My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Thought the defense played their butts off against one of the better offenses in the conference. BC was eventually able to wear them down some, mostly due to another poor effort by the SU offense, who could only control the ball for about 21 minutes.

If we had a good offense, the defense would benefit greatly. So many times this year they just seem to be on the field 75% of the time, and a team with injuries and opt outs seemingly everywhere just don’t have the depth to overcome this.

Thought White called a great game and had a solid game plan. One wonders why BC didn’t run the ball every play...they didn’t in large part because SU sold out to stop the run in a big way, lining up 6 or 7 players on the LOS regularly. We played press coverage all game long and again, the CBs were not beaten long and gave up no TDs.

I expected BC to throw the ball to Long, their excellent big TE (a guy who I understand wanted to come to SU but was not offered). I think Greenwood was often matched against him. Greenwood is not blessed with great size or speed and on paper, this was a huge mismatch. But he did a fine job trying to defend him. I think he was beat on the TD throw, where the coverage was not bad but Jurkovec happened to make his best throw of the game. But props to him for a gritty effort.

Wanted to give special praise to Kingsley Jonathan, who I thought was our best player on defense and had a great game. He was all over the field making plays. Was easily our best pass rusher and made a lot of tackles or assists on runs too. Good to see a senior step up when his team needed him the most. Thought McKinley, Josh and the rest of the DL played pretty well. McKinley in particular made a number of nice plays. We aren’t nearly as effective against the run when he is replaced by Harper. It is quite noticeable. We got blown off the LOS too much and didn’t do a great job with the pass rush but i thought we were quite good getting pressure on the QB. Especially given it seemed we didn’t blitz very much.

Poor Hanna was asked to stick his head in on a ton of running plays and even though he was thoroughly overmatch physically, he still made a lot of plays and played his heart out.

I guess we are all going to start taking Garrett Williams for granted soon. Yeah, he would be a terrific CB if only for his pass coverage skills. But he is really involved in stopping the run and continues to make an extraordinary number of tackles for a CB. Always hustling, always seems to be in the right place.

Iffy. Talk about a misnomer nickname! Teams rarely try to pass his way any longer but when they do, he is where he needs to be and usually knocks it away. Also very good helping out on plays where he is not targeted. Also gets a lot of tackles that a CB ordinarily does not make.

Thought Carter did well. He is playing undersized a bit this year and will really benefit from another year in the weight room next season.

Thought overall, the LBs did well. Jones is still a little too small and inexperienced and gets blown out of his lane too much, but he still makes a lot of nice plays. He has great athletic ability. Good tackler. That one stick of Flowers in the open field was one of the best defensive plays of the season. Cantin-Arku had some moments and appears to be improving a bit every game as he adjusts to this level of football. Thompson is barely playing any longer, which surprises me. I think this is because Tyrell Richards is now back and taking most of the snaps. Richards is a talented athlete who makes some really nice plays but I see him miss his assignments a lot...could use more discipline. That applies to his propensity to get called for penalties as well.

Kpogba’ s athletic ability just jumps off the page. It looks like he sometimes free lances too much but wow, he gets things down when he is in. I think he is also our best tackler on special teams. And his enthusiasm and energy seems to give the team a lift when he is in.

So I am happy with the defense and I think there is real hope that in the next year or two, there will be real improvement. We really need some big mobile bodies up front. That is the only missing ingredient. Hopefully we can grow some of our relatively skinny DEs into beefy ones, and maybe grow a couple into DTs. Hoping we can get a couple transfers to fill in here as well. But better days are ahead for the defense. Of this I am quite sure.

Let’s talk special teams quickly. Nykeim seems to make a couple big plays every game and has to be one of the best return guys in the conference. I can quibble about some of his decisions to return kicks he probably shouldn’t have but overall, he has been terrific here.

Szmyt has been solid and was again today. It is easy to take him for granted but we are lucky to have him.

Cooney continues to have a terrific season. I believe he is in the top 15 in the country in average yards punting and his hang time seems to be very good as well. Great play to get a punt inside the 5 again today...I believe Jones made a great play to keep that one out of the end zone. Bolinsky has been a rock as the long snapper and should get some recognition as well.

