My Take

[sutomcat]

Another well done tailgate. Took a niece and my sister. I think it was their first time to one of our tailgate in 5 or 10 years and they were amazed at how things have gone and how big and well run the project has become. Good food, lots to drink. Muy bueno.

We got up to the dome around 11:15 am. A middle aged female usher told us ‘look how cute they are’. Always looking for a compliment, I hoped she was talking about me. But no, it was a group of kids from the Army band, in dress uniforms, that were on the other side of the concourse from the ticket agent.

Army had a good turnout of fans. They had people scattered throughout the building and the visitor section next to the SUMB was full. They made some noise early, when Army executed drive after drive beautifully.

I was surprised though that we didn’t get a full section of cadets in their distinctive grey uniforms. The long grey line did not show. Unfortunate. Will look forward to seeing this at West Point next year.

At the Purdue game last week, the Purdue marching band played the Syracuse fight song as part of its pregame routine. Played it really well by the well. Probably twice the size of the SUMB and had 30 tubas. Impressive. Was hoping SUMB would play the Army fight song during its pregame routines but this was not the case. They did however play it early in the second quarter (while seated in the end zone).

SUMB had 10 tubas for the game today. Not great but better than 9. They, with the help of the small traveling version of the Army band, put on quite a show at halftime. It was focused on the SU military and they play the fight songs of all the units, from the Army to the Air Force to the Marines, the Air Force, the Navy and even the Coast Guard. Really nice work by SUMB. I am sure it was tough to learn all those songs but they got through it with flying colors.

The Wifi was bad again. So bad I got a couple of messages on my phone telling me Wi-Fi had stopped working, would I like to try cellular instead? Hopefully Verizon gets it act together soon and gets the 5G working. Not sure what the situation is for Wi-Fi. I think the paper forgot to ask about that.

Army was really disciplined and executed a handful of running plays really well. They had a few 4th down plays and executed those well to keep drives going. Thought our defense was okay in the first half but struggled to get stops. They were out there a ton because the SU offense really struggled. It looked like we really wanted to establish the run game in the first half and our OL was just too crappy to get this done. Again, not much in the way of holes in the first half. We ran GS too much for my liking too. Had huge mismatches passing the ball with the height differentials but I guess they wanted to establish the run and get Army in press before attacking with passes. Garrett didn’t threw it very well on the rare occasions when we tried to throw it. A lot of 3 and out situations. Not good.

I don‘t think there was much news with new players breaking into the rotations. More was rumored to play but I don’t think he did. Peña got in for one punt return, after Adams looked shaky once again on a fair catch he was barely able to catch. Pena made a good return but got hit late when he was OB (no call) and walked off limping. Never to return again. Not good.

Gould did get in for a couple of series. He of course got a pick. I think he replaced Clark but could be wrong on that. Clark returned. Might just have been giving him some rest. Jeremiah got hurt again laying the wood but he got up and returned to action later. Not the first time this has happened. Delaine replaced him. Thompson and McDonald, I think, split some time at OLB.

Nice performance by the defense. Some struggles in the first half, though Army had to go to 4 downs a lot to sustain drives. In the second half, Rocky apparently made some adjustments and Army stopped moving the ball. It appeared they put more men in the box. Army tried to run anyway and struggled to get past the LOS. They ended up passing a lot more and the Army QB was exposed as a really poor throwing QB. Lots of bad throws nowhere close to a receiver.

Seemed like we opened up the Army defense by passing the ball. Mostly to Alford early. He appeared to be 6 or 8 inches taller than the guy covering him and it didn’t seem very fair. But life isn’t fair and Syracuse abused Army with this mismatch. Pretty soon the ball was going to other WRs, Allen started finding gaping holes in the line and Syracuse was basically able to do whatever it wanted to do.

Stonehouse gets the comeback player of the game award. He was excellent. Denaberg was great kicking off again and did well at placekicker too except for a 2 minute interval where he missed a PAT (after a penalty pushed SU back) and hit a weird short kickoff. Did he get a short term case of the shanks? No idea.

I am sure the brain trust that cover the team will focus on the penalties again, but this was another solid effort. It would be nice to destroy everyone we play by 50 points but Army is a lot better than Colgate and I am good with the result. Maybe the most encouraging thing about this team are all the turnovers they have forced four games in. After a not so great first half, our lines dominated in the second half.

4 wins and it is 9/23. We have BC and VT left, who appear to be really terrible teams. Pitt looks like they have their worst team in years. GT is okay but no great shakes.

Clemson is a wounded bear. Not sure this is a great time to play them but they certainly look a lot more beatable than they have in a while.

UNC still can’t play defense. We have a chance.

FSU is going to be tough. Brace for impact.

And Wake looks quite beatable as well.

I like how things are developing so far.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Another well done tailgate. Took a niece and my sister. I think it was their first time to one of our tailgate in 5 or 10 years and they were amazed at how things have gone and how big and well run the project has become. Good food, lots to drink. Muy bueno.

We got up to the dome around 11:15 am. A middle aged female usher told us ‘look how cute they are’. Always looking for a compliment, I hoped she was talking about me. But no, it was a group of kids from the Army band, in dress uniforms, that were on the other side of the concourse from the ticket agent.

