My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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I guess it was only appropriate for this wild season to end with a crazy game in a near empty stadium. The Superfans? Not so super.

It would have been so easy for this team to just give up after the disastrous start. It was a cold night. There were no fans. BC was playing in their bowl game.

Great comeback. Yes, the glass half empty folks will point out that we would have lost had BC not made that stupid QB roughing play in the 4th quarter. Probably accurate. We had a similar break to help us beat UVa. But they were legit penalties. And we also got boned with a couple of really questionable calls against Clemson that played a big role in that game. The good teams take advantage of breaks. We did that last night.

BC played really aggressively on defense. Looked like they blitzed a lot, with a variety of players. It hurt us badly for much of the game. They were able to do this because they played press coverage with their CBs most of the time. We had chances to throw long and took some but the strong BC pass rush kept them from getting burned for much of the game. That and some poor passing early by Garrett Shrader, which scared the hell out of me.

Looked like we were afraid of BC going long to Flowers and mostly played zone. BC tried to take advantage by using their power running game but they were for the most part unsuccessful doing this. They relied heavily on short passes to the flat, taking what our defense gave them. They had some success here but Morehead was too inconsistent passing and they rarely were able to put sustained drives together.

Thought Syracuse was again very conservative on passing plays on defense, not blitzing very much. The inexperienced BC OL struggled to stop a 3 man SU pass rush. Nice job by our DL. Good to see Linton getting a lot of PT again. Caleb had a big game. Darton was good as usual. Geer played good but appeared to go out with an injury. Jobity played a lot and continues to impress me with his quickness. I think he is going to be very good down the road. Even E C-F had some good plays.

Wax had 2 awful plays when BC blocked the punt and he again played hurt and he again got banged up and missed some time. Wouldn’t be surprised if he is playing with a broken hand right now. Something with his hand or wrist is really messed up. He had some big plays down the stretch. True warrior. Liked what Sparrow did. Except the dance that cost us 15 yards and maybe 3 points. Not cool.

BC tried trick plays several times but our safeties were prepared, and did not take the bait. Nice job by them.

We threw to Gadsden a lot. Mostly over the middle, with traffic around. He was solid. Cooper got a lot of targets and for the most part, also came through. He isn’t going to get a lot of YAC but he usually catches it

Looked like we targeted J Williams (BC # 14) all game long and he was badly abused. Too small to cover Gadsden or Alford. We had a mismatch and took advantage often.

Alford had an interesting game. Dropped a fairly easy catch for a TD late in the 2nd quarter. Had a hold call to screw up a drive in the first half. But he got another long TD on a sprint route that was probably the play of the game (another great throw by Shrader there).

Adams was wide open on a sprint route early in the game but a bad pass by Garrett went incomplete. Wish we tried it again. We probably did and Garrett got blown up by pressure.

Shrader looks Iike he has an injury to his right hand. Grabbed it a few times. Played through it. Played with no gloves. Threw it well, made a lot of good decisions. Helped us a bunch with good gains running in key situations. You can see he is not running with his normal speed. Usually when he gets into the open field, he gets 20 or more yards. They caught up with him a lot either last night. But he got to the corner and got the job done and I thought he played really well, even with that pass rush in his face all game long.

Thought Tucker had a solid game. He seems a little slower and more cautious this season. Runs OB a lot more willingly than in past years. He has taken a lot of hits and.I understand why. Good to see him get 1000 yards and a couple of TDs.

We started off with Berg at LT, Ellis at LG, Vet at C, Bleich at RG and Cruz at RT. After the meltdown by Cruz, Ilaoa moved in at C and Vet went to RT. Seemed like this had little impact on the OL. If anything, they pass blocked better after this. Later, in the 4th quarter I think, Ellis got reinsured and Bradford came in for him to finish out the game. Props to Josh. I think his stock is rising and am feeling better about life without Vet on the OL next season. That said, this was not a great game for our OL.

Anae added some new running plays and they seemed to work well. Thought he called a good game. Hated not getting anything late in the first half after Sparrow caused that turnover. 1st and 10 at the 12 with 1:04 left has to get points.

Not happy with all the penalties. A lot of them came from the OL. Illegal procedures and holds. Vet and Ellis were usually the culprits. Just on that last drive in the first half, Ellis took 7 points off the board and then Cruz took 3 away. Not good. Hopefully Kalan gets in better shape next season. Hopefully Enrique learns from this mistake.

In a perfect world, the staff would sit players who made bone headed penalties. That is the best way to stop the behavior. But we have so little depth at so many positions, it really isn’t much of an option right now. It should be a point of emphasis in the off season and hopefully it finally gets cleaned up next year.
 
