sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Well, that wasn't very fun to watch.
Limited time, so here is a quick rundown on my thoughts...
Offense
First off, we should acknowledge that FSU has some great talent on their defense. Breathtaking speed everywhere, size, strength, great technique. You name it, they have it. As the announcers said, their CBs are the key to what they do. They play them in man coverage almost all the time. That should leave them really exposed to the vertical passing game but 1) they blanketed the SU receivers, rarely giving Dungey someone to throw to and 2) the FSU DL dominated the SU OL all game long, getting a strong pass rush on passing plays and generally controlling the line of scrimmage on running plays.
George Morris II had maybe his best game as an Orangemen. He doesn't have a second gear and but if he has a hole, he will get some yards and for the first time in his career, I am seeing consistent yards after initially being hit. He played really hard. Fredericks had some good runs and actually showed signs of being able to pick up a blitzer on passing plays, which is encouraging.
Dungey showed excellent athletic ability, mostly on running plays. Looks like he is doing a better job going to his second and third options when his first is not available, which happened an alarming number of times on Saturday. That led to Josh Parris and Erv Phillips getting the most touches in the passing game, sadly for very little yardage.
We desperately need a big TE who can block, catch and run. Parris can catch but is slow, had limited athletic ability and can't block at all. Losing Moore to injury was a big blow to the offense.
Phillips continues to show good high end speed but get exposed as an RB still making the transition to a receiver when the pass is in the air. He needs to get stronger and more physical (and remember to watch the plays in case the ball gets thrown to him). I like his grittiness though and he has a nose for the endzone.
Great job by #8 on Ishmael. Even on the one catch Steve made, it took a great throw and a great catch to make it happen. Ish has talent, great hands and runs good routes but a physical corner with speed just dominates him right now. He isn't very big so he has to get stronger and tougher if he wants to play after college. Estime was so dominated when the ball was thrown to him it was embarrassing. AC could play 8 games against FSU and never make a catch. The same applies to Avant. Strickland is really raw at receiver and is even behind Phillips at this point, but he has speed and is physical enough that I can see him really make a big step up next season. We could have really used Lewis against this defense. He has the toughness and strength you need to get open against these kinds of DBs. It will be interesting to see what happens next season with EP, BL and DS at XB. Somebody probably has to move.
Anyway, our offense consisted of attempting to complete 5 yard passes against heavy pressure from the Seminole DL and tight coverage from the rest of the FSU defense, or runs against a defense set up to defend the pass. It was pitiful and hard to watch. I don't think this disaster on offense is on Lester. We just got flat out out-talented and when the gap is as big as it was on Saturday, there isn't much you can do as the OC. The good news is that our skill players are almost all really young, talented and there is reason to expect they will get better as they get more strength and experience. The bad news is that the OL is a veteran unit. If they are to get better, it will be on the backs of a bunch of young kids who are not playing today. The development of the young OL is going to be, more than anything, the key to success for the offense in the next couple of years.
Defense
Slayton and Clark are good and getting better each week. Raymon hasn't played to the level he was at when he got hurt last season, which is a shame. Samuels has been dominated all year. Don't think he would be playing except we really don't have anyone else to put out there at NT. Overall, this unit got dominated pretty badly by an FSU OL that was struggling and had a couple new starters. Not their finest hour.
Thompson continues to do well on passing plays and poorly on running plays. Teams are intentionally running sweeps his way and he keeps getting caught out of position. Sheppard is the next true frosh who is emerging and he could be a starter next season. Guidice got some snaps again and looks promising. I like Arciniega a lot but he got banged up (or re-injured) and didn't get as much PT as he normally gets. Donnie Simmons is having a solid senior year. Good to see a guy who never played emerge after a long wait. Anyway, the future is certainly bright at DL.
