I'm glad it's over

[MiniCuse]

Weird season. Losing to Cigar Boy made me think "maybe we really are a lousy team." Then beating Clemson made me think "maybe we are a good team." Turns out the first thought is closer to the truth. Too many injuries plus not enough depth and talent equals pretty much the same results we've seen for the last two decades. Next year there needs to be some real progress on the winning front or the "belief without evidence" tent revival is going to start wearing real thin.

 

[OrangeDW]

This year really felt like it would be different when we went and played Miami and FSU to the wire. And then we had Wake, 38-21!!!

We played ball through 9 1/2 games this year.

The last 2 1/2 games were as bad as I’ve ever seen. Man. If we just could’ve hung on to that Wake game and not embarrassed ourselves in the last two games, things would have a much different feel.

 

[AAM62]

Sad thing is the defense will certainly be worse next year. They did play well through 3 quarters of the season. Next year we won’t have that kind of luxury.

 

[OrangeDW]

Sad thing is the defense will certainly be worse next year. They did play well through 3 quarters of the season. Next year we won’t have that kind of luxury.

I’m not willing to concede that yet. Young players can get better. New recruits can help. It’s not like we’re losing Dwight Freeney and Keith Bulluck.

 

[AAM62]

I’m not willing to concede that yet. Young players can get better. New recruits can help. It’s not like we’re losing Dwight Freeney and Keith Bulluck.

Yeah but we lose an entire unit of multi year starters on a team where depth is an issue. It’s going to be rough.

 

[MiniCuse]

Sad thing is the defense will certainly be worse next year. They did play well through 3 quarters of the season. Next year we won’t have that kind of luxury.

I don't see how the defense can get worse.

 

[CarolinaCuse]

Yeah but we lose an entire unit of multi year starters on a team where depth is an issue. It’s going to be rough.

New players step up. It's a rite of passage in football. We'll be deeper on D but with less proven players at a few critical positions. I'm glad so many people on the board can predict the future now.

 

[OrangeDW]

Yeah but we lose an entire unit of multi year starters on a team where depth is an issue. It’s going to be rough.

Yes, but they’re average players anyway. Maybe some of the new guys have more ability and will shine as they gain experience?

 

[HOFCeluck]

I just don't get it.

I mean the easy, hot take is that the players just lost focus and believed their own hype after Clemson. The hype video, the Players Tribune article etc, but they were still competitive the next week vs current CFP number two. It's easy to say that it's dept and injuries, but BC has the same issues.

This sucks though.

 

[orangecuse]

This year really felt like it would be different when we went and played Miami and FSU to the wire. And then we had Wake, 38-21!!!

We played ball through 9 1/2 games this year.

The last 2 1/2 games were as bad as I’ve ever seen. Man. If we just could’ve hung on to that Wake game and not embarrassed ourselves in the last two games, things would have a much different feel.

I absolutely share the same sentiment. And, unfortunately for me, as much as it may have appeared we turned the corner after that improbable Clemson victory, today, I sit with the feeling that we are no closer to that than when Shaffer was fired and Dino hired.

 

[shandeezy7]

I absolutely share the same sentiment. And, unfortunately for me, as much as it may have appeared we turned the corner after that improbable Clemson victory, today, I sit with the feeling that we are no closer to that than when Shaffer was fired and Dino hired.

I know that we all want to feel like we've gotten better in the past 2 years, but have we really? I mean I guess we were more competitive against good competition this year, but we also lost to MTSU and have had our doors blown off the past few games. The offense puts up more yards, but does so with pretty poor efficiency. The defense had a decent stretch, but has been embarrassed the past few weeks and is also horrendous at forcing turnovers.

Next year, we lose our top two receivers and all of our starting linebackers, with no clear replacements waiting in the wings. Who knows what to expect, but there will be a lot of restlessness on the Hill with another season similar to this one.

 

[MiniCuse]

I absolutely share the same sentiment. And, unfortunately for me, as much as it may have appeared we turned the corner after that improbable Clemson victory, today, I sit with the feeling that we are no closer to that than when Shaffer was fired and Dino hired.

As much as I wanted to believe the Clemson game was a turning point, it seemed like a fluke more than a trend. Enjoyed the win immensely, but at the time, Winston Wolf's advice seemed the most apt for the team.

 

[OrangeDW]

I just don't get it.

I mean the easy, hot take is that the players just lost focus and believed their own hype after Clemson. The hype video, the Players Tribune article etc, but they were still competitive the next week vs current CFP number two. It's easy to say that it's dept and injuries, but BC has the same issues.

This sucks though.

I’m not buying that “believed the hype after Clemson” thing because we still played ball for 2 1/2 more games after that.

 

[OrangeDW]

As much as I wanted to believe the Clemson game was a turning point, it seemed like a fluke more than a trend. Enjoyed the win immensely, but at the time, Winston Wolf's advice seemed the most apt for the team.

I don’t know...we played very competitively on the road against LSU, NC State, Miami, and Florida St. right before and right after that game.

When have we ever played really talented teams to the wire on the road like that since the 90s?

 

[HOFCeluck]

I’m not buying that “believed the hype after Clemson” thing because we still played ball for 2 1/2 more games after that.

No I don't either. It's just an easy thing to say.

 

[Orangeman]

Very fun season

Team ran out of gas.

