My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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The day started off with a delightful Tailgate at the Syracruz Tailgate. Props to all involved. It was awesome. And quite keto friendly.

Very nice to see many new and old friends, including Dick from Michigan.

I have been going to Syracuse football games since the early 1970s. This is one of the five craziest I had attended.

Thought the big 10 officials played a huge role in the game. Mostly favoring Purdue for most of the game, and then calling it straight late to keep Syracuse in the game. late.

Seem like every time we got a big play on offense, the refs called a hold on us. Saw a number of egregious holds from Purdue that were not called. There were a few Apple calls that fortunately were reversed upon review. Thank God for reviews. And thank God the big 10 crew will not work another Syracuse game this year.

Such a strange game. I think it was 10 to 9 Syracuse welll into the fourth quarter. And then the explosions started.

I gotta say, O’Connell was impressive. He and Trevor Lawrence have the strongest arms I have seen in the dome in the past decade probably longer.And he was super accurate as well.

Looked to me as though Syracuse played the first half using a soft zone concept, giving the Purdue receivers five or 10 cards most of the time. Oh come on I was happy to take those little dink throws, and was able to pile up some yardage and move the ball down the field going that way. When they got toward the red zone, the SU defense tightened and Purdue struggled to move the ball forward. I think we went to press coverage with our corners in the second half and it worked for a while.

But props to Joannes, O’Connell, and that tight end who wears number 87. They did a nice job getting open and hurting us, and we are able to move the ball down the field too easily against the defense.

So many big plays, big cars. That late hit on trader was huge. The bomb to Jones was devastating. Have science: Linton, the pic by Caleb for the TV, the TV by 87, so many ebbs and flows.

Sean Tucker did not have a big game. That said he was wide open and three or four wheel routes, that Shrader just could not connect with. We thought Garrett had a strange first half. He was traffic running the ball, and struggle to throw it. Did not look comfortable in the pocket, and maybe gave up on plays a little early a few times. From what I could see, this is not all his fault. We had a big issue with the receivers getting open. I think the reason Gadsden and Jones played a lot late was because they are two toughest and most physical receivers. The Purdue DBs were bullying our WRs (and the big 10 reps let them get away with it).

Just some random observations. It looks like Hoeh and Mang continue to have major problems blocking. I think our OL may have taken a step backwards w/ rub blocking too. Sean just doesn’t have holes run through. Wish we ran more place to the left, where the strength of our OL is.

I think Geer had a really good game at DE. Darton was a force at nose guard. When we started playing press coverage, it looks like Purdue went after Duce a lot.

Really nice job with our coverage teams against excellent Purdue special teams units.

The other team missed a crucial field goal late in the game. Seems like the first time that has happened in decades.

This was, I think, one of those turning point type games. We really need to get a win. So glad it happened. So glad the kids have a chance to be 3-0, and to be able to dream special dreams for a while longer. The players, and the fans deserve that. Just watched Virginia play, and while they didn’t play well, I know they will be up for the game and they will be ready on Friday night.

I stayed after the game for a while, just drinking things in. As the band started to play the alma mater, I was watching Garrett Schrader, who was standing around midfield at the 40 yard line talking to someone. As the band started to play the alma mater, I could see he thought about jogging over to the rest of the team, who was lined up near the goal line. He took a couple of very ginger steps and then slowly descended to the turf, taking a knee. He looked really banged up, and I am not happy with him having to play again on Friday. He is going to need a lot of treatment to be close to 100% that quickly.
 
If someone told me before the game that Garrett would be 13/29 and Tucker would run for 42 yards, I would had us losing by 21+. I’m still in shock that we pulled that off.
We were, what, 3/13 on 3rd down? Something like that
 
This team is special. The stats don't make sense given the outcome, but good teams find a way to win.

Our kids never hung their heads, and they played till the final buzzer. Purdue imploded.
That's why you always keep your head in the game. Purdue thought they were manhandling the Orange, to an extent they were, but the Orange kept fighting back and would not stay down. There was no let up by the coaches, the team, the offense, the defense, the special teams. Nobody in orange was giving in, except some fans that always want to beat traffic, but they always want to beat traffic, win or lose, so the point is irrelevant to this discussion.

Purdue could not understand why the Orange were getting back up after every beat down and throwing more punches. It worked, they lost their cool, they blew up. They gave gifted us field position on stupid mistakes, sometimes after good plays. Arrogance, stupidity, ignorance, they seem to go hand in hand. Anyway, Purdue paid the price for all of them. The Orange walked away with a W and in the books, there is no accounting for ugly "W"s and pretty "L"s, I'll take ugly "W"s over pretty "L"s all day, every day.
 
