Post SU-UL thoughts | Syracusefan.com

Post SU-UL thoughts

orangepassion

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Going into this game, Syracuse was coming off a bye while Louisville was coming off a very physical, hard fought game against Clemson with a hurt QB. One would think this would be a big advantage for us. However, the opposite was true-It looked like we were the ones coming off a physical game and they appeared energetic and much more physical:
  • I lost count of how many times our defenders were dragged for significant yardage down the field, but it was many
  • Rarely did the 1st point of contact make the tackle-That was true on both Defense and Special teams.
  • The cliche "they wanted it more than us" is overused, but it appeared that way yesterday
  • We looked like we hadn't practiced in 2 weeks
  • Everyone in the stadium knows we're running it every 1st down, usually with Tucker-Zero creativity on offense. I keep waiting for us to actually give the ball to guy running in motion for a jet sweep, but it appears that we have Shrader run it up in the middle every time in that scenario
  • Our passes were generally short and horizontal. Defenses have no reason to fear the deep pass and are selling out on the run, as they should. It doesn't appear the staff has any confidence in Shrader to throw deep
  • We continue to get several 15 yard penalties a game. Shrader seems to only draw our OL offsides with the claps/fake hikes prior to the snap
However, what upset me most was not how bad we played. What upset me most is it appeared Dino gave up at halftime. For whatever reason, It seemed the gameplan going into the second half was to continue running the ball and milk the clock as much as possible. That could be a good strategy when you are up 28 points, but not when you are down by that amount. We literally just missed having the play clock expire on several plays in the second half and on basically every play took 30 seconds or more. It appeared to me that Dino was more concerned about not letting the score get much worse than trying to win the game. I know it would have been difficult and unlikely for us to come back, but I've witnessed crazier comebacks as a fan with less time to do it. It was demoralizing to me as a fan and brought back memories of the Pitt game 2 years ago when he gave up and refused to use any of his timeouts.
What's even more bizarre was in spite of trying to milk the clock as much as possible, he left Shrader and Tucker in till the very end, even after it was impossible to come back. Sometimes it feels to me that he's more concerned with stats, such as having Tucker break the record and be one of the leading rushers in the country than winning. I hope he is asked about these things, but haven't noticed much talk about it. I want to believe in him, but he really lost a lot of my faith with the way he conducted the second half.
 
Going into this game, Syracuse was coming off a bye while Louisville was coming off a very physical, hard fought game against Clemson with a hurt QB. One would think this would be a big advantage for us. However, the opposite was true-It looked like we were the ones coming off a physical game and they appeared energetic and much more physical:
  • I lost count of how many times our defenders were dragged for significant yardage down the field, but it was many
  • Rarely did the 1st point of contact make the tackle-That was true on both Defense and Special teams.
  • The cliche "they wanted it more than us" is overused, but it appeared that way yesterday
  • We looked like we hadn't practiced in 2 weeks
  • Everyone in the stadium knows we're running it every 1st down, usually with Tucker-Zero creativity on offense. I keep waiting for us to actually give the ball to guy running in motion for a jet sweep, but it appears that we have Shrader run it up in the middle every time in that scenario
  • Our passes were generally short and horizontal. Defenses have no reason to fear the deep pass and are selling out on the run, as they should. It doesn't appear the staff has any confidence in Shrader to throw deep
  • We continue to get several 15 yard penalties a game. Shrader seems to only draw our OL offsides with the claps/fake hikes prior to the snap
However, what upset me most was not how bad we played. What upset me most is it appeared Dino gave up at halftime. For whatever reason, It seemed the gameplan going into the second half was to continue running the ball and milk the clock as much as possible. That could be a good strategy when you are up 28 points, but not when you are down by that amount. We literally just missed having the play clock expire on several plays in the second half and on basically every play took 30 seconds or more. It appeared to me that Dino was more concerned about not letting the score get much worse than trying to win the game. I know it would have been difficult and unlikely for us to come back, but I've witnessed crazier comebacks as a fan with less time to do it. It was demoralizing to me as a fan and brought back memories of the Pitt game 2 years ago when he gave up and refused to use any of his timeouts.
What's even more bizarre was in spite of trying to milk the clock as much as possible, he left Shrader and Tucker in till the very end, even after it was impossible to come back. Sometimes it feels to me that he's more concerned with stats, such as having Tucker break the record and be one of the leading rushers in the country than winning. I hope he is asked about these things, but haven't noticed much talk about it. I want to believe in him, but he really lost a lot of my faith with the way he conducted the second half.
Game weather was too cold for a Syracuse team?
 
