I was late to the tailgate because of a golf commitment. From what I could see it was well done and a big success.
Very disappointing crowd at the dome today. Poor turnout by the students as well as the regular fans. My guess is that the crowd was approximately 21K.
The good news is, the fans that showed were loud and supportive. Wake Forest brought a very small contingent. I estimate maybe 150 people.
We cut a huge perhaps season changing break when Campanero went down with an injury early in the game. Wake relies on him for their offense more than any player in the ACC. Losing him was devastating to them.
Still props must be given to the Syracuse defense for giving a great performance.
Thought the key to the game was Syracuse's ability to put pressure on the quarterback, often only rushing three defensive lineman.
Great job by Micah Robinson, Isaiah Johnson, and most especially Jay Bromley.
Nice job by the defensive coaches, who used a mix of man and zone pass coverages and well disguised blitzes to confuse the Wake Forest passing attack.
As good as the Syracuse defense was the first half, the Syracuse offense was horrible. Amazingly bad. Execution was bad. Play calling was bad. They often struggled to even line up properly.
I give credit to offense of coordinator George McDonald for being innovative and extremely ambitious. He has the offense using an amazing variety of formations. This new offense seems to borrow from every scheme known to mankind.
The problem is, it is too much for the kids to handle. Players look confused on a regular basis. Execution is consistently bad. There is a desperate need to simplify things. Frankly there has been for sometime.
This is not uncommon for a young offensive coordinator. Nathaniel Hackett ran into the same issue during his first couple of years calling plays here.
In the first half Wake Forest played eight or nine minimum box and dared Syracuse to pass. George took with the defense gave him, passed a lot, mostly bubble screens, with little success.
In the second half, the offensive had more success, using a mix of running and passing plays.
Someday in late November, perhaps we will look back to the first drive of the second half, as the hard nosed drive that defined the season and made the season a success.
Thought Hunt had a good game. Threw the ball quite well. Made good decisions consistently. He was a major factor in this game running the ball as well. Best of all he had no turnovers and was not close to making one. If he can play like thistle rest of the season, we will go bowling.
At halftime, the SUMB (10 tubas), did a tribute to Earth , Wind and Fire. Some unknown people sat in on the session and played some serious trumpet. Nice job: very enjoyable show.
After the very ugly first half, so was the game.
