Player behavior during the official interception review...

[Ithacaorange]

No that's not right. The crowd cheered that. Then the replays went down and the team started motioning to the crowd to make noise. That's when it got really loud in there.

i think we are talking about 2 diff things - i saw (along with others based on the posts i have seen) multiple defensive players, on the field dancing to the PA music that was being played, i think that is what people have an issue with.

 

[shandeezy7]

i think we are talking about 2 diff things - i saw (along with others based on the posts i have seen) multiple defensive players, on the field dancing to the PA music that was being played, i think that is what people have an issue with.

Yeah and they were waving their arms and imploring the crowd to get louder, which they did.

 

[ForeverOrange]

I'm not naive enough to not see both sides of it. Just know when enough is enough, especially when you're getting routed, to man up and play without any bogus celebrations.

Hmm, I see your point, but you know, I kind of think this thing took a life of its own after Clemson tried to run up the score before the half was over on that 4th down. I guess I'd rather them fight, than to just play the game with no emotion, I've seen that in blowouts during Robinson's years, and once that happens it seemed like the score just got worse, because after a while they'd get so caught up in how bad that they got beat that they eventually gave up.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

Why all the talk about running up the score at halftime? What about running up the score by inside kicking after the first TD with 14+ to go in the first quarter?

Clemson would have recovered too if the ball didn't go out of bounds. Dabo and the Tigers were hell bent on jumping on us early and keeping the crowd out of that game. Too bad our secondary complied so easily.

 

[Crusty]

I don't mind team celebrations but when it is one person showboating his own play it bugs me a little. Reminds me too much of Mark Gastineau. High fives or air bumps (or whatever they are called) are sot of team oriented stuff but that superman move is just showing off and really silly in certain moments. It smacks of "look at what I did" instead of a team celebration and I don't like it whether we are up or down. But then I am just an old guy that knew I would be sitting on my butt if I ever did that.

 

[bnoro]

Why all the talk about running up the score at halftime? What about running up the score by inside kicking after the first TD with 14+ to go in the first quarter?

Clemson would have recovered too if the ball didn't go out of bounds. Dabo and the Tigers were hell bent on jumping on us early and keeping the crowd out of that game. Too bad our secondary complied so easily.

How is that running up the score? They clearly saw something they could exploit on film and went for it.

 

[Frozen]

Why all the talk about running up the score at halftime? What about running up the score by inside kicking after the first TD with 14+ to go in the first quarter?
.

How do you run up the score when the score is 7-0 with a lot of time left in the opening quarter? There's no such thing.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Why all the talk about running up the score at halftime? What about running up the score by inside kicking after the first TD with 14+ to go in the first quarter?

Clemson would have recovered too if the ball didn't go out of bounds. Dabo and the Tigers were hell bent on jumping on us early and keeping the crowd out of that game. Too bad our secondary complied so easily.

I loved the onside kick call for them to the same degree I loathed the 4th and 5 call before the half. Both were ballsy, but that onside kick was intent on taking the crowd completely out of it.

 

[OrangeAl]

They should celebrate like they were Jim Brown. That's cool.

 

[BlazeOrange]

I can't believe it, but I actually just liked a Cali post not because it amused me, but because I agree. The crowd shouldn't need coaching from the players on when they should be into the game.

If the players have to wave and wake up a dead crowd, that's bad. However, it's more common for the players to notice the initial loudness and egg them on even more. That tells me that the crowd has already started to psyche up the team and the waving is more of an acknowledgment.

 

[billsin01]

You want them to tuck their tail and acknowledge the score in their behavior? F' that. Play each play like it's 0-0.

I'm basically OK with guys celebrating big plays. I mean, it's pretty ridiculous but I'm so used to it now that it's strange to see someone not celebrate anything that even looks like it could have been a big play.

