Class of 2016 - RB/CB Joshua Mack (NY) Verbal to Maine/Transferred to Liberty | Page 13 | Syracusefan.com

Class of 2016 RB/CB Joshua Mack (NY) Verbal to Maine/Transferred to Liberty

I think they will score a little more. More like 49-24. High Freeze know offensive schemes. They might catch us slippin
Agreed. If things are like last year, it is going to take some time for the defense to get going. The coaches and the players needed some time to figure things out. We have a lot of people back but I doubt the defense will be stellar early.

Especially against the run. I think that will be our biggest weakness early in the season.
 
Agreed. If things are like last year, it is going to take some time for the defense to get going. The coaches and the players needed some time to figure things out. We have a lot of people back but I doubt the defense will be stellar early.

Especially against the run. I think that will be our biggest weakness early in the season.
Agree
 
Agreed. If things are like last year, it is going to take some time for the defense to get going. The coaches and the players needed some time to figure things out. We have a lot of people back but I doubt the defense will be stellar early.

Especially against the run. I think that will be our biggest weakness early in the season.

I actually think it might be the opposite this year. The D outside of the lb's and Slayton return pretty much everyone including a secondary that really came on later in the season and two Pre-season AA type DE's. Now DT is a bit of a concern but with Ruff, McKinley and others we should be OK.

The offense despite all of its talent might take some time to get going. Devito looked great at times but also struggled at others so he may take a little bit to get into the groove especially with a re-tooled oline and no sure fire #1 WR. I think the offense has the potential to be dynamite but its a lot moving on from a guy like Dungey who was such a huge presence on that team. Unless were a complete disaster at LB I think the D can hit the ground running.
 
We'll know pretty quick about our LB's. Aside from the escort scandal, I don't know much about Freeze or his offense (or the OC's - Harris and Austin). But hard to believe the adjustment period will take that long with our DL protecting them ... and all the speed and size with Richards (assassin), Wallace, C-A and the frosh (who've been on campus since January).
The pass rush should be excellent. The pass defense, at least against WRs, should be excellent.

Last year our pass defense was bad early and our run defense took about half the season before it shored up (it took playing Shy and going to 3 LBs to stop good running teams).

I think the secondary is going to be fine, no worries on getting beat deep a lot. Our defense against the run and against short passes to RBs and TEs is the worrisome area for me. If Freeze is half the coach some say, he will attack the young LBs we have and try to take advantage of them. With runs and short passes.

Just my opinion.
 
Liberty may put up some points, but their defense is hideous, we will torch them on that side, even with it being Tommy's first game as a starter. they finished 118th in total defense last year, and playing more uptempo this year on offense will put even more pressure on the defensive side of the ball. 56-24 SU.
 
The pass rush should be excellent. The pass defense, at least against WRs, should be excellent.

Last year our pass defense was bad early and our run defense took about half the season before it shored up (it took playing Shy and going to 3 LBs to stop good running teams).

I think the secondary is going to be fine, no worries on getting beat deep a lot. Our defense against the run and against short passes to RBs and TEs is the worrisome area for me. If Freeze is half the coach some say, he will attack the young LBs we have and try to take advantage of them. With runs and short passes.

Just my opinion.
But the main problem was our lb stepping backwards on snap count which means no downhill attacking so instead of a los play we tackle the Rb for a 5 yard gain. That was my thing with whit. He made a crap load of tackles but they were all after 3-6 yd gains. Bam told us they were taught to do that and after Pitt game it was changed to being aggressive and stepping forward and then shy and Guthrie came on hard after that. Our run defense improved drastically after that. New lb s but I ain’t worried if they attack. Tyrell, army and Williams will do well. Also if we were in nickel u could have Trill there at 6’2” 210 also which is almost lb size. I think our defense makes big steps forward this year.
 
But the main problem was our lb stepping backwards on snap count which means no downhill attacking so instead of a los play we tackle the Rb for a 5 yard gain. That was my thing with whit. He made a crap load of tackles but they were all after 3-6 yd gains. Bam told us they were taught to do that and after Pitt game it was changed to being aggressive and stepping forward and then shy and Guthrie came on hard after that. Our run defense improved drastically after that. New lb s but I ain’t worried if they attack. Tyrell, army and Williams will do well. Also if we were in nickel u could have Trill there at 6’2” 210 also which is almost lb size. I think our defense makes big steps forward this year.
That might be part of it but for the first half of the year, we tried to play with 2 linebackers as our base defense even if we were facing teams using a fullback and 2 TEs. We were vulnerable to power run attacks and got worn down big time. That approach directly led to losses against Pitt and Clemson. They beat us running the ball. We could not stop the run.

It was after the Pitt game that we started playing with 3 LBs as the base defense against run oriented sets. That changed everything. That was when we became a good defense; we finally had a solution to stop a power rush attack.

The coaches can't make that kind of blunder again and we have to find linebackers who can avoid blocks in the open field and make tackles. I think we have the personnel for this but I think it will take time. It is rare for linebackers who have never played before to play at a high level immediately. I like our linebacking core but other than Armstrong, they have no game experience at LB (Richards got limited PT at DE last year).
 
That might be part of it but for the first half of the year, we tried to play with 2 linebackers as our base defense even if we were facing teams using a fullback and 2 TEs. We were vulnerable to power run attacks and got worn down big time. That approach directly led to losses against Pitt and Clemson. They beat us running the ball. We could not stop the run.

It was after the Pitt game that we started playing with 3 LBs as the base defense against run oriented sets. That changed everything. That was when we became a good defense; we finally had a solution to stop a power rush attack.

