Next Two Games Will Define This Season

[TexanMark]

At Cal we will need to play at least a B game to have a chance. This will be such a huge game. We will obviously be underdogs.

Yukon "should" be a win but they"ll come in with momentum and a "chip on their shoulder". Cuse plays a C game they could lose.

If they can go 2-0, even a Miami loss, means an 8-4 regular season with good momentum heading into the off season.

Cuse needs to finish at least 8-4 to change the November narrative.

 

[FrancoPizza]

They’re all huge. It’s funny how first impressions of a season sometimes foreshadow quite well. Ohio told us who they were more or less.

Now compare that to 2018 Western Michigan. Up 34-7 at the half. Seems like a lifetime ago.

 

[sufandu]

They’re all huge. It’s funny how first impressions of a season sometimes foreshadow quite well. Ohio told us who they were more or less.

Now compare that to 2018 Western Michigan. Up 34-7 at the half. Seems like a lifetime ago.

Yeah. Ohio exposed a bunch of warts. It's why it is so weird people act surprised when better teams give us trouble. Still, we know we're going bowling with 3 games to play, so we've overcome a lot of the warts. They're not going anywhere before the end of this season. We'll see what Fran and company can do to fix them in his first full offseason.

 

[007]

At Cal we will need to play at least a B game to have a chance. This will be such a huge game. We will obviously be underdogs.

Yukon "should" be a win but they"ll come in with momentum and a "chip on their shoulder". Cuse plays a C game they could lose.

If they can go 2-0, even a Miami loss, means an 8-4 regular season with good momentum heading into the off season.

Cuse needs to finish at least 8-4 to change the November narrative.

To my mind, 8-4 was always going to be a "great" season given the state of the program when Fran took over. The pre-season, mid-season, and current-season qualifier of "at least" 8-4 seemed more wishful than probable.

 

[PAcuse]

I think 8-4 was the ceiling for this team.
Our schedule appeared to be easy but that changed fairly quickly.
Fran has giving us some hope, beat two top 25 teams and his team has never given up which you can't say has happened for LONG time.


We had some excitement brewing and I think the Pitt game deflated along of folks, which I get and it was the first game I've ever left early in any sport. BC was rough to watch but the team still played hard when down and out. Would have loved to see how the BC played out if we had a healthy D line as I think we would have played a 4-3 all game.

Moving the goalpost is not far to Fran and staff OR trying compare them to what is happening in Indiana. Of course I want our team to win the last 3 games. This time we really can feel a HUGE shift in culture, recruiting, alumni relations, and discipline handed out to the kids if they are not buying in.

I'll get off my soap box now. BEAT CAL!

 

[FrancoPizza]

I was told we turned the corner vs VT. And I believe AZorange is on record.

 

[CanadianSU]

To me 7-5 is the most likely. Outside chance at 8-4.

 

[djorange1989]

To me 7-5 is the most likely. Outside chance at 8-4.

unfortunately I agree

 

[Scooch]

To my mind, 8-4 was always going to be a "great" season given the state of the program when Fran took over. The pre-season, mid-season, and current-season qualifier of "at least" 8-4 seemed more wishful than probable.

I’m a broken record but I think 8-4 is critical. If all we got for firing Dino is 1 more win then color me concerned. Plus I really think this staff needs 8 wins to sell in the portal. 7 or less and it’s same old SU.

 

[Doc5120]

We need 8-4. Schedule has been as easy as it will ever get. Need to capitalize with the best QB and skill guys we've had in 25-30 years. This was the type of season where you hope for double digit wins. And looking at next year - man, I struggle to see us getting to .500.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I’m a broken record but I think 8-4 is critical. If all we got for firing Dino is 1 more win then color me concerned. Plus I really think this staff needs 8 wins to sell in the portal. 7 or less and it’s same old SU.

On the one hand 8-4 would be the 3rd best record since McNabb. So it is a big accomplishment. On the other hand we had 0.0 P4 OOC games and only played one of the Top 4 ACC teams.

