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AmeriCU Dino Babers Show Returns Thursday - Syracuse University Athletics
The AmeriCU Dino Babers Show returns to the airwaves on Thursdays this fall, and will once again be broadcast live from Heritage Hill Brewery.
cuse.com
Coach Babers’s show this year show will be Thursday nights at 7PM except when the game is not on a Saturday. This year it will be 90 minutes, with the first hour being with Dino and the last half hour being with a ‘special guest’, who in the past just got a couple minutes at the end of the show.
The show originates from Heritage Hill Brewery in Jamesville:
Heritage Hill Brewhouse
Heritage Hill Brewhouse in Pompey. Handcrafted Beer, Homemade Food & Amazing Views set upon our active crop and animal farm. A family friendly destination that's an escape but close enough to call home.
heritagehillbrewery.com
You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: https://tunein.com/radio/home/
There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: https://twitter.com/CuseIMG
#AskDino or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
Submit a Question! - Syracuse University Athletics
You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
My Question(s) or Comments (or theories)
“Coach, it’s November and depth appears to be an issue again. I have two questions concerning it.
You like to cross-train your linemen so they can move around and back each other up and the best five available players can be out there at once. The problem with that is that when you switch your tackle to replace your guard, you now have to replace the tackle and two positions have been compromised. Wouldn’t it be better to replace a guard with a back-up guard and keep the other four positions stable?
At most positions in the two deep, both players play extensively. Essentially, they are both your starters and the third team is the depth. That’s not true at quarterback, where you want more continuity. There’s usually a huge gap between the starter and the back-up. But we’ve played 118 games since joining the ACC and 41 of those have been started by a quarterback other than the guy who was #1 at the beginning of that season. Shouldn’t the top two quarterbacks be prepared as if they were co-starters, knowing that you are likely to have to go to the back-up at some point?”
The Show
(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)
Matt asked Dino what was primarily in his thoughts going into the Florida State game. Dino said it was the “Senior Walk” after the game put in another plug for everyone to stay around after the game to commune with the players – who may or may not be leaving after this year. [Why not have everyone do it and that way we won’t see it as a clue as to who’s thinking about leaving – just give thanks to all the players!] “All these guys will get cut someday and their football careers will be over.” Matt asked Dino what his favorite memory of the last home game was. It was Kendall Coleman hugging trill Williams after this play:
He said “Thank you, thank you, thank you on behalf of all the seniors. That’s what this game is about- to send the seniors out the right way.”
I called in my questions. DB: “ Most quarterbacks want to be THE GUY. We’ve lost guys to NIL. We lost 3-4 1.5 sting guys on defense. They tell me “If I don’t start, I’m leaving. I tell them that you’ll be playing and have value. The 50-50 game doesn’t work with the new generation. [So we don’t use the back-up quarterback unless we have to protect the starter’s NIL?)
My son-in-law is in his third year with the Cardinals. He plays tackle, guard or center. This gives him the most value he can have. [“Martin was signed by the Arizona Cardinals on August 4, 2020. He was released at roster cuts and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was signed to a future contract on January 5, 2021. He was released again on August 31 and subsequently signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster prior to a week three game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Martin made his NFL debut on September 26, appearing on four special teams snaps during the 31–19 win. On October 4, 2021, Martin was released by the Cardinals and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Cardinals on January 19, 2022. On August 29, 2022, Martin was waived by the Cardinals.[12] He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 14, 2022.[13] He was released on November 5.” Koda Martin - Wikipedia ]
“Center is unique. That’s where you would use the second-string center or a guard who had trained for the position. Guard and tackle are interchangeable. You want to use your best six guys.“ Matt mentioned that sometimes the back-up guard is a fullback – like Chris Elmore. Dino: We’ve started freshmen at wide receiver, running back defensive back, even defensive end. But it’s very rare to start them in the interior offensive line. Airon Servais did it as a redshirt freshman. Kalen Ellis was a true freshman. It’s tough to send a 17-18 year old out to battle with 21-22 year old me. We want to put out oldest, strongest players out there.”
Matt asked Dino if he stares at the wall of his office, which has the SU roster on it, looking for answers. DB: “You stare at it. You evaluate if they could physically handle it and then if they can mentally bridge the gap.” Matt asked about Josh Hough and Garth Barclay – are they “serviceable”? DB: “Eli (Elijah Fuentes-Kundiff) chased the Clemson quarterback. You wonder if Josh, who if faster than Eli, would have caught him.” [Which means that Josh must have fully recovered from his leg injury.] But Eli is a better defensive lineman at this point.
