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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1854570, member: 289"] [I]November[/I] Saturday, November 5, TBA at CLEMSON TV: TBA Now it gets difficult. All we have to do is travel to play a team that almost won the national championship last season and who may well win it this season. The interesting thing is that we’ve competed very well with these guys the last two years. In 2014 our 3-9 team led their 10-3 team 6-3 at halftime before falling behind on two third period field goals and eventually losing 6-16 because we just couldn’t move the ball, punting it 9 times and turning it over 3 times. They had a heck of a defense that year and we had a very good one. It helped that DeShaun Watson was on the shelf with an injury. He wasn’t last year when we had one of those two amazing performances against highly ranked teams in the Dome with our 4th strong quarterback, Zach Mahoney. The Tigers quickly scored two TDs and then the Orange quickly answered with two TDs of their own. Clemson got the next two touchdowns and the teams traded field goals for a 17-31 halftime score. Twice in the second half we got to within a touchdown before they kicked a field goal to make the final 27-37. They had much the better of the stats in both games: 170-375 in 2014 and 322-570 last year. Most of the difference was in passing yardage: 162-577 in the two games. Rushing yardage was 330-368. Turnovers were 5-7. The games at least show that the gap between a mid-level Division 1A team and a national championship contender is not so great that it’s impossible for a team like Syracuse to compete with a team like Clemson. And a Nebraska-like upset that would put us back on the map is not impossible. Of course, we are SU and they are Clemson, meaning that they will probably have a more highly-recruited player at every position. The results the last two years are probably deceiving: they didn’t have Watson in 2014 and they had no reason to expect much from us last year and probably didn’t play their best game. They are primed for a title run and we may just be cannon fodder this year. You can’t keep putting you head in the lion’s mouth and expect nothing bad to happen. And we will be in the Lion’s mouth- not in the Dome- for this one. DeShaun Watson appears to be the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, although there will be other strong contenders. A lot will depend on what their teams do. Watson completed fully 68% of his passes for 4,104 yards, 35TDs and 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 1105 yards, (5.3 per carry) and 12 scores. He accounted for 478 of Clemson’s 550 yards against Alabama in the national title game. He’s got good size at 6-2 210. He’s the real deal. An opposing coach told SI: “You have to limit his explosive plays eliminating the run-pass options they use off of the inside zone by being firm inside. You want Watson to carry the ball- then you’ve got to hit him. Passing-wise, you’ve got to force him to play into the pocket because when he gets outside, he’s going to create big plays with his feet. You must do a great job with your rush-contain lanes and try to alter his sight angles.” (OK, Dino?) Wayne Gallman set a school record with 1,527 rushing yards, (5.4) and scored 13 times. He’s got good size, too at 6-1 215. The receiving corps loses Charone Peaks, who was second on the team with 50 catches, but they had no less than 8 guys with 20 or more catches, one of whom is Artavis Scott, who led the team with 93 catches for 901 yards, (a surprisingly low average), and 6 scores. And they get back Mike Williams, (no, not [I]that [/I]Mike Williams), who was injured last year but had 57 catches for 1030 yards and 6 scores in 2014. The line is anchored by sophomore Mitch Hyatt, already one of the best left tackles in the country. Center Jay Guillermo is a rock at center and there’s plenty of depth.” (Lindy’s). But that opposing coach told SI “The offensive line isn’t going to knock anybody off the ball”. They lose 7 starters on defense which offers hope but not when you consider that they also replaced 7 yarders last year and had the 10th best defense against yards and led the country with 126 tackles for a loss and had 48 sacks, which was second. This is Clemson, where they can replace people. An opposing coach told ESPN: “Run draws and quick three step drops so