My takeaways from this game were a microcosm of this season and a snapshot of Dino’s tenure here -

1. Lack of Discipline - This might be the most undisciplined team he has had. Stupid personal foul/unsportsmanlike penalties and even more mental error penalties. Why have these continued for 6+ seasons with no improvement?
2. Lack of Depth - Been discussed at nauseam but after the top 10-15 players on this roster, the depth/talent drops off substantially. Not sustainable for continued success if you can’t find talent and develop it.
3. OL and WR Misses - This staff has signed too many linemen and receivers over the years that have not developed into dependable options. They have not evaluated and developed these positions adequately.
4. Injuries - Something drastic needs to change to address this. I understand that our best players will continue to get injured at the current rate they are used and depended on but the supporting cast players need to figure out a way to stay healthy. Continually been an issue.

Overall I feel deflated after the last 6 weeks but at least we made a bowl. I’ll feel great if we can hold off other suitors and hang on to LaNorris Sellers.
 
In a perfect world, the staff would sit players who made bone headed penalties. That is the best way to stop the behavior. But we have so little depth at so many positions, it really isn’t much of an option right now. It should be a point of emphasis in the off season and hopefully it finally gets cleaned up next year.
This is what some dont understand. Your depth need to be good in order to sit players for bad performance.
 
My takeaways from this game were a microcosm of this season and a snapshot of Dino’s tenure here -

1. Lack of Discipline - This might be the most undisciplined team he has had. Stupid personal foul/unsportsmanlike penalties and even more mental error penalties. Why have these continued for 6+ seasons with no improvement?
2. Lack of Depth - Been discussed at nauseam but after the top 10-15 players on this roster, the depth/talent drops off substantially. Not sustainable for continued success if you can’t find talent and develop it.
3. OL and WR Misses - This staff has signed too many linemen and receivers over the years that have not developed into dependable options. They have not evaluated and developed these positions adequately.
4. Injuries - Something drastic needs to change to address this. I understand that our best players will continue to get injured at the current rate they are used and depended on but the supporting cast players need to figure out a way to stay healthy. Continually been an issue.

Overall I feel deflated after the last 6 weeks but at least we made a bowl. I’ll feel great if we can hold off other suitors and hang on to LaNorris Sellers.
I will be amazed if Beamer fails to flip Sellers. The buzz in the state is really building and - it's the SEC.
 
I will be amazed if Beamer fails to flip Sellers. The buzz in the state is really building and - it's the SEC.
I could be wrong but I just figured they would have took him already if they wanted him.
 
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I think Vett plays pretty well at tackle. He did the same last year. Struggles at center. Does he even have eligibility left?

The false starts are killer, but wonder how much of that was switching positions, seemed to be right after that. Not really an excuse, but again, wonder how he'd be playing a full year at tackle.
 
I think the defensive depth going into next season is really strong. Secondary needs some work. Offense is another story.
 
I think Vett plays pretty well at tackle. He did the same last year. Struggles at center. Does he even have eligibility left?

The false starts are killer, but wonder how much of that was switching positions, seemed to be right after that. Not really an excuse, but again, wonder how he'd be playing a full year at tackle.

Vet could come back if he wanted to because of the Covid year. I would feel a lot better with E Cruz at LT next year and vet at RT.

 
There also may be some boo$ter/area pressure to go after Sellers that wasn't there before.
 
I'd argue that Sparrow and the D's spin of the ball cost SU a TD as well.
 
They offered him about a week ago.
It was over a month ago they offered him. I just don’t think they prioritized him because of his injury. Then he put up a monster season and they are all over him. They also have 6 QBs on roster. I don’t know, I’m sure if they want him they will get him.

I am cringing at the thought of a Beamer taking another QB commit from this program. The last commit they took from us still feels like yesterday….
 
It was over a month ago they offered him. I just don’t think they prioritized him because of his injury. Then he put up a monster season and they are all over him. They also have 6 QBs on roster. I don’t know, I’m sure if they want him they will get him.

I am cringing at the thought of a Beamer taking another QB commit from this program. The last commit they took from us still feels like yesterday….
I fear the same problem- Momma gonna want him to stay closer to home. Pretty tough to compete with proximity to family so they can watch you play. All we have to offer is playing time and if he gets stuck on the depth chart he can hit the portal.
I think the odds are against us. Hope I'm wrong. Really like him.
 
This is what some dont understand. Your depth need to be good in order to sit players for bad performance.
Agree it’s hard to sub guys out when they jack up when you have no depth but something needs to be done. There are lots of crappy teams with little to no depth that don’t have penalty issues year in and year out like we do.
 