Dino recalled that play and also the play where Marlowe Wax held up because of a previous {and very phony] late hit call and Travis Jordan was able to ruin for a first down. “They won by a feidlg oal. It was another one of those deals – a ‘Remember the Titans’ play.” [I confess I didn’t see that film- anyone know what a ‘Remember the Titans’ play is?]
They talked briefly about Jared Verse, (no revelations). “Florida State has a good front seven and an outstanding back four.
Dom in North Carolina wondered why basketball coaches seem to have complete control over their non-conference schedules and football coaches don’t. DB: “Football schedules tend to be made by athletic directors or assistant athletic directors, way ahead of time. Sometimes you have a vote and sometimes you don’t.” Matt said “It’s an event and it’s only on Saturdays. That involves more planning.” [They re-did the 2020 schedules -and screwed us – pretty quickly.] Next Year’s non-conference opponents, per Matt, as Colgate, Western Michigan, Army and Purdue, “a coach-friendly schedule”. [And exactly what I have prescribed for years: start out with Colgate, have a home-and-home with Army, a mid-major and a team from another power conference.]
Will in Liverpool asked Dino what he tells the team after a tough loss. “I tell them to stay together -family, la familia.” He was distracted by the sight of Garrett Shrader dining on the Garrett Shrader platter.
Christie wondered what Dino would be doing if he wasn’t a football coach. He said he’d be a professor. Matt asked: “In what subject?” Dino laughed and said he was kidding.
Matt asked Dino if he’d seen the soccer game that SU won in overtime to reach the ACC finals. “I caught a bit of it, the tying goal and then kick-off afterwards. What an atmosphere! I walked out to a full parking lot and wondered if I could get my car out or if I’d been cut off.
Matt brought on Coach Schmidt to talk about the offensive line. First he talked about his new child, born the night of the Notre Dame game. Matt asked if he was named Knute, Frank, Ara or Lou. Nope: It’s “Bo Michael Schmidt”. Matt noted that Coach Schmidt had to use 7 different line-ups last year whereas this year the line was unchanged until they had to replace Ellis against Pittsburgh. [And yet Sean Tucker averaged 125 yards a game last year and is averaging 86 this year, (68 if you take out the ridiculous Wagner ‘game’.] “Our job is to put the best five players on the field. Enrique is most comfortable at tackle. He’s played there since his first day on campus. Dakota Davis had played guard. The biggest jump is their first time out on the field. They then realize how much strength it takes and the speed of the game.”
Kalen Ellis was “out there this week getting back on his feet.“ Coach Schmidt looks at the offensive numbers as “an unbiased result. Rushing yards are a big-time offensive stat. It’s a team stat. Protecting the passer is a team stat. The last two weeks we haven’t been up to par.” Matt suggested that settling for a field goal on first and goal from the one must be “a tough pill to swallow”. The path to a sustained drive is continuity. Get the job done on first down and lean on them.”
Jared Verse “has shown constant improvement since Albany. He’s a redshirt sophomore. They also have a transfer at middle linebacker, (Tatum Bethune from Central Florida), and veteran safety Jammie Robinson.
Matt asked the coach to “say something encouraging for the stretch run“. He said “we have healthy bodies that are continuing to grow. The run game are a few plays away from developing confidence. It just takes one good game.” {We’re still waiting for that.]
Coach Babers came back to close the show. He’s most concerned about the FSU running attack, especially with a good running quarterback like Jordan. “Their offensive line has drastically improved from the last couple of years. They got two good wide receivers, a transfer from Arizona State and a local yokel.” [Local Yokel?] The former Sun Devil is 6-7 235 Johnny Wilson (32r 625y 4TD). I’m not sure who the ‘local yokel’ is. The closest wideout to Tallahassee is Ontaria Wilson of Ashburn, Georgia, (about 100 miles away). He has 21/376/3. “Our defensive backs are used to guarding tall receivers like Oronde in practice. They’ve got playmakers at every level, including two bookend defensive ends. Their 1 & 2 techniques blew up the middle of our line last year.” [I hate calling players ‘techniques’: They are
tackles.]
Matt asked about the quarterback situation. Dino started to say something: “I hope we will be having some…” but didn’t complete the sentence. Then he said “We’ve gotten our penalties down.” Finally, he said “We’ve got to get more scoring. We hope to have injured players back – not just warming up but actually playing. We need Otto’s Army, the student body. The 12th man has got to be ready to go. Then we can play the game and see what happens.” [The 12th man will go farther if the 11 men are ready to go.]