My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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I unfortunately have to work today and was not able to attend the game but was able to watch most of it on TV.

As to the game, I thought Syracuse played very physical. They dominated line play on both sides of the ball and beat up the finesse oriented Louisville team badly. Good to see Syracuse emerge as by far the most physical team in the Big East. I think this style of play, combined with the offensive and defensive schemes we now have in place, will serve us well in the finesse dominated ACC.

Nassib had another terrific game. If there was any doubt who the best QB in the conference was, there shouldn't be anymore. He threw the ball beautifully, I think very long throw he made was perfect. When he needed to throw it hard into a tight spot, he did it. When he needed to throw a perfect fade, he did. Good to see him playing so well in his last game in the Dome. He will be missed.

Thought Lemon also had a terrific game. UL could not cover him, he was a terror for them all game long and he made big play after big play. If the game had remained close, he might well have gotten 300 yards and 4 TDs receiving. Props to the SU OL for doing a tremendous job pass blocking. Their run blocking was only slightly less effective. You should see the obese UL DL dying out there in the second half, they just could not handle the fast pace we attacked them with all game long.

Our DL destroyed the UL OL. Their RBs struggled to fight their way to the LOS time after time; we seemed to have someone, often a couple of players in the backfield all game long. UL had some success passing but it was almost all little dumps, screens and other short passes thrown quickly and rarely down field. Great games by Bromley, Goggins, Sharpe and Welsh, stupid play aside, is really coming on.

Thought Shafer did a nice job playing a lot of zone, taking away the deep play, attacking the lanes with his DL, taking away the run and forcing UL to be one dimensional. Bridgewater is a good QB. He was put in tight positions all game long, lots of passing situations. Took a tremendous number of hard hits and somehow managed to stay in the game.

We still made some bonehead plays but for the most part, played under control, and a lot of the mistakes were penalties driven by playing so hard. I will take those. Special teams had a great job, Fisher punted it great, our coverage units were top notch, Desir is a fine PR guy and Kobena even had a nice return. Krautman was solid too. Love the work Coker, who recovered a fumble on the punt coverage unit for the second straight game, Vaughn, Morgan, etc. are doing on the coverage units.

Great job calling plays again by Hackett. UL doesn't have a great defense but was made to look really bad. Those blitzes they had so much success with last season were not a problem this season. We have a lot more flexibility and ability to respond to what defenses try to do with the new scheme. Really fun to watch. Smith is going to get 1000 yards, who would have thunk it? He is a madman out there. Gulley made a bunch of tough runs and his TD early was big, when it looked like we might have to settle for another FG in the red zone. Great to see AAM running over people. And my favorite play of the game might have been the pass to Coker, who made a terrific catch to get a very unlikely TD.

Coker is a terrific athlete who has not been able to get on the field. Does a great job with the special teams units, nice to see him get a bone today as a reward. His blocking with the tank unit is always fun to watch, isn't it?

The game in Columbia is going to be an interesting one. Looking forward to driving to Philly the day after Thanksgiving. That one should be a fun one to watch in person.

It is a shame the BE stole the UC game from Syracuse. The only way to react to that kind of stuff is to destroy a team so badly the refs have no chance to affect the outcome. Kind of like what happened today.
 
At this point, what do you think of Hackett as an OC? I think it's fairly obvious that this is our best offense (by far) since 1998. Is that a matter of coaching, personnel, or a combination? My guess is a combo, but Nate seems to have grown as a recruiter and coach in the last year.
 
Doesn't sound like you got much work done. Thanks as always for the write up. Amazing how a team like Syracuse who has struggled the last couple seasons usually wins one of these types of games. Congrats to the seniors and the rest of the program on this game and lets get one more.
 
At this point, what do you think of Hackett as an OC? I think it's fairly obvious that this is our best offense (by far) since 1998. Is that a matter of coaching, personnel, or a combination?
I think he's a very young coach with lots of upside. We've taken a lot of lumps while he's learned how be an OC, though.
 
HUGE second quarter. 21 to 3. I recall one of the stats sites said the 2nd was for whatever reason our least productive quarter all season.
 
