Some Random Nuggets

[kcsu]

It's all of it. They have been trying to climb out of a huge hole and some folks here have made the job harder.

You want to think that I was saying this board is the entire cause of all that is wrong, that's your prerogative.

Awful defensive bunch here.

Go i have to admit i do love your passion.
Everyone wants Doug to hit a home run as he is a good guy who loves Syracuse and is trying his best to make this program great again. That doesnt mean that we cant be critical of him or that he gets a free pass. This year was a disaster period there is no getting around it. Lets hope that it was just a bump in the road. Dont forget that this is a board for all fans to post on. Regardless of their opinion. Lets close out what looks to be a solid class with a couple of gems and look forward to the spring. Go Orange!!

 

[Chip]

End of the day this wa a bit of a trap season. We lost some good kids and kids that were supposed to be senior leaders and playmakers (Collier, Fairchild, Sales, etc) weren't here for whatever reason. Losing the RU game hurt more than one would think, that would've been a huge mental hurdle. Plus your posts, the inconsistencies in them, clearly got to some of our younger players. Oh Lord

Sales was the dagger because of the timing. You'd think we find at least one more win with him playing and we're bowling.

But now I feel like next year is the real trap year. Especially in that worst case scenario where some combination of Chandler, Shamarko, Lyn are all gone.

I can't remember when I've been less excited about a season as I am for 2012. Lame duck conference schedule, OOC I really wish Barkley went pro, but hopefully the turnover at NW and the terribleness at Minny can get us at least 1 win in those 2. Our average QB overthrows every single one of his deep passes, which stalls our entire offense. So much youth on the roster, could be 65% or more that are Fr, RF, So. I hold out hope that those guys are going to be great players, but just don't think we'll see much of it in 2012 specifically.

But as I said before, every season something completely unexpected happens, so maybe next year we'll win 9.

 

[OrangePA]

Don't like analogies fine. My point is that everything looks good in theory including Hackett's offense. But if you can't execute it then it doesn't work. That simple enough for you without making comparisons?

Grob's dog and pony show of switching the formation did not change the core of the offense which was West Coast principles. I don't care of we lined up in the pistol, under center, or whatever. Fact is it was an offense predicated on ball control, accumulating small chunks of yardage, and using up the clock. Wait a minute...Yes DM is running another NFL offense and it sucks. Building an offense for our players? YEAH THATS IT! The only difference between DMs offense and Grob's offense is that Grob thought the pass could setup the run, DM thinks the run can setup the pass. Reality is that if you don't have an accurate QB who can deliver catchable balls then you don't try to setup the pass, nor do you use the pass to setup anything else. Cause regardless which one you try that in one unbalanced equation and doomed for failure. If you can't pass then don't do it. Nassib holds the single season record for passing attempts and we finished dead last in the BE. 66th in passing ypg, 84th in team scoring. Something doesn't add up. I'm gonna repeat that...84TH!

You're right we didn't have a breakout WR, didn't have a QB with any touch, didn't have an OL that could block very well so let's play a PRO STYLE offense which is designed for guys who can do all those things in the NFL. There's your stroke of genius! Brilliant I say!

With our subpar QB and WR play this year we had no business in any kind of passing offense. We also didn't have a Delone Carter to push up the middle 30 times a game. So what do you do? You run a college offense based on deception, misdirection, and running. Many of us call it an option style offense. There are many to choose from.

We forced a pro style offense on a bunch of kids who don't have pro skill sets and it resulted in a horrible offense that was supposed to carry a younger, inexperienced defense. It didn't happen and this horrendous season is the result. Barely getting wins over FCS and Mac opponents, and getting stomped in the worst BCS conference in the country.

Yeah, ugh is right.

So, you wanted Hacket to run an option offense with a QB who has no feet - absolutely no quickness at all.

Brilliant.

Look, I love option football. I love the kind of misdirection that your post mentions. But when you don't have a McPherson or Graves or McNabb or a Kevin Mason you can't run that kind of offense which depends so heavily upon the QB having quality feet.

