Now That Basketball Is Over, This Football Foreplay is Killin' Me

[CA Monk]

Friday August 31st can't get here soon enough and yet we have no choice but to persevere until kickoff. So much anticipation: Who will emerge from Spring practice? Who will we add to the roster? What kind of details will be teased out of closed practices? Will we finally experience a blow out against a P5 team (I mean one in our favor). It seems like years since that happened. Will we finally, finally be ranked for the first time since 2001? I was almost young then.

It's not easy being an Orange Football fan, but well worth the effort. It's not really effort, it's more a fever that envelops you. Just the fact that you're reading this "fan fiction" from an SU fanatic indicates you understand what I mean. There's always the potential for a superb season - '87, '92, '05 (superbly awful). At this stage it doesn't even have to be that superb. We probably have a better chance of a sterling season in 2019 as we're now stockpiling some really decent peer talent.

What freshman will get 2-deep playing time? - Trill Williams, DE Okechukwu, WR Hendrix, RB Howard or, my sleeper, Cooper Lutz. Will the new set of LBs contribute to our now possibly staunch DL (I'm loving Robinson, not to mention Slayton) and our newly smurfless secondary. We could be a beast defensively now that we've developed a little depth at the DL and in the secondary. At least we shouldn't melt down in November like we've been prone to lately.

The anticipation is killin' me in a good way. The Spring Game performances and their significance are yet to be registered. The college football magazines (yes I still buy at least one and leave it on the nightstand) will hit the newsstands in early May. Who will be the new recruits/grad transfers/JUCOs we land between now and summer camp - listening Jordan and Johnson?

Well there you have it. A little spasm of my Orange heart typed out for posterity. Where else am I going to put this energy? Here damn it. Here with you folks. Meanwhile I'll enjoy the ride, send prayers to Rex, hope the injury bugaboo is limited, if non-existent, and instead of losing close games to mostly excellent teams we start winning them. And that come November Notre Dame is sorry they opted for an alumni-pleasing football game in our backyard at Yankee Stadium. We still owe them for 1961.

 

[TexanMark]

Lacrosse helps till summer... although this team is killing me with the good n bad weeks

Worried about LBer corps
Does Run game appear in '18?
Wonder who the big scalp we get this year? FSU?

Can't lose opening weekend or mass depression in CNY.

Is 40k average attendance too much to ask for?

Early FB pubs are a tease until Phil Steele arrives in June. Worth the wait.

 

[Trueblue25]

We need a football iggy’s

 

[TheCusian]

Friday August 31st can't get here soon enough and yet we have no choice but to persevere until kickoff. So much anticipation: Who will emerge from Spring practice? Who will we add to the roster? What kind of details will be teased out of closed practices? Will we finally experience a blow out against a P5 team (I mean one in our favor). It seems like years since that happened. Will we finally, finally be ranked for the first time since 2001? I was almost young then.

It's not easy being an Orange Football fan, but well worth the effort. It's not really effort, it's more a fever that envelops you. Just the fact that you're reading this "fan fiction" from an SU fanatic indicates you understand what I mean. There's always the potential for a superb season - '87, '92, '05 (superbly awful). At this stage it doesn't even have to be that superb. We probably have a better chance of a sterling season in 2019 as we're now stockpiling some really decent peer talent.

What freshman will get 2-deep playing time? - Trill Williams, DE Okechukwu, WR Hendrix, RB Howard or, my sleeper, Cooper Lutz. Will the new set of LBs contribute to our now possibly staunch DL (I'm loving Robinson, not to mention Slayton) and our newly smurfless secondary. We could be a beast defensively now that we've developed a little depth at the DL and in the secondary. At least we shouldn't melt down in November like we've been prone to lately.

The anticipation is killin' me in a good way. The Spring Game performances and their significance are yet to be registered. The college football magazines (yes I still buy at least one and leave it on the nightstand) will hit the newsstands in early May. Who will be the new recruits/grad transfers/JUCOs we land between now and summer camp - listening Jordan and Johnson?

Well there you have it. A little spasm of my Orange heart typed out for posterity. Where else am I going to put this energy? Here damn it. Here with you folks. Meanwhile I'll enjoy the ride, send prayers to Rex, hope the injury bugaboo is limited, if non-existent, and instead of losing close games to mostly excellent teams we start winning them. And that come November Notre Dame is sorry they opted for an alumni-pleasing football game in our backyard at Yankee Stadium. We still owe them for 1961.

