McDonald/Hunt adj yards per attempt compared to prior years

[KaiserUEO]

yes this drives me crazy to. Who in their right mind has a 240lb back running east/west. he's not jerome bettis.

the north/south running market has been cornered by our 240lb QB.

 

[eddie in nc]

I'm sure.

Man to man we are not as talented but you have to figure out a way to not be down 11 going into halftime with a +3 turnover margin. We're both P5 teams, we should be able to compete better. We know our kids aren't as talented, so where is the wrinkle that gives our kids an advantage on offense? Even if its just for one series or one play. That's what I'm looking for. Similar to the defensive call that sent Esk flying into the flat for the pick 6. Hopefully we see it soon.

 

[eddie in nc]

Completely false. I think that McDonald has installed his offensive system, and not tailored it to personnel in the belief that this will pay off long-term. I believe that the offensive production isn't as bad as some of you would like to pretend, scoring is the issue--and that we can get that straightened out with better execution. I believe that the offensive production will improve once we have more athletic playmakers, that the team currently lacks, and that it will be difficult for the offensive system to thrive without such athletes capable of making plays in space. I believe that McDonald's reputation as a bulldog recruiter is accurate and well-deserved, and I think his presence will provide us with a much needed shot in the arm on the recruiting trail that we've lacked in, well--forever. I believe that it is quite possible that McDonald might be the best recruiting AC that the program has ever had. I also believe that it will take time to prove that.

I think that debating over whether its better to completely tailor the system to the talent on hand or install the system first, take lumps, and then hope it improves with better talent / players being immersed in the system for a few years is a chicken v. egg argument with no right answer. I also think that neither approach has to be all or nothing, and that there can be some middle ground.

I think that McDonald is far from perfect, that the results leave something to be desired, and that we need to improve our ability to score. I don't think he's terrible at his job, and I don't think that the offensive performance is irreversibly poor this season, and that if we iron a few things out, we'll be highly competitive for the second half of the season. He was an OC for one year, at a mid major, so I also believe that he's entitled to some growing pains while he learns on the job.

I also think that most posters don't have a !#$% clue what it takes to be a football coach, in terms of acumen, or that being a coach is more than just what happens on game day, but that just about everybody has a dopey opinion about what they'd do differently and how they'd do better, and that the vast majority of those opinions are unqualified / misinformed.

I also think that SU has never been, and never will be, a school that pays top dollars for assistant coaches. Last year, when we played Clemson, they discussed on TV how they were paying their offensive coordinator over $1M. That's nearly as much as our head coach is making. So absent making a big move to get some high powered OC innovator, chances are we're going to take guys like Hackett, like McDonald who have upside but need seasoning. There's no use cyring about it, that's the way it is.

And if McDonald doesn't pan out, doesn't recruit the athletes needed for the system to pop, or the offensive stagnates and never shows year-over-year improvement, then he deserves to go. I don't believe that we're anywhere close to that point, and think that calling for his head at this point is completely agenda-driven.

Lastly, I think that calling people stupid because you don't like their offensive system is in actuality pretty stupid in and of itself.

I also think that SU will never be able to get the talent of a ND, FSU, or even Clemson. So we have to do more with less and that is in the coaching staff. I'm not saying fire anyone but I am waiting to see if the adjustment can be made to do more with less or if we will just try to recruit our way out.

 

[br801]

I also think that most posters don't have a !#$% clue what it takes to be a football coach, in terms of acumen, or that being a coach is more than just what happens on game day, but that just about everybody has a dopey opinion about what they'd do differently and how they'd do better, and that the vast majority of those opinions are unqualified / misinformed.

Bingo.

 

[TheCusian]

i trust the opinion of people who know less football but watch more games. there have been enough simple, glaring, and obvious errors this year that wouldn't be apparent to even chip kelly watching just the ND game. repeatedly throwing the bubble screen when there is simply no chance. putting your QB in the end zone on purpose with 20 seconds left. things like that.

Did we even throw a single bubble screen on Sat? Number is declining. Maybe they are learning?

