Injuries are again a major issue but

[qdawgg]

How many NFL guys are on our roster?

You tell me, I think the answer actually supports what I’ve said today. D side quite a few. O side, at least two. That’s a normal amount for the teams we’re competing against but an amazing amount for us. Just shows where our recruiting has been, on par with where we’re rated each year.

 

[Bayside44]

You tell me, I think the answer actually supports what I’ve said today. D side quite a few. O side, at least two. That’s a normal amount for the teams we’re competing against but an amazing amount for us. Just shows where our recruiting has been, on par with where we’re rated each year.

Both sides of the ball? Defense we have an injured WIlliams, injured Thompson, Jones, maybe Wax, Chestnut and Carter. Berg and Tucker and maybe Gadsen and some camp guys on O, maybe Andre. Which is for us an improvement over a period of years.

 

[RF2044]

“Sucks” is a little strong. That means 1/2 the ACC OL’s suck. People complain about the OL and the OL penalties. There’s only one guy responsible for that and it’s Schmidt. Maybe it’s time for him to go.

Maybe. But it's an apt description of their performance. I'm still amazed that for all of the alleged improvement up front, we still can't line up and get 1 yard when we need to. It's uncanny how incapable we are of doing that. But I think it's the micro outcome of the macro problem of the OL not being able to open holes, even for the best RB we've had since Reyes.

 

[crv1728]

How about ND?

Agree that it’s more than one game. Price has 5 carries for the season, Allen has 16. If Tucker is injured, that’s not enough.

 

[RF2044]

When I stated "pick-em", it was under the premise of being likely dawgs against FSU and Wake, and if we indeed lose those two games as projected, we head into that final ACC game with a 3-4 conference record and a 5 game losing streak. Additionally, who knows where we are physically (from an injury standpoint) heading into that affair, not to mention mentally. And, taking into account whether Shrader is still banged up, reaggravates/nursing injuries, etc. As with anything, time will tell...

That Mikel Jones article no doubt was inspiring. Speaking for myself, I remained grounded, however. Similar in affect to what a lot of the mainstream media were thinking. Yeah, no doubt it was great being 6-0, and not being so since 1987, and ranked #14 in the polls, but were we truly for real, or was it simply a mirage.

Our schedule to that point had been favorable, Uconn and Wagner are very bad football teams. UVA isn't good either, and it took a last second FG in the Dome to escape with a W. Purdue handed us the game at the end with those 30 yards worth of misconduct penalties that ultimately set up our winning score. And, NCST coming into our game highly banged up after having to deal with both Clemson & FSU, while we basically had 3 weeks to prepare for them. Furthermore, the Wolfpack came into our game after just losing their highly regarded starting QB during the Seminole game.

As many in the media pointed out, let's see how Syracuse fares moving forward starting with Clemson as the schedule gets much more difficult. As it has played out, we have lost 3 straight, and we have looked extremely bad (offensively speaking) in the process and seemingly spiraling downward.

Unfortunately, the "why not us" montra has turned into the perennial 'here we going again' type feeling we've all grown accustomed to, and the late season swoons attached to it. Just more of the same. This, IMO, is what is so darn frustrating. Presumably, magnified even more this year by thinking we might actually be contenders, when all the while, just as the media believed ( especially with early season advantageous schedule) being nothing more than pretenders.

It wasn't a mirage, and the difference isn't that we were overrated / benefitting from an easy schedule. The difference is that we've down numerous starters on BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL for this portion of the schedule. The entire schedule, from beginning to end, is difficult. Prior to the team getting ransacked by injuries, we handled the first part extremely well.

The problem isn't "November" -- it's injuries.

Screw the media. As it played out, we had a chance to defeat Clemson on their field with under a minute to play, and our QB who's orchestrated numerous end of gave victories made an unfortunate bad throw. For once. Notre Dame just knocked off Clemson -- we played them more competitively than Clemson did. And Pitt is garbage, but they're probably a minor bowl team, and you can't beat that type of opponent with a QB playing as poorly as CDRW did yesterday. He's looked better all season long, and laid an egg yesterday. Why? Who knows.

But I reject the notion that we got "lucky" earlier in the season, that we somehow benefitted from an "easy" schedule that featured wins over opponents like Louisville, Purdue, and NC State -- all bowl teams. Hell, even UVa has a chance to get to bowl eligibility, with their final three games [the last two are nearly guaranteed wins].

I don't want to hear about Uconn and Wagner -- all good teams schedule tomato cans. I wish we'd scheduled a third, easy OOC game instead of Notre Dame.

 

[rrlbees]

Maybe. But it's an apt description of their performance. I'm still amazed that for all of the alleged improvement up front, we still can't line up and get 1 yard when we need to. It's uncanny how incapable we are of doing that. But I think it's the micro outcome of the macro problem of the OL not being able to open holes, even for the best RB we've had since Reyes.

SU is the 9th best pass blocking ACC team and 7th best run blocking. Nothing great but the grades themselves are smack dab in the middle of average. Not sucks. I feel each unit is impacted by other units too because of how the defense will attack us. When Shrader and Tucker were 100% the OL certainly looked better. So much so that they were nominated for one of those national awards.

 

[RF2044]

SU is the 9th best pass blocking ACC team and 7th best run blocking. Nothing great but the grades themselves are smack dab in the middle of average. Not sucks. I feel each unit is impacted by other units too because of how the defense will attack us. When Shrader and Tucker were 100% the OL certainly looked better. So much so that they were nominated for one of those national awards.

