It's the O-Line dummy...

[A Clockwork Orange]

Just looked through the first three quarters of the game. Out of 34 dropbacks, Devito was sacked 8 times. 12 other times he was flushed from the pocket within 4 seconds (and there was a rush). So out of 34 dropbacks he had essentially 20 times where he had to pass the ball within 4 seconds. Devito never held the ball for more than four seconds in the first three quarters. Even on completed passes.

The O-Line breakdown was total and complete. You can't really blame Devito for not making quick decisions, because the majority of his completed passes were out of his hand between 2 and 3 seconds after the ball was snapped. The times he had four seconds to throw were only when Clemson sent three players.

No offense in the history of football will function when your offensive line is getting caved in for the entire game. People who are blaming Tommy or the receivers here are missing the point that the offense never had a chance to get into a rhythm. The offensive line as currently constructed is one of the worst I've seen in more than 30 years of watching Syracuse football. And that's saying something.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Bama’s O can’t get in a rhythm against Clemson. That shouldn’t be the expectation. The adjustment at half should have been just take what they give you. There were plenty of open guys underneath the first three quarters.

How often do you see us lineup quickly then look over to the sideline once the coaches observe the D? Shouldn’t they have made it clear to go with “extended handoff” 3 yard passes? Instead we see DeVito looking down field before pulling it in and running for his life.

Do you think it was a coincidence that our best drive came from short passes? When they were blitzing from the middle wouldn’t it make sense to send a guy into the hole left by the blitzer? If you want to try a down field pass wouldn’t it make sense to bring in protection vs going 5 wide most of the time?

The OL absolutely sucked. But they were far from the only issue.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Bama’s O can’t get in a rhythm against Clemson. That shouldn’t be the expectation. The adjustment at half should have been just take what they give you. There were plenty of open guys underneath the first three quarters.

How often do you see us lineup quickly then look over to the sideline once the coaches observe the D? Shouldn’t they have made it clear to go with “extended handoff” 3 yard passes? Instead we see DeVito looking down field before pulling it in and running for his life.

Do you think it was a coincidence that our best drive came from short passes? When they were blitzing from the middle wouldn’t it make sense to send a guy into the hole left by the blitzer? If you want to try a down field pass wouldn’t it make sense to bring in protection vs going 5 wide most of the time?

The OL absolutely sucked. But they were far from the only issue.

Devito didn't have time to look down field. Out of those 34 dropbacks, 10 times he was flushed out of the pocket in 2 seconds. Two other times he had three seconds. No down the field routes have time to develop in two seconds.

I won't dispute that the play calling was suspect, especially when Clemson is blitzing on almost every down. The fact of the matter is that there were WAY too many times when Clemson brought five or less that our O-Line was completely overwhelmed.

It's kinda tough to find the open underneath guy when you're running for your life after two seconds.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Devito didn't have time to look down field. Out of those 34 dropbacks, 10 times he was flushed out of the pocket in 2 seconds. Two other times he had three seconds. No down the field routes have time to develop in two seconds.

I won't dispute that the play calling was suspect, especially when Clemson is blitzing on almost every down. The fact of the matter is that there were WAY too many times when Clemson brought five or less that our O-Line was completely overwhelmed.

It's kinda tough to find the open underneath guy when you're running for your life after two seconds.

Again Bama is not going to have time to look downfield. Bama is not going to have time to make post snap progression reads. Expecting that if our below average OL vs Clemson is silly.

We will see how they play call WMU. I am all in for “it’s the OL dummy” if they suck ass again.

 

[Trueblue25]

20 of 34.

 

[upperdeck]

they were playing man up on the WR and blitzing.. so its not just a matter of throw it quick.. This isnt like they were corner blizting so hit the hot read.

i dont care if they were blitzing.. we were too and we created some pressure but their Dude just rolled out and still got throws way. one he threw 60 yds.. ours rolled out and barely go the throw away throws off..

 

[HRE Otto IV]

they were playing man up on the WR and blitzing.. so its not just a matter of throw it quick.. This isnt like they were corner blizting so hit the hot read.

i dont care if they were blitzing.. we were too and we created some pressure but their Dude just rolled out and still got throws way. one he threw 60 yds.. ours rolled out and barely go the throw away throws off..

We went 5 wide a lot. How often were our inner WRs covered?