Our return teams have been also been good most of the year. Kpogba and Jones seem to be in on a lot of tackles, as does Bolinsky.

Let’s talk about the offense. This has been a nightmare season for Dino and his offensive unit and problems continue to plague the unit. The pass blocking was at times good but it broke down some too and was especially bad late in the game when we had a chance to win. I saw Tucker miss picking up a blitz and worse still, do a blatant hold to take a big gain off the board. That is going to happen playing a true frosh at RB.

The OL has been showing signs of getting better at run blocking but it looked like they got dominated by the BC DL and their veteran LBs. Disappointing.

It was nice to see Dakota play a couple of series but it looked like he wasn’t 100% when he was in.

The OL wasn’t a disaster but they weren’t great either. I look forward to the day when I have confidence in them every game.

Thought the WRs did okay. Harris got a lot of targets and had a good game. He played hard, as always. Thought Queeley had some nice catches. BC played the SU WRs tight and tough and Anthony had a couple drops under heavy pressure. Not much from the rest of the WRs, which remains a concern. Lutz looked good making catches over the middle, which might be a sneak preview of where he will be spending some time next season. Kid has good hands and can run with the ball too.

Tucker had a few really nice runs but had nowhere to run on too many plays. OL needs to be better.

I am pretty sure 95% of the posts about the game will be about Morgan. I gotta talk about him too. Thought he had a fine first game as a starter. I loved the poise I saw from him in the pocket. No happy feet. No rushed timing on passing plays. I didn’t see him get confused on handoffs, or throw to an empty area...the usual things you see when a young QB gets to play for the first time.

Thought he did rush a few throws that ended up at the feet if the receiver. That should go away over time. He made a lot of nice throws. The only one I had a problem with was the long throw into triple coverage that he threw as a high, lazy pass. That was the one that got intercepted (nice job by Taj to try and make a great catch and nice job making the tackle). I saw decent arm strength. The throws to the sideline had more arc and less zip on them than I would like. But it is common for QBs to improve this over time in college. Players like Donovan McNabb made major improvements over time.

I don’t think he is a dual threat QB but he evaded the rush a few times. Broke out of the grasp of a DL, and it was really refreshing to see him get chased out of the pocket, keep his eyes down the field and make a great touch throw over the head of an SU receiver (I think it was Queeley) for a nice gain. And it was even nicer to see him run around on that play late in the game, looking desperately for an open WR, then see a lane and make a great run for the long TD. That was the play where the corrupt refs and even the replay bums somehow decided the ball didn’t break the plane of the end zone. What an awful and shameful call. It is bad enough it was missed on the field. How could the replay official miss it as well? While on the topic of this, I found it unbelievable that there was only one angle provided of the replay of that play. How can a game covered by 8 cameras only show a crucial play replay from one camera? I know the RSN people are the lowest of the low, and maybe it was produced at Newhouse, mostly by students, but that play has to be shown from at least 2, preferably 3 angles.

There was plays where the camera was 20 yards away from where the ball was. Werme was ill prepared. So was the sideline reporter. Where was the talk about how Rex was not going to start before the game? Werme talked at length about SU’s relationship with Camp Bragg. How could the director not tell him immediately that he was off base? Werme is an SU grad. How could he not know he meant Fort Drum?
How does that clown Bates, who is incapable of making coherent observations on anything, allowed to be on the air for any network? Can someone please lock him in a closet?

The most frustrating thing about watching this team play is something that has plagued the Syracuse team for years. Lack of discipline. Specifically with penalties. Many of which are unforced. Many of which are being called on some of our most experienced players. Very disappointing. Dino and his staff need to do something about this. It is killing the team. So many drives start with a penalty by the special teams unit. So many drives end due to a stupid penalty. It could be lining up offsides. It could be a motion penalty. It could be a hold on a player where the hold was not necessary. Unsportsmanlike conduct. So many dumb penalties happening all the time. How many years do we have to be among the worst teams in the country in penalties? It makes me think the staff is not doing a good job holding players accountable for their actions. This needs to change.
 
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It was a bad throw and looked to be miscommunication between Morgan and Taj. I respected that he was trying to make a play and will learn. It was triple coverage. However it was likely the same as a punt. I could be forgetting but thought it was an attempt on third down.