Going into this game, Syracuse was coming off a bye while Louisville was coming off a very physical, hard fought game against Clemson with a hurt QB. One would think this would be a big advantage for us. However, the opposite was true-It looked like we were the ones coming off a physical game and they appeared energetic and much more physical:
  • I lost count of how many times our defenders were dragged for significant yardage down the field, but it was many
  • Rarely did the 1st point of contact make the tackle-That was true on both Defense and Special teams.
  • The cliche "they wanted it more than us" is overused, but it appeared that way yesterday
  • We looked like we hadn't practiced in 2 weeks
  • Everyone in the stadium knows we're running it every 1st down, usually with Tucker-Zero creativity on offense. I keep waiting for us to actually give the ball to guy running in motion for a jet sweep, but it appears that we have Shrader run it up in the middle every time in that scenario
  • Our passes were generally short and horizontal. Defenses have no reason to fear the deep pass and are selling out on the run, as they should. It doesn't appear the staff has any confidence in Shrader to throw deep
  • We continue to get several 15 yard penalties a game. Shrader seems to only draw our OL offsides with the claps/fake hikes prior to the snap
However, what upset me most was not how bad we played. What upset me most is it appeared Dino gave up at halftime. For whatever reason, It seemed the gameplan going into the second half was to continue running the ball and milk the clock as much as possible. That could be a good strategy when you are up 28 points, but not when you are down by that amount. We literally just missed having the play clock expire on several plays in the second half and on basically every play took 30 seconds or more. It appeared to me that Dino was more concerned about not letting the score get much worse than trying to win the game. I know it would have been difficult and unlikely for us to come back, but I've witnessed crazier comebacks as a fan with less time to do it. It was demoralizing to me as a fan and brought back memories of the Pitt game 2 years ago when he gave up and refused to use any of his timeouts.
What's even more bizarre was in spite of trying to milk the clock as much as possible, he left Shrader and Tucker in till the very end, even after it was impossible to come back. Sometimes it feels to me that he's more concerned with stats, such as having Tucker break the record and be one of the leading rushers in the country than winning. I hope he is asked about these things, but haven't noticed much talk about it. I want to believe in him, but he really lost a lot of my faith with the way he conducted the second half.
Given the punt vs Rutgers that gave up on that game, it's pretty consistent down 30 at the half to try and get the clock to expire without delay.
 
However, what upset me most was not how bad we played. What upset me most is it appeared Dino gave up at halftime. For whatever reason, It seemed the gameplan going into the second half was to continue running the ball and milk the clock as much as possible.
Shades of St. Doug season 1 at Penn St.
 