 

[Millhouse]

they were playing man up on the WR and blitzing.. so its not just a matter of throw it quick.. This isnt like they were corner blizting so hit the hot read.

i dont care if they were blitzing.. we were too and we created some pressure but their Dude just rolled out and still got throws way. one he threw 60 yds.. ours rolled out and barely go the throw away throws off..

well, that's why lawrence was recruited by everyone. i know the throw you're talking about, i was floored, it was amazing. that is pretty unusual

 

[Millhouse]

Devito didn't have time to look down field. Out of those 34 dropbacks, 10 times he was flushed out of the pocket in 2 seconds. Two other times he had three seconds. No down the field routes have time to develop in two seconds.

I won't dispute that the play calling was suspect, especially when Clemson is blitzing on almost every down. The fact of the matter is that there were WAY too many times when Clemson brought five or less that our O-Line was completely overwhelmed.

It's kinda tough to find the open underneath guy when you're running for your life after two seconds.

i'm with you entirely. i'm not going to say there aren't other problems with devitos game, i'm just saying it wasn't really relevant saturday. no athletic qb was doing anything with that pressure. mcnabb at the orange bowl couldn't do anything either, it was like that.

 

[care taker]

Devito didn't have time to look down field. Out of those 34 dropbacks, 10 times he was flushed out of the pocket in 2 seconds. Two other times he had three seconds. No down the field routes have time to develop in two seconds.

I won't dispute that the play calling was suspect, especially when Clemson is blitzing on almost every down. The fact of the matter is that there were WAY too many times when Clemson brought five or less that our O-Line was completely overwhelmed.

It's kinda tough to find the open underneath guy when you're running for your life after two seconds.

Devito didn't have time to look down field. Out of those 34 dropbacks, 10 times he was flushed out of the pocket in 2 seconds. Two other times he had three seconds. No down the field routes have time to develop in two seconds.

I won't dispute that the play calling was suspect, especially when Clemson is blitzing on almost every down. The fact of the matter is that there were WAY too many times when Clemson brought five or less that our O-Line was completely overwhelmed.

It's kinda tough to find the open underneath guy when you're running for your life after two seconds.

Couple that with our 2.5 yards a rush
And our WRs getting jammed by big Clemson’s Dbs it was just to much
Tommy got tackled by that back of his helmet no call , face mask no call ! Got crushed
And was Jersey tough ! Took a beating and stayed on the field ! I know he isn’t ED as a runner but if not for his pocket awareness and quickness how many more sacks would there be the past few games ?

 

[upperdeck]

he avoided 10+ sacks. people just gloss over that

he made better throws than Lawrence did. Most of his were just lobbed up and the WR adjusted and caught them.

 

[xc84]

he avoided 10+ sacks. people just gloss over that

two by throwing to a Clemson DB

 

[Newhouser]

Devito didn't have time to look down field. Out of those 34 dropbacks, 10 times he was flushed out of the pocket in 2 seconds. Two other times he had three seconds. No down the field routes have time to develop in two seconds.

I won't dispute that the play calling was suspect, especially when Clemson is blitzing on almost every down. The fact of the matter is that there were WAY too many times when Clemson brought five or less that our O-Line was completely overwhelmed.

It's kinda tough to find the open underneath guy when you're running for your life after two seconds.

Teams don't seem to have a problem finding the open guy underneath against us. It is frustrating.

 

[Cusester]

two by throwing to a Clemson DB

Weak and totally uncalled for.

 

[UelSU]

We desperately need a quick, short throwing game. Everyone is going to be bringing the heat until we start making them pay. RB check-downs will only work for so long. Not that we've used it that much. Keep trying to run, but until the O-line gets better, adapt the passing game to what you can do.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I won't dispute that the play calling was suspect, especially when Clemson is blitzing on almost every down. The fact of the matter is that there were WAY too many times when Clemson brought five or less that our O-Line was completely overwhelmed.

It's kinda tough to find the open underneath guy when you're running for your life after two seconds.

I watched some of the replay highlights just to focus on the OL blocking on some key plays. Our guards and center were manhandled in a way I've never seen, in many cases pushed backwards by a standard bull rush. The pocket never stands a chance.

 

[sufandu]

Just looked through the first three quarters of the game. Out of 34 dropbacks, Devito was sacked 8 times. 12 other times he was flushed from the pocket within 4 seconds (and there was a rush). So out of 34 dropbacks he had essentially 20 times where he had to pass the ball within 4 seconds. Devito never held the ball for more than four seconds in the first three quarters. Even on completed passes.

