Not much talk about WMU from an opponent standpoint.

[Chip]

New HC who wants to run a super quick style (they ran 90+ plays last week) and wants to run the ball a lot (330+ yards last week).

WMU needs to run the ball as they have very little in the way of a passing game at this point and seems likely they will play multiple QBs. If SU can stop the run or significantly limit it WMU is likely to struggle mightily as again they were a bad passing team last year and even a slight improvement isn't going to move the needle much and WMU was a disaster in pass blocking last year.

WMU had a fairly good Defense last year and the new staff kept the prior D coordinator. They lost a lot of pieces to graduation and their best two lineman to the portal. They should be susceptible especially in the secondary. They did a decent job in the game against St. Francis but gave up I believe 2 or 3 big plays, again an area where SU should be able to take advantage be it a long pass play or one of the backs breaking a long run.

SU is a massive favorite for a reason but will be interesting to see how the defense does against the run and how we respond to what I assume will be multiple trick plays and misdirection from WMU. Oline play is another factor I will be watching closely.

4 paragraphs isn't bad for an opponent with not much to talk about.

It's not quite to the level of a Tomcat "My Take" where he starts by saying this will be short because he has a tee time in the morning, and proceeds to write 17 well described paragraphs about the gameday experience.

 

[upperdeck]

other than the 68 yd td wvu ran 66 times for 270 yds thats 4 ypc which is pretty low for a team that ran it all game long..

 

[djorange1989]

I get what your saying and I agree overall that we should not have a problem with WM but Tony White defenses had trouble stopping almost all non-FCS schools on the ground. The teams we had the most success with just decided not to run it as much, more so than us ever stopping them.

For example, last year's vaunted D, while mostly still healthy against UConn gave up 104 yards on 23 carries to their 3 running backs for 4.5 YPC. 7 of the top 9 tacklers were DB's, including 3 of the top 4. This was against a team that ran it more than they passed it.

It seemed to be the dirty little secret part of White's defenses that nobody wanted to talk about because of all the other improvements he made, but his teams never stopped anybody (D1) on the ground. I am happy to have Rocky and can't image a team deciding to go 1 dimensional on us and him not responding (that's how we almost lost to VT and Liberty 2 years ago)

Well either way it should not matter against WMU but we averaged giving up 3.7 yards per carry last year, bowl included. That is pretty decent and we didn’t do that by playing the likes of Wagner 13X. Bowl included we played 11 Power 5 teams and a 12th was U Conn who ended up in a bowl. Our front 3 is bigger and deeper this year and we have our best run stopping LB back in Thompson. Yes, a 3-3-5 can get pushed around a bit by high end physical OLs but it can hold its own most of the time, especially with the Godfather running it now

 

[IthacaBarrel]

The thing about the MAC programs as many tend to get thrown into the same pool. There are some pretty good MAC teams that would give us a much better run for our money I just don't think this is one of them. Honestly, I don't think the MAC is as good as use to be

I think Syracuse wins covers the spread but nothing crazy. 38-13 type game

 

[kcsu]

I think SU will score on almost every trip. I don't see this team stopping us.

 

[SUskibum]

Well either way it should not matter against WMU but we averaged giving up 3.7 yards per carry last year, bowl included. That is pretty decent and we didn’t do that by playing the likes of Wagner 13X. Bowl included we played 11 Power 5 teams and a 12th was U Conn who ended up in a bowl. Our front 3 is bigger and deeper this year and we have our best run stopping LB back in Thompson. Yes, a 3-3-5 can get pushed around a bit by high end physical OLs but it can hold its own most of the time, especially with the Godfather running it now

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love the 3-3-5. I thought Tony didn't take it to its limits at times, particularly when schools told us what they were going to do and Tony refused to sell out to stop it. I don't think this will happen with Rocky and certainly won't vs WM

To your point we ended up ranked 22 in YPC within P5 against P5 opponents so basically top 1/3 of P5, not terrible particularly with the ragged heath issues and having to face Clemson/Shipley, FSU, Pitt, Minny

 

[Dinkyspond]

4 paragraphs isn't bad for an opponent with not much to talk about.

It's not quite to the level of a Tomcat "My Take" where he starts by saying this will be short because he has a tee time in the morning, and proceeds to write 17 well described paragraphs about the gameday experience.

classic

 

[SUATO92]

My expectation is that after we beat them by 40+ all of the people that are now saying we shouldn’t take WMU lightly will switch it up and say we can’t take anything from beating a MAC team that’s only beaten an FCS opponent. Wash rinse repeat.