But as to your post above -- there is a big difference between tucking tail and acknowledging defeat 'during play' and 'celebrating like you're all over your opponent.' I mean, play hard, if it gets close, get fired up, but you do risk looking completely absurd celebrating the one tackle-for-loss in a 6-play, 94 yard drive that ends up putting you 28 points behind. I"m not saying this is the exact scenario but simply that playing hard and celebrating like crazy don't have to go hand-in-hand.

 

[billsin01]

I'm always concerned when players lobby for a particular coach to be hired...especially when we're talking about 18-21 year olds who are always looking for the path of least resistance in all facets of life.

Might be nothing to it, but its something I'm going to keep an eye on. Football players need discipline...when that leaves a program, it gets ugly in a hurry.

To me this is the question with the Shafer era in general -- great to be a good guy and cuss like a sailor and drop great sound bites and recruit like crazy. That is all fine ... if you win.

I think you nailed the overriding theme to this season which is this -- Shafer is clearly a great coordinator but is there a reason he hasn't gotten the chance at the helm before?

He may end up being awesome, and I'm certainly rooting for that to be the case. But I feel like two things are true many times about coaches:

1) Guys who the players love, often have short-lived runs.
2) Guys who look and sound like classic football coaches certainly look the part, but can often fail miserably in the more mundane aspects of running a program. That usually ends up being a bad thing.

Either way, we shall see.

 

[ZoneAttack]

To me this is the question with the Shafer era in general -- great to be a good guy and cuss like a sailor and drop great sound bites and recruit like crazy. That is all fine ... if you win.

I think you nailed the overriding theme to this season which is this -- Shafer is clearly a great coordinator but is there a reason he hasn't gotten the chance at the helm before?

He may end up being awesome, and I'm certainly rooting for that to be the case. But I feel like two things are true many times about coaches:

1) Guys who the players love, often have short-lived runs.
2) Guys who look and sound like classic football coaches certainly look the part, but can often fail miserably in the more mundane aspects of running a program. That usually ends up being a bad thing.

Either way, we shall see.

Agree with most of that. I don't see any great sound bites from this guy. He seems like a long tail cat on porch full of rockers at his newsers. What he gets out is either entirely the wrong thing to say, i.e. Hunt didn't try hard enough in pre-season. Or it's just coachspeak gibberish. He has no ability to be the face of the program and give fans, boosters, recruits and players confidence.

Recruiting like crazy is the only thing that will save him and he needs his OC to live up to his reputation for that to happen. Shafer's been here as an assistant and hasn't recruited like crazy.

I'd also rate him a good coordinator, not great. What's he won a Pinstripe Bowl and MAC championship?

 

[billsin01]

Agree with most of that. I don't see any great sound bites from this guy. He seems like a long tail cat on porch full of rockers at his newsers. What he gets out is either entirely the wrong thing to say, i.e. Hunt didn't try hard enough in pre-season. Or it's just coachspeak gibberish. He has no ability to be the face of the program and give fans, boosters, recruits and players confidence.

Recruiting like crazy is the only thing that will save him and he needs his OC to live up to his reputation for that to happen. Shafer's been here as an assistant and hasn't recruited like crazy.

I'd also rate him a good coordinator, not great. What's he won a Pinstripe Bowl and MAC championship?

Yeah, I'm not sure it's worth arguing good vs. great. My feeling is he took pretty decent talent and had some really good defenses (two top 25, really only one that was mediocre, and four groups that had the ability to make plays, which is key for defenses these days). And he only won the pinstripe bowl, but we didn't have a particularly functional offense in the first three years. Regardless, he was at least pretty good.

And I mean soundbites in the sense that a lot of folks love stuff like 'hardnosed' and 'friggin' and stuff like that.

But, as a general rule I'd say I'm a bit more optimistic than you are. They've basically lost two games they weren't going to win with Lombardi, IMO. NW and Clemson are simply better and more talented. They crushed two patsies that we probably could have beat down with GRob ... well, maybe they weren't that bad, but they weren't good.