Good post!

Not directed at you - but man I'm glad I don't have to spend too much time over there.

Basketball side: "We're great, but I'm sure we're in decline. Not sure about our HoF coach"
Football side: "We're getting better, is this the year? Dino F-ing Babers"

 

[OrangeAl]

Lacrosse helps till summer... although this team is killing me with the good n bad weeks

Worried about LBer corps
Does Run game appear in '18?
Wonder who the big scalp we get this year? FSU?

Can't lose opening weekend or mass depression in CNY.

Is 40k average attendance too much to ask for?

Early FB pubs are a tease until Phil Steele arrives in June. Worth the wait.

35k average with a solid 30k in the building would be a good next step. The 40k average will have to wait until there's a proven product on the field.

 

[TexanMark]

Assuming we beat WMU to start

Sept 8th Wagner 34k announced, 28k actual
Sept 15th FSU 45k announced, 41k actual
Sept 22nd UConn 38k announced, 34k actual
Oct 20th UNC 40k announced, 37k actual
Oct 27th NCSt 40k announce, 37k actual
Nov 9th (Fri) Louisville 45k announced, 41k actual

My guesses assumes...this team is on track for 7 wins. Adjust up or down as the record plays out. If Cuse has a breakout season and we are looking at 8+ wins...Louisville could be close to a sell out for Friday Night.

 

[OrangeAl]

Yep, that could really happen. But I think it's a best case scenario. And, you're right. That opening game in Kalamazoo is going to make or break our attendance for September.

 

[cuse10]

Expecting a bowl game this year. Even if they are 6-6, it helps the program's outlook.

 

[orange_in_VA]

Dino can not lose to another mid-major. Greg Robinson only lost to a mid-major once. Marrone and Shafer never did.

 

[corpjet]

The goal for this season as stated MUST be a Bowl appearance.

I think we pull the upset at Yankee Stadium and knock off the Irish as our BIG win on the 2018 campaign.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Dino can not lose to another mid-major. Greg Robinson only lost to a mid-major once. Marrone and Shafer never did.

Shafer lost to USF. I agree with you though. I honestly feel MT was a fluke. I think if that's any other DC on the sidelines we win that game

 

[TheCusian]

Dino can not lose to another mid-major. Greg Robinson only lost to a mid-major once. Marrone and Shafer never did.

C'mon.

Shafer never sniffed the wins in his 4 years that Babers has had in 2 years. Marrone didn't have any in his first two that matched Babers - he also was HC when they were a defecto mid-major in the depleted Big East. He lost to Rutgrs and Uconn.

Let's steer clear of "he can't" statements.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Assuming we beat WMU to start

Sept 8th Wagner 34k announced, 28k actual
Sept 15th FSU 45k announced, 41k actual
Sept 22nd UConn 38k announced, 34k actual
Oct 20th UNC 40k announced, 37k actual
Oct 27th NCSt 40k announce, 37k actual
Nov 9th (Fri) Louisville 45k announced, 41k actual

My guesses assumes...this team is on track for 7 wins. Adjust up or down as the record plays out. If Cuse has a breakout season and we are looking at 8+ wins...Louisville could be close to a sell out for Friday Night.

Honestly I'd maybe agree if that was a Saturday game. Friday makes it tougher for a sell out - especially since we haven't come close to one in years

 

[orange_in_VA]

C'mon.

Shafer never sniffed the wins in his 4 years that Babers has had in 2 years. Marrone didn't have any in his first two that matched Babers - he also was HC when they were a defecto mid-major in the depleted Big East. He lost to Rutgrs and Uconn.

Let's steer clear of "he can't" statements.

Babers won or was competitive in 9 out of 12 games last year which gives me and the rest of the fanbase reason for optimism. I like the offense and the recruits we are getting. We lost a lot on defense. How big are those losses? We have no idea yet.

