just think that this was a tough game to start losing faith since they were so much better than us all over the field.

The measuring sticks need to be the teams that we can really compete with, not the NDs and FSUs of the world.

 

[TheCusian]

The talent disparity was on full display. Especially in the trenches and at WR.

I was not disappointed in the play calling at all. I don't get Axe's rant on McDonald. We didn't run a ton of bubble screens. I don't think we were out-coached per say. Our D created TO's and a lot of that was scheme, confusing Golson into bad throws or destroying him on that one sack/fumble (that they recovered). We gave them short screen passes - because we were choosing the lesser of two evils - i.e. we'd get beat deep a lot if we didn't play off. The game plan was for a less talented team taking chances vs a better team. We came up short.

Good defensive teams are going to make Hunt beat us with his arm. He needs to get better. Quickly.

 

[eddie in nc]

Why didn't we score a couple of times off the turnovers?

Because the offense stunk and couldn't put the ball in the end zone. Who's to blame for that? Not quite sure, but I generally lean toward the guys who are getting paid.

 

[NineOneSeven]

The talent disparity was on full display. Especially in the trenches and at WR.

I was not disappointed in the play calling at all. I don't get Axe's rant on McDonald. We didn't run a ton of bubble screens. I don't think we were out-coached per say. Our D created TO's and a lot of that was scheme, confusing Golson into bad throws or destroying him on that one sack/fumble (that they recovered). We gave them short screen passes - because we were choosing the lesser of two evils - i.e. we'd get beat deep a lot if we didn't play off. The game plan was for a less talented team taking chances vs a better team. We came up short.

Good defensive teams are going to make Hunt beat us with his arm. He needs to get better. Quickly.

And then we got beat deep

 

[NineOneSeven]

Because the offense stunk and couldn't put the ball in the end zone. Who's to blame for that? Not quite sure, but I generally lean toward the guys who are getting paid.

We didn't score off those turnovers because

1) we don't have an offense with big play capability to score quick points, nor are we consistent enough to finish once we get close to redzone territory
and
2) ND is good. Turnovers are great opportunities to score, no doubt. The turnovers made me happy because it stopped ND from scoring, which was really what we were hoping for. However, it's not like we got them inside ND's 10 yard line. And it's not like getting a turnover suddenly means you are not playing a solid defense.

 

[storange]

I'm just not in awe of NDs talent. They beat a crappy Rice team, an awful Michigan team, Purdue is bad, and then I thought they were playing a team that could be decent but it turns out they still haven't played anyone good. Look for Nd to have 2 losses within the next three weeks.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I'm just not in awe of NDs talent. They beat a crappy Rice team, an awful Michigan team, Purdue is bad, and then I thought they were playing a team that could be decent but it turns out they still haven't played anyone good. Look for Nd to have 2 losses within the next three weeks.

Yeah, I'm not either. I think they get waxed at FSU...But, unfortunately, they are still several levels above us in that area.

I know there are always misses in recruiting. 2 star guys who become all-pros and 5 star guys who never see the field but, by and large over large numbers, the stars are a good indicator of how much talent a team has and we have 1 four-star and 51 three-star guys over the last four years while ND has 8 five-star, 40 four-star and 37 three-star guys over the same time period.

At some point, we have to win some of the battles for the four star guys to expect to compete on their level...

 

[eddie in nc]

We didn't score off those turnovers because

1) we don't have an offense with big play capability to score quick points, nor are we consistent enough to finish once we get close to redzone territory Why is this?
and
2) ND is good. Turnovers are great opportunities to score, no doubt. The turnovers made me happy because it stopped ND from scoring, which was really what we were hoping for. However, it's not like we got them inside ND's 10 yard line. And it's not like getting a turnover suddenly means you are not playing a solid defense.

Its a loaded question but I think it comes back to the coaches not putting our less talented players in the best position to succeed.

 

[Millhouse]

I'm just not in awe of NDs talent. They beat a crappy Rice team, an awful Michigan team, Purdue is bad, and then I thought they were playing a team that could be decent but it turns out they still haven't played anyone good. Look for Nd to have 2 losses within the next three weeks.

I think we're going to look back at the ND game like the USC game in 2012. Big time program that was overrated early in the year that turned out to be just ok. USC probably had a tougher schedule, I don't expect ND to go 7-6 like USC did in 2012 but i think they'll lose three times at least

 

[SUtyger]

I think we're going to look back at the ND game like the USC game in 2012. Big time program that was overrated early in the year that turned out to be just ok. USC probably had a tougher schedule, I don't expect ND to go 7-6 like USC did in 2012 but i think they'll lose three times at least

Just curious who do you think they loose to? If they loose 3, I think they start this weekend against Stanford. I see their 4 toughest games remaining as Stanford, USC, Arizona State and Florida St

 

[Millhouse]

Just curious who do you think they loose to? If they loose 3, I think they start this weekend against Stanford. I see their 4 toughest games remaining as Stanford, USC, Arizona State and Florida St

i think louisville could get it together by then too

this is cheating a little but they'll go to some bowl game they don't belong in and get slaughtered

 

[storange]

i think louisville could get it together by then too

this is cheating a little but they'll go to some bowl game they don't belong in and get slaughtered

yep, thats why their bowl record sucks

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I don't care how good or bad they are, we lost to them. I think we were overmatched and they would have hung 55-60 on us if it wasn't for turnovers. Just much like we would have beaten Maryland if we got our head out of our arse I still think we are close to putting it together on offense. defense will always be hit and miss. That is the college game in 2014.

I though Lville would be better than they have shown and I think we can win. Had us at 3-2 after 5 beating Maryland but losing to Ville. I think we can get there