sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Nice turnout at the tailgate. New faces keep showing up each week. Mike, Jeremy and Craig did sterling jobs delivering hot food. Tailgating has never been better at Syracuse. There were some WVU fans near by that were having a ball getting lit up playing drinking games. Just as an aside, I find the WVU fans the classiest group in the BE, by a large margin, and if we never play them again, I will miss seeing and interacting with them. Knowledgeable, fun loving, easy going, they love their team, support it with everything they have...I have great respect for them. Good luck wherever they end up. I hope it is the Big 12 and that they will do well there.
Retro called the upset at the tailgate. Of course, he predicts a big win for SU as part of every tailgate, so it wasn't quite as impressive as it might seem on the surface. But well done Retro. And the trimmed, clearly non WVU beard worked.
It was nice to see the Dome almost full again. Even with 30 or 35K it is a loud venue, but when you get up near 45K (I am guessing there were 42 or 43K in the stands), it makes a difference. Even with the students dispersed throughout the Dome, the crowd was loud and the atmosphere electric even before the game started. As the game ensued and it became clear Syracuse was going to be competitive, it just kept getting louder. Props to everyone who attended on doing a nice job making noise. Smith had problems getting plays in all night long.
I don't know who sang the NA, but he had a solid voice. Impressive.
As for the game, it looked to me from the start that SU was really ready to play. They came out far more aggressively than they have all year. They hit WVU hard all game long on defense and they punished the Mountaineer defense as well. WVU has long had a reputation as a physical team. They weren't last night and I think it played a big part in the final outcome.
Was surprised at the lack of arm strength from Smith. His long throws were thrown way up in the air, gave the defense time to catch up with receivers, he underthrew WRs a lot, missed some throws and rarely showed the ability to zing a hard throw when it was needed. Like last year, we were able to get some hits on him early and like last year, he looked shaken and scared most of the game, rushing throws and struggling to get up after getting popped. I don't think he is going to feel very good this morning. He really took a beating.
I thought the game plans on offense and defense were well conceived. But what really blew me away was the execution. I think we had a hold on Hay and a costly offsides against Ball and that was it in terms of penalties (I guess the OB KO could count too). Almost no breakdowns all game long with the OL in terms of run blocking (no one got penetration all game long) and pass blocking. This was the best effort pass blocking an SU OL has had in a long time.
As with the Tulane game, Dorian Graham made major contributions in somewhat limited playing time. The kid has an unbelievable blend of power and speed and it is great to him finding ways to translate his talent into production on the field. I think it was Dave Rahme who compared him to The Missle recently. He surely has that ability to turn any play he touches the ball into a touchdown but he is quite a bit stronger and more physical than Q was. Nice to have a real playmaker on the field. I look forward to the day when we have 2 or 3 out there every play, like say WVU did last night.
WVU tried to take the slants away and play a lot if bump coverage but I think the SU receivers stepped up and played more physical than they have, catching a lot of balls that have been knocked away in recent games. Lemon made a nice play early on a bad throw, switching to DB to break up a possible interception, then ended up catching the deflection and getting a nice gain. Maybe that helped set the tone. But Lemon, Chew, Provo and West all made tough catches with WVU played draped all over them. This was something that needed to change and it was good to see.
Also happy with way we attacked WVU's press coverage, spreading the field some (we ran out of a 3 wide formation with success a number of times), and with a heavy emphasis on quick passes to the TE. We had two routes that seemed to work almost everytime we tried them...the quick sprint route over the middle Provo runs so well and the play where the TE is split wide left with a WR, the WR breaks inside and the TE sprints down the sideline. We got a lot out of those plays last night, and like DM said, they were not afraid to keep going to the well with them.
The other thing I was really happy about was the greatly improved pass rush. There was an urgency last night I had not seen since the WF game. The DL really pressed the QB hard...too many times this year I have seen the DL go through the motions on passing plays, just looking to keep contain, instead of putting real pressure on the QB. With all the playmakers on WVU, we couldn't possibly win without a pass rush and that strong rush, coupled with the effect it had on Smith, was probably the biggest reason we won. Lots of blitz action in there, Shafer brought just about everyone at one time or the other. Fun to watch.
Was really impressed by Bailey, the small WVU WR who burned us a lot and did serious damage with the chance he got to catch the ball. We caught a break when McCartney, a great young player, got hurt early (Lyn, another Miramar player, was covering him on the play). We caught a few breaks last night...had some penalties called or not called that helped us. Every once in a while almost everything goes right in a game. Last night was one of those nights.
Was also impressed by the WVU punter, who had a great leg. They have some problems with LBs and safeties in pass coverage. And one of their CBs could not cover anyone, and got picked on all night long (Miller I think).
I really liked what Jerome Smith brought to the table. Good to see a RB move the pile. Ant played a solid game and made better choices, less tentativeness and more north south than earlier in the year. I thought Lyn played well in bump coverage, Scott did too for the most part. Wilkes and Diabate, pressed into action because of injuries, had major contributions. Great to see Chandler attacking the QB and knocking down balls with his huge wingspan again.
Great effort on both sides of the ball. DM and his staff really abused a young coach last night. I believe he is now 6-1 in games where SU has had more than a week to prepare for a game. That is a pretty good indicator to me that they know what they are doing...it is easier to compensate for less talent with good coaching if you have some extra time to get your team ready.