you don’t have to worry about the pressure. RTP: ‘Refuse to participate’ if they are blitzing up the A-gaps, then I’m not running there, I’m running power read and option, running stretch to take advantage.” (Got that, Dino?) They lost their star ends, Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd, who had 48 of those TFLs. Austin Bryant is of similar size (6-4 265 and had 23 TFLs of his own. They lost linebacker T. J. Goodson, “leaving a huge hole in the heart of the defense”. (ESPN) SI introduces us to Dexter Lawrence a 6-6 340 pound tackle who was the #2 overall recruit in the country. He can run a “nearly five second 40 yards dash” but likely won’t need to. Back to ESPN: “Senior Ben Bouleware, (not related to the Florida State Boulewares), is the lone returning starter at linebacker and he’ll lead a group with talent but little experience. The defensive backfield is undergoing the biggest change as three starters left early for the NFL”. (Lindy’s) Oh, the price of being a top program…. SI is high on senior tackle Carlos Watkins and insists Cordrea Tankersly “is probably better than departed cornerback MacKenzie Alexander.” (I’ll bet he’s great in a drinking contest too. – Just kidding, Cordrea, if you are reading this.) That coach also told SI: “Defensive coordinator Brent Venables does a great job but he’s late getting his calls in. That’s because they’re probably as good as anybody at stealing signals and Venables is waiting to see you offensive call.” With our offense, he won’t have too long to wait – or to make his call. An opposing coach told ESPN “They’re the most talented team in the ACC so we’ve got to be smarter than they are and we’ve got to out-scheme them. And you’ve got to win the special teams game – because you hope they are such prima donnas that they don’t want to do special teams.” Greg Huegel made 27 of 32 field goal attempts last season, (the number of attempts tells you a lot about this team). Punter Andy Teasdell only averaged 39.5 but only punted four times a game, (which also tells you about this team). Scott returns both kickoffs and punts. He averaged 24.7 yards on the former but only 4.2 on the latter. I found a weakness: The Tigers ranked 115th in the country on kick return defense. Calling the “Salt Badger”! Last year’s stats and rankings, offensive and defensive: Rushing yards per game: 223 (21st) vs. 125 (18th) Passing yards per game: 291.5 (23rd) vs. 188 (17th) Total Yards per game: 514.5 (11th) vs. 313 (10th) Scoring per game: 38.5 (16th ) vs. 22 (24th) Turnover Margin: -2 (83rd) Total Sacks: 48 (2nd) vs. 18 (18th) Saturday, November 12, TBA in the Dome vs. NORTH CAROLINA STATE TV: TBA And here come the Wolfpack who delight in torturing the Orange. They are 8-1 against us all time and I remember each one of them: 20-43, 22-28, 0-38, 19-27, 31-32, 17-38, 24-10, 17-24, 29-42. Nothing seems to matter. We are 1-2 against them when we had the best won loss record and 0-6 when they did. We are 0-4 against them in Syracuse and 1-4 in Raleigh. Our one win came in a season when they’d had a lot of injuries, so I guess that matters. But the Wolfpack has always gorged themselves on the Orange: those 1997-98 losses to them are two of the most painful defeats I’ve ever experienced in sports. Are there more to come? Last year the Pack chased easy prey early, (Troy, Eastern Kentucky, Old Dominion and South Alabama, (all of whom they beat by a combined 185-48) and then went 3-5 in conference (220-237) before losing the “Belk Bowl” to Mississippi State 28-51. How good were they, really? (Better than we were.) How good will they be this year? A partial answer can be seen from the fact that Coach Dave Doeren brought in a new offensive staff with a new system. They have to replace star QB Jacoby Brissett, who passed for 20 scores and ran for 6 more. Jalan McClendon “can throw the ball through the car wash and it won’t get wet, but he’ll throw it to the other team, too.” Jakobi Meyers has an even more similar name and “he’s the best running quarterback Doeren has had since he arrived.” (both ESPN). OC Eli Drinkwitz, (has he ever met Cordrea Tankersly?) was at Boise State but before that he learned the spread under Gus Malzahn at Auburn, where they ran the ball down the other team’s throat so this could go either way- to the passer or to the runner. The Pack hasn’t had a 1,000 yard rusher since 2002. Matt Dates “was on track