The Big Rambling

[Finwad32]

For what seems like months, I've, consistently read about the problems with our beloved SU Football team. I've read about sub par coaching, coaching selection, QB play, QB depth, RB depth, WR "explosiveness, WR experience, WR Talent, WR depth, TE depth, TE Depth Chart, OL inexperience, Oline health, OL replacements, DL Depth, DE depth, DT size, LB youth, and talent, DB Depth, DB Size and multiple ST threads. Well, this thread is simple; given all those team ailments, how does this season go?

O - finishes top 50-70 in total yards and scoring.
D - finishes top 30-45 in total D, and, D scoring
ST - 1 K/PR for TD - Top 40 in K/P D Return yardage.

3-1 non-conference
3-4 conference
Tied - 3rd in Division

Overall - 7-6

W over a Mac or non - P5 Conf team in a low level NE Bowl.

 

[Moontan]

From your math I gather that you presume that the 8th conference game is a loss.

 

[Finwad32]

From your math I gather that you presume that the 8th conference game is a loss.

Touché, 3-5... Good catch...

Bored CFB conference accuracy cop, or, willing to throw out some predictions?

 

[money3189]

Thats about right Finwad

 

[omniorange]

For what seems like months, I've, consistently read about the problems with our beloved SU Football team. I've read about sub par coaching, coaching selection, QB play, QB depth, RB depth, WR "explosiveness, WR experience, WR Talent, WR depth, TE depth, TE Depth Chart, OL inexperience, Oline health, OL replacements, DL Depth, DE depth, DT size, LB youth, and talent, DB Depth, DB Size and multiple ST threads. Well, this thread is simple; given all those team ailments, how does this season go?

O - finishes top 50-70 in total yards and scoring.
D - finishes top 30-45 in total D, and, D scoring
ST - 1 K/PR for TD - Top 40 in K/P D Return yardage.

3-1 non-conference
3-4 conference
Tied - 3rd in Division

Overall - 7-6

W over a Mac or non - P5 Conf team in a low level NE Bowl.

This is probably right in terms of record, but it depresses me. Why? Because without all the injuries last year, this record is basically what we should have done last year, at best 3-1 OOC and at worse 2-2 OOC (dependent upon how one views the Maryland game) with a 3-5 record in conference for a 6-6 or 5-7 record.

So I don't see it as much of an improvement, but basically a return to 2013 form.

Again, agree this is probably about right but hoping for slightly better to build momentum for 2016.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Wow if that doesn't get fans fired up what will? Again, another " optimistic" post and dreams of white knuckling a 6-6 season. same old same old.

 

[Finwad32]

Wow if that doesn't get fans fired up what will? Again, another " optimistic" post and dreams of white knuckling a 6-6 season. same old same old.

Who said anything about optimistic, IMO that's realistic.

Didn't realize I was here to be a cheerleader for the fans either.

Great take, ton of substance there.

 

[TheCusian]

Wow if that doesn't get fans fired up what will? Again, another " optimistic" post and dreams of white knuckling a 6-6 season. same old same old.

This is getting old. If he would have predicted a 9 win season you'd have skewered him for having orange colored glasses.

I think Finwad isn't "dreaming" for .500. I think he's trying to make an educated opinion based on where we were last year.

Shoot, many here were predicting an 7-8 win season last year due to the previous year's relative success.

 

[007]

This is getting old. If he would have predicted a 9 win season you'd have skewered him for having orange colored glasses.

I think Finwad isn't "dreaming" for .500. I think he's trying to make an educated opinion based on where we were last year.

Shoot, many here were predicting an 7-8 win season last year due to the previous year's relative success.

Many here were predicting an 8-9 win regular season last year. Much has been made of the all the injuries last year to account for the lack of success. On the surface, that is reasonable. And then, there was the GM fiasco to add to that. When I think about last year, I think about a team that was physically dominated by Nova in the first game of the season, with the punter throwing a TD pass in overtime. Can't blame that on injuries. At the very best, that showed a lack of preparation and game planning. Yeah but Hunt was tossed; yeah but GM is terrible. Yeah but the D gave up 390 yards, 190 rushing...

What does all that mean for this season? Who knows. But, the people who make predictions on this kind of stuff for a living have put the over/under win total at 4.5.

Could Vegas be way off...absolutely! But, for me at least, that is where "reality" starts.

 

[retro44]

Hey we are a big time P5 program and if we can't go 13-0 every year to make it to the championship game we need to fire the whole staff and start over every year until we do. I am beyond the half full kind of glass guy.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

I can't help but feel like we are going to win every time we take the field. Sorry!

 

[SUskibum]

[QUOTE="

O - finishes top 50-70 in total yards and scoring.
D - finishes top 30-45 in total D, and, D scoring
ST - 1 K/PR for TD - Top 40 in K/P D Return yardage.

