sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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I am trying to make at least one visit to every ACC football venue. Haven't been to Louisville yet, so I decided this was the year, and thus found myself at the syracusefan.com tailgate about an hour before the game (flew in Saturday morning).
Some random thoughts:
It isn't easy to get to Louisville from Syracuse (or vice versa, as I am learning the hard way today).
Louisville has a pretty nice airport with an excellent setup for getting and returning rental cars.
The Chevy Spark is the scariest car I have ever driven. It was new and in good shape but it felt like I was driving a lawn mower driven golf cart. I am not a psychiatrist but I think driving one in CNY in icy conditions means you have a death wish. Just a theory. It does have excellent mileage but so does a bike.
Met a lot of nice people on my visit. The UL fans were classy and friendly, much along the lines of the UL basketball fans I have met over the years.
UL did a lot of tributes to the military during the game. One tribute featured a long video of UL athletes wishing the military well (I think it was all driven by the coming Veteran'sDay), which was great. But it was marred by most of them making that Cardinal hand salute and yelling 'Go Cards!' At the end of their tributes.
Sadly, that part was the only time a number of them showed any enthusiasm or genuine interest in what they were saying. Hoe about 'Go Military! next time'?
We had a great setup for tailgating. Props to TexanMark and CardinalJim for getting a lot between Churchhill Downs and PapaJohn's Stadium. We were only 5 minutes from the stadium. Surprisingly good turnout given the losing streak and unattractive opponent. Food was good, props to Justin and Mark's dad and everyone else who cooked, brought food or otherwise contributed to the event.
The stadium is in the middle of a bunch of stuff: besides the football stadium and the horseback, theUL baseball stadium and the Kentucky State Fair are close byand train tracks run right alongthefootball stadium.
It isn't much to look at. There aren't exterior walls, there was construction equipment lying around and everything looks old, dirty and faded. The replay scoreboard and the seats in particular are in bad shape and needsomehelp. There was almost no room to move around in the concourses, in large part because the food trucks they rely on to supply much of the food were place too far into the concourses.
The concourses are not open and i didn't see any tvs showing the game in the vending areas. They haven't filled in one endzone with seats so you can't walk around the stadium. The bathrooms are old, dirty, and they still use porcelain uninals. How primitive.
They sell beer all the way to the end of the third quarter, which was great for the SU fans fortunate enough to drink alcohol. They put a couple of giant garbage bags at the base of every section, in the landing above the exits, so you have to tip toe around the garbage to get in or out.
On the positive side, I saw you could order a pork chop at one stand, which intrigued me enough to eventually order one. They don't give you a pork chop with a bone in it; instead, you get two pork chops that have been de-boned, in a bun. That pork chop sandwich was probably the highlight of the trip for me.
Also, I thought the sightlines were excellent, almost as good as those in the Dome. It reminded me a lot of the stadium Rutgers plays in, except more decrepit. The open end zone is green,open and quite attractive. It is a shame they are going to lose it when they expand the stadium.
Their band was pretty big (12 tubas) but they were ignored for almost all game, as the UL powers that be blasted rap music at every opportunity possible.
I found the UL fans to be very low key and quiet. Maybe the quietest fans I have ever seen, with the possible exception of UConn fans. They were nice, and we got some of those good meaning pity comments after the game that actually hurt more than when the opposing fans hate your guts. The place was maybe 3/4 full, which surprised me a bit.
Didn't see the campus, but I guess it is not far away. Didn't notice a student section, but like Baby, we were placed in a corner and couldn't see everything, so maybe there was one somewhere out there.
It is too painful to talk in detail about the game but here are some general thoughts:
I fear the pressure is getting to Lester and this is the reason his performance is dropping off. He was absolutely was determined to run the ball inside and our OL was absolutely not up to the task all game long.
I am not one of those 'throw the bomb every play kind of guys' but it was clear UL's corners were not very good. I wish we went after them more often. To be fair to TL, we did throw long a fair amount but it should have happened more. Our WRs are not big, or strong, or physical and they don't break to the ball well but even given all that, throwing long was our best bet to move the ball and score some points. Ishmael will beat out his man for the ball most times anywsy. Good to see them beginning to feature him more. They should be throwing him the ball a lot more often. He isn't Tyler Boyd but I think he is the closet thing we have to him.
Man, we hate to throw the ball over the middle, especially medium and long. Surprised we don't do it at least occasionally to keep defenses honest. It sure seems to work when teams do it against us... The only throws I see over the middle appear to be bailout throws to Parris that are heavily contested and rarely go for more than 5 yards.
Dungey isn't as accurate or consistent as he was for the first part of the season. I think this is largely due to the number of hits he has taken, aka Andrew Robinson Syndrome. It is encouraging to see him consistently looking like one of the best athletes on the field, even against the better programs in the ACC. No idea hoe badly he is hurt. I pray that last hit looked worse than the damage it actually caused him. It would be a horrific shame if such a promising career was ended almost as soon as it started.