We can haggle all we want, but the fact is, again, that the defense was the major problem this year. The offense was not spectacular by any stretch, but it was good enough to win three more games.

Once again, my point is made. Most posters focus on the offense regardless of how the defense plays.

 

[OrangePA]

Go i have to admit i do love your passion.
Everyone wants Doug to hit a home run as he is a good guy who loves Syracuse and is trying his best to make this program great again. That doesnt mean that we cant be critical of him or that he gets a free pass. This year was a disaster period there is no getting around it. Lets hope that it was just a bump in the road. Dont forget that this is a board for all fans to post on. Regardless of their opinion. Lets close out what looks to be a solid class with a couple of gems and look forward to the spring. Go Orange!!

You?

Critical of Doug?

Perish the thought!

 

[IthacaBarrel]

So, you wanted Hacket to run an option offense with a QB who has no feet - absolutely no quickness at all.

Brilliant.

Look, I love option football. I love the kind of misdirection that your post mentions. But when you don't have a McPherson or Graves or McNabb or a Kevin Mason you can't run that kind of offense which depends so heavily upon the QB having quality feet.

We can haggle all we want, but the fact is, again, that the defense was the major problem this year. The offense was not spectacular by any stretch, but it was good enough to win three more games.

Once again, my point is made. Most posters focus on the offense regardless of how the defense plays.

Wasn't the offense ranked in the bottom 5-10% in the nation? The defense about middle of the pack? I would agree in 1975 your observations would be correct but not in today's game

 

[rrlbees]

So much youth on the roster, could be 65% or more that are Fr, RF, So.

Isn't that typical of most schools? 65% feels about right for Fr, RF, So.

 

[Chip]

Isn't that typical of most schools? 65% feels about right for Fr, RF, So.

I guess you're right, when put like that it doesn't seem so out of the ordinary. So I guess flip it around, there are currently 31 guys who will be Jr or Sr. eligibility for next year. That list includes the following 10 players, who either may not be here, or really don't have much of a role:

Sales
Lyn
Dorian
Licky
Shamarko
Flemming
Tull
Cutler (most likely to have a role if healthy, he's an unknown to me)
Coker
Chandler
I kept guys like Loeb, Alexander, Phillips off this list, since you can see where they could be depended on to contribute.

Possible list of 21 out of 85, or 25% as Jr/Sr. That seems light. It's all how I spin the #'s I guess. Hopefully Sales, Lyn, Chandler, Shamarko are on the 2012 team. Is Dorian officially out for 2012?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Isn't that typical of most schools? 65% feels about right for Fr, RF, So.

Assuming that ChanHo and Shamarko don't return, we'll have 58 returning scholarship players ... 31 of which will be RF's and Sophs.

Add in 25 true freshmen, and we're looking at 56 out of 83 players, or 67%.

65.8% if Chan and Shamarko come back.

 

[OrangePA]

Wasn't the offense ranked in the bottom 5-10% in the nation? The defense about middle of the pack? I would agree in 1975 your observations would be correct but not in today's game

I'm not sure what you mean.

My observations about the option offense only relate to the game as it was played in 1975?

Why would the attributes of an option offense be different today than they were in 1975?

As far as rankings I don't pay any attention to them. From what I saw this year, the defense was the primary problem.

The best example is the second half at UConn. We had the lead against a decent defense and our defense failed to make a single stop in the second half.

Cincy? Louisville? Our defense failed to make stops.

The offense was not great by any stretch, but the defense could not get off the field this year when it needed to.

I attribute that the youth on that side of the ball. I am very confident that we will be vastly improved next fall.

 

[rosconey]

defense wore down because of time on the field-

the offense went 3 and out 99% of the time this year and the defense was the biggest problem?

when you have a head coach who is learning as he goes and a oc who is learning as he goes it kills your offense-
and experienced oc would have found a few wins-

this crappy season is on the offense way more than the d

 

[OttoinGrotto]

We can haggle all we want, but the fact is, again, that the defense was the major problem this year.