We had one close game vs. PSU. We have a chance to win it and didn't. That probably falls on coaching. But I'm willing to give them a few more weeks before I decide how I feel in general.

 

[Entropic]

Celebrating is one thing when its with your fellow players. The 1 man camera time is bothersome to me. I remember a game last year where Carolina was losing by about 40 pts and Cam Newton got a 1 yard touchdown run and did the superman rip the shirt thing, I just laughed. If its a big play like at the end of the 1st half I sort of get it but celebrate with your team, its a team game.

 

[AZOrange]

I loved the onside kick call for them to the same degree I loathed the 4th and 5 call before the half. Both were ballsy, but that onside kick was intent on taking the crowd completely out of it.

Not sure the reasoning was to take the crowd out of it. Looked like Clemson coaches noticed a big problem in our kickoff return game.

 

[Entropic]

Not sure the reasoning was to take the crowd out of it. Looked like Clemson coaches noticed a big problem in our kickoff return game.

If they wanted to they could just kick it off normal and pin us inside the 15 most of the time. Our kick return game is laughable.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Not sure the reasoning was to take the crowd out of it. Looked like Clemson coaches noticed a big problem in our kickoff return game.

Apperently they noticed a lot of our problems on film. Not sure Ive seen another coaching staff come out so well planned in every detail of the game. Maybe the reason was simply that they could?

 

[ZoneAttack]

Yeah, I'm not sure it's worth arguing good vs. great. My feeling is he took pretty decent talent and had some really good defenses (two top 25, really only one that was mediocre, and four groups that had the ability to make plays, which is key for defenses these days). And he only won the pinstripe bowl, but we didn't have a particularly functional offense in the first three years. Regardless, he was at least pretty good.

And I mean soundbites in the sense that a lot of folks love stuff like 'hardnosed' and 'friggin' and stuff like that.

But, as a general rule I'd say I'm a bit more optimistic than you are. They've basically lost two games they weren't going to win with Lombardi, IMO. NW and Clemson are simply better and more talented. They crushed two patsies that we probably could have beat down with GRob ... well, maybe they weren't that bad, but they weren't good.

We had one close game vs. PSU. We have a chance to win it and didn't. That probably falls on coaching. But I'm willing to give them a few more weeks before I decide how I feel in general.

Yeah, I'm not sure it's worth arguing good vs. great. My feeling is he took pretty decent talent and had some really good defenses (two top 25, really only one that was mediocre, and four groups that had the ability to make plays, which is key for defenses these days). And he only won the pinstripe bowl, but we didn't have a particularly functional offense in the first three years. Regardless, he was at least pretty good.

And I mean soundbites in the sense that a lot of folks love stuff like 'hardnosed' and 'friggin' and stuff like that.

But, as a general rule I'd say I'm a bit more optimistic than you are. They've basically lost two games they weren't going to win with Lombardi, IMO. NW and Clemson are simply better and more talented. They crushed two patsies that we probably could have beat down with GRob ... well, maybe they weren't that bad, but they weren't good.

We had one close game vs. PSU. We have a chance to win it and didn't. That probably falls on coaching. But I'm willing to give them a few more weeks before I decide how I feel in general.

Fair enough. That all makes sense. I hope he pulls it together, grows and wins. SU will certainly give him the time, which they should. But, I'm never going to be a fan of the way this guy handles himself. As someone else posted here, I'd really like to see how this board would react if Shafer had his act with another team. It is Schianoesque.

 

[AZOrange]

Apperently they noticed a lot of our problems on film. Not sure Ive seen another coaching staff come out so well planned in every detail of the game. Maybe the reason was simply that they could?

Yeah that was part of it. Our scheme played right into what they wanted to do. Throw in the athlete mix for them and boom...

 

[AZOrange]

If they wanted to they could just kick it off normal and pin us inside the 15 most of the time. Our kick return game is laughable.

