My Take

[Orangello]

Things I liked:

Torey Ball is turning into a solid player. He seemed to be the one guy on the DL who stayed with the play and brought consistent pressure on the corner.

David Stevens continues to surprise me with his soft hands and ability to get yardage after the catch. I want to see more of him out there

Shmarko is our best overall defender right now. He may have kept PThomas from getting ejected (and in hindsight, maybe that wasn't such a good thing)

Things I didn't like:

Playcalling on O continues to baffle. We are not using the middle of the field at all which just doesn't make sense to me especially with two opponents in a row who are selling out the pass to stop the run. We need to get the ball to the TE's more on quick outs allthough that may not be possible with the need to keep the TE in to block because the OL is just not good.

Running game. Like many have pointed out already, we definately need to change this up. Ant did a poor job today and I do not understand why we did not see PTG and JS more.

They had better practice their tackling this week. I was shocked by the number of missed tackles, poor form etc.

 

[DomeStranger]

Thanks for the blog Tom ... as always, great to hear your on site perspective.

I was really surprised with all this pressure teams have been bringing we don't set up Ant on any screens, seems like that should be a play on speed dial right now.

One question ... who's this Decorum guy? I don't like him already.

 

[Franz69]

One note on Kobena. He was moving backwards every time he fielded a kickoff. Need to judge the kicks a little better and that might be the extra step he needs to break one.

 

[690West]

One note on Kobena. He was moving backwards every time he fielded a kickoff. Need to judge the kicks a little better and that might be the extra step he needs to break one.

Very good point. Had no momentum

 

[orangepassion]

I love Nassib, but the play action fakes didn't seem to fool people. When you're pretending to hand off w/ you non-ball hand, it's a lot less convincing.

 

[OttoMets]

Thomas had one play where he was the last guy on a cut-back run and hit the guy only with his shoulder. it was enough to knock the guy off his feet but when you are playing safety you've got to wrap up or you are going to wind up trying to block an extra point.

This is something that bothered me all last year - everyone else is playing tackle football, but Thomas plays collision football. He just drops his shoulder into guys more often than he bothers to wrap up.

I can't for the life of me understand why so many people on the board were singing his praises all summer. He looks unimproved from last year - he's a poor tackler and, as much as I hate to single a guy out like this, the dumbest Syracuse football player I can remember. With two more personal fouls last night, that idiotic 15-yarder for taunting against Maine last year, and a dozen other similar ones over his career, Thomas isn't a guy I have much faith in back there.

 

[SWC75]

This is something that bothered me all last year - everyone else is playing tackle football, but Thomas plays collision football. He just drops his shoulder into guys more often than he bothers to wrap up.

I can't for the life of me understand why so many people on the board were singing his praises all summer. He looks unimproved from last year - he's a poor tackler and, as much as I hate to single a guy out like this, the dumbest Syracuse football player I can remember. With two more personal fouls last night, that idiotic 15-yarder for taunting against Maine last year, and a dozen other similar ones over his career, Thomas isn't a guy I have much faith in back there.

Shamarko had to prevent Philip from going after the ref after one play. Thomas jsut can't seem to cotnrol his emtions- which means he can't control his actions, either.

I once watched 15 mintues of Dick Butkus hioghlights on U-Tube and his arms were out to wrap up the ball carrier on ever single tackle. He never did the "missle" thing and he was known as the ahrdest hitting tackler of all time. His rough stuff came after he'd gotten cotnrol of the guy. He would often pick him up and through him roughly to the ground. But he made sure he ahd control of him first.

 

[SmilinBob]

Regarding Bailey...he's a nice back but I think it's a combo of his not seeing the holes, then not having a hole to run to. I believe there is a reason why Marrone used him like he did last year as many coaches put their players in position to succeed if they have that opportunity. This year Bailey and the O-Line have to step up and I think a lot of teams are going to load the box but the difference being they will playing against better lb's and db's so they both need to continue to improve because I don't know if the receivers can carry this load by themselves.

Also, Bailey doesn't seem to be getting any catches, is it because he has to stay and block and how has his blocking been so far?

I like this young team and being 2-0 is a nice feeling to have. I just want to see them continue learning and applying that knowledge onto the field.

 

[Orangeyes]

Nice report, 'Cat, that about says it all. The only thing I might add is that our run game appears predictable and more teams will be using URI's overplay scheme against us. With the better teams, this will eventually impede our passing game, too. It's time to implement a 2-D running attack again like we had with DC3 and AB. With a power runner splitting time, Ant's game will be maximized. I think it's time to pull out our big gun, AAM, give him 10-12 carries, and let him run inside the tackles. I predict we'll see him against USC. That said, no matter who's carrying the ball, the running game will continue suffer if we don't fix the issues with the line.

Last week I heard that if AAM didn't play against URI, that he would, in most likelihood, be redshirted. It is quite possible that he didn't play against URI because the game was too close and the staff doesn't quite trust freshmen in that situation. I have been getting reports he's been killing it in practice. I was kind of hoping to see what he could do for us in a short yardage situation. There was one instance I was hoping to see him trot on the field, instead they sent Jerome Smith in and he failed to pick up a 1st down with about a yard to go.