with 865 yards in 8 games…before a foot injury cost him the final five games.” They haven’t had a 1000 receiver since 2003 and nobody in the Dueren era has more than 620. Tight end Jaylon Samuels led the team with 597 last year. Nyheim Hines had a 100 yard kick-off return against Clemson and 1419 all-purpose yards last year. Both Samuels and Hines played some running back as well and Samuels led the team with 16TDs. What role they will play in the new offense has yet to be determined but they will have a big one. An opposing coach told ESPN “They don’t have guys outside who stretch the field vertically and make you afraid of playing man-to-man so that allows you to overload or play to their strength, which si their run game.” The offensive line lost three starters . One will be center Joseph Scelfo, a grad transfer from South Alabama who decided, after last year’s 13-63 loss to the Pack to join ‘em because he couldn’t beat ‘em. Their defense was #29 in the country last year, although the weak non-conference schedule helped. Three defensive linemen are back, Bradley Chubb, BJ Hill and Kentavius Street, and they provide “strength and leadership up front”. (Lindys). An opposing coach told ESPN: “If you’re really good up front, you go nose to nose with them and you go right at them. If you don’t feel you can handle that, then what kind of perimeter game do you have and can you fatigue those guys?” We ought to be able to fatigue Bradley Chubb, at least. (Just kidding, Bradley, if you’re reading this.) Two more juniors are starting linebackers: Jerod Fernandez and Airius Moore. Lindys: “There’s hope they have learned on the job and are ready for more productive season seasons”. It didn’t say if they meant ‘additional productive seasons or a season that is more productive than the last one. I think the latter. Lindys: “The secondary got chewed up last year and had too many missed assignments, especially in the safety positons.” I like the sound of that. Last year’s stats and rankings, offensive and defensive: Rushing yards per game: 202 (30th) vs. 147.5 (39th) Passing yards per game: 211 (79th) vs. 203 (36th) Total Yards per game: 413 (57th) vs. 351 (29th) Scoring per game: 33 (42nd) vs. 26 (52nd) Turnover Margin: +9 (15th) Total Sacks: 32 (35th) vs. 39 (111th) Saturday, November 19, TBA in the Dome vs. FLORIDA STATE TV: TBA Clemson has gotten really good but the Noles are still the ‘big dog’ in this conference. Both SI and ESPN project them to both make the “Final Four” – and we have to play both of them. At least we’ll have a good idea of where we stand- or where we fall. Their game against each other, (in Tallahassee October 29), may be the top game of the regular season. FSU returns all 11 offensive starters. Last year wasn’t an exceptional year for them on offense- they were 51st in the country in yards with 424 and 47th in points with 32 a game. But that’s still very productive and figures to get better. That offense centers around Dalvin Cook, perhaps the best pure running back in the country and a major Heisman Trophy candidate, (that could be decided on 10/29). Cook was limited by a hamstring injury last year, missing a game and being on a “pitch-count”, (for how many pitches he took from the quarterback) in his last eight games. As a result he only ran for 1,691 yards at 7.4 yards per crack and scored 19 touchdowns. Since he’s healthy this year, we’ll get to see what he can really do! An opposing coach told SI: “You try to slow him down. You can’t stop him. You’ve got to limit him to singles and doubles because if he gets it going, he’s going to get home runs.” (Sign him up for my Mets!) “He’s great at finding the crease and exploding and exploding through the hole. And on those mid-zone or wide zone toss plays, he has a lot of freedom to find that crease.” How many creases are there in a Tampa 2? Another opposing coach told ESPN: “You have to disguise what you’re doing so they can’t get a bead on you. You’ve got to mix coverages, your fronts and your pressures. With everything you do, you have to make sure you’re out-numbering the box.” Can a Tampa 2 out-number the box? The quarterback situation continues to be unsettled, but that may change. (Keep in mind that this will be the 11th game of the season and a lot of things that were uncertain in September may be long decided by then- especially for the teams with the most talent). Sean Maguire