You have a strange definition for what a fact is, my friend.

 

[Millhouse]

Wasn't the offense ranked in the bottom 5-10% in the nation? The defense about middle of the pack? I would agree in 1975 your observations would be correct but not in today's game

you make the mistake of looking at the whole season. what you need to do is cherry pick pick 3 consecutive drives from one game

 

[Millhouse]

As far as rankings I don't pay any attention to them. From what I saw this year, the defense was the primary problem.

that is a really smart approach to evaluating. what can rankings tell you besides how good each respective unit is relative to everyone else? i mean, who cares about that?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

that is a really smart approach to evaluating. what can rankings tell you besides how good each respective unit is relative to everyone else? i mean, who cares about that?

West Virginia's pass attack was one of the best in the country this season, while Syracuse's pass defense was one the worst. Syracuse beat WVU soundly. What do the rankings tell us there?

 

[Pyle]

So, you wanted Hacket to run an option offense with a QB who has no feet - absolutely no quickness at all.

Brilliant.

Look, I love option football. I love the kind of misdirection that your post mentions. But when you don't have a McPherson or Graves or McNabb or a Kevin Mason you can't run that kind of offense which depends so heavily upon the QB having quality feet.

We can haggle all we want, but the fact is, again, that the defense was the major problem this year. The offense was not spectacular by any stretch, but it was good enough to win three more games.

Once again, my point is made. Most posters focus on the offense regardless of how the defense plays.

You sure like to pat yourself on the back. I am going to repeat this one last time. Maybe you will get it , maybe not, but after this I give up and will not repeat it anymore. Nassib should not be QB!!! I stated before, John Kinder would be the one to lead that type of offense. Not Nassib. One more time, Kinder@QB, Nassib@Bench.

Understand something else: WE KNEW THE DEFENSE WOULD BE BAD. It was stated in the spring. Too young and undersized. Our only hope this year was an offense that could win games for us. Our QB had a year and 1/2 of experience. Our OL was a strong point. Our WR corp was DEEP... *Splat*.

 

[Pyle]

West Virginia's pass attack was one of the best in the country this season, while Syracuse's pass defense was one the worst. Syracuse beat WVU soundly. What do the rankings tell us there?

WV didn't take us seriously enough, lost momentum early, and never recovered. In other words, they laid an egg. It happens. Stop using the WV game as a measure of anything. We were bad before that game and bad after. Look at the season overall and you'll see that WV game is a pure anomoly.

 

[SoBristol]

You sure like to pat yourself on the back. I am going to repeat this one last time. Maybe you will get it , maybe not, but after this I give up and will not repeat it anymore. Nassib should not be QB!!! I stated before, John Kinder would be the one to lead that type of offense. Not Nassib. One more time, Kinder@QB, Nassib@Bench.

Understand something else: WE KNEW THE DEFENSE WOULD BE BAD. It was stated in the spring. Too young and undersized. Our only hope this year was an offense that could win games for us. Our QB had a year and 1/2 of experience. Our OL was a strong point. Our WR corp was DEEP... *Splat*.

Agree about the defense -- our LB corps was young and undersized; certainly the weak spot.
But John Kinder at QB? If you saw any Spring practice games, you have to be skeptical. And our WR unit was just average, with no legit deep threats.

 

[Millhouse]

West Virginia's pass attack was one of the best in the country this season, while Syracuse's pass defense was one the worst. Syracuse beat WVU soundly. What do the rankings tell us there?

it tells us that was our best game and their worst

cherry picking

this stuff works out over enough games

 

[Chip]

I can surely be wrong but I think a program has to have continuity. You can't keep changing your offensive and defensive philosophies based on your personnel. Some tweaking, maybe, but if you are trying to build a program, it seems to me that you have to put in what you are going to run and then get the players to run it. It is the coach's job to get the players and if he fails to do so, he will be out of a job. I can't think of a coach that changes the teams style on a yearly or semi-yearly basis with success. Look at the problems we had here with the offensive line switching in and out of zone blocking. It takes some time to build a consistent winner and staying the course is a prerequisite, imo.

