SU Offensive and Defensive Rankings 2013-2014 season and

[dinosaurbbq]

a whole lot of reason for optimism next year.


These rankings and stats are from the NCAA's website:
Offense:
SU Total Offense 85th (377 ypg) Rushing Offense 38th (195 ypg) Passing Offense 102nd (182 ypg)
Points Scored 98th (23 ppg) Red Zone Offense 76 (80% scores, 21 rushing, TD 8 passing TD, 8 FG)
Time of Possession 47th (30 mpg)

Defense:
SU Total Defense Rushing Defense 24th (137 ypg) Passing Defense 63rd (230 ypg) Points Allowed 56th (25.4 ppg) Red Zone Defense 84th (85% scores, 13 Rushing TD, 12 Passing TD, 9 FG) Sacks 18th (2.86 sacks per game) Interceptions 36th (15 Int)

Special Teams:
Kickoff Return Defense 4th (16.89 yards per return, 0 TDs), Punt Return Defense 76th (9 ypr, 0TD), Net Punting 76th (36.5 yards), Blocked Kicks 24th (3), Blocked Kicks allowed 92nd (3), Blocked Punts 5th (2), Blocked Punts Allowed 72nd (1).
Kickoff Returns 94th (19.51 ypr, 0TD) Punt Returns 66th (7.82 ypr, 0 TD)

General:
Turnover Margin 52nd (+2 on the season, 9 Fumbles Recovered 5 Lost, 15 Interceptions Made 17 Tossed) Fewest Penalties Called 115th (7.62 per game)

Next year:
Looking at those rankings/stats, there is a lot to be hopeful for next year. With Hickey staying and only swapping out Emerich for Mackey, the run game should be roughly as effective as it was this year with George Morris II taking over for Rome as primary carrier and I would think more effective given GMII's shake and bake ability improvement over Rome. Terrell Hunt was featured on designed run plays more later in the year and that should continue with him or another QB next year given the dual threats coming in and becoming RS Frosh next year. In addition, with a more effective passing game, the run game will see improvement with boxes no longer stacked to stop the run. Passing game should improve dramatically with the talent coming in and with Hunt's progression this year looking to 2nd options, dumping down, etc. getting additional time to develop. McDonald's play calling has also gotten much better and his further development should lead to a better offense next year, as well. I would expect the offense as a whole to be much improved.

The defense was great this year. Great against the run and about average against the pass (this shocks me as I was upset with the secondary most of the year being out of position, misplayed balls, etc.). Loss of Bromley is a killer, but if WW or Big John Raymon can hold their own, both DE are back with more experience and more skill and experience coming behind them (Johnson and Robinson) and it should be another great front 4. We were worried at the start of this year and they really played incredibly well. The loss of Spruill at MLB hurts as much as Bromley or close to it, but Hodge slides in the rotation with some good experience this year, the backups all got experience and looked good this year (Kirkland and Arciniega) and we've got a good stable of 3star LBers coming in this recruiting class to redshirt next year and be ready when we lose both Davis and Lynch. The secondary only loses Wilkes and Anderson and those replacing them are better anyway. I love the scheme more than anything. Blitzing often was extremely effective this year. That won't change and the defense shouldn't drop off much if at all.

Specials can't get worse next year as a whole. Punt returns and kickoff returns will benefit greatly, as will fan excitement, with a full year of Brisley in action. Coverage should improve with the general increase in speed and athleticism that continues year to year. Assuming we have a healthy kicker next year, we should score appreciably more.

Turnover margin should get better, too with interceptions thrown decreasing due to Drew being gone and Terrell's ongoing development. The defense attacks the backfield and the ball and should continue to force fumbles and allow the secondary to pick off passes.

I'm looking at a 9-10 win team including the bowl game with losses to FSU, Clemson and probably Duke(should be just as good as this year although we have them at home) and Notre Dame (Golson is damn good and the team will be better on the field but probably not in its record given a ridiculously tough schedule but they play Stanford the week after us and may be looking ahead).

Who is with me?

 

[TheCusian]

Yeah, the pass D numbers are interesting. What would they look like if we remove NW (assuming we played them at the end if the season, when they were less effective and we kind of figured it out some)?

Really good, elite QB's or systems torched us - but most everyone else we were pretty good against.

Good post.

 

[Crusty]

I don't see ten regular season wins as the conference will be very tough next year. However, could be an outside shot at 10-3 with a bowl win. More likely IMO our upside is 9-3 or 8-4 (bowl win would make it 10-3 or 9-4). We will have to remain healthy and get a few breaks along the way.

I see win opportunities against BC, Pitt, NC State, CMU, Nova, Wake and Louisville. After that, we face tougher sledding.

FSU and Clemson are loaded again and Duke returns everybody. Maryland is a young team that returns 17 starters and will be healthier and tougher = not a sure win by any means. ND is beatable but will be tough as well.

If the offense can't score better than mid-twenties per game we will not improve our 7-6 record. To do that we need to improve dramatically in the passing game. I agree we are on our way but I don't know how much we can expect next year.

The D really played poorly against good competition and played really good against average/lousy competition. Our scheme since Shafer has been here has been to create chaos. Without a pass rush (if nobody steps up to replace Bromley) will mean we will have to blitz with line backers more often and I don't think we have the secondary to stand up to man or match-up zone responsibilities for a whole season that way. We are simply too small and too slow. Any improvement in the secondary talent may be offset by increased responsibilities.

IMO we simply can't win 8 to 10 games without a substantial improvement in our offense. Could happen?

 

[Full_Rebar]

Really worried about the D next year as the losses of Bromley and Spruill weaken the middle. The offense is going to have to take over and win some shootouts next year.

 

[Entropic]

Should see the numbers get better all around. Best kick coverage numbers in a long long time as well. I would be satisfied if we could string together a couple 8-4 seasons in a row. Consistency is something Syracuse fans and higher rater recruits will need to see to start coming here.