Going 3-5 (7-5 overall) in the ACC is pretty weak. That should be more of a concern going forward and not a celebration.


No matter what, year 3 is really when we need to see real results. We will know by then if the experiment was a success or it is time to move on.



Edit

Also we had an upgrade in talent. Adding one more W vs last year where we had no QB the 2nd half of the season, plus OG and Pena were out all year. That isn't some great accomplishment. We lost 1/2 of Shrader, Alford, Brown and replaced them with McCord, Meeks, Pena, OG, a partial JRS, and maybe Zeed for the last 3, all against a weaker schedule.

 

[Offthedome]

I’m a broken record but I think 8-4 is critical. If all we got for firing Dino is 1 more win then color me concerned. Plus I really think this staff needs 8 wins to sell in the portal. 7 or less and it’s same old SU.

I think it's more than 1 more win. I think it's the long term growth (recruiting, team culture, etc.) that is what we are getting. I hope.

 

[David321]

I was saying all along last week that BC was a make or break game for our season because now Cal is a must win. We had to go 1-1 between those two games to get 8 wins. Now the margin for error is razor thin.

We are dangerously close to 7 wins, a November collapse, and then almost certainly not bowling next year.

 

[wiseman3]

Can we really consider 8-4 successful? If we go 7-5 or 8-4, I have a feeling that NIL donors are not going to be too pleased. They shelled out millions of dollars to get McCord and co. here with the thought that we had a real chance to be great this year. This wasn't sold as a rebuild...I just worry that when it's time to bring in our next high level QB, the money won't be there. We basically maxed out what we could produce NIL wise

 

[wiseman3]

Can we really consider 8-4 successful? If we go 7-5 or 8-4, I have a feeling that NIL donors are not going to be too pleased. They shelled out millions of dollars to get McCord and co. here with the thought that we had a real chance to be great this year. This wasn't sold as a rebuild...I just worry that when it's time to bring in our next high level QB, the money won't be there. We basically maxed out what we could produce NIL wise

And yes I think 8-4 is a good year. I'm talking NIL wise. Do we really think the syracuse donors will support at this level when we don't live up to expectations?

 

[David321]

Can we really consider 8-4 successful? If we go 7-5 or 8-4, I have a feeling that NIL donors are not going to be too pleased. They shelled out millions of dollars to get McCord and co. here with the thought that we had a real chance to be great this year. This wasn't sold as a rebuild...I just worry that when it's time to bring in our next high level QB, the money won't be there. We basically maxed out what we could produce NIL wise

Yeah, 8-4 is successful. We're not the type of program to act like an 8 win season is a disappointment. Not yet at least.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Can we really consider 8-4 successful? If we go 7-5 or 8-4, I have a feeling that NIL donors are not going to be too pleased. They shelled out millions of dollars to get McCord and co. here with the thought that we had a real chance to be great this year. This wasn't sold as a rebuild...I just worry that when it's time to bring in our next high level QB, the money won't be there. We basically maxed out what we could produce NIL wise

The reality is our NIL situation was quite small this past year -- if I told you the number, you'd be amazed at the value we got for it. The school is positioned to take it all over next year and the budget will be larger. I look forward to FB having more resources and ability to close the gap a bit more. FB knows he doesnt need the same amount as a top tier program -- but if you get him 75% of that budget? Oh boy. That was the pitch to donors and last year's portal wasn't done based on money, it was connections. And if you're a donor to SU football, you understand it's not a one year play. We've been awful forever, going all in on recruiting by nature is a multi-year plan.

He level set that he was behind in recruiting 2025's when he got here and that 2026 was the key year. There's a reason we're heavily recruiting the HS ranks in 2025 too. These are depth guys that will take a few years to churn out. Same with some of the guys we got last year.

Key will be using NIL to retain some of the under the radar guys, like Watson, that we got last year and have made a huge difference.