3-1 non-conference
3-4 conference
Tied - 3rd in Division

Overall - 7-6." [/QUOTE]

I tend to agree with that but will add two things:

1. If your O/D/ST predictions are correct (I think they are) then I believe that you are a win or two short on the overall record (Millhouse probably has that number in his head)

2. In addition to your return game predictions, I also think that we will have the best FG% and Kickoff touchbacks that we have had in a while.(hopefully)

I do want to make one note for everybody saying that fans who think a 4-6 win season is acceptable next year are crazy and have no standards. Remember that most of us are talking about a poor/mediocre record in the THIRD year not being reason to fire a coach. I bet if you asked all those same people that we would be between 3-6 wins most of the next 4 years we would have a different opinion of coach. A coach needs TIME is I think all most people are saying. He obviously knows how to coach Dee, he is proving to be a good recruiter who hires good recruiters, now he just needs to fix the O and we will really start to have something here. Time folks, time.

 

[MadisonCuse]

[QUOTE="

O - finishes top 50-70 in total yards and scoring.
D - finishes top 30-45 in total D, and, D scoring
ST - 1 K/PR for TD - Top 40 in K/P D Return yardage.

3-1 non-conference
3-4 conference
Tied - 3rd in Division

Overall - 7-6.

I tend to agree with that but will add two things:

1. If your O/D/ST predictions are correct (I think they are) then I believe that you are a win or two short on the overall record (Millhouse probably has that number in his head)

2. In addition to your return game predictions, I also think that we will have the best FG% and Kickoff touchbacks that we have had in a while.(hopefully)

I do want to make one note for everybody saying that fans who think a 4-6 win season is acceptable next year are crazy and have no standards. Remember that most of us are talking about a poor/mediocre record in the THIRD year not being reason to fire a coach. I bet if you asked all those same people that we would be between 3-6 wins most of the next 4 years we would have a different opinion of coach. A coach needs TIME is I think all most people are saying. He obviously knows how to coach Dee, he is proving to be a good recruiter who hires good recruiters, now he just needs to fix the O and we will really start to have something here. Time folks, time.[/QUOTE]

Thank god the internet was not around during the early Mac years, he never would have made it past year 3.

 

[baggerbob]

Ben was 21-17 in his 1st 4 years, and lost 61-6 to Alabama in the Orange Bowl then went 9-7-1 the next 2 years we should have gotten rid of him, no progress. His records (4-5), (5-5), (5-4), (7-3), (5-3-1), (4-4), (5-3), we kept him too long. He went backwards after a Bowl game so according to all the experts here we should have fired him and gotten a new coach. As a youngster I've sat in Archbold in the drizzle, and snow, it takes time to build a sustainable program, and 2 years is not enough.

 

[CuseCactus]

Ben was 21-17 in his 1st 4 years, and lost 61-6 to Alabama in the Orange Bowl then went 9-7-1 the next 2 years we should have gotten rid of him, no progress. His records (4-5), (5-5), (5-4), (7-3), (5-3-1), (4-4), (5-3), we kept him too long. He went backwards after a Bowl game so according to all the experts here we should have fired him and gotten a new coach. As a youngster I've sat in Archbold in the drizzle, and snow, it takes time to build a sustainable program, and 2 years is not enough.

I would agree with you bagger bob - with one big caveat - Shafer replaced a coach who had the program trending upward. Who did Ben replace? Frankly, Shafer was given a great opportunity to AT LEAST maintain what Marrone rebuilt. That's what is so damn frustrating. It feels like we are descending back into GERG. REALLY hope I am wrong.

 

[TheCusian]

I would agree with you bagger bob - with one big caveat - Shafer replaced a coach who had the program trending upward. Who did Ben replace? Frankly, Shafer was given a great opportunity to AT LEAST maintain what Marrone rebuilt. That's what is so damn frustrating. It feels like we are descending back into GERG. REALLY hope I am wrong.

I keep saying this: he provided continuity on the defensive side of the ball. Marrone and the NFL took the part that was getting us trending in the right direction.

 

[HeaterCuse22]

I would agree with you bagger bob - with one big caveat - Shafer replaced a coach who had the program trending upward. Who did Ben replace? Frankly, Shafer was given a great opportunity to AT LEAST maintain what Marrone rebuilt. That's what is so damn frustrating. It feels like we are descending back into GERG. REALLY hope I am wrong.

I'm sorry if I come off like a dick. But Shafer's first year we went to a bowl in a much harder league than the big least. And even though we were 8-5 Marrones last year we easily could have lost multiple games as well. Clawed back to win against SFU and UM from what I remember. Also I do not understand how people can just ignore the injuries that happened. and the fact that we had to unmask the Lucha libre (McF&*It) in the OC booth. that being said. We still closed out the recruiting trail with a flip of a Wisconsin Commit, a Commit of a DT over FLA, and started this year with RW. I just don't know what to tell you people that are so down on this program all the damn time.