Going into this game, Syracuse was coming off a bye while Louisville was coming off a very physical, hard fought game against Clemson with a hurt QB. One would think this would be a big advantage for us. However, the opposite was true-It looked like we were the ones coming off a physical game and they appeared energetic and much more physical:
  • I lost count of how many times our defenders were dragged for significant yardage down the field, but it was many
  • Rarely did the 1st point of contact make the tackle-That was true on both Defense and Special teams.
  • The cliche "they wanted it more than us" is overused, but it appeared that way yesterday
  • We looked like we hadn't practiced in 2 weeks
  • Everyone in the stadium knows we're running it every 1st down, usually with Tucker-Zero creativity on offense. I keep waiting for us to actually give the ball to guy running in motion for a jet sweep, but it appears that we have Shrader run it up in the middle every time in that scenario
  • Our passes were generally short and horizontal. Defenses have no reason to fear the deep pass and are selling out on the run, as they should. It doesn't appear the staff has any confidence in Shrader to throw deep
  • We continue to get several 15 yard penalties a game. Shrader seems to only draw our OL offsides with the claps/fake hikes prior to the snap
However, what upset me most was not how bad we played. What upset me most is it appeared Dino gave up at halftime. For whatever reason, It seemed the gameplan going into the second half was to continue running the ball and milk the clock as much as possible. That could be a good strategy when you are up 28 points, but not when you are down by that amount. We literally just missed having the play clock expire on several plays in the second half and on basically every play took 30 seconds or more. It appeared to me that Dino was more concerned about not letting the score get much worse than trying to win the game. I know it would have been difficult and unlikely for us to come back, but I've witnessed crazier comebacks as a fan with less time to do it. It was demoralizing to me as a fan and brought back memories of the Pitt game 2 years ago when he gave up and refused to use any of his timeouts.
What's even more bizarre was in spite of trying to milk the clock as much as possible, he left Shrader and Tucker in till the very end, even after it was impossible to come back. Sometimes it feels to me that he's more concerned with stats, such as having Tucker break the record and be one of the leading rushers in the country than winning. I hope he is asked about these things, but haven't noticed much talk about it. I want to believe in him, but he really lost a lot of my faith with the way he conducted the second half.
I didn’t see the game, but reading what folks here have said, and the entire history of this season, I think the simplest analysis is that the team is teetering on the edge of being spent, both due to depth and the health of key players who are not “out”. I think they weren’t physically able to go this week and the coaches knew it. This reminds me of what happened in 2011.
 
I didn’t see the game, but reading what folks here have said, and the entire history of this season, I think the simplest analysis is that the team is teetering on the edge of being spent, both due to depth and the health of key players who are not “out”. I think they weren’t physically able to go this week and the coaches knew it. This reminds me of what happened in 2011.
Not at all like 2011 when we had bunches of guys injured and limited. Team was in good shape going into this game with only a few exceptions.

We just got beat by a better team. Better lines, better skill players. Better passing attack. Can’t spin this as being spent, or lack of focus, want-to, or effect of bye.
 
Not at all like 2011 when we had bunches of guys injured and limited. Team was in good shape going into this game with only a few exceptions.

We just got beat by a better team. Better lines, better skill players. Better passing attack. Can’t spin this as being spent, or lack of focus, want-to, or effect of bye.
Beat by a better team fundamentally different than every other game this season?
 
Beat by a better team fundamentally different than every other game this season?
Assume you watched the other games — we did hang competitively with some good teams, beating two. Against Louisville, we basically got out-played on both lines, and Louisville had speed and a balanced offense.
We did not get much done on offense vs BC, and BC’s QB wasn’t nearly as good as Louisville’s Cunningham. So, yes, this was fundamentally different — and as I wrote, not lack of effort or focus. We just got beat.
 
Shades of St. Doug season 1 at Penn St.
We probably had 40 players available for that game and we still had that goal line stop for change of possession when Paterno tried running it in 4 times.
 
I didn’t see the game, but reading what folks here have said, and the entire history of this season, I think the simplest analysis is that the team is teetering on the edge of being spent, both due to depth and the health of key players who are not “out”. I think they weren’t physically able to go this week and the coaches knew it. This reminds me of what happened in 2011.
I respectfully disagree. We just rushed for over 200 yards and were coming off a bye. I think Dino took his fast off the gas over the bye, as I suspect he's done in the past. We've also now seen a pattern of Dino giving up on a game when he doesn't think we'll win...I don't think he has confidence in Shrader to throw the ball down the field. If so, we need an open QB competition in the offseason, as I fear Defenses may have figured us out-17 points total in 2 weeks is alarming.
It was nice to see Szmyt hit a FG over 40 yards, so we got that.
 