Agree it’s hard to sub guys out when they jack up when you have no depth but something needs to be done. There are lots of crappy teams with little to no depth that don’t have penalty issues year in and year out like we do.
My comment was not to justify penatlies. I was addressing a separate issue.
 
If depth is such an issue, why is recruiting so slow?

We have recent success stories from freshmen.

We’re now starting to put guys in the NFL annually.

We started 6-0 and are a winning team at worst.

We have an O and D that people should be excited to play for.

Is the focus going to be the portal here on? What gives?
 
I'd argue that Sparrow and the D's spin of the ball cost SU a TD as well.
Yeah. That was dumb. Act like you have been here before. HCDB needs to let players know that there will be discipline for stupid celebration penalties like that. We didn’t score a touchdown. Go back to the sideline and let the offense score.
 
I could be wrong but I just figured they would have took him already if they wanted him.
This is an important point we need to continue to push. They weren’t on him really heavy until this season.
 
My takeaways from this game were a microcosm of this season and a snapshot of Dino’s tenure here -

1. Lack of Discipline - This might be the most undisciplined team he has had. Stupid personal foul/unsportsmanlike penalties and even more mental error penalties. Why have these continued for 6+ seasons with no improvement?
2. Lack of Depth - Been discussed at nauseam but after the top 10-15 players on this roster, the depth/talent drops off substantially. Not sustainable for continued success if you can’t find talent and develop it.
3. OL and WR Misses - This staff has signed too many linemen and receivers over the years that have not developed into dependable options. They have not evaluated and developed these positions adequately.
4. Injuries - Something drastic needs to change to address this. I understand that our best players will continue to get injured at the current rate they are used and depended on but the supporting cast players need to figure out a way to stay healthy. Continually been an issue.

Overall I feel deflated after the last 6 weeks but at least we made a bowl. I’ll feel great if we can hold off other suitors and hang on to LaNorris Sellers.
my daughter played for a syracuse rival lacrosse program for last 5 yrs. the girls at syracuse (as I've noticed following women's lacrosse) have had a large number of ACL injuries, as has the syracuse football team. fieldturf is an issue, i begged my daughter to go to a new shoes, she luvs the long plastic spikes, but they don't give like grass. nfl players have been complaining about field turf recently.
 
If depth is such an issue, why is recruiting so slow?

We have recent success stories from freshmen.

We’re now starting to put guys in the NFL annually.

We started 6-0 and are a winning team at worst.

We have an O and D that people should be excited to play for.

Is the focus going to be the portal here on? What gives?
Depth is about what's behind the starters. The guys in the NFL were great starters and when they leave early it's harder to build depth because guys are thrust into roles before they're ready. We saw that a couple years ago when we lost our stud safeties with a year left each. The guys that replaced them weren't quite ready and the guys behind the new starters may not have been quite ready for the two deep. It takes time to turn that tide. We're seeing some of it on defense with better secondary and LB depth but not yet on the d line, at least not this year. The future seems to look better there with a number of guys that played more this year than they should've had to. On offense we haven't really but anyone in the NFL we can brag to recruits about.
 
We started off with Berg at LT, Ellis at LG, Vet at C, Bleich at RG and Cruz at RT.

I noticed in the condensed game that we started Davis at LG. Sometime toward the end of the 1st Q, Ellis came in for Davis. Did both end up aggravating injuries in this game?
 
I noticed in the condensed game that we started Davis at LG. Sometime toward the end of the 1st Q, Ellis came in for Davis. Did both end up aggravating injuries in this game?
They have had those 2 alternate series in the past. Might have done it to start the game. Ellis definitely got hurt fairly late in the game. Limped off looking in a lot of pain. Much like he did last time. I hope he will be close to 100% for the bowl game.

I didn’t see Davis get carried off the field and I think he finished the game at LG. When Cruz got ejected, Vet moved from C to RT and Ilaoa came in at C. Was impressed that this did not seem to affect the performance of the OL. The lineup of Berg/Davis/Ilaoa/Bleich/Vet was, IMHO, our best lineup at OL on Saturday. I think they were the ones who played in the fourth quarter, when the offense really got going.
 
I noticed in the condensed game that we started Davis at LG. Sometime toward the end of the 1st Q, Ellis came in for Davis. Did both end up aggravating injuries in this game?

Davis started at LG because Cruz started at RT with Ellis not starting. Davis only played 13 snaps before he got hurt and Ellis came in for him. When Ellis got hurt Bradford came in for him and played the final 14 snaps.
 

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