I am glad you said something about the announcers. Today’s game was an all time low... at one point Bates was talking about smoking cigarettes and pulp fiction? I would rather have my Amazon alexa do the game than the crews we have seen this year.
 
I wish I was as enthusiastic about the defense as you Tom. The issue of being on the field too long and tiring was every bit as much their own fault as it was the offense’s.They give up long drives on about 75-80% of the opponents possessions. They can’t seem to stop a third down to save their lives and most of those conversions are on basic runs up the gut. It is ripping my stomach lining to CONTINUOUSLY see teams run for 6,7,8,12 yards on 1st down on straight dives. Babers absolutely must focus on the trenches going forward.
 
Thought the defense played their butts off against one of the better offenses in the conference. BC was eventually able to wear them down some, mostly due to another poor effort by the SU offense, who could only control the ball for about 21 minutes.

If we had a good offense, the defense would benefit greatly. So many times this year they just seem to be on the field 75% of the time, and a team with injuries and opt outs seemingly everywhere just don’t have the depth to overcome this.

Thought White called a great game and had a solid game plan. One wonders why BC didn’t run the ball every play...they didn’t in large part because SU sold out to stop the run in a big way, lining up 6 or 7 players on the LOS regularly. We played press coverage all game long and again, the CBs were not beaten long and gave up no TDs.

I expected BC to throw the ball to Long, their excellent big TE (a guy who I understand wanted to come to SU but was not offered). I think Greenwood was often matched against him. Greenwood is not blessed with great size or speed and on paper, this was a huge mismatch. But he did a fine job trying to defend him. I think he was beat on the TD throw, where the coverage was not bad but Jurkovec happened to make his best throw of the game. But props to him for a gritty effort.

Wanted to give special praise to Kingsley Jonathan, who I thought was our best player on defense and had a great game. He was all over the field making plays. Was easily our best pass rusher and made a lot of tackles or assists on runs too. Good to see a senior step up when his team needed him the most. Thought McKinley, Josh and the rest of the DL played pretty well. McKinley in particular made a number of nice plays. We aren’t nearly as effective against the run when he is replaced by Harper. It is quite noticeable. We got blown off the LOS too much and didn’t do a great job with the pass rush but i thought we were quite good getting pressure on the QB. Especially given it seemed we didn’t blitz very much.

Poor Hanna was asked to stick his head in on a ton of running plays and even though he was thoroughly overmatch physically, he still made a lot of plays and played his heart out.

I guess we are all going to start taking Garrett Williams for granted soon. Yeah, he would be a terrific CB if only for his pass coverage skills. But he is really involved in stopping the run and continues to make an extraordinary number of tackles for a CB. Always hustling, always seems to be in the right place.

Iffy. Talk about a misnomer nickname! Teams rarely try to pass his way any longer but when they do, he is where he needs to be and usually knocks it away. Also very good helping out on plays where he is not targeted. Also gets a lot of tackles that a CB ordinarily does not make.

Thought Carter did well. He is playing undersized a bit this year and will really benefit from another year in the weight room next season.

Thought overall, the LBs did well. Jones is still a little too small and inexperienced and gets blown out of his lane too much, but he still makes a lot of nice plays. He has great athletic ability. Good tackler. That one stick of Flowers in the open field was one of the best defensive plays of the season. Cantin-Arku had some moments and appears to be improving a bit every game as he adjusts to this level of football. Thompson is barely playing any longer, which surprises me. I think this is because Tyrell Richards is now back and taking most of the snaps. Richards is a talented athlete who makes some really nice plays but I see him miss his assignments a lot...could use more discipline. That applies to his propensity to get called for penalties as well.

Kpogba’ s athletic ability just jumps off the page. It looks like he sometimes free lances too much but wow, he gets things down when he is in. I think he is also our best tackler on special teams. And his enthusiasm and energy seems to give the team a lift when he is in.

So I am happy with the defense and I think there is real hope that in the next year or two, there will be real improvement. We really need some big mobile bodies up front. That is the only missing ingredient. Hopefully we can grow some of our relatively skinny DEs into beefy ones, and maybe grow a couple into DTs. Hoping we can get a couple transfers to fill in here as well. But better days are ahead for the defense. Of this I am quite sure.