Army had a good turnout of fans. They had people scattered throughout the building and the visitor section next to the SUMB was full. They made some noise early, when Army executed drive after drive beautifully.

I was surprised though that we didn’t get a full section of cadets in their distinctive grey uniforms. The long grey line did not show. Unfortunate. Will look forward to seeing this at West Point next year.

At the Purdue game last week, the Purdue marching band played the Syracuse fight song as part of its pregame routine. Played it really well by the well. Probably twice the size of the SUMB and had 30 tubas. Impressive. Was hoping SUMB would play the Army fight song during its pregame routines but this was not the case. They did however play it early in the second quarter (while seated in the end zone).

SUMB had 10 tubas for the game today. Not great but better than 9. They, with the help of the small traveling version of the Army band, put on quite a show at halftime. It was focused on the SU military and they play the fight songs of all the units, from the Army to the Air Force to the Marines, the Air Force, the Navy and even the Coast Guard. Really nice work by SUMB. I am sure it was tough to learn all those songs but they got through it with flying colors.

The Wifi was bad again. So bad I got a couple of messages on my phone telling me Wi-Fi had stopped working, would I like to try cellular instead? Hopefully Verizon gets it act together soon and gets the 5G working. Not sure what the situation is for Wi-Fi. I think the paper forgot to ask about that.

Army was really disciplined and executed a handful of running plays really well. They had a few 4th down plays and executed those well to keep drives going. Thought our defense was okay in the first half but struggled to get stops. They were out there a ton because the SU offense really struggled. It looked like we really wanted to establish the run game in the first half and our OL was just too crappy to get this done. Again, not much in the way of holes in the first half. We ran GS too much for my liking too. Had huge mismatches passing the ball with the height differentials but I guess they wanted to establish the run and get Army in press before attacking with passes. Garrett didn’t threw it very well on the rare occasions when we tried to throw it. A lot of 3 and out situations. Not good.

I don‘t think there was much news with new players breaking into the rotations. More was rumored to play but I don’t think he did. Peña got in for one punt return, after Adams looked shaky once again on a fair catch he was barely able to catch. Pena made a good return but got hit late when he was OB (no call) and walked off limping. Never to return again. Not good.

Gould did get in for a couple of series. He of course got a pick. I think he replaced Clark but could be wrong on that. Clark returned. Might just have been giving him some rest. Jeremiah got hurt again laying the wood but he got up and returned to action later. Not the first time this has happened. Delaine replaced him. Thompson and McDonald, I think, split some time at OLB.

Nice performance by the defense. Some struggles in the first half, though Army had to go to 4 downs a lot to sustain drives. In the second half, Rocky apparently made some adjustments and Army stopped moving the ball. It appeared they put more men in the box. Army tried to run anyway and struggled to get past the LOS. They ended up passing a lot more and the Army QB was exposed as a really poor throwing QB. Lots of bad throws nowhere close to a receiver.

Seemed like we opened up the Army defense by passing the ball. Mostly to Alford early. He appeared to be 6 or 8 inches taller than the guy covering him and it didn’t seem very fair. But life isn’t fair and Syracuse abused Army with this mismatch. Pretty soon the ball was going to other WRs, Allen started finding gaping holes in the line and Syracuse was basically able to do whatever it wanted to do.

Stonehouse gets the comeback player of the game award. He was excellent. Denaberg was great kicking off again and did well at placekicker too except for a 2 minute interval where he missed a PAT (after a penalty pushed SU back) and hit a weird short kickoff. Did he get a short term case of the shanks? No idea.

I am sure the brain trust that cover the team will focus on the penalties again, but this was another solid effort. It would be nice to destroy everyone we play by 50 points but Army is a lot better than Colgate and I am good with the result. Maybe the most encouraging thing about this team are all the turnovers they have forced four games in. After a not so great first half, our lines dominated in the second half.

4 wins and it is 9/23. We have BC and VT left, who appear to be really terrible teams. Pitt looks like they have their worst team in years. GT is okay but no great shakes.

Clemson is a wounded bear. Not sure this is a great time to play them but they certainly look a lot more beatable than they have in a while.

UNC still can’t play defense. We have a chance.

FSU is going to be tough. Brace for impact.

And Wake looks quite beatable as well.

I like how things are developing so far.

The short Kick-Off was due to the penalty after the TD. It was normal length, just 15 yards farther back.

 

[Cusepats]

The short Kick-Off was due to the penalty after the TD. It was normal length, just 15 yards farther back.

If the player didn't field it, it would have trickled out of bounds. But, it only would have made 3 yrs of difference in field position. And the penalty call that lead to that was fairly meh. But the missed XP was pretty terrible. An anomaly from his other kicks however.

 

[MadNY3]

So you want the paper to do stories on the state of Wi-Fi and the 1926 Army game? Many, ou demand alot! ; )

 

[JoeCollege]

Great write up. It was interesting to see a local (Binghamton) kid starting at OG for Army and play well. I think he could have played for the Orange.