It was a great win no doubt. However, we lost a lot of games this year by being dumb and underachieving. We really should be 8 and 2 with the seniors we have on this team. It worries me for next year. Our top two wide receivers and qb are gone so it will be interesting to see how we do. Great great win by the program, I just wish it could of came sooner. I think we can win the remaining two games.7 and 5 would be nice,but I think all of us on this board want better in the win/loss column. I suppose marro e will get an extension now...maybe that will help recruiting a bit.
 
I think he's a very young coach with lots of upside. We've taken a lot of lumps while he's learned how be an OC, though.

Cost benefit though. Are the lumps worse than the upside and recruiting?
 
It was a great win no doubt. However, we lost a lot of games this year by being dumb and underachieving. We really should be 8 and 2 with the seniors we have on this team. It worries me for next year. Our top two wide receivers and qb are gone so it will be interesting to see how we do. Great great win by the program, I just wish it could of came sooner. I think we can win the remaining two games.7 and 5 would be nice,but I think all of us on this board want better in the win/loss column. I suppose marro e will get an extension now...maybe that will help recruiting a bit.

Seriously, if you focus on this on a day where we win like this, you're NEVER going to enjoy being a fan of Syracuse football.
 
The lumps are getting smaller and smaller. A decent amount of recruits have dropped Hackett's name. I still believe there have been many games were we would have been really happy with the offense and playcalling if the execution was there by the players.
 
Love the post Tom, but the refs didn't steal the UC game from us, they weren't dropping the TD passes, fumbling the KO returns, missing the tackles. I hope our fans aren't blaming the refs, that's what excuse makers do. We saw today what happens when SU doesn't steal the game from SU. That's what happened last week. Was much more fun to watch this week.

This was a more official turning of a corner (b itches). But it will be all for nothing if, like last year, we don't follow up the big 5th win with a 6th win at some point.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
At this point, what do you think of Hackett as an OC? I think it's fairly obvious that this is our best offense (by far) since 1998. Is that a matter of coaching, personnel, or a combination? My guess is a combo, but Nate seems to have grown as a recruiter and coach in the last year.
Hackett is our OC and QB coach. I would say he has shown slow but steady progress in both jobs since he started. At this point, he is the best OC in the conference. Don't think it is very close.
 
At this point, what do you think of Hackett as an OC? I think it's fairly obvious that this is our best offense (by far) since 1998. Is that a matter of coaching, personnel, or a combination? My guess is a combo, but Nate seems to have grown as a recruiter and coach in the last year.



"His relationship with Nate Hackett is the biggest reason why he (Zach Allen) decided to come to the Hill.
“I love [Coach Hackett]. He’s a great guy. He was the first BCS school to offer me in January. We’ve been in contact this whole time, and I’ve developed a really good relationship with him. It’s been an honor.”

http://orangefizz.net/2012/06/first...syracuses-deciding-factor-was-being-earliest/
 
I agree. At times SU looked like the 60's Cuse teams with the runs inside the tackels and the bone-crushing hits on defense. If they continue to cut down the penalities they should be bowl eligible.
 
Tom you will be happy to know that all 11 of the tubas will be returning next year - no seniors in the group. Next year's tuba squad could dominate.
 
You have a nice boss. When I was working, I brought in a picket TV on the day of an SU NCAA basketball game and was wathcing it while I worked. My boss walked by my desk and told me to turn it off because "It wasn't authorized". I later learned he was on his way to the breakroom to watch the game on the TV in there, eventhough it wasn't his breaktime.

Bosses. Oh Lord

Now that I'm retired, i don't have one! :)
 
Enjoyed the post.

Loved seeing SU plow through some mistakes that earlier in the year we've seen kill drives or allow the other team to score. The OL is a joy to watch and the DL too. Love the effectiveness on offense. I thought the tackling was better. I was happy to see PTG rebound and play well. Nassib continues to improve his craft.

If these guys can keep it cleaned up and continue to focus they have even more room for growth in my opinion. The added attention this week that comes with thoroughly beating a good team will be a major test for this team. Attention and buzz on the hill that come with success can sometimes be very distracting and get in the way. I'd love to see these guys maintain focus and take the show on the road.
 

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