Let’s Talk About the 2022 Syracuse Offense | Syracusefan.com

Let’s Talk About the 2022 Syracuse Offense

sutomcat

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Dino has said it will be a blend of the Anae pass based offense and the Babers offense, which has historically been pretty balanced but evolved in 2021 to be really run based.

He said they will start running the base Anae offense and add in things from the Babers Baylor based offense over the course of the spring.

We are talking about 2 senior coaches (in their 60s) working together to create a new offense from offenses near and dear to both.

To me, this is the story of the spring and the success of this experiment will be the biggest factor in the success of the 2022 season. Even with the significant losses we have suffered on the DL I have confidence the defense will be above average in the ACC. There is too much experience, talent and good coaching for this to not happen.

If we can meld the best elements of the both schemes together, we would have something historically great.

It is interesting to me because the Anae offense last season led the ACC in passing yards per game. Both it was dead last in the ACC in rushing yards.

The Syracuse offense on the other hand was the polar opposite. Syracuse led the ACC in rushing yards per game and was dead last in the conference in passing yards.

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Now you could argue that Virginia did not have the best passing offense in the conference and Syracuse did not have the best rushing offense either. You can make a good argument Pitt had the best passing offense overall and UNC or UL had the best rushing offense. But clearly these two are among the top.

You could argue one of the big reasons these teams led the league in these categories is because they were so bad in the other category (finishing last in the conference).

Blending the best elements of both offenses is probably going to ensure Syracuse does not finish near the bottom of the conference in either category but hopefully finishes in the top half in both. That is surely the goal; an offense that is capable of sustained excellence rushing the ball and sustained excellence passing it.

Some things that stand out to me: UVa really didn’t run the ball that badly. 4.1 ypc is 8th in the conference. Right about average. The number of rush attempts is dramatically lower than any other school in the conference. That is the biggest reason UVa finished last in the conference in rushing yards per game.

What about tempo? How will the Anae offense affect tempo?

If I remember correctly, Dino was asked about this and said something to the effect that he still believed in tempo and that he thought Syracuse would always run some tempo, and that Robert agreed with this. UVa ran 114 more passes than Syracuse did in the same number of games last season, so the data suggests if anything, we will probably run more tempo next season. Think a big reason we slowed the tempo down so dramatically last season was because we felt running the ball down as much as possible, running the ball as much as possible, reducing the number of plays run as much as possible gave us the best chance to win. Hopefully that philosophy will be thrown out in 2022.

As of today, it appears we will have a lot more depth on offense in 2022. We have a second running QB, we have a couple guys who can play at RB, a bevy of experienced offensive linemen, and lots of WRs (some of whom are not experienced at all). We should be able to move the ball better and we should be willing to play a lot faster.

We need a couple of young WRs to step up. We need a TE to step up and show he can be a receiving threat. We need at least one of the QBs to step up and show he can throw the pass accurately and do this consistently. And most of all, we need the OL to block well enough to allow the run game to be successful (which should prett much be a given) and to pass block well enough that the QB consistently have enough time to let plays develop and WRs to get open.

More than anything, this is what I am going to focus on watching during the spring game. How does the OL handle pass blocking? Can they give the QB some time to get the ball off? This is especially important in passing situations.

How much will we throw to the TE? How much will we throw to the RBs? How successful will we be running the ball using mostly UVa sets and schemes?

Can’t wait to see how things look April 1st.
 
Good thoughts. To add to your write-up, Babers stated from the beginning that he expects 2,000 yards per year from the ground. I don't think he will ever buy I to a pass only offense.

Putting Anae's and Baber's styles together should benefit SU. Add in that the beard will have a proven quarterback whisperer helping to work out his motion and his reads, as well as an improved Ol, and we should see a big improvement.

I agree , the D looks good and the coaches know what they are doing. I have confidence they will scheme a solid defense.
 
The Baber's O needs a vertical passing game. We have really lacked that since 2018. I don't see 2022 being different. Hopefully Anae's O will use the middle of the field and look for mismatches. Too bad we have no TEs.
 
How do you know SU doesn't have any TEs? They were never thrown to or utilized any other way except blocking.
Mang has only played the game for 3 or 4 years, no one really knows whether he can be a TE. In practice before games he seems to catch the ball well.
Not having a lot of route running experience seems to hold him back.
 
Anae is an intelligent coach. He'll leverage the elite talent he has in Tucker. Not even worried about it.

Between Anae and Beck we're going to see a competent passing game, which we were badly missing last season.

