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my two cents

kcsu

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Didn't make the trip to Vegas wish I would have. As always SU fans show up and show out. Hats off to the best fan base on the planet.

I'm not going to go deep into the game other than to make a few points.

First, I don't agree with the narrative that our DC is bad or that he isn't calling a good game. I do believe that he made a mistake on the fourth down call against Stanford but other than that I believe he is doing a good job given the circumstances. Marlo Wax is the most important player on the D. He is the QB of the defense and as such losing him, losing his talent, his leadership, his play calling abilities, his ability to get everyone else properly aligned etc... is devastating. Imagine if Kyle was out and how that would change how we look at our offense and Nixon. In addition, he lost his best CB when Barnes went down. I know he is only a frosh, but he is our best DB and losing a lock down corner has changed everything in the secondary. If you listen to Frans post-game, he talks about not getting beat over the top and keeping the QB contained. At the end of the day the D did that and most importantly they made a play on the QB when the game was on the line. I know everyone talks about bring pressure, but I don't personally think that is a good idea with a beat up secondary against a mobile QB. So, for my two cents I think that our DC has a lot to learn but I give him a solid B grade to get us to 4-1 having lost his starting QB and best player.

Yesterday we saw the Dart working and failing. The lack of detail on special teams is glaring and needs to be addressed and I would bet a significant amount of money that changes will be made but made within the program not publicly.
Which leads me to what I want to point out this week and that is the Fran Brown is doing a fantastic job building our program and our culture. He leads by example and his post-game last night is one more example of who he is and what he is all about which is leadership. Fran is unique in that he doesn't throw anyone under the bus. He takes the heat and protects his players and his coaches. I respect that very much. It doesn't mean that he lacks the stones to make change, I don't doubt that for a moment but if he does make a change, it will be done professionally and done with respect. He is the real deal, and he is just starting on a path that I believe will lead our program back to where it belongs. This guy is special, and my money is on him continuing to improve as a coach and continuing to improve our team and the young men on it.

As to players too many to mention but the fourth down run and TD run by LA will go down as legendary runs. Runs that exemplify what Fran is trying to build. Legendary stuff for sure. Pure heart. Finally, I don't want this season to ever end as with it will go Kyle who is arguably the best QB to wear Orange since DM. What a game what a performance and what a gun slinger to bring us back with a couple of minutes on the clock. The pass and catch to Meeks were as good as it gets.
I'm proud of our program for the first time in a very long time. The future is bright Orange

Go Cuse!
 
Didn't make the trip to Vegas wish I would have. As always SU fans show up and show out. Hats off to the best fan base on the planet.

I'm not going to go deep into the game other than to make a few points.

First, I don't agree with the narrative that our DC is bad or that he isn't calling a good game. I do believe that he made a mistake on the fourth down call against Stanford but other than that I believe he is doing a good job given the circumstances. Marlo Wax is the most important player on the D. He is the QB of the defense and as such losing him, losing his talent, his leadership, his play calling abilities, his ability to get everyone else properly aligned etc... is devastating. Imagine if Kyle was out and how that would change how we look at our offense and Nixon. In addition, he lost his best CB when Barnes went down. I know he is only a frosh, but he is our best DB and losing a lock down corner has changed everything in the secondary. If you listen to Frans post-game, he talks about not getting beat over the top and keeping the QB contained. At the end of the day the D did that and most importantly they made a play on the QB when the game was on the line. I know everyone talks about bring pressure, but I don't personally think that is a good idea with a beat up secondary against a mobile QB. So, for my two cents I think that our DC has a lot to learn but I give him a solid B grade to get us to 4-1 having lost his starting QB and best player.

Yesterday we saw the Dart working and failing. The lack of detail on special teams is glaring and needs to be addressed and I would bet a significant amount of money that changes will be made but made within the program not publicly.
Which leads me to what I want to point out this week and that is the Fran Brown is doing a fantastic job building our program and our culture. He leads by example and his post-game last night is one more example of who he is and what he is all about which is leadership. Fran is unique in that he doesn't throw anyone under the bus. He takes the heat and protects his players and his coaches. I respect that very much. It doesn't mean that he lacks the stones to make change, I don't doubt that for a moment but if he does make a change, it will be done professionally and done with respect. He is the real deal, and he is just starting on a path that I believe will lead our program back to where it belongs. This guy is special, and my money is on him continuing to improve as a coach and continuing to improve our team and the young men on it.