 

[OrgTruckPat]

I was saying all along last week that BC was a make or break game for our season because now Cal is a must win. We had to go 1-1 between those two games to get 8 wins. Now the margin for error is razor thin.

We are dangerously close to 7 wins, a November collapse, and then almost certainly not bowling next year.

This is exaxtly where I am at too

 

[David321]

The reality is our NIL situation was quite small this past year -- if I told you the number, you'd be amazed at the value we got for it. The school is positioned to take it all over next year and the budget will be larger. I look forward to FB having more resources and ability to close the gap a bit more. FB knows he doesnt need the same amount as a top tier program -- but if you get him 75% of that budget? Oh boy. That was the pitch to donors and last year's portal wasn't done based on money, it was connections. And if you're a donor to SU football, you understand it's not a one year play. We've been awful forever, going all in on recruiting by nature is a multi-year plan.

He level set that he was behind in recruiting 2025's when he got here and that 2026 was the key year. There's a reason we're heavily recruiting the HS ranks in 2025 too. These are depth guys that will take a few years to churn out. Same with some of the guys we got last year.

Key will be using NIL to retain some of the under the radar guys, like Watson, that we got last year and have made a huge difference.

This is encouraging Richmond. Thanks I needed this.

 

[AAM62]

Smart to benchmark against 2026 because absent a huge transfer haul, next season will be a disaster.

 

[Scooch]

I think it's more than 1 more win. I think it's the long term growth (recruiting, team culture, etc.) that is what we are getting. I hope.

My POV is that we need wins now to attain the long term results we want. Brown and crew were able to bring in a bunch of guys that they had personal relationships with from their time at other schools. Most of those relationships are going to be gone within another season, two max.

Luring kids away from other programs via the portal is going to come from (a) opportunities to start, and (b) joining a winning team.

We're going to be losing a LOT from this team, so there will be opportunities to start. However, 7-5 isn't particularly appealing. So the staff is going to have really sell a vision for 2025. And that's with us facing a far more daunting schedule than we've played this year.

I certainly wasn't someone thinking we'd make a playoff run! But 7 wins with this team against this schedule is a disappointment. And I worry it negatively impacts our future.

 

[Scooch]

Can we really consider 8-4 successful? If we go 7-5 or 8-4, I have a feeling that NIL donors are not going to be too pleased. They shelled out millions of dollars to get McCord and co. here with the thought that we had a real chance to be great this year. This wasn't sold as a rebuild...I just worry that when it's time to bring in our next high level QB, the money won't be there. We basically maxed out what we could produce NIL wise

By all accounts the money is there.

 

[FrancoPizza]

The school is positioned to take it all over next year and the budget will be larger.

what does this mean? The rules don’t allow schools to directly pay players… yet. And when that happens other schools can play the same game.

 

[richmondcuse03]

what does this mean? The rules don’t allow schools to directly pay players… yet. And when that happens other schools can play the same game.

The NCAA/House settlement was preliminarily approved in October. It's moving forward.

Of course other schools can play the same game but for a private school with not as large of a donor pool as others, we're better served with our school eating the cost because it realizes academics are important long term for the university.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

My POV is that we need wins now to attain the long term results we want. Brown and crew were able to bring in a bunch of guys that they had personal relationships with from their time at other schools. Most of those relationships are going to be gone within another season, two max.

Luring kids away from other programs via the portal is going to come from (a) opportunities to start, and (b) joining a winning team.

We're going to be losing a LOT from this team, so there will be opportunities to start. However, 7-5 isn't particularly appealing. So the staff is going to have really sell a vision for 2025. And that's with us facing a far more daunting schedule than we've played this year.

I certainly wasn't someone thinking we'd make a playoff run! But 7 wins with this team against this schedule is a disappointment. And I worry it negatively impacts our future.

Isn't the daunting schedule a recruiting tool? You're going to get to play in big time games.