 

[Orangeyes]

Shamarko had to prevent Philip from going after the ref after one play. Thomas jsut can't seem to cotnrol his emtions- which means he can't control his actions, either.

I once watched 15 mintues of Dick Butkus hioghlights on U-Tube and his arms were out to wrap up the ball carrier on ever single tackle. He never did the "missle" thing and he was known as the ahrdest hitting tackler of all time. His rough stuff came after he'd gotten cotnrol of the guy. He would often pick him up and through him roughly to the ground. But he made sure he ahd control of him first.

SWC looks like you're a peck hunter like me.

 

[qdawgg]

Last week I heard that if AAM didn't play against URI, that he would, in most likelihood, be redshirted. It is quite possible that he didn't play against URI because the game was too close and the staff doesn't quite trust freshmen in that situation. I have been getting reports he's been killing it in practice. I was kind of hoping to see what he could do for us in a short yardage situation. There was one instance I was hoping to see him trot on the field, instead they sent Jerome Smith in and he failed to pick up a 1st down with about a yard to go.

Based on what I had heard of practices I assumed he would be used too, I think his skill set is what we need in certain situations. However, if we want to redshirt him I'm all for that too. If he stays for 4 years I guarantee that he will be an absolute monster and will be very very successful.

 

[SmilinBob]

I haven't seen enough of Smith to say how good he is but if he's on par with Moore right now, I think it's a smart move to redshirt. But, if Moore is better and is needed for a bowl eligibility or better to win then I'd like to see him in there but it's up to Marrone obviously and I trust his judgement.

 

[SWC75]

SWC looks like you're a peck hunter like me.

A "hunt and peck" guy might be a better way to put it.

 

[Orangeyes]

Based on what I had heard of practices I assumed he would be used too, I think his skill set is what we need in certain situations. However, if we want to redshirt him I'm all for that too. If he stays for 4 years I guarantee that he will be an absolute monster and will be very very successful.

His team nickname is, "The Mini-Bus" can't wait to see HCDM let him out of the garage.

 

[Orangeyes]

A "hunt and peck" guy might be a better way to put it.

That's what I meant

 

[VaSaltine]

Excellent write up and thank you as always tomcat. I'm going to assume the plan is to try and redshirt AAM since Jerome appears to be our big back in short yardage situations. I have to wonder if coming into camp at 244 has something to do with that.
So who is she?

 

[BlazeOrange]

We have a real issue with discipline on defense right now. Phil Thomas should be a savvy veteran by now but he continues to make awful decisions on a regular basis. Had an awful night tackling and made nice progress on his quest to get the most personal fouls in the history of college football (I believe he had 2 more today and could have been rung up for three). Worse, he dropped an easy interception thrown directly to him and late in the game decided to catch an interception on a 4th down play when he should not catch it but knock it down instead. I know aggressive players sometimes make foolish plays but Thomas is not a young players anymore and is showing me little in the way of learning from his mistakes.

I thought the same thing and apparently someone on the bench did as well since they showed a brief shot of him doing a "my bad" after the pick. However, upon watching the replay, I don't totally disagree with him hauling down the pass despite the loss of field position. It was a desperation heave and he was in a jump ball situation with an opposing player, with others around. Grabbing and controlling the pass was probably safer than batting at it (and possibly missing) with other hands also reaching for the ball. Also, after being hit downward in a crowd, the ball could've bounced off of someone and back up in the air for an easy reception. The last alternative is to almost catch it, but set it directly into the ground on the way down - the danger here is that if the timing is off, the refs may call it a fumble.

None of these scenarios are that high of a probability and if it was earlier in the game, he definitely should've knocked it down. But we were in the end game situation and were going into the Victory formation wherever we were on the field. Better to kneel down in our end than to give them a chance at another possession within striking distance (assuming we can execute the snaps to ice the game).

 

[690West]

Excellent write up and thank you as always tomcat. I'm going to assume the plan is to try and redshirt AAM since Jerome appears to be our big back in short yardage situations. I have to wonder if coming into camp at 244 has something to do with that.
So who is she?

wow. that group is batting 12 for 12

 

[upperdeck]

I think thomas catching the pass in that situation is fine.. it is not that easy to jump and know it down with someone running right into his face..

given the time and field position stop the other team is all he needed to worry about.

 

[OttoMets]

I think thomas catching the pass in that situation is fine.. it is not that easy to jump and know it down with someone running right into his face..

given the time and field position stop the other team is all he needed to worry about.

This part is true.

But I'd rather he'd practice doing the right thing. And from the replays I saw, the nearest URI player was about 3 yards downfield, and Thomas had his back to him. He probably didn't even need to touch the ball - could've just let it drop harmlessly to the turf.

It's easier to say this from where I sit, of course. But it didn't strike me as a very heady play.

 

[dollarbill44]

I think thomas catching the pass in that situation is fine.. it is not that easy to jump and know it down with someone running right into his face..

We've had plenty of WRs in the past who made it look quite easy.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

I don't mind the INT... we were in no danger once we got the ball back. Secure that biotch and make them steal the game from your cold dead hands.

 

[Rocco]

Why don't they have Kobena standing on the goal line versus standing on the 10 for kickoffs. Then if they kick it to the 5, 10 or 15 he will be moving forward and actually have momentum behind him. It seems so amazingly simple to adjust.