My Take

[kirbivore]

We played a bend don’t break defense and still gave up a ton of points. Think scheme has to be considered.

The D Coordinator's job needs to be considered

 

[swish7]

Thank you, was that a legitimate "illegal shift" call?

I didn't see it, nor seemingly did the announcers...(which begs a question)

Not sure of the rules.The slot was moving when the ball was snapped thats all I recall. Either way, there was no advantage gained so it seemed petty at the time.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

Not sure of the rules.The slot was moving when the ball was snapped thats all I recall. Either way, there was no advantage gained so it seemed petty at the time.

I think Cook was still moving towards the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped. He was a half second from coming set. Very cheep penalty.

 

[23Zone]

I know the Tennessee game was scheduled around 5 years ago, but having said that my take is that it is absolutely ridiculous to schedule the first game of the year against an SEC team. We are not there yet. Better off scheduling a very winnable game, see where your weaknesses are, and adapt for week two.

 

[PhatOrange]

As someone else mentioned we miss LaQuint in blitz pickup. Willis is a beast but he needs to work on his protection. There were two plays I remember that he was out of position that led to Angeli getting hit or sacked. With his size if he stays in position it will give Angeli more time to make the play.

People keep saying this and I'll have to rewatch, but my recollection is a few well timed or delayed blitzes where we did not keep the back home, and some of the pressure was just a 4 man rush with stunting.

I don't recall thinking at all during the game that a back missed a block or didn't pick up a blitz he should have.

 

[PhatOrange]

McDonald didnt stop the TD pass when the QB was really out of options and just lobbed it up.
He also was in the hole on the short TD run where he got run over

one thing Tenn did much better was win the 1-1 tackling to limit our rushing game.

McDonald was all over the kid who caught the pass. That was the least of his problems. I'd be embarrassed about getting run over at the goal line though.

 

[Tibbsworth]

People keep saying this and I'll have to rewatch, but my recollection is a few well timed or delayed blitzes where we did not keep the back home, and some of the pressure was just a 4 man rush with stunting.

I don't recall thinking the back missed the block or didn't pick up a blitz he should have.

Pretty sure back missed the block on deflected interception. He makes block on blitz incomplete pass instead of turnover.

 

[2B20Again]

This defensive scheme and missed attention to detail has a real chance of derailing what Fran is trying to build.

The offense was so good last year that it helped mask the shortcomings of the defense and special teams.

It’s not just missed tackles or the lack of pressure. The whole scheme is constantly on its heels because it lacks an identity and strength. I really don’t think the coach who can fix it is on this staff. It’s not like Fran was a successful DC who could assume the role. They need to figure it out until he can replace the DC with someone who is qualified to lead it.

The biggest mistake Fran has made so far (and there haven’t been many) is putting his friends in key roles like DC.

 

[2B20Again]

The DC was DC A&M, interim H/C at A&M. I’m not sure it’s the scheme or personnel. Lots of new pieces this year. Very good players but individuals need to jell as a team. It is my feeling that they will come together just take a little time. Again, I don’t pretend to be that knowledgeable or that smart either, but it appears to me that lack of a great edge rusher, or a dominant D line may be the issue. Just my thoughts

 

[Archbold44]

I know the Tennessee game was scheduled around 5 years ago, but having said that my take is that it is absolutely ridiculous to schedule the first game of the year against an SEC team. We are not there yet. Better off scheduling a very winnable game, see where your weaknesses are, and adapt for week two.

I could not agree more. We do not need to be Indiana and schedule the dregs of college football... whomever was just raised up from FCS, etc... but where is the benefit here? Much less Week 1? Plus, when we have ND already on the schedule.

 

[blust2i3d4]

I think this team could finish 7-5 especially UNC is so bad.

 

[upperdeck]

We play 4 teams that might have really good D

Tenn
Clem
ND
Miami

We play some teams that might have solid D

Duke
SMU
Pitt

Teams that we dont know much yet GT/BC/Uconn/

UNC needs to improve
Colgate

Clem played LSU who may be a good D and struggled to 250 yds
ND play Miami who may have a good and gained 300 yds
Miami played ND who may have a good D and gained 300 yds

SU played Tenn and gained 400.

Lets hope that means something for our offense

But our D has issues.

 

[tbonezone]

absolutely ridiculous to schedule the first game of the year against an SEC team.

U have to swallow the bitter medicine before u get better.

 

[Doc5120]

I could not agree more. We do not need to be Indiana and schedule the dregs of college football... whomever was just raised up from FCS, etc... but where is the benefit here? Much less Week 1? Plus, when we have ND already on the schedule.

$$$$ - that's where.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

We play 4 teams that might have really good D

Tenn
Clem
ND
Miami

We play some teams that might have solid D

Duke
SMU
Pitt

Teams that we dont know much yet GT/BC/Uconn/

UNC needs to improve
Colgate

Clem played LSU who may be a good D and struggled to 250 yds
ND play Miami who may have a good and gained 300 yds
Miami played ND who may have a good D and gained 300 yds

SU played Tenn and gained 400.

Lets hope that means something for our offense

But our D has issues.

I think Duke will end up being one of the better defensive teams SU plays.

 

[Archbold44]

$$$$ - that's where.

Is that really true though? What was our travel expense compared to a home game? If we scheduled a home game against Buffalo, how much would we have made? And then there is the issue of network assignments. The better your record, the more likely to be assigned a higher tier of network, which impacts brand/revenue.

Getting relegated to the distant channels hurts viewership, which directly impacts ACC revenue. In fairness, the TN game might give us more viewers than if we hosted East Tennessee Tech and won. So we might have backdoored some extra revenue from this game.

P4 Openers since Coach P was hired:
1991: Vanderbilt (W)
1994: Oklahoma (L)
1995: NC (W)
1996: NC (L)
1997: Wisconsin (W)
1998: Tennessee (L)
2001: Ga Tech (L)
2002: BYU (P4 now) (L)
2003: NC (W)
2004: Purdue (L)
2005: WV (L)
2006: Wake Forest (L)
2007: Washington (L)
2008: Wake Forest (L)
2009: Minnesota (L)
2011: Wake Forest (W)
2012: Northwestern (L)
2013: Penn State (L)
2020: NC (L)*
2022: Louisville (W)
2025: Tennessee (L)
Record: 6-15. Edit: Half of those wins were by NFL drafted-QBs in McNabb and Nassib. One more for Graves, one of the best Syracuse QBs ever. The other two were by Schrader (with help from Sean Tucker) and RJ Anderson (helped by Walter Reyes and Johnny Morant in 3OT win).

Other Games: 14-0.

 

[23Zone]

U have to swallow the bitter medicine before u get better.

Not sure I agree with that, especially with the first game of the season. It's literally shooting yourself in the foot. In my opinion, a better strategy is to pace yourself for an entire season, not start off with a punch to the face.