However, Babers is the highest paid coach in the history of Syracuse football and has more facilities and financial backing then any coach before him. It doesn't matter how much we love coaches for different reasons. The only thing that matters is Wins and Losses. He needs more Wins, and soon. Losing to a MAC team that didn't go to a bowl game last year to start year 3 would be inexcusable at this point. We're supposed to be playing big boy football. You can't beat two top teams and lose to two mid-majors and call it a wash and expect the fans to be happy with another 4 win season. Unless we somehow get to a bowl without that win, I say again, he can not lose that game.

With that said, I think this team beats WMU easily and does enough this year to go bowling and it's a moot point. But I always assume SU is gonna be better than they really are. It's been like 15 years of failed optimism.

 

[Crusty]

Admittedly, I am a glass half-filled guy, but this year I think it is 5/8 full!!!

This is the biggest, fastest deepest team we have had for the better part of 2 decades. That also goes for skill players as well.

For the first time since joining the ACC we can honestly say we are capable of beating anyone on any given day. That, my Orange friends, says a lot.

Everyone on our schedule will take us seriously.

 

[TheCusian]

Babers won or was competitive in 9 out of 12 games last year which gives me and the rest of the fanbase reason for optimism. I like the offense and the recruits we are getting. We lost a lot on defense. How big are those losses? We have no idea yet.

However, Babers is the highest paid coach in the history of Syracuse football and has more facilities and financial backing then any coach before him. It doesn't matter how much we love coaches for different reasons. The only thing that matters is Wins and Losses. He needs more Wins, and soon. Losing to a MAC team that didn't go to a bowl game last year to start year 3 would be inexcusable at this point. We're supposed to be playing big boy football. You can't beat two top teams and lose to two mid-majors and call it a wash and expect the fans to be happy with another 4 win season. Unless we somehow get to a bowl without that win, I say again, he can not lose that game.

With that said, I think this team beats WMU easily and does enough this year to go bowling and it's a moot point. But I always assume SU is gonna be better than they really are. It's been like 15 years of failed optimism.

I thought it with Marrone and Shafer and now Babers - placing "we should win" or "no more losses to x" expectations is not helpful. What are you going to do if he loses to another G5 team? Stop being a fan? Write the AD? Start a website?

We are playing big boy football. We beat the #2 team in the country and the defending national champs. No one saw that coming. After that, we lost a lot of games we thought we'd win. Not a lot of people saw that coming. Who knows what will happen.

My stance is to evaluate a HC based on what I think an AD does: Is this the coach that is capable of building sustained success here? Losing to a G5 school is not a red line.

 

[cuse309]

C'mon.

Shafer never sniffed the wins in his 4 years that Babers has had in 2 years. Marrone didn't have any in his first two that matched Babers - he also was HC when they were a defecto mid-major in the depleted Big East. He lost to Rutgrs and Uconn.

Let's steer clear of "he can't" statements.

I don't know...I'd say beating a 1AA school in overtime on a trick play by your punter for a 1 point win is worse than losing to a mid major.

 

[orange_in_VA]

I thought it with Marrone and Shafer and now Babers - placing "we should win" or "no more losses to x" expectations is not helpful. What are you going to do if he loses to another G5 team? Stop being a fan? Write the AD? Start a website?

We are playing big boy football. We beat the #2 team in the country and the defending national champs. No one saw that coming. After that, we lost a lot of games we thought we'd win. Not a lot of people saw that coming. Who knows what will happen.

My stance is to evaluate a HC based on what I think an AD does: Is this the coach that is capable of building sustained success here? Losing to a G5 school is not a red line.

I don't understand not having expectations. Should we expect to be investing in losing? It's a business and business requires return on investment from the AD down to the fanbase. Babers has momentum still based on his signature wins and recruiting classes. If fans and recruits don't see wins soon, he loses all that faith. At this point, Babers needs to have 6 wins this year to match Shafer's win total for twice (or more) of the investment. Thats only in regards to the pay of the head coach. Baber's staff is presumably making more money as well and he has more support staff and resources than any coach we've ever had.

He's easy to root for and I've always believed coaches deserve time (5 years) to build a program (unless it's a Gerg dumpster fire), but those days are over in modern football. 3-4 years. That's the expectation. Year 3 should not include losing to a MAC school.

 

[orange79]

I don't know...I'd say beating a 1AA school in overtime on a trick play by your punter for a 1 point win is worse than losing to a mid major.

A win is always better than a loss. Always.

 

[cuse309]

A win is always better than a loss. Always.

