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Message: [QUOTE="OttoinGrotto, post: 1882636, member: 297"] Listen up, ya meatheads. We've tried emphasizing defense. We've tried playing pro-style. It put us in the cellar among our peers. We went from being one of the most innovative football programs in the 80s and 90s to one of the most boring and uninspired programs after Y2K. We got a step slow in what is required to compete in college football (facilities, etc.) and had to split the recruiting pie with a growing number of programs in our region. We lost our advantages, and tried to gut it out with a defensive identity and by trying to play like the pros. Which is a problem, when that's exactly what every school in our region was also trying to do, and also because it completely ignored the one truly unique advantage our program could offer, the Carrier Dome. Meanwhile, the rest of the college football world went to work, revolutionizing the game with tempo, the spread formation, an openness to throwing the ball, and a better understanding of game situation probabilities (looking at you, punter that stays on the sideline). This produced unprecedented opportunity for scoring and yardage by the programs that made these leaps, and allowed programs with the right mindset to make the traditional powers uncomfortable. Here's the point - we now find ourselves with a man at the helm that didn't just have a front row seat for the revolution, he had a hand in turning a program that was at the bottom into a force of nature. He proved that he can lead a lesser program. He understands the value of the Dome, and he understands that if we're truly going to be unique, and if we're truly going to find a way to upgrade our talent, we need to offer something more. It's not going to be facilities, and it's not going to be recent success. It's going to be opportunity. And that's why concerns over our yards per play and the disparity between our yardage and scoring misses the forest for the trees. It's not a question that we need those things to improve. But while we're in the process of improving that we're going to have a QB that throws for somewhere in the vicinity of 4000 yards and 30 TDs, and have receivers catch 100+ passes. And then ask yourself, if you're a talented offensive player in the Northeast, would you rather play in the Dome and have the chance to do the things you love, score TDs and throw and catch and run, or go to BC where the top guy sees the ball once in a while, but if you're not the top guy, good luck? This is the formula for success. It won't happen overnight. That's the price our program will pay to become relevant again. In the meantime, Dungey throwing a ton matters. ET and Philips and Salt Badger and Ish catching tons of passes matter. People that say what about the defense are too quick to forget that focusing on that buried us. People that hyperventilate over 4th down decisions are going to have to deal with it. People that grew comfortable with losing close and confused that with meaningful progress will find reasons to pick at the plan because they'd rather lose with the familiar than change. But all the while, Syracuse will become a different animal and become the destination for offensive talent in the Northeast. We're already seeing the ball rolling - DeVito is coming because he believes he can throw for 5000 yards in a season. You can fight it, but you'll be left behind. BUCKLE UP WAR DAMN OTTO [/QUOTE]

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