Some frustrated snap reactions after taking an hour to cool down

[Orangefan1]

our defense left a lot to be desired we didn’t look ready in any way shape or form and can’t tackle… it’s going to be a long season. Offense seems ok but SAngeli needs to just take the sack instead of tossing a ball in the air the first play in the second half and have it intercepted. Regardless if it was his second start or not we can’t have that

 

[Sdot]

Did the ACC put us in this game or did we arrange this on our own?

Wildhack used a favor at espn to get us into this like 3-4 years ago. I still don’t understand how you schedule Notre dame and Tennessee same year.

 

[Sdot]

our defense left a lot to be desired we didn’t look ready in any way shape or form and can’t tackle… it’s going to be a long season. Offense seems ok but SAngeli needs to just take the sack instead of tossing a ball in the air the first play in the second half and have it intercepted. Regardless if it was his second start or not we can’t have that

That play by Angeli wasn’t even bad villari was open for a 5 yard gain. The defender made a great play tipped it up and the edge dove for it.

 

[sufan59]

That play by Angeli wasn’t even bad villari was open for a 5 yard gain. The defender made a great play tipped it up and the edge dove for it.

One thing I’m noticing too in the highlights is a lot of the sacks wasn’t even the offensive line getting outmatched physically. There defensive coordinator schemed up some nice disguises to open a lane for pressure. There front is so athletic they got the QB extremely quickly once the lane was open.

 

[Nicknack]

Sometimes guys, great at their jobs, over play the loyalty thing and keep people next to them who shouldn't be. It can be crushing. I hope we aren't seeing that this year. If it's DART, then it's DART all the way through.

 

[capeorange]

Tackling needs to be cleaned up. Should have been taken care off thsi offseason after last year.

According to Fran in one of the videos, they were working on the fundamentals of tackling and not trying for the big hit and missing the tackle. It was very disappointing to see multiple missed tackles in one play after another.

 

[anomander]

We had enough talent last year for the former #1 team this year to grab a guy, a preason Top 20 team take a guy, another P4 team to take 2 guys, another 4 guys make NFL squads, and another make an NFL camp.

The output last year did not match the talent. The above is better than SU usually has and yet our D stunk playing a pretty light schedule.

Said the same thing looking back. That was a loaded squad.

 

[anomander]

One thing I’m noticing too in the highlights is a lot of the sacks wasn’t even the offensive line getting outmatched physically. There defensive coordinator schemed up some nice disguises to open a lane for pressure. There front is so athletic they got the QB extremely quickly once the lane was open.

That delayed blitz when we were 5 wide with nobody to pick up the late blitzing LB was a sweet call. Nixon made good adjustments in the 2nd half using Angelo’s mobility and rolling the pocket . That was a great adjustment. Nixon is a high level assistant. Unfortunately, i think this will be the last year he’s with us. Hopefully it’s not a waste.

 

[Libero2]

Like I said in the game thread yesterday,

The biggest difference in this game was on the line of scrimmage. Their QB (who in my opinion was quite bad, and will be Tennessee’s downfall this year) had all day to throw, and for his WRs to find open holes in a zone defense. We had absolutely no pass rush, and it took guys more than 3 seconds to disengage from a block to try and slowly plod after the QB.

Just looking at the way their RBs went down is also tell-tale about the lack of talent (or at least strength) compared to ours. Even when we did clog the lanes and that back had no where to go, every time it seemed to take us 3-4 guys to wrestle their backs to the ground. Which then allowed them to fall forward for another 2-3-4 yards.

Their OL opened up lanes, climbed to the second level well and ours held their own against what I suspect will prove a dominant front in the SEC. Unfortunately we didnt excel, and we were terribly unprepared for their delayed blitzes and stunt game. Their creativity created some luck (the diving INT, and the lucky bounce leading to the scoop and score) and they took advantage. If that INT hits the turf and if that fumbles squirts all the way out of bounds, the game is a whole heck of a lot closer in the fourth quarter.

