Orlando Sentinel Sportswriter is on Drugs

[orange79]

Prediction: Having an OL that's packed with talent and experience, and a QB that can hurt you in about 50 ways (including running by your defense), is going to make SU especially hard to contend with. We'll have some issues sorting out WR and LB, but once those dominoes fall, baring injuries to key players, we could have a winning season this year and maybe a bowl bid.

Crazy talk

 

[Cusefan69]

Back to back to back 4-8 seasons; 3 winning seasons overly the last 16 seasons = well deserved lack of respect.

On the money with this statement...truth...until we start winning consistently no fans should be offended by a ranking like this...the writers that pay attention would have a slightly higher ranking but really there is no material difference between being 80, 90 or 100. If I was Babers I would let that article hang in the weight room and the coaching staffs offices all summer...go Cuse!

 

[rrlbees]

On the money with this statement...truth...until we start winning consistently no fans should be offended by a ranking like this...the writers that pay attention would have a slightly higher ranking but really there is no material difference between being 80, 90 or 100. If I was Babers I would let that article hang in the weight room and the coaching staffs offices all summer...go Cuse!

109 is ignorance. Even with the 4-8 seasons we weren’t ranked 109. If he thinks we’re a 2 win team, then say so. And everyone knows we’ve flamed out at the end of the seasons because Dungey was out. So I assume he’s predicting Dungey gets hurt again.

 

[Cusefan69]

109 is ignorance. Even with the 4-8 seasons we weren’t ranked 109. If he thinks we’re a 2 win team, then say so. And everyone knows we’ve flamed out at the end of the seasons because Dungey was out. So I assume he’s predicting Dungey gets hurt again.

Bees I am not saying the guy isn't ignorant, I just think that until we start getting wins and turning things around we should not be surprised by those types of representations...and again just my opinion but there is little difference when talking rankings that high, whether 60/70/80 or 100 there is significant work yet to be done...as an aside if the guy is ignorant, there is no sense in even being offended.

 

[Ish88888]

Dino's system is 0-8 in Nov at the P5 level. I certainly hope that trend reverses itself this year but as of now that is a fact that can't be debated. What also can't be debated is the number of points this team gave up in the final 3 games of the year. For those with short memories, we gave up an avg of over 50ppg in our final 3 contests. And we lost Franklin/Bennett/Ishmael/Philips. It's only with Orange glasses that anyone would conceivably rank us much higher to start the year. That being said 109/99/89 does it really matter? The last 40 teams were probably put into a bucket and just randomly drawn.

Well said, and yes, a believe it's the defensive debacle in November that has directly translated to our november record. Yes, part of it is depth, but it could also be the T2 and fatigue. The backers covering in this system is imperative and they pretty much got lit up all over the field . Gonna be tough replacing the backers , but the incoming starters may play better in space and hopefully change our November results .

 

[RandomGuy]

Prediction: Having an OL that's packed with talent and experience, and a QB that can hurt you in about 50 ways (including running by your defense), is going to make SU especially hard to contend with. We'll have some issues sorting out WR and LB, but once those dominoes fall, baring injuries to key players, we could have a winning season this year and maybe a bowl bid.

Right there, with you. I'm just waiting to see if they are above average. Definitely improved.

 

[rrlbees]

Well said, and yes, a believe it's the defensive debacle in November that has directly translated to our november record. Yes, part of it is depth, but it could also be the T2 and fatigue. The backers covering in this system is imperative and they pretty much got lit up all over the field . Gonna be tough replacing the backers , but the incoming starters may play better in space and hopefully change our November results .

How about no Dungey translating into our November record?

 

[Ish88888]

How about no Dungey translating into our November record?

Yup, lol, goes without saying. Very good point. I have a good vibe he will be there for the team this year.

 

[rrlbees]

Btw, last year 109 translated to (108) Illinois at 2-9, (109) E Carolina 3-9, (110) Baylor 1-11.

Yea, we’d have to take a big step backwards to be 109. Scary that this guy might be an AP voter this year.

 

[blizz]

Everyone relax. A beat writer from a town where the best gig going is a grown man running around dressed up like a cartoon mouse and nothing but terribly adulterated street drugs just knocked us. I think we're going to be ok.

 

[tipphill]

Nary a mention of what will be the greatest strength of the 2018 Syracuse Orangemen: the offensive line.

i absolutely hope you are right about the oline

 

[Trueblue25]

Ottoingrotto will see this man in the afterlife

 

[shu 49]

Until our defense stays strong all year, we will get this crap from writers. Will be sweeter when it’s proven wrong.

 

[elimunelson]

How about no Dungey translating into our November record?

how about no dungey ever in November. What's the definition of insanity, doing the same thing and expecting a diff result.

Until we see him playing when the leaves change, u have to assume he'll get hurt again. I'm not sure we can fault guys who think we're in a rut of losing seasons.

I PERSONALLY think this team will be bowl bound but i can't fault an outside observer assuming "same ole same ole" in Syracuse. We do play in the second toughest division in all of college football too. Doesn't help that any given year a new team becomes top 5 worthy.