The coaches can't make that kind of blunder again and we have to find linebackers who can avoid blocks in the open field and make tackles. I think we have the personnel for this but I think it will take time. It is rare for linebackers who have never played before to play at a high level immediately. I like our linebacking core but other than Armstrong, they have no game experience at LB (Richards got limited PT at DE last year).
Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember Guthrie and Whit solidified as starting Mike and Will going back to spring ball. They were obviously less committed to Army at the Sam which is why we ended up 4-2-5 out of fall camp, but I have a hard time stomaching that a 4-3 base install didnt happen until 7 games into the season. It's not entirely clear that's what happened, bit there was a marked shift in run defense when we started seeing 4-3 sets with Shy in the mix which didnt happen until after the Pitt game. Hindsight is 20/20, but dang...that seems so obvious.

That said I'm also much more confident in going 4-2-5 now with either Stritz or Trill at the Star and getting caught with disguised power and counter sets. But it's all going to hinge on the personnel at the base 4-3 LB spots and how those guys perform. In many ways, that's our season.

And yes, I know, this would be a great discussion on the fb board. Sorry Josh!
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember Guthrie and Whit solidified as starting Mike and Will going back to spring ball. They were obviously less committed to Army at the Sam which is why we ended up 4-2-5 out of fall camp, but I have a hard time stomaching that a 4-3 base install didnt happen until 7 games into the season. It's not entirely clear that's what happened, bit there was a marked shift in run defense when we started seeing 4-3 sets with Shy in the mix which didnt happen until after the Pitt game. Hindsight is 20/20, but dang...that seems so obvious.

That said I'm also much more confident in going 4-2-5 now with either Stritz or Trill at the Star and getting caught with disguised power and counter sets. But it's all going to hinge on the personnel at the base 4-3 LB spots and how those guys perform. In many ways, that's our season.

And yes, I know, this would be a great discussion on the fb board. Sorry Josh!
Agree that Guthrie and Whitner won starting jobs in the spring. I think the staff went into the 2018 season wanting to stay with a 4-2-5 look for everything all season long.

That makes it a lot easier to deal with fast paced offenses that keep changing their personnel sets (like for instance, we do).

But it didn't work out and they realized they had to change personnel to handle power sets that were gashing our defense, especially in the second halves of games.

Good adjustment by the coaches though it could be argued it took too long for them to react.

I think it is a great goal to have the personnel to be able to run 4-2-5 against passing sets and power sets but it takes two exceptional linebackers to make it happen. We lost both starters and while I like the guys coming back, it is asking a lot to expect them to be able to handle such a wide range of assignments and challenges. Just my opinion.

Big fan of Josh's and I hope he does well at Liberty. Good opportunity for him. I am sure he will be excited to show the Syracuse coaching staff what he is capable of.
 
That might be part of it but for the first half of the year, we tried to play with 2 linebackers as our base defense even if we were facing teams using a fullback and 2 TEs. We were vulnerable to power run attacks and got worn down big time. That approach directly led to losses against Pitt and Clemson. They beat us running the ball. We could not stop the run.

It was after the Pitt game that we started playing with 3 LBs as the base defense against run oriented sets. That changed everything. That was when we became a good defense; we finally had a solution to stop a power rush attack.

The coaches can't make that kind of blunder again and we have to find linebackers who can avoid blocks in the open field and make tackles. I think we have the personnel for this but I think it will take time. It is rare for linebackers who have never played before to play at a high level immediately. I like our linebacking core but other than Armstrong, they have no game experience at LB (Richards got limited PT at DE last year).
Yes totally. I believe u and I were clamoring for more shy and they finally listened lol. It’s gotta be basic knowledge to play 3 especially against power teams.
 
I hate everything about this game and this series

This school is playing dirty as fuuuh on the recruiting front and transfer front

Going to be like an SMU / SEC program in terms of shady shhhh off the field

I could see this game getting uncomfortable for us, then the fact we play them again when they have a few years of these shenanigans in play just leaves me feeling meh

I'll be glad when this series is over. They are going to beat Rutgers, UMass and Buffalo. They will win 9 games this year
 
That might be part of it but for the first half of the year, we tried to play with 2 linebackers as our base defense even if we were facing teams using a fullback and 2 TEs. We were vulnerable to power run attacks and got worn down big time. That approach directly led to losses against Pitt and Clemson. They beat us running the ball. We could not stop the run.

It was after the Pitt game that we started playing with 3 LBs as the base defense against run oriented sets. That changed everything. That was when we became a good defense; we finally had a solution to stop a power rush attack.

The coaches can't make that kind of blunder again and we have to find linebackers who can avoid blocks in the open field and make tackles. I think we have the personnel for this but I think it will take time. It is rare for linebackers who have never played before to play at a high level immediately. I like our linebacking core but other than Armstrong, they have no game experience at LB (Richards got limited PT at DE last year).
All facts on this post.
 
Don't want to read 13 pages, but could he have played at SU? If so, what were the factors in him going elsewhere? He's going to have a ton of motivation.
 
Don't want to read 13 pages, but could he have played at SU? If so, what were the factors in him going elsewhere? He's going to have a ton of motivation.
I’m sure he was just as motivated last year when he had *checks notes* 2 yards on 2 carries.
 
I'd have him and Joe Benedict in my backfield. New York Strong.
 
This post isn’t as Zen-like as you think it is.

I think there is a UMASS thread calling your name on the hoops board...
Let's just say I'm cynical of the motives of human beings.
 

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