Real quick...

[Rocco]

This board is unreadable after a loss.

The sky is not falling.

The good coaches adapt, enough with the judgement calls already. One game was played.

Shafer was too aggressive on the sidelines?!?! Many of you were pissed that Marrone was too stoic on the sidelines last year. Stop worrying about the things that have ZERO bearing on the game.

This team will be fine. We lost to Penn St by 6, on the road, more or less. We left alot out on that field, so have some damn faith.

We will beat NW.

 

[GoCuse44]

Shafer had every right to be pissed. We had a DB lying on the field with leg cramps and the referee refused to blow the play dead so PSU only had 10 defenders to worry about. He was also pissed on the pass interference call when the ball was uncatchable. Give me a fiery Shafer on the sidelines over the sleep walking Marrone.

As for the game it was about what I expected for a new coaching staff working with a new OL and new QB.

Things will improve game by game. We need to give the staff and players time. This team will be 3-1 heading into the Clemson game. Mark it down!!!!

 

[Rocco]

R.Desire_6‏@RitchyDesir2m
whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. pic.twitter.com/m9AJxLnY50

Coach Scott Shafer‏@Coach_Shafer1 Sep
Bounce back Sunday! Thanks for the Orange fans support. We'll fight the good fight in week # 2! #OrangeNation

 

[CiceroSwamp]

Iwas with you until that last line...No way we can score enough to keep up w Pat Fitzgerald...he is as good as O'Brien and they have experience

 

[Nick44]

Love your enthusiasm Rocco. We need more of it on this board. But please provide some insight into how they will beat NW? Assuming injuries are a non-factor I have to think Syracuse is a 10 pt underdog going into this game.

 

[anomander]

Love your enthusiasm Rocco. We need more of it on this board. But please provide some insight into how they will beat NW? Assuming injuries are a non-factor I have to think Syracuse is a 10 pt underdog going into this game.

They are a 12 point underdog, but I actually feel we match up better . There defense is not nearly as good as PSU. We should be able to establish the run, something it was evident McDonald was trying to do Saturday. Our defense is good enough to slow down Northwestern and they are already banged up quite a bit. NW doesn't exactly provide a hostile environment so we have a few things going for us. We didn't lose to PSU because lack of talent that's for sure. Most importantly our issues are fixable, this isn't 2008 where we know we were out manned.

 

[Rocco]

Love your enthusiasm Rocco. We need more of it on this board. But please provide some insight into how they will beat NW? Assuming injuries are a non-factor I have to think Syracuse is a 10 pt underdog going into this game.

First and foremost, NW is dinged up. If their starting QB & RB can't play, then that obviously increases our chances. Day-to-day is what they're listed at now.

I feel that our D will have a very good gameplan. I just have a hunch here.

Whether or not McDonald throws the proverbial "kitchen sink" at them is unknown, but I think you will see a much more poised offense. There were many communication issues that will ironed out during prep this week. You can count on that.

Broyld can't be given the ball enough. The NW coaching staff will have #1 circled all game.

I think you will see Allen settle down and make better reads. He overthrew quite a bit and zeroed in too much.

The loss Saturday IMO was due to bad communication, blown assignments and sloppy play-calling. Those are all fixable and that's the good news.

 

[Rocco]

Iwas with you until that last line...No way we can score enough to keep up w Pat Fitzgerald...he is as good as O'Brien and they have experience

Or our D can keep their offense more in check than Cal did. And he is not as good as BOB. BOB ran the Pats O for years.

Lastly, you don't think our O can score enough? I disagree, and will say that we score at least 28-35 on Saturday. Adjustments, execution, protections...

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Or our D can keep their offense more in check than Cal did. And he is not as good as BOB. BOB ran the Pats O for years.

Lastly, you don't think our O can score enough? I disagree, and will say that we score at least 28-35 on Saturday. Adjustments, execution, protections...

Fitz won 10 last year at northwestern. The guy is a very good coach and right now he's more proven as a head coach at the college level than BOB. What he does year in year out is incredible. I will never understand the constant disrespect of NW by people here. I would kill for their last 5-6 years.

 

[TheCusian]

Fitz won 10 last year at northwestern. The guy is a very good coach and right now he's more proven as a head coach at the college level than BOB. What he does year in year out is incredible. I will never understand the constant disrespect of NW by people here. I would kill for their last 5-6 years.

Outside of last season, they haven't been all that special. Mid tier B1G.

 

[Rocco]

Fitz won 10 last year at northwestern. The guy is a very good coach and right now he's more proven as a head coach at the college level than BOB. What he does year in year out is incredible. I will never understand the constant disrespect of NW by people here. I would kill for their last 5-6 years.

Not really disrespecting the guy, it's actually the opposite. I think that BOB is that good. Look at what he did at PSU after his got decimated with transfers, etc.