Let’s talk special teams quickly. Nykeim seems to make a couple big plays every game and has to be one of the best return guys in the conference. I can quibble about some of his decisions to return kicks he probably shouldn’t have but overall, he has been terrific here.

Szmyt has been solid and was again today. It is easy to take him for granted but we are lucky to have him.

Cooney continues to have a terrific season. I believe he is in the top 15 in the country in average yards punting and his hang time seems to be very good as well. Great play to get a punt inside the 5 again today...I believe Jones made a great play to keep that one out of the end zone. Bolinsky has been a rock as the long snapper and should get some recognition as well.

Our return teams have been also been good most of the year. Kpogba and Jones seem to be in on a lot of tackles, as does Bolinsky.

Let’s talk about the offense. This has been a nightmare season for Dino and his offensive unit and problems continue to plague the unit. The pass blocking was at times good but it broke down some too and was especially bad late in the game when we had a chance to win. I saw Tucker miss picking up a blitz and worse still, do a blatant hold to take a big gain off the board. That is going to happen playing a true frosh at RB.

The OL has been showing signs of getting better at run blocking but it looked like they got dominated by the BC DL and their veteran LBs. Disappointing.

It was nice to see Dakota play a couple of series but it looked like he wasn’t 100% when he was in.

The OL wasn’t a disaster but they weren’t great either. I look forward to the day when I have confidence in them every game.

Thought the WRs did okay. Harris got a lot of targets and had a good game. He played hard, as always. Thought Queeley had some nice catches. BC played the SU WRs tight and tough and Anthony had a couple drops under heavy pressure. Not much from the rest of the WRs, which remains a concern. Lutz looked good making catches over the middle, which might be a sneak preview of where he will be spending some time next season. Kid has good hands and can run with the ball too.

Tucker had a few really nice runs but had nowhere to run on too many plays. OL needs to be better.

I am pretty sure 95% of the posts about the game will be about Morgan. I gotta talk about him too. Thought he had a fine first game as a starter. I loved the poise I saw from him in the pocket. No happy feet. No rushed timing on passing plays. I didn’t see him get confused on handoffs, or throw to an empty area...the usual things you see when a young QB gets to play for the first time.

Thought he did rush a few throws that ended up at the feet if the receiver. That should go away over time. He made a lot of nice throws. The only one I had a problem with was the long throw into triple coverage that he threw as a high, lazy pass. That was the one that got intercepted (nice job by Taj to try and make a great catch and nice job making the tackle). I saw decent arm strength. The throws to the sideline had more arc and less zip on them than I would like. But it is common for QBs to improve this over time in college. Players like Donovan McNabb made major improvements over time.

I don’t think he is a dual threat QB but he evaded the rush a few times. Broke out of the grasp of a DL, and it was really refreshing to see him get chased out of the pocket, keep his eyes down the field and make a great touch throw over the head of an SU receiver (I think it was Queeley) for a nice gain. And it was even nicer to see him run around on that play late in the game, looking desperately for an open WR, then see a lane and make a great run for the long TD. That was the play where the corrupt refs and even the replay bums somehow decided the ball didn’t break the plane of the end zone. What an awful and shameful call. It is bad enough it was missed on the field. How could the replay official miss it as well? While on the topic of this, I found it unbelievable that there was only one angle provided of the replay of that play. How can a game covered by 8 cameras only show a crucial play replay from one camera? I know the RSN people are the lowest of the low, and maybe it was produced at Newhouse, mostly by students, but that play has to be shown from at least 2, preferably 3 angles.

There was plays where the camera was 20 yards away from where the ball was. Werme was ill prepared. So was the sideline reporter. Where was the talk about how Rex was not going to start before the game? Werme talked at length about SU’s relationship with Camp Bragg. How could the director not tell him immediately that he was off base? Werme is an SU grad. How could he not know he meant Fort Drum?
How does that clown Bates, who is incapable of making coherent observations on anything, allowed to be on the air for any network? Can someone please lock him in a closet?

