Quick SU-Wake and end of season thoughts

[orangepassion]

• Nice to send the Seniors off on a high note
• Can't believe how well Welsh played, particularly making some throws on the run. He made a couple of mistakes and can't throw our beloved screen pass like Tommy, but more than than made up for it, allowing others to make plays. This brings me to:
• Taj Harris had his best game of the year, which obviously wasn't a coincidence. Hopefully he and Devito are on the same page next year
• Until Trill's play at the end, Moe's run on 3rd and 13 deep (See Tomcat's My take for the breakdown) in our own territory was the play of the game. Just pure determination and skill. Thrilled to see him go out the right way, but he was a big part of why it happened
• That run bailed out some more dubious playcalling. It's amazing we run as well as we do when the whole stadium knows we're running up the gut basically every 1st down. It seems every time we did play action, we had a big play and we need to do more of this on 1st down.
• Have also been fairly successful this year when we had 5 WR's go wide and spread the field
• Trish w/ another big game
• Love our TE's. They catch everything and are our matchup problems for opposing D's.
• Penalties continues to be a huge problem for us and really has been for 4 years. If we want to be a consistently good team, we need to severely cut these down. The refs were awful, but we can't keep giving teams 15 free yards, esp. after we just stopped them on a 3rd down. The OL has cut down on them, now it's the Defense's turn.
• OL continues to look good. The beautiful part is we had 2 Freshmen and a Sophomore doing this, which hopefully bodes well for the future.
• Thought the Tackling was much better than the previous game. Agree that Cisco and others won't dive to make tackles or wrap up properly at times. Hopefully this gets fixed next year w/ a new DC. Just like w/ the penalties, there needs to be accountability if there's a pattern.
• Lakiem had a fantastic year. Too bad AA couldn't finish his career on the field. The bright side is it gave Jones a ton of snaps, which should hopefully help us next year
• Turnover were huge on both sides, particularly loved Iffy's end zone INT, where he attacked the ball
• Will really miss Hofrichter, maybe our best player this year. Hope the incoming Fresh P is ready to go.
• Questionable time management again. If Dino wants to call a timeout there, you need to let 20 seconds off the clock. WF last minute drive is totally different if they only had 30 seconds to do it.
• If I'm doing a last minute drive, I hope the Defense sits back, doesn't blitz and gives me a ton of time to find my receivers. I also hope they give me the sidelines, so I can keep going out of bounds to stop the clock. That was what the SU D did on Wake's final drive in regulation. Between the timeout and passive Defense, it felt like the coaches were going to give this game away. Luckily for us (and them), Trill stole the game for us with that play. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say he may have saved the morale going into the offseason. Going out w/ a win is so positive for the mindset of the team and recruiting after the season we had and for that we can thank Trill for making a big-time play.

Part Deux to come to discuss offseason priorities

 

[PhatOrange]

I wait for your off season post

 

[bothsocksup]

Dino is just awful at clock management

 

[SoBristol]

Absolutely agree about your last two bullets. Dino and staff should take a hard look at clock management — lots of lessons on how not to do it. And yes, Trill’s play put a positive tone on the off-season.

 

[donniesyracuse]

Dino is just awful at clock management

He says he is really good at board games

 

[upperdeck]

I think you have a hard time finding any coaches good at clock management. As much as we all think we are better at it, we never half to make those decisions with a dozen other decisions running around in our heads when we are home on the couch.

 

[Millhouse]

i thought i saw harris having another tantrum last game, maybe the last delay of game, but i'm not sure - did he have outbursts again

 

[SmilinBob]

Does SU have a person that just watches the clock to make sure it's right? I'd get some math major out there to help with it along with the probabilities of calling TO's and when.

 

[SmilinBob]

i thought i saw harris having another tantrum last game, maybe the last delay of game, but i'm not sure - did he have outbursts again

He waved his hands on a long pass when he was open over the middle. Stood there for a while and just waved his hands a while after the pass fell incomplete. He was open for a first down if Welch saw him.

 

[DuxburyO]

Winning streaks are always GREAT even if its just 1 game.
Great for seniors to win the last one.
Great fan morale and the LONG winter/spring/summer before the 2020 season begins
Great it was against Wake, a NC after thought, that we continue to beat and always SHOULD.
Great that we won a game we did not anticipate to before it started. (at least I didn't)

Clock management was pretty iffy and I agree its not just at SU.
Team discipline was also shaky.

Go Orange

 

[Newhouser]

We are not good enough to overcome any clock management or discipline issues. Little things add up when the talent gap is wide.

 

[SmilinBob]

We are not good enough to overcome any clock management, Refs or discipline issues. Little things add up when the talent gap is wide.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Newhouser]

Fixed it for you.

eh I don't ever blame the stripes in football. They can't make up false starts. We were an undisciplined football team. Nobody was complaining about the refs last year.

