Fjoinkay
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I honestly do not know. But these are some thoughts in my mind.
The NW loss at home is more damaging even though the Minny loss may have hurt a lot more for a lot of people. Somehow a lot of expectations rose significantly after SU started 0-2. Losing the opener at home when SU statistically dominated the game still makes me shake my head. The fact that some of the problems haven't been cleaned up is annoying, but SU should not have lost the home opener.
SU is likely to face more coverage with a 4 man rush as well as a mix of coverage with pressure. Nassib struggles with coverage and pressure. We already know pressure gives him problems as it does with most QBs at any level. The coverage forces him out of his comfort zone as well. The final series against Northwestern jumped out at me when NW went into prevent and Nassib seemed unable to make decisions. All SU needed at that point was a field goal, and a couple of chunk plays would have been nice to see what happens. SU must practice that situation all the time, but it sure didn't look like it. SB is smart and they played coverage and then Minny did and we can expect to see more.
Can the OL with Hickey and Pugh at the tackles do a better job and give Nassib more comfort? I think so. I also think that if teams rush 4 and use a safety to help out on Sales then SU needs to get AB out in space against a LB. Use the play makers to force the defense to pick it's poison. If AB has bad hands this isn't really an option however. Another necessity against a 4 man rush is Nassib using his feet. He needs to tuck and run in the right spots. This requires vision and a feel for the situation, and these are not Nassib's strengths, but he can do it and he has done it.
Some bright spots... West is a YAC machine lately, and he has a knack for drawing pass interference penalties. As bad as the OL has appeared in certain situations Nassib has been sacked only 6 times in 4 games. I expect the OL to improve with Pugh and Hickey at the tackles. I thought Nassib did a better job than usual handling pressure against NW, and I think Nassib is playing really well overall. The defense is better than last year, and I can see the unit improving. SU has more depth than we've seen around here in a long time and this will be important during the BE schedule. SU can compete for the BE if it cleans up certain areas and continues to improve. The sky is not falling. Expectations are and they should, but a manic-depressive cratering is beyond normal and not healthy imo. SU did not fall flat on it's face against Minny.
The NW loss at home is more damaging even though the Minny loss may have hurt a lot more for a lot of people. Somehow a lot of expectations rose significantly after SU started 0-2. Losing the opener at home when SU statistically dominated the game still makes me shake my head. The fact that some of the problems haven't been cleaned up is annoying, but SU should not have lost the home opener.
SU is likely to face more coverage with a 4 man rush as well as a mix of coverage with pressure. Nassib struggles with coverage and pressure. We already know pressure gives him problems as it does with most QBs at any level. The coverage forces him out of his comfort zone as well. The final series against Northwestern jumped out at me when NW went into prevent and Nassib seemed unable to make decisions. All SU needed at that point was a field goal, and a couple of chunk plays would have been nice to see what happens. SU must practice that situation all the time, but it sure didn't look like it. SB is smart and they played coverage and then Minny did and we can expect to see more.
Can the OL with Hickey and Pugh at the tackles do a better job and give Nassib more comfort? I think so. I also think that if teams rush 4 and use a safety to help out on Sales then SU needs to get AB out in space against a LB. Use the play makers to force the defense to pick it's poison. If AB has bad hands this isn't really an option however. Another necessity against a 4 man rush is Nassib using his feet. He needs to tuck and run in the right spots. This requires vision and a feel for the situation, and these are not Nassib's strengths, but he can do it and he has done it.
Some bright spots... West is a YAC machine lately, and he has a knack for drawing pass interference penalties. As bad as the OL has appeared in certain situations Nassib has been sacked only 6 times in 4 games. I expect the OL to improve with Pugh and Hickey at the tackles. I thought Nassib did a better job than usual handling pressure against NW, and I think Nassib is playing really well overall. The defense is better than last year, and I can see the unit improving. SU has more depth than we've seen around here in a long time and this will be important during the BE schedule. SU can compete for the BE if it cleans up certain areas and continues to improve. The sky is not falling. Expectations are and they should, but a manic-depressive cratering is beyond normal and not healthy imo. SU did not fall flat on it's face against Minny.