Further, their QB and RB (even if they play) will not be 100%. I think you will see a way better game from us than we saw last week. We are not nearly as bad as some people think we are.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Not really disrespecting the guy, it's actually the opposite. I think that BOB is that good. Look at what he did at PSU after his got decimated with transfers, etc.

Further, their QB and RB (even if they play) will not be 100%. I think you will see a way better game from us than we saw last week. We are not nearly as bad as some people think we are.

I don't think we are horrible, I just think we were the first week at the qb and OC level. Obvioulsy, they need more time but I just hate the built in excuses that people always revert too. No playmakers, no speed, etc etc etc. We have read about it for years. You can already see it, people offering excuses for piss poor coaching and qb play. After one game, I have already read them all, including how Lemon was actually fast! although when he was here for the first 3 years, he and Sales weren't fast enough. All I know, is neither of those guys had blazing speed but managed to get open. Hell, Mike Williams wasn't lightning fast, nor is Broyld but get them the ball and good things seem to happen. I hope that Shafer did handcuff, GMC, I really do

NW puts points on the board, has for years, how many of their receivers are currently in the NFL? SCHEME THEM ING OPEN, that is what works at Syracuse.

People waiting for all these great elite athletes to show up at Syracuse, guess what? Keep waiting, ain't going to happen. Sure we have had our share but they have never come in huge numbers, the roster we have now has enough talent on it to score points at a decent level. This wait until we recruit better attitude is complete bullshittt.

 

[Rocco]

I don't think we are horrible, I just think we were the first week at the qb and OC level.

Wasn't really pointing to you when I said that.

Agreed on your other points. The excuses are a joke...

 

[TheCusian]

I don't think we are horrible, I just think we were the first week at the qb and OC level. Obvioulsy, they need more time but I just hate the built in excuses that people always revert too. No playmakers, no speed, etc etc etc. We have read about it for years. You can already see it, people offering excuses for piss poor coaching and qb play. After one game, I have already read them all, including how Lemon was actually fast! although when he was here for the first 3 years, he and Sales weren't fast enough. All I know, is neither of those guys had blazing speed but managed to get open. Hell, Mike Williams wasn't lightning fast, nor is Broyld but get them the ball and good things seem to happen. I hope that Shafer did handcuff, GMC, I really do

NW puts points on the board, has for years, how many of their receivers are currently in the NFL? SCHEME THEM OPEN, that is what works at Syracuse

People tend towards the extremes. So if we lose and the offense looks bad, it's the OC, QB, speed of the receivers, HC demeanor, etc. This leads to over the top statements and sky is falling posts. The natural reaction is to look at it and try to figure it out. To some this can look like "excuses"... To others it's managing expectations, looking for hints on how we improve.

It's like a coach who is screaming at his players "Get open!" as opposed to sitting down and showing a player where the hole in the zone is. There is a time for screaming and aggravation - I'd argue that it's not after the 1st game.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

People tend towards the extremes. So if we lose and the offense looks bad, it's the OC, QB, speed of the receivers, HC demeanor, etc. This leads to over the top statements and sky is falling posts. The natural reaction is to look at it and try to figure it out. To some this can look like "excuses"... To others it's managing expectations, looking for hints on how we improve.

It's like a coach who is screaming at his players "Get open!" as opposed to sitting down and showing a player where the hole in the zone is. There is a time for screaming and aggravation - I'd argue that it's not after the 1st game.

Sales and Lemon were great at finding openings. Lemon ran great routes and Sales just seemed to find openings all the time in those Zone defenses. I will say this Nassib and those two had solid chemistry, which takes time for sure.

 

[Chip]

Fitz won 10 last year at northwestern. The guy is a very good coach and right now he's more proven as a head coach at the college level than BOB. What he does year in year out is incredible. I will never understand the constant disrespect of NW by people here. I would kill for their last 5-6 years.

Look at their results last year, and how close they were to 13-0. Remarkable really. All 3 losses were games they were winning in the 4th quarter. Penn State had a late, and uncharacteristic, offensive surge against them. Michigan scored at the end and beat them in OT. Nebraska scored late and beat them by 1.

Having said that, they didn't really have any blowout wins either (except for god awful Illinois).

I think the spread is high. Their D did not look good, and losing their starting CB will hurt. Their two pick 6's were off deflections, so it doesn't worry me that much if we do our part.

They're not going to announce anything on Colter until game time. Makes it harder on the opposition to prepare for both QBs. But if he doesn't play, that's to our advantage. Siemian is obviously good enough to win the game, but if you can focus on him with no change of pace, I think it will help us. They won't miss Marc in the running game, but it should have us worrying less on punt returns.

This should be a close game, although Fitzgerald just has a way of pulling those out more often than not.