 

[orangepassion]

As Promised:

• Obviously, the first priority has to be to find a good DC and figure out the rest of the staff. While getting a DC who can recruit is a bonus, I believe that when it comes to this position, the priority has to be just getting the best DC in relation to player development and calling a good game. If he can also recruit, that's a great tiebreaker. On the other hand, we need to get the best recruiters possible for our position coaches (excluding OL and possibly QB). Think Ohio has been overlooked as a recruiting area for us, as we've had great success there in the past and they only have 1 P5 school in the entire state (Ohio State) and they recruit nationally. Right or wrong, I'm betting he keeps most, if not all of the Offensive staff, as he seemed to be more disappointed with the Defense this year. Lynch has been w/ him from the very beginning and it's hard to fire your daughter's Father-in-law. If I had to pick a few that I would prioritize keeping, it would be Monroe, Ferri, Lustig, and Stanard.
• In terms of 2020, Fortin is going to be our most important recruit. Not because I think Devito is so bad, but because we have no one behind him Babers trusts. He has basically said that straight out. This makes us scared to let him ever run, for fear of an injury, and limits our offensive threat.
• In regards to Devito specifically, they need to have him focus on throwing on the run under pressure. We all know he can sling it from the pocket w/ time, but that's not the way Football works anymore, even with a good OL. Everyone blitzes and there's going to be times where there's a need to make a play on the move under pressure and he greatly struggled w/ that this year. I actually think he would benefit from watching some film of Welsh from this game. Devito has much more arm talent than him, but Welsh was able to make some of these plays and also was able to allow his guys to get some YAC. We have struggled all year with this and needs to be a major focus.
• They should also lock Taj in a room with Devito this offseason and not let them out until Fall Practice. there are 2 talented players that weren't on the same page all year and needs to be fixed.
• I see 2 guys on the team who are matchup nightmares-Jawhar Jordan and Luke Benson. We need to figure out how to maximize their talents and keep DC's up figuring how to defend them. I would personally like them to use Jordan in a Reggie Bush-like role, moving him everywhere-Sweeps, short drop offs out of the backfield, screens, slot. Make them try to run after him. I don't care if he has upperclassmen ahead of him-He needs to be on the field early and often. Need to isolate Benson with LB's who will generally not be able to keep up w/ his speed and if they put a smaller, faster guy on him, run the ball down their throat behind him.
• Need to find a way to get our best athletes on the field on Defense. If that means playing Richards at DE, so be it. Need to find a way to get Cantin-Arku on the field. He is a freak (in a good way). Like our other young backers, but they all look like safeties. This leaves us vulnerable to power running teams.
• Our other young LB's need to bulk up some over the offseason in order to tackle some of these bigger backs
• We need to look anywhere and everywhere for some big DT's. They are the first line of Defense and I barely noticed them this year. We need to look transfer portal, Junior College, Prep school etc. These guys don't have to be able to rush the passer necessarily, but take up space and blockers and stop the run.
• Need to make it clear to the players, even the stars, that there will be accountability for multiple mistakes next year. This includes multiple penalties and not wrapping up fundamentally on Defense. There has to be increased discipline on both sides of the ball.

 

[DuxburyO]

eh I don't ever blame the stripes in football. They can't make up false starts. We were an undisciplined football team. Nobody was complaining about the refs last year.

The false starts are bad but the personal fouls and exuberant celebrations penalties are far worse.

I don't blame refs either but that crew on Saturday was just BAD and not just calls against us.

 

[SmilinBob]

eh I don't ever blame the stripes in football. They can't make up false starts. We were an undisciplined football team. Nobody was complaining about the refs last year.

I think the ACC refs have been wildly inconsistent and I say this as a whole, not just for SU.

 

[kirbivore]

Absolutely agree about your last two bullets. Dino and staff should take a hard look at clock management — lots of lessons on how not to do it. And yes, Trill’s play put a positive tone on the off-season.

Yellow Brick Road Casino is doing a Madden contest every week. The champion of that should be hired as the SU clock management guru.

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[Millhouse]

eh I don't ever blame the stripes in football. They can't make up false starts. We were an undisciplined football team. Nobody was complaining about the refs last year.

they can sure as hell ignore them, left tackle for wake got a head start on every pass play

 

[PhatOrange]

they can sure as hell ignore them, left tackle for wake got a head start on every pass play

truth

 

[orangepassion]

Forgot to mention

• Our staff needs to study film of other teams who had more successful and creative Red zone offenses. We need to have more plays there than running our RB up the middle 3 times and the little TE pass (which is a good play). Some rub routes, misdirection. We have been horrible there, esp. w/o a runner like Dungey who helped bail us out at times there in the past.

 

[Cuseregular]

GREAT posts Opassion. Thanks for taking the time.

 

[billsin01]

I think you have a hard time finding any coaches good at clock management. As much as we all think we are better at it, we never half to make those decisions with a dozen other decisions running around in our heads when we are home on the couch.

I get what you're saying but I mean, it is his job. It's what he's devoted his entire professional life to. To be so consistently bad at it is ... strange. I'm a dino fan but it's not pretty.