Great night that got even better hearing RU lost to UL. I would much rather play UL after a big win for them than a tough loss. Would be great to be bowl eligible in October...
Retro called the upset at the tailgate. Of course, he predicts a big win for SU as part of every tailgate, so it wasn't quite as impressive as it might seem on the surface. But well done Retro. And the trimmed, clearly non WVU beard worked.
It was nice to see the Dome almost full again. Even with 30 or 35K it is a loud venue, but when you get up near 45K (I am guessing there were 42 or 43K in the stands), it makes a difference. Even with the students dispersed throughout the Dome, the crowd was loud and the atmosphere electric even before the game started. As the game ensued and it became clear Syracuse was going to be competitive, it just kept getting louder. Props to everyone who attended on doing a nice job making noise. Smith had problems getting plays in all night long.
I don't know who sang the NA, but he had a solid voice. Impressive.
As for the game, it looked to me from the start that SU was really ready to play. They came out far more aggressively than they have all year. They hit WVU hard all game long on defense and they punished the Mountaineer defense as well. WVU has long had a reputation as a physical team. They weren't last night and I think it played a big part in the final outcome.
Was surprised at the lack of arm strength from Smith. His long throws were thrown way up in the air, gave the defense time to catch up with receivers, he underthrew WRs a lot, missed some throws and rarely showed the ability to zing a hard throw when it was needed. Like last year, we were able to get some hits on him early and like last year, he looked shaken and scared most of the game, rushing throws and struggling to get up after getting popped. I don't think he is going to feel very good this morning. He really took a beating.
I thought the game plans on offense and defense were well conceived. But what really blew me away was the execution. I think we had a hold on Hay and a costly offsides against Ball and that was it in terms of penalties (I guess the OB KO could count too). Almost no breakdowns all game long with the OL in terms of run blocking (no one got penetration all game long) and pass blocking. This was the best effort pass blocking an SU OL has had in a long time.
As with the Tulane game, Dorian Graham made major contributions in somewhat limited playing time. The kid has an unbelievable blend of power and speed and it is great to him finding ways to translate his talent into production on the field. I think it was Dave Rahme who compared him to The Missle recently. He surely has that ability to turn any play he touches the ball into a touchdown but he is quite a bit stronger and more physical than Q was. Nice to have a real playmaker on the field. I look forward to the day when we have 2 or 3 out there every play, like say WVU did last night.
WVU tried to take the slants away and play a lot if bump coverage but I think the SU receivers stepped up and played more physical than they have, catching a lot of balls that have been knocked away in recent games. Lemon made a nice play early on a bad throw, switching to DB to break up a possible interception, then ended up catching the deflection and getting a nice gain. Maybe that helped set the tone. But Lemon, Chew, Provo and West all made tough catches with WVU played draped all over them. This was something that needed to change and it was good to see.
Also happy with way we attacked WVU's press coverage, spreading the field some (we ran out of a 3 wide formation with success a number of times), and with a heavy emphasis on quick passes to the TE. We had two routes that seemed to work almost everytime we tried them...the quick sprint route over the middle Provo runs so well and the play where the TE is split wide left with a WR, the WR breaks inside and the TE sprints down the sideline. We got a lot out of those plays last night, and like DM said, they were not afraid to keep going to the well with them.
The other thing I was really happy about was the greatly improved pass rush. There was an urgency last night I had not seen since the WF game. The DL really pressed the QB hard...too many times this year I have seen the DL go through the motions on passing plays, just looking to keep contain, instead of putting real pressure on the QB. With all the playmakers on WVU, we couldn't possibly win without a pass rush and that strong rush, coupled with the effect it had on Smith, was probably the biggest reason we won. Lots of blitz action in there, Shafer brought just about everyone at one time or the other. Fun to watch.
Was really impressed by Bailey, the small WVU WR who burned us a lot and did serious damage with the chance he got to catch the ball. We caught a break when McCartney, a great young player, got hurt early (Lyn, another Miramar player, was covering him on the play). We caught a few breaks last night...had some penalties called or not called that helped us. Every once in a while almost everything goes right in a game. Last night was one of those nights.
Was also impressed by the WVU punter, who had a great leg. They have some problems with LBs and safeties in pass coverage. And one of their CBs could not cover anyone, and got picked on all night long (Miller I think).
I really liked what Jerome Smith brought to the table. Good to see a RB move the pile. Ant played a solid game and made better choices, less tentativeness and more north south than earlier in the year. I thought Lyn played well in bump coverage, Scott did too for the most part. Wilkes and Diabate, pressed into action because of injuries, had major contributions. Great to see Chandler attacking the QB and knocking down balls with his huge wingspan again.
Great effort on both sides of the ball. DM and his staff really abused a young coach last night. I believe he is now 6-1 in games where SU has had more than a week to prepare for a game. That is a pretty good indicator to me that they know what they are doing...it is easier to compensate for less talent with good coaching if you have some extra time to get your team ready.
Great night that got even better hearing RU lost to UL. I would much rather play UL after a big win for them than a tough loss. Would be great to be bowl eligible in October...