Also, make no mistake, Anae is known for playing fast. We're going to put pressure on defenses again.

We're not used to seeing healthy offense, but we have every single ingredient we need to be dangerous and highly productive. We're going to be a lot better, and we're going to enter every game with the best player on the football field on our side. That matters.
 
The interesting thing in SUs rushing numbers is that we ran for over 5+ a carry with a rushing offense using an avg Oline and very little passing game to scare people.. Typically only teams like army/navy/option teams can get away with that. If we can pass just a small chunk better and make teams honor that The rushing game could get even better. the top rushing teams in the league used the QB alot to bolster the game plan for sure.
 
The interesting thing in SUs rushing numbers is that we ran for over 5+ a carry with a rushing offense using an avg Oline and very little passing game to scare people.. Typically only teams like army/navy/option teams can get away with that. If we can pass just a small chunk better and make teams honor that The rushing game could get even better. the top rushing teams in the league used the QB alot to bolster the game plan for sure.

Agree. Some things really pop out of Tomcat's stats; despite having the best rushing yards per game, we were only 6th in attempts and virtually tied with Clemson (who was a couple of attempts back). We were extraordinarily efficient in the running game. Thank you, one of the best RB's ever to wear Orange and a QB who was better than average as a runner.

The passing game was something of a trainwreck across the board, though. Fewest passing attempts, worst completion percentage, and fewest yards. I won't take the time to total up total offensive plays, but I bet we are way down the list on that too.

The passing game has to improve for the offense to improve, and it has to improve by quite a bit for the improvement to come in the W column. I mean, that's clearly a "thanks for stating the obvious" type of observation but it is a shame to waste the likes of a Sean Tucker in such an unbalanced offense. It will be interesting to see what the brain trust pulls out of its collective hat to turn the passing game around. We have a number of question marks this off-season, but to me that is the biggest one.
 
Anae is an intelligent coach. He'll leverage the elite talent he has in Tucker. Not even worried about it.

Between Anae and Beck we're going to see a competent passing game, which we were badly missing last season.

Also, make no mistake, Anae is known for playing fast. We're going to put pressure on defenses again.

We're not used to seeing healthy offense, but we have every single ingredient we need to be dangerous and highly productive. We're going to be a lot better, and we're going to enter every game with the best player on the football field on our side. That matters.
One of the major gripes from UVA people was that Anae never ran the ball. UVA is also based on a tradition of hardnose running football with George Welsh, so it was probably even more pronounced for the fan base.

A couple of friends that work in local sports media in Richmond and Charlottesville both have said how interesting it will be to see Anae work with a proven top-notch running back and if he'll change his pass-heavy offense to suit what he has in Tucker. To me, that's the most interesting thing to watch this season. I don't doubt Anae is a good OC, so I'm excited to see what he can do with Tuck.

Looking at some of his offenses, from 2005-2009 at BYU he had a 1,000 yard rusher each year and a very solid passing game as well. The passing numbers fell off a cliff in 2010, but rushing stayed pretty respectable. Every year in his first stint at BYU his teams rushed for about an average of 140-150 yards per game.

Then in 2013 he had Taysom Hill at BYU. He had two 1,000 yard rushers that year in Hill and Jamaal Williams. They averaged 251 yards rushing and 238 yards passing a game that year. Wow.

In 2014, the teams rushing YPG went down to about 180 yards rushing per game. No 1,000 yard rushers, but five guys with between 300 and 520 yards in the season.

In 2015 they rushed for 128 yards per game but threw for nearly 300 yards a game. Then came UVA.

They rushed for between 92 and about 170 yards per game each season, with the average being somewhere in the 120 yard per game average. I'm not sure if he saw an issue with running the ball in the ACC, or what happened but he did drastically change his approach with UVA on offense. Maybe he felt he could recruit really solid outside and slot weapons? I don't know. Or maybe, just maybe he's one of those rare coaches who plays to his strengths on offense (one can hope!).

Something I found interesting, is Anae and Beck started working together as QB Coach/OC in 2013. Could it be Beck's coaching up of QB's over that time changed Anae's offensive approach?

Either way, he has only been an OC with Bronco Mendenhall until this part of his career. It will be really interesting to see what he does here and how he utilizes the talent SU has on hand.
 
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One of the major gripes from UVA people was that Anae never ran the ball. UVA is also based on a tradition of hardnose running football with George Welsh, so it was probably even more pronounced for the fan base.