We aren’t a bad team. We had critical errors at key moments yesterday and couldn’t recover. When you go to play a team that’s highly talented and very experienced, you cannot do that and expect to win. You have to play an extremely clean game. We did not. Thus the result. The reality always was (even if we didnt know it yet) that we were overmatched in the trenches, particularly along the Dline. Only way to overcome just how big a competitive gap we displayed yesterday was to be flawless elsewhere. Clearly we were not.

Team is still going to be strong this year, but we need to be a lot cleaner in other ways, and certainly need to scheme up something against the run, quickly.

Side note: Demetres Samuels played well in my opinion. He got picked on early, but also made some damn good plays. That deep ball annoys me from a scheme perspective. Why are we leaving him on an island, like he is Darrelle Revis, in his first college game, against a burner, and a QB that we couldn’t even get close enough to breathe on? Is that just our coaches having too much faith in him before he’s proven it in games? Is that a safety screwing up his assignment so bad he’s not in the play?

Believe it or not, lots to be encouraged by yesterday. Even if we got taken behind the woodshed in the first quarter. Thought we pretty much controlled the second half aside from that damn interception and that final gotta have a stop drive.

 

[RICuse44]

One thing I’m noticing too in the highlights is a lot of the sacks wasn’t even the offensive line getting outmatched physically. There defensive coordinator schemed up some nice disguises to open a lane for pressure. There front is so athletic they got the QB extremely quickly once the lane was open.

Tennessee has a really good d coordinator. He has a system and the players to run that system. It would be nice to have Erob take note.

Spot on w the point regarding the sacks. Thats scheme generated pressure.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Like I said in the game thread yesterday,

The biggest difference in this game was on the line of scrimmage. Their QB (who in my opinion was quite bad, and will be Tennessee’s downfall this year) had all day to throw, and for his WRs to find open holes in a zone defense. We had absolutely no pass rush, and it took guys more than 3 seconds to disengage from a block to try and slowly plod after the QB.

Just looking at the way their RBs went down is also tell-tale about the lack of talent (or at least strength) compared to ours. Even when we did clog the lanes and that back had no where to go, every time it seemed to take us 3-4 guys to wrestle their backs to the ground. Which then allowed them to fall forward for another 2-3-4 yards.

Their OL opened up lanes, climbed to the second level well and ours held their own against what I suspect will prove a dominant front in the SEC. Unfortunately we didnt excel, and we were terribly unprepared for their delayed blitzes and stunt game. Their creativity created some luck (the diving INT, and the lucky bounce leading to the scoop and score) and they took advantage. If that INT hits the turf and if that fumbles squirts all the way out of bounds, the game is a whole heck of a lot closer in the fourth quarter.

We aren’t a bad team. We had critical errors at key moments yesterday and couldn’t recover. When you go to play a team that’s highly talented and very experienced, you cannot do that and expect to win. You have to play an extremely clean game. We did not. Thus the result. The reality always was (even if we didnt know it yet) that we were overmatched in the trenches, particularly along the Dline. Only way to overcome just how big a competitive gap we displayed yesterday was to be flawless elsewhere. Clearly we were not.

Team is still going to be strong this year, but we need to be a lot cleaner in other ways, and certainly need to scheme up something against the run, quickly.

Side note: Demetres Samuels played well in my opinion. He got picked on early, but also made some damn good plays. That deep ball annoys me from a scheme perspective. Why are we leaving him on an island, like he is Darrelle Revis, in his first college game, against a burner, and a QB that we couldn’t even get close enough to breathe on? Is that just our coaches having too much faith in him before he’s proven it in games? Is that a safety screwing up his assignment so bad he’s not in the play?

Believe it or not, lots to be encouraged by yesterday. Even if we got taken behind the woodshed in the first quarter. Thought we pretty much controlled the second half aside from that damn interception and that final gotta have a stop drive.

Agree. Good post. Still think we can win seven games or so. We will get better as the year goes on. We had a lot of youth playing on D, including two true freshman. They will get better as the season goes on.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Did the ACC put us in this game or did we arrange this on our own?