 

[Millhouse]

For what seems like months, I've, consistently read about the problems with our beloved SU Football team. I've read about sub par coaching, coaching selection, QB play, QB depth, RB depth, WR "explosiveness, WR experience, WR Talent, WR depth, TE depth, TE Depth Chart, OL inexperience, Oline health, OL replacements, DL Depth, DE depth, DT size, LB youth, and talent, DB Depth, DB Size and multiple ST threads. Well, this thread is simple; given all those team ailments, how does this season go?

O - finishes top 50-70 in total yards and scoring.
D - finishes top 30-45 in total D, and, D scoring
ST - 1 K/PR for TD - Top 40 in K/P D Return yardage.

3-1 non-conference
3-4 conference
Tied - 3rd in Division

Overall - 7-6

W over a Mac or non - P5 Conf team in a low level NE Bowl.

23 teams were top 70 in offense and top 45 in defense last year

even if you assume that we'll be top 45 in defense, only half of those teams cracked top 70 in offense.

it sounds easier than it actually is. it's part of the reason I want to spend money on offensive coaching. i think it's more repeatable and I accept that there are tradeoffs

 

[OrangePA]

I just want to see the talent level of the team play to its supposed potential.

That will tell me whether we have made any real progress over the past six years.

 

[CanadianSU]

Let's just get back to 6-6 and move from there, upward not downwards please.

 

[baggerbob]

I would agree with you bagger bob - with one big caveat - Shafer replaced a coach who had the program trending upward. Who did Ben replace? Frankly, Shafer was given a great opportunity to AT LEAST maintain what Marrone rebuilt. That's what is so damn frustrating. It feels like we are descending back into GERG. REALLY hope I am wrong.

Thought Doug was a good coach, glad he came back for 4 years, but even including his last year 5-2 Big East record we were only 11-17 against our league. The 25-25 was a nice record, but 9 wins were Akron-2, Maine-2, Colgate-1, Rhode Island-1, Stony Brook-1, Tulane-1, Toledo-1, thanks to bad officials. The reality which Alsacs likes to say, is for 4 years against our peers we were 16-25, a long way from being back. As I stated Doug was a good coach, but he left before finishing the job, and took most of the assistants with him. We are still a long way from being consistently competitive, with the top 25 teams.

 

[007]

Thought Doug was a good coach, glad he came back for 4 years, but even including his last year 5-2 Big East record we were only 11-17 against our league. The 25-25 was a nice record, but 9 wins were Akron-2, Maine-2, Colgate-1, Rhode Island-1, Stony Brook-1, Tulane-1, Toledo-1, thanks to bad officials. The reality which Alsacs likes to say, is for 4 years against our peers we were 16-25, a long way from being back. As I stated Doug was a good coach, but he left before finishing the job, and took most of the assistants with him. We are still a long way from being consistently competitive, with the top 25 teams.

Real or imagined, by year 3 of DM's tenure, I always had a feeling that he could game plan well enough to at least keep us in most games regardless of the talent gap. With SS and company 2 years in, I always have a feeling that we will get smoked by half-time when we play the Big boys.

More than a specific W-L record this year, I will judge SS by his ability to make us a lot more competitive against the big boys, and by getting to a bowl game. Does that mean I am happy with mediocrity? Nope, not at all.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I thought about this for a little while, it got uncomfortable, and where I settled is this -

I expect us to have a losing team until we show we have a good offense.

The offense won't be good next season, I don't think.

So, we'll be a losing team.

4-8

 

[TheCusian]

Real or imagined, by year 3 of DM's tenure, I always had a feeling that he could game plan well enough to at least keep us in most games regardless of the talent gap. With SS and company 2 years in, I always have a feeling that we will get smoked by half-time when we play the Big boys. More than a specific W-L record this year, I will judge SS by his ability to make us a lot more competitive against the big boys, and by getting to a bowl game. Does that mean I am happy with mediocrity? Nope, not at all.

We were strangely competitive with the big boys last year. FSU and ND games were probably the farthest from reach - and they were not as bad as year one.

Marrone and Shafer both seem capable of losing one we should win.

 

[007]

We were strangely competitive with the big boys last year. FSU and ND games were probably the farthest from reach - and they were not as bad as year one.

Marrone and Shafer both seem capable of losing one we should win.

I guess that depends on how you define "strangely." Last year, we lost by an accumulative score of 113-47 against ND, L'ville, FSU and Clemson. And that includes losing to Clemson by "only" 10.