 

[Millhouse]

Did we even throw a single bubble screen on Sat? Number is declining. Maybe they are learning?

i sure hope so

There was at least one that was very memorable to me because it was actually the right read

And then Cornelius turned into a malfunctioning robot randomly lurching around nowhere near the guy he could've easily blocked

 

[SUFan44]

Stephen Bailey ‏@Stephen_Bailey1 6m6 minutes ago
George McDonald on WRs: "The starting receivers are the scout-team receivers. That's where we are numbers wise."

?

 

[TheCusian]

Stephen Bailey ‏@Stephen_Bailey1 6m6 minutes ago George McDonald on WRs: "The starting receivers are the scout-team receivers. That's where we are numbers wise." ?

Probably in relation to the Hback position.

 

[RF2044]

Stephen Bailey ‏@Stephen_Bailey1 6m6 minutes ago
George McDonald on WRs: "The starting receivers are the scout-team receivers. That's where we are numbers wise."

?

Translation: we've had injuries, which means we have to use starting recievers on the scout team.

 

[SUFan44]

Translation: we've had injuries, which means we have to use starting recievers on the scout team.

I don't buy it. Troy Green is hurt? Funderburke, Enoicy (who just returned to practice), Kobena are all hurt?

Yes Broyld is hurt. But it sounds like a lot of excuses to me.

 

[RF2044]

I don't buy it. Troy Green is hurt? Funderburke, Enoicy (who just returned to practice), Kobena are all hurt?

Yes Broyld is hurt. But it sounds like a lot of excuses to me.

Good for you...? :noidea:

 

[SUFan44]

Good for you...? :noidea:

Just saying. There's an excuse for everything.

Also, if you have so many injuries why not run the ball more? As Millhouse said we're 25th in yards and 49th in attempts. Why not be 25th in attempts if you're having that much success and have such a "depleted" WR corps.

 

[RF2044]

Just saying. There's an excuse for everything.

Also, if you have so many injuries why not run the ball more? As Millhouse said we're 25th in yards and 49th in attempts. Why not be 25th in attempts if you're having that much success and have such a "depleted" WR corps.

I love the "Excuse" skepticism. You got all that from a tweet? Who know what the context was of the statement. Was he exaggerating? Was he embellishing to be toungue-in-cheek?

But again, good for you for ferreting out "excuses" to get worked up about.

 

[SUFan44]

I love the "Excuse" skepticism. You got all that from a tweet? Who know what the context was of the statement. Was he exaggerating? Was he embellishing to be toungue-in-cheek?

But again, good for you for ferreting out "excuses" to get worked up about.

I'm glad you're saying "good for you" like the things I'm saying are so far fetched. I'm just giving an opinion on a message board about our offensive coordinator who may or may not be in over his head depending on who you talk to. Just because you differ in opinion doesn't mean you have to take it personally.

 

[RF2044]

I'm glad you're saying "good for you". I'm just giving an opinion on a message board about our offensive coordinator who may or may not be in over his head depending on who you talk to. Just because you differ in opinion doesn't mean you have to take it personally.

I'm not taking anything personally--I just think that this agenda you and some others advocate is being taken to extremes if that's the interpretation you have from Bailey's tweet.

Also, it seems to me that we've been running the ball quite effectively--especially since we got our two injured OL starters back after game 1. We didn't run more against ND because their stout DL shut it down. Hope that changes, because I believe our OL can match up with most other teams on our schedule [with the exception of Clemson; FSU isn't as good against the run as they were last year].

 

[TheCusian]

Just saying. There's an excuse for everything.

Also, if you have so many injuries why not run the ball more? As Millhouse said we're 25th in yards and 49th in attempts. Why not be 25th in attempts if you're having that much success and have such a "depleted" WR corps.

I agree with Millhouse on that. Makes sense.

But you're criticizing a coach for saying WR corp is so depleted that they are down to running starters on the scout team - by saying we should've run more? We haven't played the game yet. Maybe that's what will happen...

 

[nzm136]

My thoughts are as follows:

HCSS is a brilliant football mind (look what he did at Stanford and Syracuse as DC), he is energetic, and he is incredibly loyal. Loyalty is good to an extend, but not when it turns into full-blown nepotism. Unfortunately, I think that he's taken loyalty too far, and sub par assistant coaches are dragging him down. In the interest of recognizing both sides of an argument, Dr. Gross could be limiting HCSS' budget. I'm not sure how realistic that is, though. On one hand, I don't think Dr. Gross would because we are pouring money into the program, but on the other hand our salaries are low, so budgetary restraints might be the culprit and not HCSS' loyalty.