We announced this game back in July 2021.

 

[wfschrec]

Wildhack used a favor at espn to get us into this like 3-4 years ago. I still don’t understand how you schedule Notre dame and Tennessee same year.

To be fair UT was coming off a 3-9 campaign in 2020 and Heupel had just taken over so at the time it wasn’t as daunting as it ended up being. ND is also better under Freeman making it that much more daunting.

 

[Millhouse]

Agreed, The problem is the defense stunk at A&M, who were EROB’s mentors where he learned a decent scheme? Not sure you will find one.

He Had plenty of talent last year to have a better defense. He’s just over his head

Nixon and Robinson are night and day

Brown's pass defenses before coming here were not special. I'm ok with a defensive guy who can recruit if they get the offense right as long as the defense isn't terrible - last year was a great example of how you can live with a bad defense if you have a good offense. I'm not asking for much on defense but I don't think Robinson clears that low bar.

Got the oil changed, made great ribs, used a pitching machine as a substitute for my terrible ability to hit fly balls to my son, youtube tv makes it easy to watch on the go and i get less pissed off than if i'm just sitting there stewing.

 

[Cusefan69]

One thing I’m noticing too in the highlights is a lot of the sacks wasn’t even the offensive line getting outmatched physically. There defensive coordinator schemed up some nice disguises to open a lane for pressure. There front is so athletic they got the QB extremely quickly once the lane was open.

So one hundred percent the DC and players were doing some things intended to create confusion for our new oline. On one sack their Mike took a sharp side step making it look like he was going to drop in coverage and our center having no one to block went left and as soon as the happened the Mike shot the opening unimpeded for a sack. On another sack their dt and de ran a stunt on our left side and totally confused our blocking schemes. Again for a sack. Sometimes the opponents just make some really good plays.

 

[RF2044]

Nixon and Robinson are night and day

Brown's pass defenses before coming here were not special. I'm ok with a defensive guy who can recruit if they get the offense right as long as the defense isn't terrible - last year was a great example of how you can live with a bad defense if you have a good offense. I'm not asking for much on defense but I don't think Robinson clears that low bar.

Agreed. And for perspective, I think that in modern college football you are going to have very few teams that truly have shut down defenses.

You can be VERY successful with good offense and a "good enough" defense. But that requires having a solid scheme, fitting personnel to that scheme, and having the coaching chops to call a good game and make adjustments.

With ERob, I don't think we're checking 3 of those 4 boxes.

 

[Cuse On 3]

Agreed. And for perspective, I think that in modern college football you are going to have very few teams that truly have shut down defenses.

You can be VERY successful with good offense and a "good enough" defense. But that requires having a solid scheme, fitting personnel to that scheme, and having the coaching chops to call a good game and make adjustments.

With ERob, I don't think we're checking 3 of those 4 boxes.

Could you imagine this team with a competent defensive play caller? Would have been a lot closer yesterday and we would have probably been in the playoffs last year. Still LOTS to be excited about IMO. I think there was some overreactions yesterday, including on my part, which I apologize for.

 

[TheCusian]

Week 1 snap judgements vs a 2024 SEC CFB playoff team should probably require the largest of grains of salt humanly possible

Long season, lots of growth possible for a team that believes in its HC

Chiiiillllllllll

 

[swish7]

• Can't get down 17 - 0 against a good opponent.

• Very difficult to match pace when you repeatedly shoot yourself in the foot with turnovers, penalties, etc.

• The most positive things I saw were on offense. Willis is a beast, Cook will be a problem for opponents, JRS played well against NFL prospects, and Russell flashed. Villari showed he could catch, and Nixon looked fully recovered. Lots of weapons.

• OL struggled [again, against a defense laden with blue chip players], but showed that they could run block. Need to do better pass blocking, to give Angeli more time.

• I think Steve had a pretty good outing, despite constant pressure. If the OL can iron things out, I think we can score a lot of points this year. Tough to excel when the OL is a sieve, and you are facing such a strong defense in your first start [at SU]. He showed some poise, but also made some mistakes.