A couple of friends that work in local sports media in Richmond and Charlottesville both have said how interesting it will be to see Anae work with a proven top-notch running back and if he'll change his pass-heavy offense to suit what he has in Tucker. To me, that's the most interesting thing to watch this season. I don't doubt Anae is a good OC, so I'm excited to see what he can do with Tuck.

Looking at some of his offenses, from 2005-2009 at BYU he had a 1,000 yard rusher each year and a very solid passing game as well. The passing numbers fell off a cliff in 2010, but rushing stayed pretty respectable. Every year in his first stint at BYU his teams rushed for about an average of 140-150 yards per game.

Then in 2013 he had Taysom Hill at BYU. He had two 1,000 yard rushers that year in Hill and Jamaal Williams. They averaged 251 yards rushing and 238 yards passing a game that year. Wow.

In 2014, the teams rushing YPG went down to about 180 yards rushing per game. No 1,000 yard rushers, but five guys with between 300 and 520 yards in the season.

In 2015 they rushed for 128 yards per game but threw for nearly 300 yards a game. Then came UVA.

They rushed for between 92 and about 170 yards per game each season, with the average being somewhere in the 120 yard per game average. I'm not sure if he saw an issue with running the ball in the ACC, or what happened but he did drastically change his approach with UVA on offense. Maybe he felt he could recruit really solid outside and slot weapons? I don't know. Or maybe, just maybe he's one of those rare coaches who plays to his strengths on offense (one can hope!).

Something I found interesting, is Anae and Beck started working together as QB Coach/OC in 2013. Could it be Beck's coaching up of QB's over that time changed Anae's offensive approach?

Either way, he has only been an OC with Bronco Mendenhall until this part of his career. It will be really interesting to see what he does here and how he utilizes the talent SU has on hand.
Great post.

I remember those BYU teams. I think they were strong offensively, even around Hill's injuries.

Anae always struck me as a guy that had a good understanding around how to put guys in position to leverage their strengths.

I'm weirdly confident that we're going to be good on offense.
 
Thanks for the analysis, Tom. Let's hope past is prologue (per A Clockwork Orange ) and Anae can leverage Tucker and rebalance our passing attack - like he did with Taysom Hill at BYU in 2013. If so we're in for a treat.

In fairness, it's going to take more than a Baylor/Anae souffle for that to happen. Job-One will be re-integrating the TE into our passing attack. Job-OneA will be improving the connection between the WR's and the QB.

If those challenges can be met, most of the other pieces are in place: talent and depth at QB; a rock-star RB; a resurgent OL; and a solid defense with an all ACC-level secondary.
 
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Based on Virginia's resounding success on O versus us the last few years, I hope the "blend" is 95% Anae/Beck offense and 5% Dino. The key will be the pass blocking.
 
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Can’t wait to see how things look April 1st.
Great stuff, as always Tom.

With respect to the Spring game, I will be very surprised if Babers shows much of anything of what they are really working on. It will be basic and vanilla. OTHOH, I'm kind of surprised he has mentioned anything specific at all or that he is allowing players to be interviewed about it.
 
Great stuff, as always Tom.

With respect to the Spring game, I will be very surprised if Babers shows much of anything of what they are really working on. It will be basic and vanilla. OTHOH, I'm kind of surprised he has mentioned anything specific at all or that he is allowing players to be interviewed about it.
Vanilla will be fine so long as it's regular offense vs defense football.

None of this "the one time we practice on-side kicks" crap.
 
Syracuse QBs had 194 rushing attempts last season vs 124 for UVA. While it doesn't change the accuracy of the initial point I do think it's worth noting as potentially majority of the SU QB runs were broken pass plays vs UVA not having a stud RB to lean on.

Ideally we could save some wear on Tucker and our QB this season by getting some more useful touches to the WR and Tight end groups vs stacked boxes.
 
So we are going to take the exciting Anae offense that he succeeded doing and we hired him for, and water it down with the Babers crap we have been seeing for years.

Awesome.
 
We haven't had this good of OC coaches since George D.
Our O coaches have been mediocre at best under Dino. Im a firm believer that coaching, not players has been our problem.

White is hired and miraculously our D improves. New OL coach. Miracle the OL is better.
The same will happen on O and special teams now that we have guys who know what they are doing.
Good coaches are huge at this level .
 
So we are going to take the exciting Anae offense that he succeeded doing and we hired him for, and water it down with the Babers crap we have been seeing for years.

Awesome.
Babers crap? I dont care what plays are inserted or taken out. Just find a healthy dose of production. A good balance of run and pass schemes, which Babers schemes had good production in at some points during his tenure. Its all about execution.
 

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