took over for the ineffective Everett Golston last year but was injured and didn’t take part in the spring, leaving openings for talented youngsters Deondre Francois and Malik Henry, as well as back-up J. J. Cosentino. Maguire and Cosentino are drop—back guys, Francois and Henry multi-threat guys, so it depends on where they want to go offensively. We’d probably like to have any of them. Cook made an odd comment: “We did return all 11 on offense,” Cook said. “It could be a plus and it could be a minus. But we working towards it to be a plus.” (The Juice) It sounds like he wasn’t too impressed with his teammates last year. He missed the Syracuse game but his replacement, big Jacques Patrick, (6-2 231), ran for 162 yards and 3 scores in his stead. That’s Florida State for you. That opposing coach told SI: “They didn’t have anybody that scared us last year at wideout – they were just good college receivers. But the Cook effect can help that. Teams have to worry about him so much that they may not worry about those receivers.” Another opposing coach, (or was it the same guy?) told ESPN “They’re so big up front and can mash you but I wonder if they will cut it loose. How good can they be? That style of offense allows you to stay in the game if you can bring down the run game.” Travis Rudolph is their best receiver, ((59R 916yds, 7TDs). But Kermit Whitfield isn’t far behind, (57R 798yds 6TDs). Again, we wouldn’t mind having their problems. Rudolph had a huge game against us last year with TD catches of 75, 45 and 19 yards, set up by Patrick’s huge game. FSU was the only FBS not to allow more than 25 points in any game last year. They averaged 17.5, 9th in the country. That coach told SI: “They’re getting back to having speed on the edge, like the old Florida State defense used to. They’ve got some of those bodies on their team. “. That ESPN coach: “They are getting back to the kind of defensive line that Florida State has traditionally had every year. They’re a little more athletic than they’ve been the last few years, especially at defensive end and they have more experience returning”. Hmmm…..maybe it was the same coach. Two of those bodies belong to DeMarcus Walker and Josh Sweat, the defensive ends. (For fun, I’m going to type that again: “Josh Sweat”.) They combined for 99 tackles and 12.5 sacks. Linebacker Ro’Derrick Hsokins had 52 tackles. (Ro! Adrian!) but the star there may be Matthew Thomas, the #6 player in the country coming out of high school, per ESPN three years ago who emerged from injuries and NCAA suspensions to dominate in the spring. That SI coach: “Derwin James means there’s another guy that the offensive coordinator and the quarterback have to be aware of on every play. He’s one of those dynamic playmakers who can completely disrupt a play. They’re going to miss cornerback Jalen Ramsey. He made a bunch of big plays on the boundary. They’re sound and they’re physical up front. They’ll make it a fistfight even if you want to play basketball on grass.” The Noles lost college football’s all-time field goal kicker, Robert Aguayo, who made 69 of 78 in his career. But here comes his bother Ricky, who hit 45 and 46 yarders is the spring game. They are looking for a new punter. They always have plenty of fast return men. Last year’s stats and rankings, offensive and defensive: Rushing yards per game: 168 (69th) vs. 145 (37th) Passing yards per game: 256 (38th) vs. 192 (21st) (Interesting that even with Cook, this was actually more of a passing team than a running team. Cook - or Patrick - was the whole running attack.) Total Yards per game: 424 (51st) vs. 337 (19th) Scoring per game: 32 (47th) vs. 17.5 (9th) Turnover Margin: Even (66th) Total Sacks: 32 (35th) vs. 26 (58th) Saturday, November 26, TBA at PITTSBURGH TV: TBA Syracuse and Pittsburgh have always been major recruiting rivals for many of the same players and thus they have rarely bene good at the same time. Since the series became a regular thing in 1955, Pitt won the first two but then SU won 11 of 16. Then Pitt won 11 in a row, Syracuse 16 of 18 with a tie and, since 2002, Pitt has won 12 of 14 with our two wins coming by a touchdown in overtime and by a single point four years ago. They went through a huge upheaval in their coaching staff when they somehow went through 6 coaches in 5 years. But we were unable to take advantage of that to turn the series around due to our