Either way, I am 100% OK giving McD a couple of more years. He is an excellent recruiter, so he is more than a warm body, and he is a young coordinator. Look at Hackett. He was terrible for his first 2-3 years, but by the time his last year rolled around, we looked good on offense. The same thing might be true for McD. And, if it is, having a young OC who is both a good OC and a good recruiter is a dangerous combination, especially since we play in a Dome (which rewards having a high-powered offense - good weather, dome air, crowd noise, heat, and so on).

My problem is pretty much everyone else. What tangibly have they done? We often look unorganized, our players aren't progressing (i.e. like they did under HCDM), and none of our other assistant coaches are exceptionally good at recruiting (admittedly, some are OK, but none are great). IMHO, the worst of our coaches is Chuck Bullough. What has he done? Our defensive play calling looks attrocious at times (and when we look good, I suspect it's because HCSS did the game planning and took a heavy role in the play calling), and I don't think that he has been especially good at recruiting. What does he do? He's just a warm body, just like he was at UCLA.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: if we surround HCSS with high quality assistant coaches, we will win, and we will do it on a big scale for a long time. If we don't, we will turn into a basketball school, and our proud football tradition will be flushed down the toilet.

 

[ORANGEsPHK]

I think that McDonald has installed his offensive system, and not tailored it to personnel in the belief that this will pay off long-term.

This has been my take on McD so far. Although it wouldn't hurt to adjust the offensive scheme some to take advantage of available talent. McD is sticking with his vision of the offense he wants. I wonder how much HCSS discusses this with him, we haven't seen huge changes to the O so I have to think Shafer has some faith in McD's strategy.

Some suggested the increase in the vertical game in the second half of the UND game was influenced by Sharer but I'm not so sure; throwing downfield is what you do when you're behind.

Let's see what happens against the Cardinals.

 

[Millhouse]

throwing downfield is what you do when you're behind.

Yikes

 

[CPark Orange]

Two errors in a five-word tweet...quite an achievement.

That's right... Twitter is a bastion for grammar and spelling

Never been stung by auto-spell?

 

[Toga]

**k it

 

[suloyalfan]

No offense, but that is absurd. There most assuredly is NOT evidence that the guy isn't very bright, because in actuality he's a very intelligent, articulate man. I challenge you to go speak to the man, or even watch video of one of his interviews, and then decide for yourself.

You might not like his coaching philosophy, or how he uses twitter. Those things don't equate to "the guy isn't very bright."

Sorry, but they don't. And it is borderine ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

There are plenty of engineers that I know who couldn't spell if their lives depended on it... if fact, it is a cliche that people like to use to make fun of engineers. Just because you cannot spell, or have poor grammar, doesn't mean you aren't intelligent.

 

[suloyalfan]

We have run and then throw deep personnel and we're running a throw short and make 'em miss offense. That's the problem.

I agree completely. This is what I've been thinking watching the games the last 2 weeks. We have more success going down the field throwing the ball. I'm not saying that we need to throw 30 yard bombs every other play, but the 7 to 15 yard plays down the field in 4 WR sets have been successful.

Hunt misses some of those throws but so what? I assume that most of you guys watch alot of college football every week... I watch alot of football and there isn't a QB made that doesn't miss throws.

But if he's completing 60% or higher of his throws down the field, it will open up the running game even more, and only helps Hunt's opportunity to scramble and make things happen if he doesn't like what he sees. When the other team thinks all we'll do is throw out to the side or run the ball, everyone collapses on the line of scrimmage and it makes every play a challenge to run. We have the players to throw the ball down the field, occasionally taking shots, and then taking advantage of the softer run defense to pound the ball. That's what I want to see...

 

[Full_Rebar]

So the article by Bailey today has a scary portion, look at SU's Play II where the Lewis gain is negated by holding. McD says this is how the screens should work...now count the ND defenders in the frame and the SU players.

http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootb...gainst_syracuse_film_review.html#incart_river