The game told me where we stand. I'm not thrilled by my take away but in reality I have no right to be anything but satisfied. The win makes me giddy happy.

We will bowl to a decent but not top notch bowl and we will not contend for a division crown. We will take our lumps. Hopefully, compensated by some upset wins.
 
I have to give props to our defence on the 1st half. Some of it was luck but watching the game and allowing only 9 points in the 1st half was what gave us a chance to win the game. In reality we should have been down by 12-15 at the half. That was the difference. We put too much pressure on the Boilermakers (yes, a double whammy there) and they gave us too much time at the end. No one could stop one another in the 4th quarter. I hope our defensive coordinator looks real close at what happened in the 4th Quarter. Virgina OC will be looking there all week.

Frankly there were two passes that were dropped that could have turned the game around. The flea fliker where Shrader was overthrown. That was a 20+ yard play. The other was I think at the end of 1st half from Schrader to Turner. Great fake and turner had to cathch and had 20+ yards of open field. Those plays have to happen for us in the future to be successful.

Overall, it was fantatic to see our QB have the cajones to pull this one out. We were at the 50 yard line with about 55 seconds left in the game. Then we only had 22 seconds and on the 40. I was resigned to blowing a lead. Scharader and the OL held fast for time needed. What a play and a result.

I have to think the dome was rocking with only 33-35K. I cant imagine 40K+ in this facility. WOW.

GO CUSE
 
The day started off with a delightful Tailgate at the Syracruz Tailgate. Props to all involved. It was awesome. And quite keto friendly.

Very nice to see many new and old friends, including Dick from Michigan.

I have been going to Syracuse football games since the early 1970s. This is one of the five craziest I had attended.

Thought the big 10 officials played a huge role in the game. Mostly favoring Purdue for most of the game, and then calling it straight late to keep Syracuse in the game. late.

Seem like every time we got a big play on offense, the refs called a hold on us. Saw a number of egregious holds from Purdue that were not called. There were a few Apple calls that fortunately were reversed upon review. Thank God for reviews. And thank God the big 10 crew will not work another Syracuse game this year.

Such a strange game. I think it was 10 to 9 Syracuse welll into the fourth quarter. And then the explosions started.

I gotta say, O’Connell was impressive. He and Trevor Lawrence have the strongest arms I have seen in the dome in the past decade probably longer.And he was super accurate as well.

Looked to me as though Syracuse played the first half using a soft zone concept, giving the Purdue receivers five or 10 cards most of the time. Oh come on I was happy to take those little dink throws, and was able to pile up some yardage and move the ball down the field going that way. When they got toward the red zone, the SU defense tightened and Purdue struggled to move the ball forward. I think we went to press coverage with our corners in the second half and it worked for a while.

But props to Joannes, O’Connell, and that tight end who wears number 87. They did a nice job getting open and hurting us, and we are able to move the ball down the field too easily against the defense.

So many big plays, big cars. That late hit on trader was huge. The bomb to Jones was devastating. Have science: Linton, the pic by Caleb for the TV, the TV by 87, so many ebbs and flows.

Sean Tucker did not have a big game. That said he was wide open and three or four wheel routes, that Shrader just could not connect with. We thought Garrett had a strange first half. He was traffic running the ball, and struggle to throw it. Did not look comfortable in the pocket, and maybe gave up on plays a little early a few times. From what I could see, this is not all his fault. We had a big issue with the receivers getting open. I think the reason Gadsden and Jones played a lot late was because they are two toughest and most physical receivers. The Purdue DBs were bullying our WRs (and the big 10 reps let them get away with it).

Just some random observations. It looks like Hoeh and Mang continue to have major problems blocking. I think our OL may have taken a step backwards w/ rub blocking too. Sean just doesn’t have holes run through. Wish we ran more place to the left, where the strength of our OL is.

I think Geer had a really good game at DE. Darton was a force at nose guard. When we started playing press coverage, it looks like Purdue went after Duce a lot.

Really nice job with our coverage teams against excellent Purdue special teams units.

The other team missed a crucial field goal late in the game. Seems like the first time that has happened in decades.

This was, I think, one of those turning point type games. We really need to get a win. So glad it happened. So glad the kids have a chance to be 3-0, and to be able to dream special dreams for a while longer. The players, and the fans deserve that. Just watched Virginia play, and while they didn’t play well, I know they will be up for the game and they will be ready on Friday night.