Things aren't so good at LB. Franklin has talent and a nose for the football but is sometimes too aggressive. He is slowly getting better, looks like he is playing with some kind of a lower body injury right now. I like Bennett a lot. He is our most athletic LB...don't think there is much question about that. Has the speed to be a good coverage guy, can tackle in the open field (not true of many on this unit) and is also our best blitzer. Just needs to get stronger. He got hurt early, which made for a lot more PT for Thomas, who is another athletic kid with a high ceiling. He made a number of nice plays Saturday. Looked fast and comfortable matching up with FSU athletes, which is hard to do.
On the other side, Hodge remains the biggest enigma on the team. He is a non factor on play after play, cannot get off blocks and on the rare occasions when he is in position to make a tackle, he usually misses it. Seems like everytime I watch a play where someone on the SU defense had a clear angle to make the tackle and missed it, it is Hodge or the Hodge of the secondary, Scissum. To my eye, Marquez has regressed since his frosh and sophomore seasons. Surprised Taylor hasn't taken his spot. He seems to be much more effective when he replaces Marquez. I think a talented young LB like Cullen or Henderson has a great chance to move into a starting position next season here. Or maybe they move Thomas or Bennett here. That might get us our top 3 athletes on the field together at LB.
The secondary has been a big problem from day one this season and this certainly continued Saturday. Let's start with the good news: Cordy is a good player who is a fine tackler and has great desire and technique. Amazing he is doing what he does with his size...bad enough he is only 5'8 but playing strong safety at 175 is insane. I hope he can add 10 or 15 pounds and retain his speed and agility.
Scissum has good athletic ability but always seems out of position on passing plays and might be the worst tackler in the history of Syracuse football. OMG. I like Rodney Williams but it looks like he is going to have a terrible time staying healthy. Got hurt again Saturday. Too bad, he is a big hitter, excellent tackler and has the speed needed to be a good safety. Whigham pulled a couple of boneheaded plays at his new position as a safety in the Okie. Whitner looks like a true frosh out there...he is confused, out of position and a mess in general. Not a surprise...he really shouldn't be playing right now. That being said, the kid can tackle and can run and I think has the smarts to be a good safety. I am trying to remember the last time a safety came in on a long pass and broke the play up. Should happen around once a game. I don't think I can remember this happening in 2 or 3 years. Not good, especially with the way our CBs we have been playing.
That brings us to the CBs. Hudson and Dowels are both playing a lot right now. Hudson might be a step slow to be an elite CB but is pretty physical for his size and has already made more good plays in coverage than Whigham did during his notorious run at CB. I am high on Dowels, who made a really nice breakup Saturday. Both these guys are promising against the run and both look to be much better defending the bubble screen than the vets have been.
Morgan is decent against the run. Didn't get a lot of run Saturday because, I think, he is too slow to cover the FSU WRs, who are among the fastest in college football. Winfield gets burned some, but you can see he has the best raw athletic skills of any of the CBs and I think he is going to be a good one for us. He hustles his butt off and gets in on a lot of plays. His tackling is getting better but still needs work. Like his size...if he can get his technique done when the ball is in the air, he will be excellent for us.
Special Teams
Riley Dixon has had a solid senior season but has had a couple of rare shanks in recent weeks. As a struggling golfer, I understand. Still he was excellent overall again. He remains our best chance to get a player recognized for honors in the post season.
Against all odds, Norton was again asked to kick a squib kick again and again against all odds, again he failed miserably. At least he didn't do a foolish penalty this game as well. It is a shame because Ryan has had a great senior season overall kicking the ball off, and has contributed with tackles as well. Just don't ask him to kick another squib kick this year. Please.
The strange timeout and the decision to squib kick late in the first half were really bad. Destroyed some momentum and ended any hopes the team might have had for an upset. I don't think Syracuse was going to beat this FSU team in Tallahassee under any circumstances, especially after Golson was announced out with the concussion. But that late touchdown should not have happened.
I am very disappointed at the inability of the defense to stop a simple power running attack. This is three games in a row where the other team has basically just run power sweeps over and over late in the game where we have absolutely no answer. We have a lot of problems but this is our biggest and I suspect that the problem is personnel based and that no answers will be forthcoming the rest of the season. One wonders what would have happened if we had a couple more serviceable DTs we could trot out there...