 

[shu 49]

Has anyone heard yet about any defensive changes I have heard we are making. I asked this about a month ago but no one heard anything.

 

[rrlbees]

how about no dungey ever in November. What's the definition of insanity, doing the same thing and expecting a diff result.

Until we see him playing when the leaves change, u have to assume he'll get hurt again. I'm not sure we can fault guys who think we're in a rut of losing seasons.

I PERSONALLY think this team will be bowl bound but i can't fault an outside observer assuming "same ole same ole" in Syracuse. We do play in the second toughest division in all of college football too. Doesn't help that any given year a new team becomes top 5 worthy.

Same ole same ole wouldn’t be 109.

 

[sutomcat]

Has anyone heard yet about any defensive changes I have heard we are making. I asked this about a month ago but no one heard anything.

The defensive backs have said that they are playing more man coverage and the coverage is a lot tighter than it has been so far in the Babers era.

If the coaches still to their guns, it is going to be harder to get that 5-10 yard pickup the staff has been giving up routinely over the past 2 years. That said, we will likely get beat deep more as well.

The sad thing is that the soft, mostly zone based pass defense we have been playing is designed to prevent getting beat for long TDs and even playing that style, the defense has been beaten deep at an alarming rate.

The change is badly needed and I think it will help a lot, provided we can come up with a decent pass rush without blitzing a bunch of players.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Has anyone heard yet about any defensive changes I have heard we are making. I asked this about a month ago but no one heard anything.

According to the Orlando article... Elon Mitchell has been moved to DE.

 

[shu 49]

As I said before, Robinson is an animal and could be a high draft pick and Slayton as well. The other 2 starters are constant and dependable. I think we can get a push consistantly but even Clemson with perhaps the best dline in country blitzes regularly. Now I don’t know if they drop dlinemen back or not but they put pressure on u and I am in that same mind set. If we are gonna get burned deep, might as well crush qb a few times and get some stops we normally don’t.

 

[StopCoolio]

You really can't overestimate how big of an impact Jordan Fredericks' transfer year at UMass will have on the 2018 Syracuse team. It's just hard to tell how we'll replace that 0 carries for 0 yards.

On the other hand, we have 'key returner' Aaron Hackett and his 0 catches coming back.

 

[griddy]

You really can't overestimate how big of an impact Jordan Fredericks' transfer year at UMass will have on the 2018 Syracuse team. It's just hard to tell how we'll replace that 0 carries for 0 yards.

On the other hand, we have 'key returner' Aaron Hackett and his 0 catches coming back.

Great. Make your feeble point by unfairly attacking a returning player. How many passes were thrown to him last season? Has this player, or any other player, made the kind of improvement that could make him a key contributor this season? Are you aware in any knowledgeable way which young players stepped up this spring? It’s not unusual for a true freshman going into sophomore season to break out. The problem with fan boards is when commentat0rs make statements without having direct knowledge. I’m sure the writer from Orlando, whatever his faults, did not just pull names out of a hat. Those names probably came from someone affiliated or close to the program. You are free to disagree but how about giving our young players a chance before denigrating them?

 

[TheCusian]

If our only victory was Clemson we should've been at #90 or better.
However we're at #109 because the Syracuse "brand" (I dislike that term) has deteriorated the last 17 years in the minds of many. Especially in the mind of that writer. Of course once we make our way back, it'll be so much sweeter in remembering where we came from.

I don’t think so. I think the writer is just lazy and uninformed. There is no way you can research CFB and come up with that number. No. Way.

 

[TheCusian]

Dino's system is 0-8 in Nov at the P5 level. I certainly hope that trend reverses itself this year but as of now that is a fact that can't be debated. What also can't be debated is the number of points this team gave up in the final 3 games of the year. For those with short memories, we gave up an avg of over 50ppg in our final 3 contests. And we lost Franklin/Bennett/Ishmael/Philips. It's only with Orange glasses that anyone would conceivably rank us much higher to start the year. That being said 109/99/89 does it really matter? The last 40 teams were probably put into a bucket and just randomly drawn.

Nope. 109 is an insane number, flat out. The stats don’t support it at all.

 

[TheCusian]

Yes he was at least last year...

Meet the 4 voters who ranked UCF No. 1 in the final AP poll

Lol. This explains it - he must think SoS stands for “help”

 

[Pyle]

Nope. 109 is an insane number, flat out. The stats don’t support it at all.

I do agree that 109 is a lowball number but before you get too upset. Those stats you're talking about...76th in scoring last year, 100th is scoring defense. Yeah, we get alot of yards, but they still aren't translating to points and we can't stop anybody. When you combine those two stats it's puts us around the mid 80's. So is 109 low? Sure but like I said, it doesn't really matter if we're 85 or 109, it's crap-tastic either way. I don't think we will be as bad as last year, most people here don't either. But to an outsider who sees a team who's offensive leader has durability issues, backed up by an unproven RS frosh and a kid recovering from cancer, combined with the losses mentioned prior and yeah there's no reason to rank us even in the middle of the pack.