 

[billsin01]

As Promised:

• Obviously, the first priority has to be to find a good DC and figure out the rest of the staff. While getting a DC who can recruit is a bonus, I believe that when it comes to this position, the priority has to be just getting the best DC in relation to player development and calling a good game. If he can also recruit, that's a great tiebreaker. On the other hand, we need to get the best recruiters possible for our position coaches (excluding OL and possibly QB). Think Ohio has been overlooked as a recruiting area for us, as we've had great success there in the past and they only have 1 P5 school in the entire state (Ohio State) and they recruit nationally. Right or wrong, I'm betting he keeps most, if not all of the Offensive staff, as he seemed to be more disappointed with the Defense this year. Lynch has been w/ him from the very beginning and it's hard to follow your daughter's Father-in-law. If I had to pick a few that I would prioritize keeping, it would be Monroe, Ferri, Lustig, and Stanard.
• In terms of 2020, Fortin is going to be our most important recruit. Not because I think Devito is so bad, but because we have no one behind him Babers trusts. He has basically said that straight out. This makes us scared to let him ever run, for fear of an injury, and limits our offensive threat.
• In regards to Devito specifically, they need to have him focus on throwing on the run under pressure. We all know he can sling it from the pocket w/ time, but that's not the way Football works anymore, even with a good OL. Everyone blitzes and there's going to be time where there's a need to make a play on the move under pressure and he greatly struggled w/ that this year. I actually think he would benefit from watching some film of Welsh from this game. Devito has much more arm talent than him, but Welsh was able to make some of these plays and also was able to allow his guys to get some YAC. We have struggled all year with this and needs to be a major focus.
• They should also lock Taj in a room with Devito this offseason and not let them out until Fall Practice. there are 2 talented players that weren't on the same page all year and needs to be fixed.
• I see 2 guys on the team who are matchup nightmares-Jawhar Jordan and Luke Benson. We need to figure out how to maximize their talents and keep DC's up figuring how to defend them. I would personally like them to use Jordan in a Reggie Bush-like role, moving him everywhere-Sweeps, short drop offs out of the backfield, screens, slot. Make them try to run after him. I don't care if he has upperclassmen ahead of him-He needs to be on the field early and often. Need to isolate Benson with LB's who will generally not be able to keep up w/ his speed and if they put a smaller, faster guy on him, run the ball down their throat behind him.
• Need to find a way to get our best athletes on the field on Defense. If that means playing Richards at DE, so be it. Need to find a way to get Cantin-Arku on the field. he is a freak. Like our other young backers, but they all look like safeties. This leaves us vulnerable to power running teams.
• Our other young LB's need to bulk up some over the offseason in order to tackle some of these bigger backs
• We need to look anywhere and everywhere for some big DT's. They are the first line of Defense and I barely noticed them this year. We need to look transfer porter, Junior College, Prep school etc. These guys don't have to be able to rush the passer necessarily, but take up space and blockers and stop the run.
• Need to make it clear to the players, even the stars, that there will be accountability for multiple mistakes next year. This includes multiple penalties and not wrapping up fundamentally on Defense. There has to be increased discipline on both sides of the ball.

Agree with this but I'll take it a step forward at QB. They need to bring in someone who can conceivably start b/c I'm not sure what Tommy is. Maybe he's OK but I really don't know how we'd know that right now. I'd argue part of the reason he isn't running much is because he also looks really awkward running. He doesn't throw on the move well or under pressure. He couldn't find a slot receiver all year. Taj was invisible when Tommy was on the field. There are a TON of red flags, IMO.

What I'd support is finding a guy who is a runner first but capable of throwing the ball. I mean, we all know we love to run that little read/option play. I really wonder what that will ever do with Tommy at the helm. If he is at the helm, we need to reconsider what type of offense we're running.

As far as your earlier post -- couldn't agree more. You need coaches at OC/DC/OL and maybe QB, though I'm a little less concerned there. If they recruit, great, but you need guys who can coach kids up. the other positions should be recruiters first.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I get what you're saying but I mean, it is his job. It's what he's devoted his entire professional life to. To be so consistently bad at it is ... strange. I'm a dino fan but it's not pretty.

It is particularly frustrating for fans because it is the one part of the job that any of us could do.

I do appreciate upperdeck's point about it being more difficult amongst all of the other decisions that need to be made within a few seconds from a chaotic sideline. I will confess that I occasionally got rattled working the drive-thru at McDonalds.

 

[TheCusian]

Winning streaks are always GREAT even if its just 1 game.
Great for seniors to win the last one.
Great fan morale and the LONG winter/spring/summer before the 2020 season begins
Great it was against Wake, a NC after thought, that we continue to beat and always SHOULD.
Great that we won a game we did not anticipate to before it started. (at least I didn't)

Clock management was pretty iffy and I agree its not just at SU.
Team discipline was also shaky.

Go Orange

Wake was the best NC team this year. They beat UNC, Duke, and NC St.