Limited time, so here is a quick rundown on my thoughts...
Offense
First off, we should acknowledge that FSU has some great talent on their defense. Breathtaking speed everywhere, size, strength, great technique. You name it, they have it. As the announcers said, their CBs are the key to what they do. They play them in man coverage almost all the time. That should leave them really exposed to the vertical passing game but 1) they blanketed the SU receivers, rarely giving Dungey someone to throw to and 2) the FSU DL dominated the SU OL all game long, getting a strong pass rush on passing plays and generally controlling the line of scrimmage on running plays.
George Morris II had maybe his best game as an Orangemen. He doesn't have a second gear and but if he has a hole, he will get some yards and for the first time in his career, I am seeing consistent yards after initially being hit. He played really hard. Fredericks had some good runs and actually showed signs of being able to pick up a blitzer on passing plays, which is encouraging.
Dungey showed excellent athletic ability, mostly on running plays. Looks like he is doing a better job going to his second and third options when his first is not available, which happened an alarming number of times on Saturday. That led to Josh Parris and Erv Phillips getting the most touches in the passing game, sadly for very little yardage.
We desperately need a big TE who can block, catch and run. Parris can catch but is slow, had limited athletic ability and can't block at all. Losing Moore to injury was a big blow to the offense.
Phillips continues to show good high end speed but get exposed as an RB still making the transition to a receiver when the pass is in the air. He needs to get stronger and more physical (and remember to watch the plays in case the ball gets thrown to him). I like his grittiness though and he has a nose for the endzone.
Great job by #8 on Ishmael. Even on the one catch Steve made, it took a great throw and a great catch to make it happen. Ish has talent, great hands and runs good routes but a physical corner with speed just dominates him right now. He isn't very big so he has to get stronger and tougher if he wants to play after college. Estime was so dominated when the ball was thrown to him it was embarrassing. AC could play 8 games against FSU and never make a catch. The same applies to Avant. Strickland is really raw at receiver and is even behind Phillips at this point, but he has speed and is physical enough that I can see him really make a big step up next season. We could have really used Lewis against this defense. He has the toughness and strength you need to get open against these kinds of DBs. It will be interesting to see what happens next season with EP, BL and DS at XB. Somebody probably has to move.
Anyway, our offense consisted of attempting to complete 5 yard passes against heavy pressure from the Seminole DL and tight coverage from the rest of the FSU defense, or runs against a defense set up to defend the pass. It was pitiful and hard to watch. I don't think this disaster on offense is on Lester. We just got flat out out-talented and when the gap is as big as it was on Saturday, there isn't much you can do as the OC. The good news is that our skill players are almost all really young, talented and there is reason to expect they will get better as they get more strength and experience. The bad news is that the OL is a veteran unit. If they are to get better, it will be on the backs of a bunch of young kids who are not playing today. The development of the young OL is going to be, more than anything, the key to success for the offense in the next couple of years.
Defense
Slayton and Clark are good and getting better each week. Raymon hasn't played to the level he was at when he got hurt last season, which is a shame. Samuels has been dominated all year. Don't think he would be playing except we really don't have anyone else to put out there at NT. Overall, this unit got dominated pretty badly by an FSU OL that was struggling and had a couple new starters. Not their finest hour.
Thompson continues to do well on passing plays and poorly on running plays. Teams are intentionally running sweeps his way and he keeps getting caught out of position. Sheppard is the next true frosh who is emerging and he could be a starter next season. Guidice got some snaps again and looks promising. I like Arciniega a lot but he got banged up (or re-injured) and didn't get as much PT as he normally gets. Donnie Simmons is having a solid senior year. Good to see a guy who never played emerge after a long wait. Anyway, the future is certainly bright at DL.