I feel like it's at least as damaging to the perception of the team. I know when I see that "P5 team X beat 1AA team X 32-21" on the ESPN ticker, I think to myself, "P5 team X must suck."

When I see "MAC school X, beat P5 team X 32-31" on the ESPN ticker, I think to myself, "Wow, 1AA school X must have balled out today. Good for them"
But, yes, I would agree that a win is better than a loss because even the 1AA win counts towards bowl eligibility.

Then again, I'm just one guy. Maybe it's just me that perceives things that way.

 

[orange79]

I feel like it's at least as damaging to the perception of the team. I know when I see that "P5 team X beat 1AA team X 32-21" on the ESPN ticker, I think to myself, "P5 team X must suck."

When I see "MAC school X, beat P5 team X 32-31" on the ESPN ticker, I think to myself, "Wow, 1AA school X must have balled out today. Good for them"
But, yes, I would agree that a win is better than a loss because even the 1AA win counts towards bowl eligibility.

Then again, I'm just one guy. Maybe it's just me that perceives things that way.

I agree, it may hurt perception - for a short time. But losing to App St probably didn't hurt Michigan for very long.

 

[cuse309]

I agree, it may hurt perception - for a short time. But losing to App St probably didn't hurt Michigan for very long.

It would have hurt them longer had they not gone on to beat Florida in the Citrus Bowl for a 9th win. Had they missed out on bowling that year, I think it would have been much more damaging.

 

[All4SU]

I don't know...I'd say beating a 1AA school in overtime on a trick play by your punter for a 1 point win is worse than losing to a mid major.

Winning is always better than losing.

 

[Jeepers]

I don't know...I'd say beating a 1AA school in overtime on a trick play by your punter for a 1 point win is worse than losing to a mid major.

Don’t remind me. That game might honestly be my least favorite cuse game ever. I was done with him after that game.

 

[Ish88888]

Friday August 31st can't get here soon enough and yet we have no choice but to persevere until kickoff. So much anticipation: Who will emerge from Spring practice? Who will we add to the roster? What kind of details will be teased out of closed practices? Will we finally experience a blow out against a P5 team (I mean one in our favor). It seems like years since that happened. Will we finally, finally be ranked for the first time since 2001? I was almost young then.

It's not easy being an Orange Football fan, but well worth the effort. It's not really effort, it's more a fever that envelops you. Just the fact that you're reading this "fan fiction" from an SU fanatic indicates you understand what I mean. There's always the potential for a superb season - '87, '92, '05 (superbly awful). At this stage it doesn't even have to be that superb. We probably have a better chance of a sterling season in 2019 as we're now stockpiling some really decent peer talent.

What freshman will get 2-deep playing time? - Trill Williams, DE Okechukwu, WR Hendrix, RB Howard or, my sleeper, Cooper Lutz. Will the new set of LBs contribute to our now possibly staunch DL (I'm loving Robinson, not to mention Slayton) and our newly smurfless secondary. We could be a beast defensively now that we've developed a little depth at the DL and in the secondary. At least we shouldn't melt down in November like we've been prone to lately.

The anticipation is killin' me in a good way. The Spring Game performances and their significance are yet to be registered. The college football magazines (yes I still buy at least one and leave it on the nightstand) will hit the newsstands in early May. Who will be the new recruits/grad transfers/JUCOs we land between now and summer camp - listening Jordan and Johnson?

Well there you have it. A little spasm of my Orange heart typed out for posterity. Where else am I going to put this energy? Here damn it. Here with you folks. Meanwhile I'll enjoy the ride, send prayers to Rex, hope the injury bugaboo is limited, if non-existent, and instead of losing close games to mostly excellent teams we start winning them. And that come November Notre Dame is sorry they opted for an alumni-pleasing football game in our backyard at Yankee Stadium. We still owe them for 1961.

Looooooove the enthusiasm and I share it my friend. The spring does have some significant value. Hell , we are in the process of finding 4-6 receivers that can get off the line, run precise patterns , be on the same page as ED and TD, and then ...well...catch the football

I too ,think Cooper Lutz will make an impact in that search for 4-6 receivers. Love it. The kid has it. That said, qe have a serious wr mystery on our hands with zero returning production , ok, wrong if you count some custis production . I see him as inconsistent.