The most frustrating thing about watching this team play is something that has plagued the Syracuse team for years. Lack of discipline. Specifically with penalties. Many of which are unforced. Many of which are being called on some of our most experienced players. Very disappointing. Dino and his staff need to do something about this. It is killing the team. So many drives start with a penalty by the special teams unit. So many drives end due to a stupid penalty. It could be lining up offsides. It could be a motion penalty. It could be a hold on a player where the hold was not necessary. Unsportsmanlike conduct. So many dumb penalties happening all the time. How many years do we have to be among the worst teams in the country in penalties? It makes me think the staff is not doing a good job holding players accountable for their actions. This needs to change.


When you pass toward iffy, the results are likely to be iffy.
 
I wish I was as enthusiastic about the defense as you Tom. The issue of being on the field too long and tiring was every bit as much their own fault as it was the offense’s.They give up long drives on about 75-80% of the opponents possessions. They can’t seem to stop a third down to save their lives and most of those conversions are on basic runs up the gut. It is ripping my stomach lining to CONTINUOUSLY see teams run for 6,7,8,12 yards on 1st down on straight dives. Babers absolutely must focus on the trenches going forward.


Agree. This is scary:

DE 85 Josh Black (6-3, 282, R-Sr.) 97 Cody Roscoe (6-1, 258, Sr.)
DT 0 McKinley Williams (6-4, 291, R-Sr.) 52 Curtis Harper (6-2, 296, R-Jr.)
DE 9 Kingsley Jonathan (6-3, 264, Sr.) 93 Caleb Okechukwu (6-4, 257, R-So.)
 
First of all the detailed analysis is impressive.
The penalties are unacceptable unfortunately we have become consistently good at making them . It’s on coach to fix that .
The run D is terrible however to give up only 16 points isn’t bad at all but also credit that to an off day by there Qb. It’s hard for me to rate the offense as the play book is shrunk . The O line is getting better it’s not good but not the very worst either. BC turned up the heat I thought we should have countered with screens . The WRs have gotten better with drops I don’t think they had one yesterday.
IMO the next 2 games are audition / get reps / get a look time for any player who has upside or is close to playing but hasn’t got a chance
I’d like to see Dillion , Alford , Williams , baron Hendrix , the big German TE .. then put your best 22 out there for ND .
 
I disagree that BC has a good offense. They are ranked 91 in total offense, 110 in rushing offense, 85 in scoring offense, but 39 in passing offense. Their run game has averaged 3.06 yards per carry as they have not been able to run the football this year.

The surprise this game for BC is that they focused on running the ball as they rushed 47 times versus passing 29 times.
 
First of all the detailed analysis is impressive.
The penalties are unacceptable unfortunately we have become consistently good at making them . It’s on coach to fix that .
The run D is terrible however to give up only 16 points isn’t bad at all but also credit that to an off day by there Qb. It’s hard for me to rate the offense as the play book is shrunk . The O line is getting better it’s not good but not the very worst either. BC turned up the heat I thought we should have countered with screens . The WRs have gotten better with drops I don’t think they had one yesterday.
IMO the next 2 games are audition / get reps / get a look time for any player who has upside or is close to playing but hasn’t got a chance
I’d like to see Dillion , Alford , Williams , baron Hendrix , the big German TE .. then put your best 22 out there for ND .
I thought we threw more screens yesterday than we have all year.
 
Lol ND. If there was ever a game I’d like to forfeit or have canceled...

Holy crap...if they decide to run the ball every play, they could rack up 600 yards of rushing on us. That’s a real bad matchup for us.
 
Holy crap...if they decide to run the ball every play, they could rack up 600 yards of rushing on us. That’s a real bad matchup for us.
There's no way they do that. They don't want all of their RBs tired out for the ACC Championship game.
 
I disagree that BC has a good offense. They are ranked 91 in total offense, 110 in rushing offense, 85 in scoring offense, but 39 in passing offense. Their run game has averaged 3.06 yards per carry as they have not been able to run the football this year.

The surprise this game for BC is that they focused on running the ball as they rushed 47 times versus passing 29 times.

One of the reasons I’m bearish on Hafley. He took a strength and made it a weakness.
 
This was a huge step forward for the run D BC from last yr.. This year they were often in the right spots.. But we are small and the BC RB is pretty tough. So many times the play should have been zero turned into 3-4. Some were missed tackles but many were purely a size/strength issue.
 