The O-Line breakdown was total and complete. You can't really blame Devito for not making quick decisions, because the majority of his completed passes were out of his hand between 2 and 3 seconds after the ball was snapped. The times he had four seconds to throw were only when Clemson sent three players.

No offense in the history of football will function when your offensive line is getting caved in for the entire game. People who are blaming Tommy or the receivers here are missing the point that the offense never had a chance to get into a rhythm. The offensive line as currently constructed is one of the worst I've seen in more than 30 years of watching Syracuse football. And that's saying something.

You're right, the oline is the weakest link. We need to counter with quick over the middle throws. Look at what we did the first 2 years under Dino. Erv Philips lived on those catches and they took less than 4 seconds to complete. I get that the offense wants the big play, but lets get the ball out of the qb's hands. A guy like Nykeim Johnson has shown the ability take short throws like that and make something more out of them.

 

[cuseman404]

Couple that with our 2.5 yards a rush
And our WRs getting jammed by big Clemson’s Dbs it was just to much
Tommy got tackled by that back of his helmet no call , face mask no call ! Got crushed
And was Jersey tough ! Took a beating and stayed on the field ! I know he isn’t ED as a runner but if not for his pocket awareness and quickness how many more sacks would there be the past few games ?

caretaker i am not bashing the staff i think they are great.

Any reason why the only run they have in their arsenal is run up the middle? 2nd question Maryland schemed their WR in open spots where they knew they would have room to catch the ball. . Every obvious passing down when CLemson was blitzing, we did not throw one screen. Havent really noticed it till this yr, seems coaching is really struggling especially the O Coordinator.

 

[xc84]

Weak and totally uncalled for.

You are probably right but I was in the stands when he was rolling to his right and escaped the rush. He was nearing out of bounds at throwing it away...or so I thought. I was actually happy and had 100% certainly he would throw it so far out of bounds no one would catch it except perhaps me. Then he threw a spiral to a wide open DB.

 

[reedny]

Devito didn't have time to look down field. Out of those 34 dropbacks, 10 times he was flushed out of the pocket in 2 seconds. Two other times he had three seconds. No down the field routes have time to develop in two seconds.

I won't dispute that the play calling was suspect, especially when Clemson is blitzing on almost every down. The fact of the matter is that there were WAY too many times when Clemson brought five or less that our O-Line was completely overwhelmed.

It's kinda tough to find the open underneath guy when you're running for your life after two seconds.

And this was all entirely predictable. Venables blitzes a lot, especially when Clemson gets a lead (almost every game). That's well known. His rushers are difficult or impossible to stop - even if you have a good OL. Every DC knows this. Draw plays are also unlikely to work because of their interior line penetration and LB's. That 's been obvious the last 3 times we've played them. Our OL is a WIP. We knew that too. Tommy is a new QB and was probably not likely to become ED against Clemson. We knew that. I'm not 'blaming' the staff - just wondering why there seems to be no plan for getting passes off within 2 seconds.

In fairness, we threw it to the boundary a couple times. We tried a screen once or twice (batted down). But we have no short passing game or swings to the RB's? Those work against blitzes. I liked the bootleg, at least that was something creative. But our TE's are MIA. We have nothing up the seam or over the middle. No doubt the staff is trying. But yards, and questions, are piling up.

 

[upperdeck]

I want to see a few TE play action throws. That play to the FR TE doesnt need to be 20yds down field to be useful.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I want to see a few TE play action throws. That play to the FR TE doesnt need to be 20yds down field to be useful.

The pop pass we used to run to Pierce would have killed it this game with the LBs blitzing over and over.

 

[upperdeck]

I wanted one try at the goal line with it. I liked the QB bootleg, but on first down.

 

[All4SU]

he avoided 10+ sacks. people just gloss over that

he made better throws than Lawrence did. Most of his were just lobbed up and the WR adjusted and caught them.

Exactly. If we had a 6’4” WR who could win a jump ball, even in a one on one situation, TD could just toss it up like Lawrence did. We don’t have that option.

 

[upperdeck]

isnt that what we hoped for the kid who has had leg issues since he got here?

it really hurts they have big kids that are also faster than ours as well as bigger and stronger