Going into this game, Syracuse was coming off a bye while Louisville was coming off a very physical, hard fought game against Clemson with a hurt QB. One would think this would be a big advantage for us. However, the opposite was true-It looked like we were the ones coming off a physical game and they appeared energetic and much more physical:
  • I lost count of how many times our defenders were dragged for significant yardage down the field, but it was many
  • Rarely did the 1st point of contact make the tackle-That was true on both Defense and Special teams.
  • The cliche "they wanted it more than us" is overused, but it appeared that way yesterday
  • We looked like we hadn't practiced in 2 weeks
  • Everyone in the stadium knows we're running it every 1st down, usually with Tucker-Zero creativity on offense. I keep waiting for us to actually give the ball to guy running in motion for a jet sweep, but it appears that we have Shrader run it up in the middle every time in that scenario
  • Our passes were generally short and horizontal. Defenses have no reason to fear the deep pass and are selling out on the run, as they should. It doesn't appear the staff has any confidence in Shrader to throw deep
  • We continue to get several 15 yard penalties a game. Shrader seems to only draw our OL offsides with the claps/fake hikes prior to the snap
However, what upset me most was not how bad we played. What upset me most is it appeared Dino gave up at halftime. For whatever reason, It seemed the gameplan going into the second half was to continue running the ball and milk the clock as much as possible. That could be a good strategy when you are up 28 points, but not when you are down by that amount. We literally just missed having the play clock expire on several plays in the second half and on basically every play took 30 seconds or more. It appeared to me that Dino was more concerned about not letting the score get much worse than trying to win the game. I know it would have been difficult and unlikely for us to come back, but I've witnessed crazier comebacks as a fan with less time to do it. It was demoralizing to me as a fan and brought back memories of the Pitt game 2 years ago when he gave up and refused to use any of his timeouts.
What's even more bizarre was in spite of trying to milk the clock as much as possible, he left Shrader and Tucker in till the very end, even after it was impossible to come back. Sometimes it feels to me that he's more concerned with stats, such as having Tucker break the record and be one of the leading rushers in the country than winning. I hope he is asked about these things, but haven't noticed much talk about it. I want to believe in him, but he really lost a lot of my faith with the way he conducted the second half.
I think the announcers said our first drive in the 3rd quarter was 14 plays and took 8 minutes off the clock and resulted in the fumble at the 2 yard line. Not how you stage a comeback. I don't think it would have made a difference, but you should at least give the appearance that you're trying. At that rate, even if we scored a td on every drive, we would have had maybe 3 possessions the entire 2nd half.
 
It was a genius move by DIno getting blown out by Louisville. Now NC State will over look us and Dino has his Top 25 W on the year.

We were down 38-3 our 1st possession of the 2nd half. No team is coming back from that. It was a scrimmage the rest of the game.
 
It was a genius move by DIno getting blown out by Louisville. Now NC State will over look us and Dino has his Top 25 W on the year.

We were down 38-3 our 1st possession of the 2nd half. No team is coming back from that. It was a scrimmage the rest of the game.
Unlikely, but not impossible. And if you think it's impossible, get Tucker/Shrader off the field and get some younger guys some experience.
 
One word that I continue to hear when describing the decisions by Dino, whether it be knowledgeable football fans such as the OP, or commentators on tv, is the word “bizarre”. He is leaving people, countless people scratching their heads after watching him on game days. That’s not a good thing.
 
Unlikely, but not impossible. And if you think it's impossible, get Tucker/Shrader off the field and get some younger guys some experience.
We should have put in the backups the very least last drive. That was unacceptable to have Shrader and Tucker in.

I don't blame the overall strategy our 1st two drives. IMO the play calling did us in. The goal line play calling was crap. The next drive 3rd down play call was crap (resulted in a penalty). Even the 3rd drive was ok. We went 15 straight plays without giving Tucker the ball. We tried to pass.
 
One word that I continue to hear when describing the decisions by Dino, whether it be knowledgeable football fans such as the OP, or commentators on tv, is the word “bizarre”. He is leaving people, countless people scratching their heads after watching him on game days. That’s not a good thing.
I love when he goes into his coma mode. Maybe the Wolverine should bring a yoga mat each game just in case.
 
One word that I continue to hear when describing the decisions by Dino, whether it be knowledgeable football fans such as the OP, or commentators on tv, is the word “bizarre”. He is leaving people, countless people scratching their heads after watching him on game days. That’s not a good thing.
Dino has to understand that he needs to raise the bar.
This isnt a Hawaiian Limbo contest.
 
Dino has to understand that he needs to raise the bar.
This isnt a Hawaiian Limbo contest.
He’s way to mellow and relaxed. To claw back against a ranked opponent, on the road, after getting blown out like that will require intensity and urgency. I don’t see that from him.
 

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