The OL has not improved at all once the mistakes made with initial starters were fixed. UL does a good job rushing the QB and their blitzes, like many used by our opponents, were effective.
Whigham is not playing at all anymore. Whitner continues to get more PT at FS as the season progresses and has largely displaced Scissum there. He is getting better each week and I think is going to be solid for us next year. Williams again didn't play. This unit really could have used Blair to help shore up the weak efforts against the run. What a shame he didn't make it here.
Dowels continues to impress me. I think he is going to be a four year starter. Fast, though, surprisingly physical. Reminds me a lot of Reddish. Hudson got picked on a lot again but he makes more good plays than Whigham ever did even as a frosh and I think he is going to be okay. Good against the run and screens and most times he is in good position when he gets beat. Really nice break on the ball on the pick he made.
The DL is getting worn down every game and is basically gone by the time the 2nd half comes around. Credit to Steve Clark for holding his ground and making plays despite being ill. I thought the young secondary actually played okay but were betrayed by a really poor job by the DL applying pressure to the QB. UL does not have a good OL, so getting dominated on passing and running plays was kind of shocking. We have to do ether here.
Another poor effort by our young LBs. Zaire is inconsistent right now; makes some nice plays then gets burned badly. They had a lot of success running up the middle and while a big part of that is on the DL (check out what happens to Samuels on every running play), part is on Zaire. Losing Bennett was a major blow. Thomas is a good athlete and is going to be a fine player some day, but that day won't be for a quite a while. Hodge actually played a little better this week but when you don't have a lot of size and you aren't fighting off blocks well, you aren't going to have a lot of success. Taylor got some play too but was also largely undistinguished in his efforts.
On special teams, Riley Dixon showed he isn't Superman, shanking one punt and actually failing to convert a fake attempt. That might have been the worst attempt at a fake ever, btw. No fault of that on Riley, who otherwise was his usual excellent self at punter.
Cole Murphy is an average placekicker. Was really surprised he was given a chance to make a long one. Sometimes I wonder if the staff truly understands probabilities and how they work...
Perhaps the best thing about the game was that Norton was not asked to do a squib kick and Norton indeed did not try to do a squib kick. More of this, please.
The day started with the vast majority of the people that attended the tailgate in support of the coaching staff. It ended with almost no one still in support. These are the most loyal supporters of the program. Not a good thing. I remain in support, but am admittedly biased towards the staff, largely for what they did supporting Dan Johnson during his illness. I hope this was the low point for this staff. Not sure things can get a whole lot worse right now. It ishard to get your soul crushed week after week. Can't imagine what it is like for the players, the coaches and their families.
Some random thoughts:
It isn't easy to get to Louisville from Syracuse (or vice versa, as I am learning the hard way today).
Louisville has a pretty nice airport with an excellent setup for getting and returning rental cars.
The Chevy Spark is the scariest car I have ever driven. It was new and in good shape but it felt like I was driving a lawn mower driven golf cart. I am not a psychiatrist but I think driving one in CNY in icy conditions means you have a death wish. Just a theory. It does have excellent mileage but so does a bike.
Met a lot of nice people on my visit. The UL fans were classy and friendly, much along the lines of the UL basketball fans I have met over the years.
UL did a lot of tributes to the military during the game. One tribute featured a long video of UL athletes wishing the military well (I think it was all driven by the coming Veteran'sDay), which was great. But it was marred by most of them making that Cardinal hand salute and yelling 'Go Cards!' At the end of their tributes.
Sadly, that part was the only time a number of them showed any enthusiasm or genuine interest in what they were saying. Hoe about 'Go Military! next time'?
We had a great setup for tailgating. Props to TexanMark and CardinalJim for getting a lot between Churchhill Downs and PapaJohn's Stadium. We were only 5 minutes from the stadium. Surprisingly good turnout given the losing streak and unattractive opponent. Food was good, props to Justin and Mark's dad and everyone else who cooked, brought food or otherwise contributed to the event.
The stadium is in the middle of a bunch of stuff: besides the football stadium and the horseback, theUL baseball stadium and the Kentucky State Fair are close byand train tracks run right alongthefootball stadium.
It isn't much to look at. There aren't exterior walls, there was construction equipment lying around and everything looks old, dirty and faded. The replay scoreboard and the seats in particular are in bad shape and needsomehelp. There was almost no room to move around in the concourses, in large part because the food trucks they rely on to supply much of the food were place too far into the concourses.
The concourses are not open and i didn't see any tvs showing the game in the vending areas. They haven't filled in one endzone with seats so you can't walk around the stadium. The bathrooms are old, dirty, and they still use porcelain uninals. How primitive.
They sell beer all the way to the end of the third quarter, which was great for the SU fans fortunate enough to drink alcohol. They put a couple of giant garbage bags at the base of every section, in the landing above the exits, so you have to tip toe around the garbage to get in or out.