Things aren't so good at LB. Franklin has talent and a nose for the football but is sometimes too aggressive. He is slowly getting better, looks like he is playing with some kind of a lower body injury right now. I like Bennett a lot. He is our most athletic LB...don't think there is much question about that. Has the speed to be a good coverage guy, can tackle in the open field (not true of many on this unit) and is also our best blitzer. Just needs to get stronger. He got hurt early, which made for a lot more PT for Thomas, who is another athletic kid with a high ceiling. He made a number of nice plays Saturday. Looked fast and comfortable matching up with FSU athletes, which is hard to do.
On the other side, Hodge remains the biggest enigma on the team. He is a non factor on play after play, cannot get off blocks and on the rare occasions when he is in position to make a tackle, he usually misses it. Seems like everytime I watch a play where someone on the SU defense had a clear angle to make the tackle and missed it, it is Hodge or the Hodge of the secondary, Scissum. To my eye, Marquez has regressed since his frosh and sophomore seasons. Surprised Taylor hasn't taken his spot. He seems to be much more effective when he replaces Marquez. I think a talented young LB like Cullen or Henderson has a great chance to move into a starting position next season here. Or maybe they move Thomas or Bennett here. That might get us our top 3 athletes on the field together at LB.
The secondary has been a big problem from day one this season and this certainly continued Saturday. Let's start with the good news: Cordy is a good player who is a fine tackler and has great desire and technique. Amazing he is doing what he does with his size...bad enough he is only 5'8 but playing strong safety at 175 is insane. I hope he can add 10 or 15 pounds and retain his speed and agility.
Scissum has good athletic ability but always seems out of position on passing plays and might be the worst tackler in the history of Syracuse football. OMG. I like Rodney Williams but it looks like he is going to have a terrible time staying healthy. Got hurt again Saturday. Too bad, he is a big hitter, excellent tackler and has the speed needed to be a good safety. Whigham pulled a couple of boneheaded plays at his new position as a safety in the Okie. Whitner looks like a true frosh out there...he is confused, out of position and a mess in general. Not a surprise...he really shouldn't be playing right now. That being said, the kid can tackle and can run and I think has the smarts to be a good safety. I am trying to remember the last time a safety came in on a long pass and broke the play up. Should happen around once a game. I don't think I can remember this happening in 2 or 3 years. Not good, especially with the way our CBs we have been playing.
That brings us to the CBs. Hudson and Dowels are both playing a lot right now. Hudson might be a step slow to be an elite CB but is pretty physical for his size and has already made more good plays in coverage than Whigham did during his notorious run at CB. I am high on Dowels, who made a really nice breakup Saturday. Both these guys are promising against the run and both look to be much better defending the bubble screen than the vets have been.
Morgan is decent against the run. Didn't get a lot of run Saturday because, I think, he is too slow to cover the FSU WRs, who are among the fastest in college football. Winfield gets burned some, but you can see he has the best raw athletic skills of any of the CBs and I think he is going to be a good one for us. He hustles his butt off and gets in on a lot of plays. His tackling is getting better but still needs work. Like his size...if he can get his technique done when the ball is in the air, he will be excellent for us.
Special Teams
Riley Dixon has had a solid senior season but has had a couple of rare shanks in recent weeks. As a struggling golfer, I understand. Still he was excellent overall again. He remains our best chance to get a player recognized for honors in the post season.
Against all odds, Norton was again asked to kick a squib kick again and again against all odds, again he failed miserably. At least he didn't do a foolish penalty this game as well. It is a shame because Ryan has had a great senior season overall kicking the ball off, and has contributed with tackles as well. Just don't ask him to kick another squib kick this year. Please.
The strange timeout and the decision to squib kick late in the first half were really bad. Destroyed some momentum and ended any hopes the team might have had for an upset. I don't think Syracuse was going to beat this FSU team in Tallahassee under any circumstances, especially after Golson was announced out with the concussion. But that late touchdown should not have happened.
I am very disappointed at the inability of the defense to stop a simple power running attack. This is three games in a row where the other team has basically just run power sweeps over and over late in the game where we have absolutely no answer. We have a lot of problems but this is our biggest and I suspect that the problem is personnel based and that no answers will be forthcoming the rest of the season. One wonders what would have happened if we had a couple more serviceable DTs we could trot out there...