I stayed after the game for a while, just drinking things in. As the band started to play the alma mater, I was watching Garrett Schrader, who was standing around midfield at the 40 yard line talking to someone. As the band started to play the alma mater, I could see he thought about jogging over to the rest of the team, who was lined up near the goal line. He took a couple of very ginger steps and then slowly descended to the turf, taking a knee. He looked really banged up, and I am not happy with him having to play again on Friday. He is going to need a lot of treatment to be close to 100% that quickly.

It's Dick_in_MI , he's from Syracuse :)
 
Great seeing you again, Tom. What a gift for me to see a number of old friends and finally MEET a number of old friends. Got a hug from Cuseregular. Picked up my tailgate tee shirt.

Chatted with the women‘s volleyball team on the quad, got a poster signed by them, and promised the coach I’d be watching their games on the ACC Network.

Settled into my niece and nephew’s seats in Sect 130 when I noticed a guy walk by with a jersey that said IthacaMatt on the back. I met Matt about 20 years ago, but like many of the folks I got to see again, I have “known” him from the boards for 30 years. Later, he came up the stairs and I called over but he kept walking. Good to see him again even if we didn’t talk.

As for the game, first off I love how the Dome looks inside. As previously reported by others, the sound system is loud but almost intelligible at times.

It was a win for the ages. The Boilers outplayed us for much of the game, they took Sean out of his rhythm, Garrett came back to earth quite a bit, Purdue made a living throwing under our coverage, we made some big mistakes and also dodged some major bullets.

The 4th quarter, however, was magical. We made a number of big plays and Purdue literally screwed themselves with unforced errors and wild undiscipline. It is rare to watch an opponent implode before your very eyes, but tremendously entertaining when it happens.

Good teams find a way to win the close ones, even on days where they don’t bring their A game. I’ll always remember this win.
 
There are a lot of us mentioning the "turning point" and "reversal of fortunes". I think our entire collective fan base might've willed us to this win, lol. Us die hard SU fans have been beat up pretty good these past 2 decades, but it does payoff quite nicely on days like this. LGO!
 
Honestly, I thought the late hit on Shrader was kind of his wake up call. Reminded me of the Rocky movies where he had to take a few punches to come alive. (There, I just gave HCDB a movie reference.)
 
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The way Linton is used is bizarre to me. I sat behind the bench and up until mid-way through the 2nd quarter, Linton stood on sideline holding his helmet. Was he hurt? Was he in the doghouse? Did they simply not include him in the initial defensive scheme? I think if you asked any informed fan which defensive players would be key to stopping O’Connell this week, most would’ve included Linton. Then he finally went in there and what do you know the defense was able to get some pressure.
 
I think the reason Gadsden and Jones played a lot late was because they are two toughest and most physical receivers. The Purdue DBs were bullying our WRs (and the big 10 reps let them get away with it).
If Alford wants to play at the next level, he needs to work on his downfield blocking. He did manage to run interference on Gadsden's 1st TD, but I noticed several running plays where he did nothing to help. One that stands out was on a QB scramble in the 3rd Qtr., where #82 totally whiffed on blocking the Purdue CB that allowed him lay a wicked hit on Shrader along the right sideline.
 
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Not a great day for Garrett Williams draft stock. I get he had the toughest assignment all day but he cannot give up multiple big plays and still expect 1st round draft projections. He’ll rebound and be fine but just not a good day.
 
Not a great day for Garrett Williams draft stock. I get he had the toughest assignment all day but he cannot give up multiple big plays and still expect 1st round draft projections. He’ll rebound and be fine but just not a good day.

It was weird I thought he had a really good game up until those 2 times he got beat. He was flying up and making tackles.
 
Purdue made our offense look bad - normally only WE make ourselves look that bad. I take great comfort in winning despite Sean having an off day. The Garrett’s did everything they could, left it all out there. I don’t think our QB can continue taking wide open hits on game winning plays.

I thought ahead of time that keeping Linton in reserve would be a smart move - springing him in the second half is our version of the bball trunk monkey full court press.

I’d really like to hear from someone about the Xs and Os of what happened to our run game. Did Purdue stack the box or was it just a great game by their d line? I heard their local beat reporter say earlier this week they have one of the top d line coaches in college football.
 
Not a great day for Garrett Williams draft stock. I get he had the toughest assignment all day but he cannot give up multiple big plays and still expect 1st round draft projections. He’ll rebound and be fine but just not a good day.
Not true at all. If you’re on an island against a top player all game that’s going to happen.
 

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