I wish I was as enthusiastic about the defense as you Tom. The issue of being on the field too long and tiring was every bit as much their own fault as it was the offense’s.They give up long drives on about 75-80% of the opponents possessions. They can’t seem to stop a third down to save their lives and most of those conversions are on basic runs up the gut. It is ripping my stomach lining to CONTINUOUSLY see teams run for 6,7,8,12 yards on 1st down on straight dives. Babers absolutely must focus on the trenches going forward.
I agree we need to be better against the run. The good news is that I believe in the scheme. I think it fits the personnel we can get to play at Syracuse well. Yes, we need to get more big strong guys on the roster to play DT and DE, especially DT. McKinley is really the only guy we have on the whole roster who can hold his own out there. 1 legit DT on the team is crazy. We had a redshirt frosh from Massachusetts (Kevon Darton) playing significant minutes again at DT yesterday. He is 5’11. We have a 5’11 OG. If that isn’t an alarm that we desperately need to add more linemen into the program, nothing is.

Also need bigger and stronger LBs and safeties. We were good at safety when we had Trill Williams, Andre Cisco and Eric Coley back there but they were all gone by the halfway point of the season. The good news is that it looks like a frosh can come in and make an impact almost right away, so guys like Folk and Chestnut could make a difference right away. But we have to add more DTs and OL.

I think the group of young DL we are bringing in but they are not ready to play types, at least not at DT. Find a way to get the backup DTs from schools like Clemson, NC State, Penn State and Michigan. Immediate playing time is a big carrot and that is something we can offer.
 
It was a bad throw and looked to be miscommunication between Morgan and Taj. I respected that he was trying to make a play and will learn. It was triple coverage. However it was likely the same as a punt. I could be forgetting but thought it was an attempt on third down.

I am glad you said something about the announcers. Today’s game was an all time low... at one point Bates was talking about smoking cigarettes and pulp fiction? I would rather have my Amazon alexa do the game than the crews we have seen this year.
The other thing I should have complained about regarding the broadcast was the weird fixation on Jeff Hafley that went on all game. Was his ex the director? What the heck was that all about? BC was 3-2 coming into the game. They aren’t exactly setting the world on fire. Please focus on the game instead of a weird looking coach.
 
Agree. This is scary:

DE 85 Josh Black (6-3, 282, R-Sr.) 97 Cody Roscoe (6-1, 258, Sr.)
DT 0 McKinley Williams (6-4, 291, R-Sr.) 52 Curtis Harper (6-2, 296, R-Jr.)
DE 9 Kingsley Jonathan (6-3, 264, Sr.) 93 Caleb Okechukwu (6-4, 257, R-So.)

Our only hope is a few of the young guys mature (Rondi, Lemieux, Tuazama) and put on 10-15lbs to become contributors. Not sure what to make of Cooper Dawson, we'll see if he sticks around.

Cuse is going to have to mine the transfer market for DL.

It'll be a huge plus if any of the seniors stick around for next Fall.

Edit: I agree with Tomcat: we need to find a 2nd string guy at one of the power schools that stockpile talent who wants a great shot to start in '21.
 
Great Analysis SUTomcat. I agree with pretty much all of it.

The Announcers were terrible on the play calling. Once they said BC had gotten a first down or close to it and he was still 12 years from a first down. His partner corrected him pointing out he was an idiot and looking at the wrong markers. Later in the game he said SU didnt make a first down when they had made it, plus about 8 more yards. If you cant even keep track of yard markers how can you be a broadcaster?

Morgan's touchdown run that was called out at the 1 was a terrible call and replay. I saw three angles on TV that showed it going across in the logical mind. My guess is that they were going with the "no definitive proof" theory since there was no camera directly above the pylon.
The fumble call pisses me off more. They were literally holding him up so they could strip the ball. Blow the play dead already!

Overall Morgan was very good. That wide open pass to Taj steaking across the field though ugh. That had TD written all over it. Some of his passes were bad though. Just lobs, often for no reason. A few of the sideline passes to Taj I initially thought he was throwing away. Other passes had nice zip on them. Im chalking it all up to the freshman experience.

They really need to get the snaps up as well. All the talk is about the one snap, but look back at the game and you will see he is constantly reaching down to his knees to grab the snap. One of HCDB, biggest comments last week was about him hanging onto the ball. Get the snaps up and make it easier for him!
 