 

[wfschrec]

I don't think we are horrible, I just think we were the first week at the qb and OC level. Obvioulsy, they need more time but I just hate the built in excuses that people always revert too. No playmakers, no speed, etc etc etc. We have read about it for years. You can already see it, people offering excuses for piss poor coaching and qb play. After one game, I have already read them all, including how Lemon was actually fast! although when he was here for the first 3 years, he and Sales weren't fast enough. All I know, is neither of those guys had blazing speed but managed to get open. Hell, Mike Williams wasn't lightning fast, nor is Broyld but get them the ball and good things seem to happen. I hope that Shafer did handcuff, GMC, I really do

NW puts points on the board, has for years, how many of their receivers are currently in the NFL? SCHEME THEM OPEN, that is what works at Syracuse.

People waiting for all these great elite athletes to show up at Syracuse, guess what? Keep waiting, ain't going to happen. Sure we have had our share but they have never come in huge numbers, the roster we have now has enough talent on it to score points at a decent level. This wait until we recruit better attitude is complete bullshittt.

NW does put points on the board ... but remember last year three of those scores were all but given to them ... two via specials (one returned for TD, the other a long return that set up a TD and off a turnover) we will be fine. Coulter is out and that will force them to adjust. I think we are better defensively this year and we will give them fits. Remember that same NW team had the crap knocked out of them by PSU last season ... and I think although their record might not show it as season's end this PSU team will end up being better than last season's PSU squad. Hell NW had two TDs on INT returns against a mediocre Cal team ... without them they only put 23 on the board, a number I think we can reach on offense against them.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Look at their results last year, and how close they were to 13-0. Remarkable really. All 3 losses were games they were winning in the 4th quarter. Penn State had a late, and uncharacteristic, offensive surge against them. Michigan scored at the end and beat them in OT. Nebraska scored late and beat them by 1.

Having said that, they didn't really have any blowout wins either (except for god awful Illinois).

I think the spread is high. Their D did not look good, and losing their starting CB will hurt. Their two pick 6's were off deflections, so it doesn't worry me that much if we do our part.

They're not going to announce anything on Colter until game time. Makes it harder on the opposition to prepare for both QBs. But if he doesn't play, that's to our advantage. Siemian is obviously good enough to win the game, but if you can focus on him with no change of pace, I think it will help us. They won't miss Marc in the running game, but it should have us worrying less on punt returns.

This should be a close game, although Fitzgerald just has a way of pulling those out more often than not.

Exactly, they were a damn good team last year and will be this year

 

[Millhouse]

Exactly, they were a damn good team last year and will be this year

They are better than people give them credit for but they were also incredibly lucky last year

63 in offense ypg, 48 in defense ypg rank

394 offense, 378 defense

pretty amazing that that season can get you close to undefeated.

short seasons means lots of weird stuff can happen. but over time, they'll regress back to where they really are. (which is still good enough to beat SU)

 

[IthacaBarrel]

They are better than people give them credit for but they were also incredibly lucky last year

63 in offense ypg, 48 in defense ypg rank

394 offense, 378 defense

pretty amazing that that season can get you close to undefeated.

short seasons means lots of weird stuff can happen. but over time, they'll regress back to where they really are. (which is still good enough to beat SU)

They were unlucky in the 3 losses as well, they really were. Don't know why but I tend to watch them more than any team other than SU. The Michigan was brutal as well as the Nebraska game. 10-3 is still 10-3. I just like to use them as a barometer as to what Syracuse should or could be, people get pissed off about as if we should be better but 5 straight bowl games, private school in the Big 10, Fitzgerald seems to do a great job every year.

I think they tend to be decent in aspects of the game which leads to close games where they pull many out

 

[Rocco]

Eric White‏@EricWhiteCuse11h
This is why I know we're going to make it #OrangeNation @coachgmcdonald #NoSleep #Dedication #Greatness pic.twitter.com/NXyxZO3kXs

 

[SBro44]

Maybe lose the #greatness for now... We are 0-1 because of a poor outing by his offense

 

[TheCusian]

Maybe lose the #greatness for now... We are 0-1 because of a poor outing by his offense

Greatness is something you're constantly striving for. Being great is something w-l record indicates.

 

[All4SU]

Their two pick 6's were off deflections, so it doesn't worry me that much if we do our part..

The deflections do worry me a little. We had what, three passes knocked down at the LOS against PSU? How does a 6-5" QB have that? Are our linemen not getting a good push? Was PSU just really good at getting their arms up in passing lanes? Was Allen just waiting too long? Am I worried about nothing? What if the hokey pokey IS what it's all about?

 

[Chip]

The deflections do worry me a little. We had what, three passes knocked down at the LOS against PSU? How does a 6-5" QB have that? Are our linemen not getting a good push? Was PSU just really good at getting their arms up in passing lanes? Was Allen just waiting too long? Am I worried about nothing? What if the hokey pokey IS what it's all about?

Well, if it helps, one of their pick 6's was off a short pass in the flat where the Cal player just didn't catch it, and the ball stayed up in the air off his hands. So we don't have to worry about that because we never drop passes in the flat.

Sigh.

Pretty crazy that the same defender was the guy who picked off both and returned them. Luck or ball hawk?