own upheavals. Now Pat Narduzzi seems to have given them some stability and they are favored to continue their dominance, at least for another year. The good news is that this game won’t really matter unless we’ve performed well enough to have a chance at a bowl: if we haven’t we’ll just be playing out the string and the fans will already be into the basketball season. But, just in case it matters: The Panthers broke a string of four straight 6-6 season to go 8-4 in the regular season before losing to Navy in a bowl game. They are a power-running team that passes when they want to. Bullish (6-2 240) James Connor, had dealt with injuries and illness and it remains to be seen if he can return to his former level of dominance. And dominant he was: in 2014 he rushed for 1,765 yards and 26 touchdowns. He’s dealing with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and “exercising his way through it”. A coach told ESPN: “he’s one of the best backs I’ve seen. He’s strong, hard to tackle and that style wears on you. After a while, you don’t want to hit him anymore. You don’t see a lot of guys like him these days.” Everybody’s rooting for the young man but if he can’t make his comeback there’s always bullish 6-2 230 Qadree Ollison, who, in Connor’s absence last year rushed for 1121 yards and 11 scores. Quarterback Nate Peterman transferred in from Tennessee to throw for 2,287 yards and 20TDs with only 8 interceptions but he’s lost the dynamic Tyler Boyd, who had 91 catches for 906 yard and 6TDs as well as his tight end, J. P. Holtz, who was third on the team with 24-350-4. ESPN: “Yes, he threw for 20TDs but his yards per attempt and yards per completion were both in the bottom half of the ACC QBs. Peterman will have more pressure on him with top receiver Tyler Boyd off to the NFL so he’ll need to find ways to make plays downfield to compliment Pitts top rushing attack.” That is kind of strange- a strong rushing game generally gives you a better chance to throw the ball down the field and stats like average gain per attempt and completion are generally high in that situation. Boyd’s an NFL caliber wide-out who averaged under 10 yards per catch. Pitt gets four starters back in their offensive line. Tackle Adam Blanowaty “is one of the top left tackles in the ACC”. (Lindy’s ) He and Dorian Johnson will get some AA consideration. (Nunes) Narduzzi “came to Pitt with the rep as an elite defensive mind”. (ESPN) Lindys: “The Panthers are thin at linebacker and defensive line. Any team coached by Narduzzi is going to figure it out on that side of the ball, but a few key injuries could sink a unit without much depth.” A coach told ESPN: “Schematically, it’s difficult because he sends you a lot of problems. He’ll do a lot of twists, stunts and blitzes in base. But it does put some pressure on the back end of the defense. There are opportunities for big plays.” Narduzzi is desperate enough to switch positons around to get more competition and depth. At his outside “star” linebacker spot “the spring competition was between two former safeties and a former wide receiver.” Ejuan Price, the ACC sack leader, was granted a 6th year of eligibility and will be at one end spot. DeWayne Hendrix was a blue-chip recruit for Tennessee before transferring to Pitt and will be the other end. Lindys: “Starting middle linebacker Matt Galambos and senior Mike Capara were two of the most productive plyers on defense last year.” Cornerback Antoine Maddox led the team in interceptions and passes defended and safety Jordan Whitehead will be “one of the team’s best players”. The Panthers could get off on the wrong track as they start with Villanova, (remember them?), Penn State, Oklahoma State and North Carolina. But they will have had a chance to recover from that by the end of the year and they have this one at home, where we haven’t beaten them since 2001. Last year’s stats and rankings, offensive and defensive: Rushing yards per game: 187 (44th) vs. 149 (40th) Passing yards per game: 191 (99th) vs. 215 (54th) (Another “run oriented team” that passed for more yards than they ran. I think it has to do with having a singular “feature” back that does all the running.) Total Yards per game: 378 (82nd) vs. 363 (37th) Scoring per game: 28 (68th) vs. 26 (57th) Turnover Margin: Even (66th) Total Sacks: 37 (16th) vs. 29 (73rd) [/QUOTE]

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