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These games for Morgan will prove very beneficial for Spring Ball. TD will have some stiff competition. Rex appears to be a great glue guy for the team but he isn't more than a 3rd string QB. Maybe coaching is in his future?

I'd like see what Dillion can do too. He obviously can spin the rock as seen by the yards gained in the DFW area.

Morgan seems to have one thing over all the Cuse QBs: he can make the throw on a roll out or when flushed.
 
The thing with the Touchdown v no touchdown call is you can plainly see Morgan pull the ball back toward his body after he extended over the line. Had he stretched and not made it that would have been entirely different. Too bad he didn’t get credit for the run/TD. But he’s probably just as happy to get the passing TD.
 
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The thing with the Touchdown v no touchdown call is you capfuls plainly see Morgan pull the ball back toward his body after he extended over the line. Had he stretched and not made it that would have been entirely different. Too bad he didn’t get credit for the run/TD. But he’s probably just as happy to get the passing TD.
But if he pulls it back after the ball crosses the line, it doesn't matter. It's no different than a runner getting pushed back after he crosses the plane.
 
Agree. This is scary:

DE 85 Josh Black (6-3, 282, R-Sr.) 97 Cody Roscoe (6-1, 258, Sr.)
DT 0 McKinley Williams (6-4, 291, R-Sr.) 52 Curtis Harper (6-2, 296, R-Jr.)
DE 9 Kingsley Jonathan (6-3, 264, Sr.) 93 Caleb Okechukwu (6-4, 257, R-So.)
Great Analysis SUTomcat. I agree with pretty much all of it.

The Announcers were terrible on the play calling. Once they said BC had gotten a first down or close to it and he was still 12 years from a first down. His partner corrected him pointing out he was an idiot and looking at the wrong markers. Later in the game he said SU didnt make a first down when they had made it, plus about 8 more yards. If you cant even keep track of yard markers how can you be a broadcaster?

Morgan's touchdown run that was called out at the 1 was a terrible call and replay. I saw three angles on TV that showed it going across in the logical mind. My guess is that they were going with the "no definitive proof" theory since there was no camera directly above the pylon.
The fumble call pisses me off more. They were literally holding him up so they could strip the ball. Blow the play dead already!

Overall Morgan was very good. That wide open pass to Taj steaking across the field though ugh. That had TD written all over it. Some of his passes were bad though. Just lobs, often for no reason. A few of the sideline passes to Taj I initially thought he was throwing away. Other passes had nice zip on them. Im chalking it all up to the freshman experience.

They really need to get the snaps up as well. All the talk is about the one snap, but look back at the game and you will see he is constantly reaching down to his knees to grab the snap. One of HCDB, biggest comments last week was about him hanging onto the ball. Get the snaps up and make it easier for him!
They have a maintenance crew in the dome right now repairing the turf were the low snaps burned the carpet.
 
I thought it was pretty clear that Morgan scored. Giving the horrible ACC refs the benefit of the doubt, how in God's name did they possibly spot the ball at the 1 yard line? Even if he didn't score there is no way the ball is at the 1.
 
Thanks for the write-up, Tom. No doubt the offense is leaving the defense on the field way too long. The D played hard against BC, never quit and finally stopped the run in the 4th QR. IMO this was because we stacked the box and BC, with a lead, didn't want to throw as much. But either way, we held their 4th-QR drives to 9, 7, 13 and 8 yards, which was great to see.

Unfortunately, as useful a tactic as loading the box was against BC, it isn't a long-term solution. If we can't stop the run in our base 335 ACC teams will just throw it (like UNC and CU). Obviously our young LB's (Jones, C-A, Kpogba and Wax) need work on gap discipline. But the elephant in the room (as you said in Post #16 and as many have been posting) continues to be a thin and undersized DL. Bear and KJ are capable players ... but they need help and LOTS of it. Until then we'll see stats like Saturday's (and the last 2 seasons'): on the list of our top 5 tacklers 4 were CB's or safeties. The top tackler against BC was Hanna - who weighs 168 pounds. Not only is this unsustainable from an injury standpoint, IMO we are never going to get out of the Atlantic Division basement until we get bigger and stronger up front on defense.
 
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