 

[OrangeDW]

I know that we all want to feel like we've gotten better in the past 2 years, but have we really? I mean I guess we were more competitive against good competition this year, but we also lost to MTSU and have had our doors blown off the past few games. The offense puts up more yards, but does so with pretty poor efficiency. The defense had a decent stretch, but has been embarrassed the past few weeks and is also horrendous at forcing turnovers.

Next year, we lose our top two receivers and all of our starting linebackers, with no clear replacements waiting in the wings. Who knows what to expect, but there will be a lot of restlessness on the Hill with another season similar to this one.

I think we have. Clemson is one of the better wins in program history, and VT was certainly one of our best wins this decade, up there with those WVU wins. We weren’t winning games like that from 2013-15.

We weren’t playing teams like LSU, FSU, and Miami to the wire on the road and feeling like we could’ve or should’ve won either.

 

[NKR1978]

I just don't get it.

I mean the easy, hot take is that the players just lost focus and believed their own hype after Clemson. The hype video, the Players Tribune article etc, but they were still competitive the next week vs current CFP number two. It's easy to say that it's dept and injuries, but BC has the same issues.

This sucks though.

Year 6 for Daz v year 2 for Dino. I think it’s as simple as that.

 

[dasher]

Yeah but we lose an entire unit of multi year starters on a team where depth is an issue. It’s going to be rough.

Grad transfers

 

[MiniCuse]

I don’t know...we played very competitively on the road against LSU, NC State, Miami, and Florida St. right before and right after that game.

When have we ever played really talented teams to the wire on the road like that since the 90s?

We played competitively and still lost. Game after game featured early mistakes, playing from behind and ultimately falling short. That was the established pattern that made Clemson a fluke. Winning the close ones is the hill we need to get over. Stunning a good team once a year at home is fun but not real progress.

 

[Ish88888]

I don't see how the defense can get worse.

We said that last year after the pitt game.

 

[CanadianSU]

4-8.

Yuck.

 

[OrangeDW]

We played competitively and still lost. Game after game featured early mistakes, playing from behind and ultimately falling short. That was the established pattern that made Clemson a fluke. Winning the close ones is the hill we need to get over. Stunning a good team once a year at home is fun but not real progress.

Playing competitively was progress though. Not over the hill progress, but still progress. I think based on recent history most thought we’d get our doors blown off down in Death Valley and FSU because that’s what usually has happened in recent history.

Unfortunately we couldn’t finish the year out. I think we made some progress overall. Not enough. Long, long way to go. But there was some progress. It was a decent, interesting, and often fun season for 9 1/2 games,

 

[MikeSU02]

Building a program takes years and lots of resources, both financial and otherwise.

It's been almost a generation since we were really good. We're on our third chancellor, fourth AD and our fifth head coach since then.

If you believe in Dino, which I do, he needs to know he has 4-5 years to get this set up. Year 3 we should be showing legitimate signs of what our program will become (meaning next year).

I see a lot of comments that address getting us to six wins and a low-level bowl, which would be fantastic no doubt, but Dino is building a program. Our AD, from what I believe, is right there with him.

We hung with LSU, FSU and Miami. We beat Clemson. That loss to MTSU was tough. We ran out of gas and healthy players at the end of the season.

We do not have the talent across the board to be able to compete every week with this year's schedule. We absolutely do not have the depth to absorb the injuries we did.

Think about how many guys that played the most snaps will see an NFL contract. It won't be many. Nothing against these guys. Played hard, set records and no one can take away that Clemson victory.

It's hard, but the real dividends for having Dino aren't coming until years 4 or 5. Maybe something can click next year.

If you can't handle that, I don't think you're going to be happy with anyone at Syracuse, save a Nick Saban.

It's tough to have faith as a football fan of Syracuse. But there isn't a quick fix. It's a process.

I've said it before, we fans, I include myself, are worried about stomping out a cigarette in the middle of a forest fire.

 

[SUbear]

Building a program takes years and lots of resources, both financial and otherwise.

It's been almost a generation since we were really good. We're on our third chancellor, fourth AD and our fifth head coach since then.

If you believe in Dino, which I do, he needs to know he has 4-5 years to get this set up. Year 3 we should be showing legitimate signs of what our program will become (meaning next year).

I see a lot of comments that address getting us to six wins and a low-level bowl, which would be fantastic no doubt, but Dino is building a program. Our AD, from what I believe, is right there with him.

We hung with LSU, FSU and Miami. We beat Clemson. That loss to MTSU was tough. We ran out of gas and healthy players at the end of the season.

We do not have the talent across the board to be able to compete every week with this year's schedule. We absolutely do not have the depth to absorb the injuries we did.

Think about how many guys that played the most snaps will see an NFL contract. It won't be many. Nothing against these guys. Played hard, set records and no one can take away that Clemson victory.

It's hard, but the real dividends for having Dino aren't coming until years 4 or 5. Maybe something can click next year.

If you can't handle that, I don't think you're going to be happy with anyone at Syracuse, save a Nick Saban.

It's tough to have faith as a football fan of Syracuse. But there isn't a quick fix. It's a process.

I've said it before, we fans, I include myself, are worried about stomping out a cigarette in the middle of a forest fire.

You may be right, but you do realize this has been said for every coach after Pasqualoni. The truth is closer to it may take that long, or this coach just may never get us there.