On the positive side, I saw you could order a pork chop at one stand, which intrigued me enough to eventually order one. They don't give you a pork chop with a bone in it; instead, you get two pork chops that have been de-boned, in a bun. That pork chop sandwich was probably the highlight of the trip for me.
Also, I thought the sightlines were excellent, almost as good as those in the Dome. It reminded me a lot of the stadium Rutgers plays in, except more decrepit. The open end zone is green,open and quite attractive. It is a shame they are going to lose it when they expand the stadium.
Their band was pretty big (12 tubas) but they were ignored for almost all game, as the UL powers that be blasted rap music at every opportunity possible.
I found the UL fans to be very low key and quiet. Maybe the quietest fans I have ever seen, with the possible exception of UConn fans. They were nice, and we got some of those good meaning pity comments after the game that actually hurt more than when the opposing fans hate your guts. The place was maybe 3/4 full, which surprised me a bit.
Didn't see the campus, but I guess it is not far away. Didn't notice a student section, but like Baby, we were placed in a corner and couldn't see everything, so maybe there was one somewhere out there.
It is too painful to talk in detail about the game but here are some general thoughts:
I fear the pressure is getting to Lester and this is the reason his performance is dropping off. He was absolutely was determined to run the ball inside and our OL was absolutely not up to the task all game long.
I am not one of those 'throw the bomb every play kind of guys' but it was clear UL's corners were not very good. I wish we went after them more often. To be fair to TL, we did throw long a fair amount but it should have happened more. Our WRs are not big, or strong, or physical and they don't break to the ball well but even given all that, throwing long was our best bet to move the ball and score some points. Ishmael will beat out his man for the ball most times anywsy. Good to see them beginning to feature him more. They should be throwing him the ball a lot more often. He isn't Tyler Boyd but I think he is the closet thing we have to him.
Man, we hate to throw the ball over the middle, especially medium and long. Surprised we don't do it at least occasionally to keep defenses honest. It sure seems to work when teams do it against us... The only throws I see over the middle appear to be bailout throws to Parris that are heavily contested and rarely go for more than 5 yards.
Dungey isn't as accurate or consistent as he was for the first part of the season. I think this is largely due to the number of hits he has taken, aka Andrew Robinson Syndrome. It is encouraging to see him consistently looking like one of the best athletes on the field, even against the better programs in the ACC. No idea hoe badly he is hurt. I pray that last hit looked worse than the damage it actually caused him. It would be a horrific shame if such a promising career was ended almost as soon as it started.
The OL has not improved at all once the mistakes made with initial starters were fixed. UL does a good job rushing the QB and their blitzes, like many used by our opponents, were effective.
Whigham is not playing at all anymore. Whitner continues to get more PT at FS as the season progresses and has largely displaced Scissum there. He is getting better each week and I think is going to be solid for us next year. Williams again didn't play. This unit really could have used Blair to help shore up the weak efforts against the run. What a shame he didn't make it here.
Dowels continues to impress me. I think he is going to be a four year starter. Fast, though, surprisingly physical. Reminds me a lot of Reddish. Hudson got picked on a lot again but he makes more good plays than Whigham ever did even as a frosh and I think he is going to be okay. Good against the run and screens and most times he is in good position when he gets beat. Really nice break on the ball on the pick he made.
The DL is getting worn down every game and is basically gone by the time the 2nd half comes around. Credit to Steve Clark for holding his ground and making plays despite being ill. I thought the young secondary actually played okay but were betrayed by a really poor job by the DL applying pressure to the QB. UL does not have a good OL, so getting dominated on passing and running plays was kind of shocking. We have to do ether here.
Another poor effort by our young LBs. Zaire is inconsistent right now; makes some nice plays then gets burned badly. They had a lot of success running up the middle and while a big part of that is on the DL (check out what happens to Samuels on every running play), part is on Zaire. Losing Bennett was a major blow. Thomas is a good athlete and is going to be a fine player some day, but that day won't be for a quite a while. Hodge actually played a little better this week but when you don't have a lot of size and you aren't fighting off blocks well, you aren't going to have a lot of success. Taylor got some play too but was also largely undistinguished in his efforts.
On special teams, Riley Dixon showed he isn't Superman, shanking one punt and actually failing to convert a fake attempt. That might have been the worst attempt at a fake ever, btw. No fault of that on Riley, who otherwise was his usual excellent self at punter.
Cole Murphy is an average placekicker. Was really surprised he was given a chance to make a long one. Sometimes I wonder if the staff truly understands probabilities and how they work...
Perhaps the best thing about the game was that Norton was not asked to do a squib kick and Norton indeed did not try to do a squib kick. More of this, please.
The day started with the vast majority of the people that attended the tailgate in support of the coaching staff. It ended with almost no one still in support. These are the most loyal supporters of the program. Not a good thing. I remain in support, but am admittedly biased towards the staff, largely for what they did supporting Dan Johnson during his illness. I hope this was the low point for this staff. Not sure things can get a whole lot worse right now. It ishard to get your soul crushed week after week. Can't imagine what it is like for the players, the coaches and their families.
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