Well, at the least, it was an interesting game. Wake came out like a house on fire. Syracuse roared back and looked close to blowing the Deacons out.
And then...a disastrous second half.
Watching the teams play,you could see a unity with the WF OL. They pulled in unison, and stayed in formation well down the field. They didn't run many plays, but the plays they ran were run with great precision. We never got any penetration or had played in the backfield. Even when our defense broke through and made a good tackle, they gained 3 or4 yards. When we ran the ball, our OL got no push and our RBs would often have to make a really nice run just to get back to the LOS. This WF OL was awful 3 years ago, bad 2 years ago and decent last season. I hope our OL is on a similar track.
Another thing that stood out was the play of the WF corners. They were in tight on our WRs every play. Lots of contact, bumping, little holds, tugs and shoves. Our CBs never did any of that and gave the WF WRs room almost every time they passed the ball. The ACC refs give defenders the benefit of the doubt a lot and we must change our defensive philosophy accordingly.
The last thing was hoe well Worfford ran the WF offense. He doesn't have a strong arm and isn't very big but he made good reads over and over and after the 2nd quarter, our defense could never make any adjustments.
They exposed our small 4.7 40 safeties and our small linebackers with passes over the middle where our defenders struggled to get within 10 yards of the receivers.
Our defense was totally confused by their scheme and couldn't do anything right. It was astonishing how many times they ran that sweep left to Coburne, where our DE would get caught inside and blew contain. We are playing undersized DEs on both sides, really LBs playing out of position and they made us pay the price.
Even though our guys are small and weak, they still should be able to handle basic assignments, make a read and get to where they need to be. If they ran that sweep 30 times, I only remember one time our DE played it properly (Guthrie) and Wake was called for a hold on the play.
Props to WF for making a great gameplan, surely helped by the film they saw of what FSU did running the ball last week. It doesn't bode well for next week or the week after. Especially with ED injured.
To win consistently in this league, we need safeties who can run and tackle and are big enough to ride on the big roller coasters. We need DEs who are tall and fast and weigh at least 250. We need tough, physical CBs with some size.
I think we are on the right track but some fundamental weaknesses with the defense were exposed yesterday. And for all the success the offense had in the first half, they have to enjoy success in both halves. The inconsistency of the offense was hurt the team all season, and it needs to get fixed for next season. Not sure what it is that is causing it, probably the youth of the OL, along with some problems with play calling. Who is calling the plays? Lynch? I think Dino is calling TOs sometimes in key situations so he can make the play call. I sense he is losing confidence here...