Samuel got toasted. Hope that this is a learning experience, and if he's a better player by ~game 4, then taking his lumps early will be worth it.

• Carry over from last year, but I am just not convinced that ERob is the right guy for a coordinator role. I know he's Fran's friend from HS and a highly regarded recruiter, but I think we need better.

• Transfer LB looked terrific, IMO.

• Lack of pass rush is a big, big problem. For the second consecutive year. We have quality depth / talent at many positional units, and the talent overall across the roster has been upgraded by Fran and the staff, but not at DE. It is a problem.

• Sure would have been nice to have a tune-up game. Take note, athletic department.

d - no
a - we will see
r - sorta
T - yes

'Winning an NC' - not this year, but we are getting better.

Judge Fran by his own vision.

ERob is not it. In our situation, we need a genius & innovator leading that unit. Other top 20 teams will generally have more talent. We'll need to 'out-detail' them. Cannot just out tough them. Cannot out recruit them. Hope Fran figures this out bc it could be his downfall.

Too many mistakes. Not enough detail.

But, I like playing these teams bc that is who we claim we want to be.

Need better talent on the line. Too much iG & not enough G(rit).

 

[PhatOrange]

I hope There were headset issues because it was annoying as hell to take so long to get plays in and Angelli was visibly frustrated numerous times.

 

[RedtheGOB]

I dont believe the ACC dictates OOC scheduling

Tennessee's previous AD scheduled it in 2020 after both schools had abysmal years. It was def a pay to play us game after we went 1-10 and Tenn went 3-8. Likely that old Tenn AD was trying to pump some cupcakes and winnable games for a struggling Tenn team. I expect if both teams could change the deal they would have but hard to not take the money for if you're SU.

 

[RedtheGOB]

Wildhack used a favor at espn to get us into this like 3-4 years ago. I still don’t understand how you schedule Notre dame and Tennessee same year.

I heard it was Tenn's AD and no offense but we were 1-10 in 2020 and Tenn was 3-7 that year not like anyone really cared about the what if in 2025.

 

[Niastri]

That's where i'm at. Nobody flashes. I think Samuels will be good. He has the elite speed to eventually play at a high level. It was a nice surprise to see Antoine start at LB, but it looked a little too big for him right now. He's another who should eventually be good. Then again we don't have anyone at LB. McDonald has regressed significantly. No surprise he isn't starting as an upperclassman. David O flashed at times last year, but seems stuck behind the Cal transfer who basically got a solid cardio session in today. I think we did a good job filling the interior DL with guys with big size, but I don't think they're really that good. No need to harp on the one we lost, but he would have been a major help this year. The most surprising issue was the atrocious tackling. Fran likes to bang in practice, but what are they doing? Even the times when they're in position to make plays there is a poor attempt at a tackle.

Just so you know, Reese had 7 solo tackles and a tackle for loss yesterday to lead the team.

David O had 6 tackles.

It feels like your impression is incorrect.

 

[BKCuse]

Side note: Demetres Samuels played well in my opinion. He got picked on early, but also made some damn good plays. That deep ball annoys me from a scheme perspective. Why are we leaving him on an island, like he is Darrelle Revis, in his first college game, against a burner, and a QB that we couldn’t even get close enough to breathe on? Is that just our coaches having too much faith in him before he’s proven it in games? Is that a safety screwing up his assignment so bad he’s not in the play?

Must’ve been a blown assignment by Safety. I have to believe there’s no way the staff puts him on island considering all you rightly mentioned.

 

[rmtsu]

I heard it was Tenn's AD and no offense but we were 1-10 in 2020 and Tenn was 3-7 that year not like anyone really cared about the what if in 2025.

In an interview on the Football show on TV before the game Wildhack said he sat down with someone at ESPN agreed to play the kickoff game and went through prospective teams, when they got to Tennessee he said we'll play them, at least that is what Wildhack said.