As to players too many to mention but the fourth down run and TD run by LA will go down as legendary runs. Runs that exemplify what Fran is trying to build. Legendary stuff for sure. Pure heart. Finally, I don't want this season to ever end as with it will go Kyle who is arguably the best QB to wear Orange since DM. What a game what a performance and what a gun slinger to bring us back with a couple of minutes on the clock. The pass and catch to Meeks were as good as it gets.
I'm proud of our program for the first time in a very long time. The future is bright Orange

Go Cuse!
Well said!! Outstanding summary...thank you.
 
Good summary but the skills of every player that's injured are always a tad overrated by us fans.
 
Its funny, as I was watching the game I could not help but think that Willis was a better runner than Allen (not a better back due to the pass catching skills), but man did LeQuint step up with two INCREDIBLE runs with the game on the line. Cant define a player having heart like that. He just refused to go down.

It sorta reminded me from when I was a frosh. Floyd Little was the superstar back. I still remember going home for Thanksgiving break and everybody who followed football asking me about how great Floyd was. I said, yes, Floyd is all he is made out to be, but he is our second best back. Everybody thought I was nuts, but the other guy was Csonka, who in the end rushed for more yards than did Floyd both as a collegian and as a pro.
 
I love your optimistic posts. It’s needed. It’s just crazy that had a couple plays broke the other way… we’d all be calling for their heads.
 
Agreed but i stand by what i said about Marlow. He is the leader of the D and losing your QB is a major blow. Everything has changed since his injury.
What changed was that the combination of Barron and Grant filled the gap. There may be some drop off, sure, but not as much as you wrote, in my opinion. There are other issues with the defense - pass rush and corners - that are bigger.

Still, the big issue is specials. Our FG unit, our blocking on punting, and some questionable decisions on when to try to return a kick off. We got stuck back inside our own 20 when players tried to make a return.
 
What changed was that the combination of Barron and Grant filled the gap. There may be some drop off, sure, but not as much as you wrote, in my opinion. There are other issues with the defense - pass rush and corners - that are bigger.

Still, the big issue is specials. Our FG unit, our blocking on punting, and some questionable decisions on when to try to return a kick off. We got stuck back inside our own 20 when players tried to make a return.
Nothing is bigger than losing Marlow
 
I thought Allen was down but through sheer force of will and strength he made it happen. A defining moment for this year and no surprise it came from him. What a treat to see it in person
Watch the highlights and Allen carried defenders the entire game. He made at least four plays carrying defenders in big spots during the game.
 
Watch the highlights and Allen carried defenders the entire game. He made at least four plays carrying defenders in big spots during the game.
He showed up in big moments throughout the game. That first TD he just trucked the defender into the end zone. He was limping after carrying the UNLV defender with him on the last TD which just emphasizes what a warrior he is
 
It’s tough to win when you give away 14 free points off blocked punts. We found a way.

D and the O line were good overall. UNLV qb was extremely accurate we were pretty much playing another McCord last night.
 
What changed was that the combination of Barron and Grant filled the gap. There may be some drop off, sure, but not as much as you wrote, in my opinion. There are other issues with the defense - pass rush and corners - that are bigger.

Still, the big issue is specials. Our FG unit, our blocking on punting, and some questionable decisions on when to try to return a kick off. We got stuck back inside our own 20 when players tried to make a return.
What surprises me the most about our D this year, is Robinson's reliance on rushing 3, and dropping 8, which has been successful in preventing the deep pass deep, over the top, but allows for the easy underneath stuff. Keeping everything in " front" on you! I would like to see more aggressive pressure defense with blitzing. We are 4-1 and could be 5-0, so, we remain a work in progress. If Wax comes back healthy, we could be set for what will be a tough stretch run. There has been a lot of criticism of this staff on this board so far, but @ 4-1, maybe we should just enjoy the ride because we are a work in progress.
 
What changed was that the combination of Barron and Grant filled the gap. There may be some drop off, sure, but not as much as you wrote, in my opinion. There are other issues with the defense - pass rush and corners - that are bigger.

Still, the big issue is specials. Our FG unit, our blocking on punting, and some questionable decisions on when to try to return a kick off. We got stuck back inside our own 20 when players tried to make a return.
I think Barron is better at LB than safety. So that move has paid off twice.
 
Agree this game wasn’t on the defense

The defense did actually a lot to put the team in place to win, as well as Kyle McCord and the offense.

The special teams are literally the only reason this was a very close game.

I watched Fran rip Vollono on the sidelines and Vollono bark back at him and almost throw his headset. I agree change will be made there and whether it’s public or not will be seen. But I could see them making a move there and not letting it be public till end of the season.