 

[JeremyCuse]

My expectation is that after we beat them by 40+ all of the people that are now saying we shouldn’t take WMU lightly will switch it up and say we can’t take anything from beating a MAC team that’s only beaten an FCS opponent. Wash rinse repeat.

Whose saying SU shouldn't take WMU lightly?? I haven't seen one person say they think SU will lose or that it will even be a close game.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Whose saying SU shouldn't take WMU lightly?? I haven't seen one person say they think SU will lose or that it will even be a close game.

He makes a point though because he’s 100% right. Kind of a no win situation. Just win tomorrow and we will see what we are really made when we go on the road regardless of what Purdue does this weekend winning a night game there will mean something.

 

[JeremyCuse]

He makes a point though because he’s 100% right. Kind of a no win situation. Just win tomorrow and we will see what we are really made when we go on the road regardless of what Purdue does this weekend winning a night game there will mean something.

Of course but winning tomorrow 45-7 would definitely be a positive development

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don't care about WMU. They're just next on the schedule.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Of course but winning tomorrow 45-7 would definitely be a positive development

Sure it would but winning 34-21 would be the end of the world! And we all know it.

 

[SmilinBob]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love the 3-3-5. I thought Tony didn't take it to its limits at times, particularly when schools told us what they were going to do and Tony refused to sell out to stop it. I don't think this will happen with Rocky and certainly won't vs WM

To your point we ended up ranked 22 in YPC within P5 against P5 opponents so basically top 1/3 of P5, not terrible particularly with the ragged heath issues and having to face Clemson/Shipley, FSU, Pitt, Minny

Tony did have injuries that mounted up that did limit his choices but point taken. He took a knife to a gun fight and Rocky is using all his weapons wherever and when they're needed

 

[Finwad32]

It's an interesting game, WMU is far from a great team but as you noted SU has a history of uneven performances against these kind of teams. I am fascinated to see if this team comes out and dominates again or is it a 10-3 or 7-7 or 14-10 type of game in the 2nd quarter.

It is interesting… but I honestly don’t see many teams holding us to 10 or 14. Im even more skeptical one of those opponents is WMU.

I think we’re going to be very effective offensively.

 

[qdawgg]

My expectation is that after we beat them by 40+ all of the people that are now saying we shouldn’t take WMU lightly will switch it up and say we can’t take anything from beating a MAC team that’s only beaten an FCS opponent. Wash rinse repeat.

I don’t think I’ve seen a post yet from anyone saying we shouldn’t take WMU lightly. If I missed the 1-2 posts out of the thousands of posts this week, I guess that’s possible.

 

[qdawgg]

Sure it would but winning 34-21 would be the end of the world! And we all know it.

I’m fairness, struggling against a team that we should dominate should elicit some questions. I’m not sure why people think there’s anything wrong with asking questions (not aimed at you but there’s a couple posters who are very sensitive).
It’s not like DB has been the most consistent HC in CFB since he’s been here.

Personally, I fully expect to dominate this game but it’s also hard to completely dominate two opponents, two weeks in a row. So I’m not going to get all worried if there’s some uneven play through the game. After this weekend is when things will really matter. But if our OL struggles to open lanes or can’t pass block for large parts of the game. I see nothing wrong with being concerned about how that might translate to ACC play.

 

[orangencpolice]

One dimensional offense that wants to go fast that has consistent three and outs is a bad formula. We’ve seen that.

With A LOT of bubble screens that absolutely do not work.

 

[RF2044]

The time for talking is DONE.

Looking forward to this afternoon's beat down.

Let's Go Orange!!!

 

[upperdeck]

With A LOT of bubble screens that absolutely do not work.

they worked well last week for us.. lets see if they work as well against a non FCS opp.

 

[Lukeyloo]

I’d honestly be surprised if WMU gets into the red zone more than 2 times. I know it was Colgate, but they could do nothing against the D. I’m expecting no more than 10 points put up on Cuse.

 

[orangencpolice]

they worked well last week for us.. lets see if they work as well against a non FCS opp.

I was referring to when Shafer was our coach. Every series we would see a bubble screen that would get shut down.

 

[FrancoPizza]

A lot will depend on how effective our run D is. We could hold them to 3 yds/carry but that will put them in manageable situations. 3rd and 4… 4th and 1.

 

[anomander]

if we’re as good as i think we can be this has a chance to be a big time blow out.

 

[orangenauburn]

if we’re as good as i think we can be this has a chance to be a big time blow out.

Yeah

Count me in the camp that we can take a lot from today.

If it's like 55-10, then I feel this team is going to be pretty good this year.

If it's something like 28-17, then expect an up and down season, where getting six will be tough.