And as a middle aged man who isn't an usher, you're cute for sure, Tomcat. Go on with your bad self!

 

[JRHEETER]

I thought I saw Pena in later and caught a pass?

I could be wrong tho

 

[JoeCollege]

I thought I saw Pena in later and caught a pass?

I could be wrong tho

I thought the same.

 

[sutomcat]

I thought the same.

That would be great. Miss having Peña out there. The box score has no receptions for him though….

 

[MadNY3]

That would be great. Miss having Peña out there. The box score has no receptions for him though….

Peña was out there after that return. Limited on O though.

 

[Crusty]

Agree with your thinking..
To my mind the first two games didn’t tell us much but Purdue is a real team and Army is respectable as well as a special challenge. This Orange ream is a good one.

While I think we can beat anyone on our remaining schedule on any given day, if we can just get through the 3-game gauntlet healthy, we could actually run the table. While we would need a normal share of good luck, it is doable.

7 or 8 wins now looks probable and 9 wins not out of the question. Ten seems a reach but who knows?

Any of these results and Dino gets extended. After watching the shovel ceremony yesterday it is clear to me that everyone is rooting for Dino to succeed. They like him and the way he runs our program - so do I.
Go Orange!

 

[stuckinbig11]

Thanks again, Tom.

 

[llandz]

You forgot that we finally broke the Army streak of converting on 4th downs. It took a few before we got it done.

 

[JRHEETER]

You forgot that we finally broke the Army streak of converting on 4th downs. It took a few before we got it done.

Yeah that was a horrible decision by army to go on 4 and 8 deep on their side of the field

 

[upperdeck]

from the army FG. they went
3 plays
4 plays
3 plays
4 plays
2 plays
for about 20 yds

The blown pass coverage late away from holding them to under 200 yds and 50 yds or so rushing after the first drive of the game.

Against normal teams we get off the field that first drive a couple times.

I wish we had a short yardage plan like they do.

 

[tbonezone]

any OC we will face saw that we can't stop jacobi buchanan up the middle. and believe me they noticed.

 

[OburgOrange]

Schrader had a couple of chances to do the ole hidden football trick, but didn’t. Opportunities were there

 

[HRE Otto IV]

from the army FG. they went
3 plays
4 plays
3 plays
4 plays
2 plays
for about 20 yds

The blown pass coverage late away from holding them to under 200 yds and 50 yds or so rushing after the first drive of the game.

Against normal teams we get off the field that first drive a couple times.

I wish we had a short yardage plan like they do.

Outside of the 1st drive and the 2nd teamer TD, the D played well. It was the O being horrendous that kept the game close.

 

[upperdeck]

Shrader stats over look the fact he is missing some big time plays with his reads..

 

[Fjoinkay]

I was looking for the Army cadets during the broadcast. Too bad for whatever reason they did not make the trip.

 

[721Comstock]

Shrader stats over look the fact he is missing some big time plays with his reads..

Yeah, like the throw to Hatcher (which he inexplicably pulled up on his route for a moment) -
Alford was running wide open down the field on the other side.

That’s an even easier pitch and catch (to quote the redundant announcer) than the throw to Hatcher woulda been.

That woulda been the easiest 6 we got all day, and Shredder missed it.

 

[upperdeck]

The question is are the reads being missed or just read in an order that the big play isnt being seen? thats at least 5-6 of those plays this year with simple throws for huge gains and we are throwing other places.

Now the same thing happen a ton when Dungey was the qb as well.

 

[orangenauburn]

Yeah, like the throw to Hatcher (which he inexplicably pulled up on his route for a moment) -
Alford was running wide open down the field on the other side.

That’s an even easier pitch and catch (to quote the redundant announcer) than the throw to Hatcher woulda been.

That woulda been the easiest 6 we got all day, and Shredder missed it.

Alford was open pretty much at will, every play

 

[NYfan]

I was surprised though that we didn’t get a full section of cadets in their distinctive grey uniforms. The long grey line did not show. Unfortunate. Will look forward to seeing this at West Point next year.

FYI, regardless of distance, the only time you'll get more than maybe 1/4 of the Corps at a road game is Army-Navy (or Army-AF is it ever gets "close enough" but not at Michie).

Cadets very much value weekends away from West Point and don't particularly want to spend that time in uniform.

Also, it's September, way too early for Dress Grey. It's still White over Grey season. Unfortunately much more sloppy, even when it's not the football team.

 

[SU68]

At the Purdue game last week, the Purdue marching band played the Syracuse fight song as part of its pregame routine. Played it really well by the well. Probably twice the size of the SUMB and had 30 tubas. Impressive. Was hoping SUMB would play the Army fight song during its pregame routines but this was not the case. They did however play it early in the second quarter (while seated in the end zone).

When I was in the band in the '60s, we always played the fight song of the visiting school in front of their seating section. It was a great tradition and well received. I don't know when it stopped.

 

[NYfan]

Yeah that was a horrible decision by army to go on 4 and 8 deep on their side of the field

Down two scores, Army offense not fast, Army D hadn't stopped Syracuse in second half.

At that point in the game, every Army possession needed to produce Army points.

edit typo