If you go back to every game, we have had special teams issues. This wasn’t a fluke last night. I’ve never EVER in the history of watching my favorite teams play football see a worse special teams unit, period.

This team has a lot of growing to do and last night was a big one

LETS GO ORANGE
 
Yesterday we saw the Dart working and failing. The lack of detail on special teams is glaring and needs to be addressed and I would bet a significant amount of money that changes will be made but made within the program not publicly.
Which leads me to what I want to point out this week and that is the Fran Brown is doing a fantastic job building our program and our culture. He leads by example and his post-game last night is one more example of who he is and what he is all about which is leadership. Fran is unique in that he doesn't throw anyone under the bus. He takes the heat and protects his players and his coaches. I respect that very much. It doesn't mean that he lacks the stones to make change, I don't doubt that for a moment but if he does make a change, it will be done professionally and done with respect. He is the real deal, and he is just starting on a path that I believe will lead our program back to where it belongs. This guy is special, and my money is on him continuing to improve as a coach and continuing to improve our team and the young men on it.

I've always thought of the coaching staff as professionals who are open game for being critically reviewed by fans and that comes as part of the package of being a paid professional. Vollono has been an unmitigated disaster - the worst Keystone Cops ST's I can remember at SU.

I have always wanted SU to hire the top 5% of coaching talent across the staff, because that's really the only way that SU FB has succeeded in the past. Good is not good enough to win here.

But I agree. Fran stood up for Vollono and made comments about how his staff has a family, etc., changing the staff is a really big deal, and all avenues should be pursued to fix the problems right now before talking about staff changes. I give him credit for that as being a good boss that people will want to work for.

I've been expecting by now that Fran would have called in the entire SU staff for a meeting about STs. Pick the brains of everyone on the staff if they have any background in STs that could help, and probably assign aspects of STs to other assistants. The job is obviously too big for Vollono. I'm not sure exactly what he is good at (other than making a pest of himself to get hired at SU).

Fran did say at the presser he was going to call other HCs he knows and ask for advice.
 
I've always thought of the coaching staff as professionals who are open game for being critically reviewed by fans and that comes: as part of the package of being a paid professional. Vollono has been an unmitigated disaster - the worst Keystone Cops ST's I can remember at SU.

I have always wanted SU to hire the top 5% of coaching talent across the staff, because that's really the only way that SU FB has succeeded in the past. Good is not good enough to win here.

But I agree. Fran stood up for Vollono and made comments about how his staff has a family, etc., changing the staff is a really big deal, and all avenues should be pursued to fix the problems right now before talking about staff changes. I give him credit for that as being a good boss that people will want to work for.

I've been expecting by now that Fran would have called in the entire SU staff for a meeting about STs. Pick the brains of everyone on the staff if they have any background in STs that could help, and probably assign aspects of STs to other assistants. The job is obviously too big for Vollono. I'm not sure exactly what he is good at (other than making a pest of himself to get hired at SU).

Fran did say at the presser he was going to call other HCs he knows and ask for advice.
Break it into the following areas.

FT, PT, snaps: Vollono
Blocking: Oline coach
Returns: WR coach
Coverage units: DB LB coaches
Punting: OL coach, Fran, Vollono
 
Good stuff, TY
IMG_2844.jpeg
 
Its funny, as I was watching the game I could not help but think that Willis was a better runner than Allen (not a better back due to the pass catching skills), but man did LeQuint step up with two INCREDIBLE runs with the game on the line. Cant define a player having heart like that. He just refused to go down.

It sorta reminded me from when I was a frosh. Floyd Little was the superstar back. I still remember going home for Thanksgiving break and everybody who followed football asking me about how great Floyd was. I said, yes, Floyd is all he is made out to be, but he is our second best back. Everybody thought I was nuts, but the other guy was Csonka, who in the end rushed for more yards than did Floyd both as a collegian and as a pro.
larry was my dads favorite player. Loved watching him.
 
The special teams are literally the only reason this was a very close game.

I watched Fran rip Vollono on the sidelines and Vollono bark back at him and almost throw his headset.
A guy has to stand up for himself, but sure feels like Vollono isn't arguing from a position of strength on that one.
 
What changed was that the combination of Barron and Grant filled the gap. There may be some drop off, sure, but not as much as you wrote, in my opinion. There are other issues with the defense - pass rush and corners - that are bigger.

Still, the big issue is specials. Our FG unit, our blocking on punting, and some questionable decisions on when to try to return a kick off. We got stuck back inside our own 20 when players tried to make a return.
Oh stepped up last night
 

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