I'm generally down with everything you say. If you think the plan is a good one, then try to keep consistency in what you're doing, and consistency within your coaching staff, as much as you can.

The problem is, 2009's offensive coordinator had a much different style of offense than 2010 and 2011. And OE posted earlier from a Marrone luncheon, that Marrone indicated that the young QB he likes best on the roster would be running a different system.

So yeah, I'm all for continuity, when do we start?

 

[GHLF]

It's tough to say that this year was positive in part of the rebuilding process, the first two obvioulsy not the case. We took a big step back this year, IMO. I think that is observing the obvious, that said there is no reason why we can't take two big steps forward next year but we need consistency going forward, that is the mark of a good coach. I understand that Marrone gets this and is trying to establish this, can he is the question. Marrone knows what needs to be done, no disputing that, IMO. I for one, hope he cracks down, goes more Coughlin than Pete Carroll, this team needs to have disciplined athletes, on and off the field and I think in an effort to win immediately he has sacrificed a few of his beliefs, just my 2 cents, I am not claiming this as anymore than my opinion. However, every team will have 5-6 kids that need to be watched closer than the others, you just hope it isn't 15-16 kids and I don't know if that wasn't an issue this year

I personally cannot stand to listen to him speak, I already know what comes out of his mouth, I tend to focus on what we need to do, support, not blindly but out of loyalty that was shown to me. The cup is definitely half full. It just ruins the board. Could be just their personality and yes we do not have 60,000 show up for spring games, we are trying to garner support not internet spewed negativity. It does affect the program, at least the fan perception of the type of fans we have.

 

[Pyle]

Support the program by going to games, buying merchandise, concessions, donate, etc. The best way to support a D1 program is with your wallet.

Not questioning a 5 game losing skid should not be confused with not supporting the program.

 

[OrangePA]

that is a really smart approach to evaluating. what can rankings tell you besides how good each respective unit is relative to everyone else? i mean, who cares about that?

Millhouse - Are you suggesting that I am not smart?

My goodness, who would ever believe that you might sit in judgement of someone's intelligence. Come to think of it, you did questions Dave Rahme's football acumen didn't you? I guess I should not be immune from your analysis. Sorry I even brought it up.

As far as the college rankings are concerned, different teams play different schedules and different conferences and have different game experiences. I'm not sure that in the college game with 117 teams one can base an assesement on rankings alone.

Are you Millhouse suggesting that our offense was actually less effective than our defense this year?

 

[OrangePA]

You sure like to pat yourself on the back. I am going to repeat this one last time. Maybe you will get it , maybe not, but after this I give up and will not repeat it anymore. Nassib should not be QB!!! I stated before, John Kinder would be the one to lead that type of offense. Not Nassib. One more time, Kinder@QB, Nassib@Bench.

Understand something else: WE KNEW THE DEFENSE WOULD BE BAD. It was stated in the spring. Too young and undersized. Our only hope this year was an offense that could win games for us. Our QB had a year and 1/2 of experience. Our OL was a strong point. Our WR corp was DEEP... *Splat*.

Okay, now I understand.

Kinder should have been the QB all along!

That's amazing. You were able to figure that out and yet the professional coaches who see these players every day couldn't and didn't.

 

[djcon57]

We can haggle all we want, but the fact is, again, that the defense was the major problem this year.

This is insanity.

 

[OrangePA]

you make the mistake of looking at the whole season. what you need to do is cherry pick pick 3 consecutive drives from one game

Oh my, sarcasm from Dave Rahme's favorite poster!!!

The only thing missing is the obligatory foul language.

By the way, I believe I made reference to the defensive performance versus Cincy and Louisville.

I did, however, forget to mention Tulane and USF.