Both probably inflated by the video game stats from the Wagner game. Which means that both run / pass blocking are regressing to the lower half of the ACC.

And I'm less concerned about the ratings at this point, and more concerned about what we're seeing unfold on the field. If this is the 7th best run blocking unit in the ACC, why can't they open any holes for a back the caliber of Sean Tucker?

 

[rrlbees]

Both probably inflated by the video game stats from the Wagner game. Which means that both run / pass blocking are regressing to the lower half of the ACC.

And I'm less concerned about the ratings at this point, and more concerned about what we're seeing unfold on the field. If this is the 7th best run blocking unit in the ACC, why can't they open any holes for a back the caliber of Sean Tucker?

They opened them last year. What changed? Tucker not 100%? Offensive scheme change? Play calling? Pittsburgh and Clemson have been our two worst run blocking games. Better DL? Sure. But the health of the backfield plays a role too.

 

[orangecuse]

It wasn't a mirage, and the difference isn't that we were overrated / benefitting from an easy schedule. The difference is that we've down numerous starters on BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL for this portion of the schedule. The entire schedule, from beginning to end, is difficult. Prior to the team getting ransacked by injuries, we handled the first part extremely well.

The problem isn't "November" -- it's injuries.

Screw the media. As it played out, we had a chance to defeat Clemson on their field with under a minute to play, and our QB who's orchestrated numerous end of gave victories made an unfortunate bad throw. For once. Notre Dame just knocked off Clemson -- we played them more competitively than Clemson did. And Pitt is garbage, but they're probably a minor bowl team, and you can't beat that type of opponent with a QB playing as poorly as CDRW did yesterday. He's looked better all season long, and laid an egg yesterday. Why? Who knows.

But I reject the notion that we got "lucky" earlier in the season, that we somehow benefitted from an "easy" schedule that featured wins over opponents like Louisville, Purdue, and NC State -- all bowl teams. Hell, even UVa has a chance to get to bowl eligibility, with their final three games [the last two are nearly guaranteed wins].

I don't want to hear about Uconn and Wagner -- all good teams schedule tomato cans. I wish we'd scheduled a third, easy OOC game instead of Notre Dame.

Fair enough.

Reasonable minds can disagree without being disagreeable. We all see/view things in different lights depending upon how much weight/attention one voluntarily chooses to give those particulars and/or circumstances over others.

 

[anomander]

This is what you get when you finish in the 50’s and 60’s every year in recruiting rankings. We can talk ourselves blue saying they don’t matter but the evidence has been on the field for the last 20 years

 

[anomander]

It wasn't a mirage, and the difference isn't that we were overrated / benefitting from an easy schedule. The difference is that we've down numerous starters on BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL for this portion of the schedule. The entire schedule, from beginning to end, is difficult. Prior to the team getting ransacked by injuries, we handled the first part extremely well.

The problem isn't "November" -- it's injuries.

Screw the media. As it played out, we had a chance to defeat Clemson on their field with under a minute to play, and our QB who's orchestrated numerous end of gave victories made an unfortunate bad throw. For once. Notre Dame just knocked off Clemson -- we played them more competitively than Clemson did. And Pitt is garbage, but they're probably a minor bowl team, and you can't beat that type of opponent with a QB playing as poorly as CDRW did yesterday. He's looked better all season long, and laid an egg yesterday. Why? Who knows.

But I reject the notion that we got "lucky" earlier in the season, that we somehow benefitted from an "easy" schedule that featured wins over opponents like Louisville, Purdue, and NC State -- all bowl teams. Hell, even UVa has a chance to get to bowl eligibility, with their final three games [the last two are nearly guaranteed wins].

I don't want to hear about Uconn and Wagner -- all good teams schedule tomato cans. I wish we'd scheduled a third, easy OOC game instead of Notre Dame.

Couldn’t agree more. We just don’t recruit well enough to have depth when these guys go down. Every Halloween for us should be Groundhog Day. Other than 2018 when we miraculously stayed almost completely healthy was really the only time in the last 10 years we aren’t dealing with the exact situation.

The other thing is I love the 3-3-5. For the most part it works just fine in the ACC. But typically the front 3 are supposed to be close to 300 pounders, and we don’t recruit as many d lineman because we need to recruit more DB’s. I don’t know how Babers slept at night going into the season with this DL. Don’t get me wrong, the kids play their hearts out. Darton is amazing with what he brings with his size, but there were times the last 2 weeks where he physically got moved about 8 feet from where he started. Not to pick on him because he’s the least of our worries and plays his heart out, but my point remains the same. We desperately needed to use the portal for a DT. I know we went after Verse and that would have been amazing, but did we really need a 6 yr WR who never played at MSU and has never seen the field here more than we needed a DT. I said it in another threat but losing Lockett when we did was crucial.

 

[kcsu]

How many NFL guys are on our roster?

6 maybe 7

 

[kcsu]

They opened them last year. What changed? Tucker not 100%? Offensive scheme change? Play calling? Pittsburgh and Clemson have been our two worst run blocking games. Better DL? Sure. But the health of the backfield plays a role too.

Spot on

 

[Chris02M]

Didn’t realize Linton didn’t play either. 41% of our starters out.

wonder if it was injury or discipline