I agree. But why even give it to us when u don't have to...there wasn't a player within 10 yards of that ball

 

[sufandu]

Why all the talk about running up the score at halftime? What about running up the score by inside kicking after the first TD with 14+ to go in the first quarter?

Clemson would have recovered too if the ball didn't go out of bounds. Dabo and the Tigers were hell bent on jumping on us early and keeping the crowd out of that game. Too bad our secondary complied so easily.

It's not running up the score when it's 7-0. It was a surprising strategic move to keep the crowd out of it by getting a big early lead. I have no problem with it. I'm sure Clemson fans thought it was stupid in a, "Why do we need to onside kick against them?" kind of way. Fwiw, I had no problem with them trying to punch in a TD at the end of the half either. Any SU fan that does needs to watch a replay of us against Rutgers in '98.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

It's not running up the score when it's 7-0. It was a surprising strategic move to keep the crowd out of it by getting a big early lead. I have no problem with it. I'm sure Clemson fans thought it was stupid in a, "Why do we need to onside kick against them?" kind of way. Fwiw, I had no problem with them trying to punch in a TD at the end of the half either. Any SU fan that does needs to watch a replay of us against Rutgers in '98.

Reading comprehension much? Not directed at you specifically, since 3 or 4 posts essentially say the same thing.

In a thread that is debating "running up the score," I chimed in about an onside kick at 7-0 as part of an overall strategy to get out to a big lead (read between the lines: run up the score) and take the crowd out of the game. I don't have a problem with it either.

Of course it's not "running up the score at 7-0. But does it even enter your minds that Clemson might have been concerned about Syracuse staying in the game? We had scored 50+ for two straight weeks and had our biggest crowd in a decade. Hindsight is wonderful, but even at 7-0, I don't think they could have dreamed about how'd easily they would score.

I think Clemson wanted no part of a close game in the Dome. And as others have said, they did all they could to make sure it didn't happen.

 

[sufandu]

Reading comprehension much? Not directed at you specifically, since 3 or 4 posts essentially say the same thing.

In a thread that is debating "running up the score," I chimed in about an onside kick at 7-0 as part of an overall strategy to get out to a big lead (read between the lines: run up the score) and take the crowd out of the game. I don't have a problem with it either.

Of course it's not "running up the score at 7-0. But does it even enter your minds that Clemson might have been concerned about Syracuse staying in the game? We had scored 50+ for two straight weeks and had our biggest crowd in a decade. Hindsight is wonderful, but even at 7-0, I don't think they could have dreamed about how'd easily they would score.

I think Clemson wanted no part of a close game in the Dome. And as others have said, they did all they could to make sure it didn't happen.

3 or 4 posts said the same thing because you were the one talking about it being running up the score. Reread your own post. Getting an early lead isn't the same as running up the score.

 

[Chip]

Reading comprehension much? Not directed at you specifically, since 3 or 4 posts essentially say the same thing.

In a thread that is debating "running up the score," I chimed in about an onside kick at 7-0 as part of an overall strategy to get out to a big lead (read between the lines: run up the score) and take the crowd out of the game. I don't have a problem with it either.

Of course it's not "running up the score at 7-0. But does it even enter your minds that Clemson might have been concerned about Syracuse staying in the game? We had scored 50+ for two straight weeks and had our biggest crowd in a decade. Hindsight is wonderful, but even at 7-0, I don't think they could have dreamed about how'd easily they would score.

I think Clemson wanted no part of a close game in the Dome. And as others have said, they did all they could to make sure it didn't happen.

I knew what you meant. Dabo showed his hand early that he wanted the game to be over by halftime. I'm sure he knows SU has had some big 2nd half comebacks in the Dome recently (Wake 2011, Northwestern 2012), so he really wanted to bury us. I can't believe there's anyone here who would blame him. And I can't believe how much it set off our head coach.

I wasn't sure what I thought about Hambone as a head coach originally, I'm sure Clemson fans wondered as well. But that staff looks like it's good at what it does, and they've put together something special down there.