The Dino Babers Show - before Notre Dame | Syracusefan.com

The Dino Babers Show - before Notre Dame

SWC75

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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:
3149 Sweet Rd · 3149 Sweet Rd, Jamesville, NY 13078

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, I have something to ask about the last game and something on the next game.

On our first possession of the Clemson game, Andre Szmyt attempted a field goal. You called a time out just prior to the snap and Andre’s kick was short. You then elected to go for two and we didn’t make it. Was Andre short because he heard the whistle on the time out and what was your reasoning for trying for the yardage instead of giving him a second chance?

That Clemson game was almost an instant replay of the 2018 game. That year, we lost our next game to a Pittsburgh team we were favored over in overtime. How much did the team’s reaction to losing to Clemson impact their play against Pittsburgh and can you compare their attitude that week to this team’s attitude this week?”



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 noted that this was their first show this year coming off a loss. “It’s rare to not hang on to a lead in the fourth quarter.” Dino said that SU had gone into the fourth quarter with a lead over Clemson “the last 2-3 times we’ve been down there”. [Actually in 2020, we never had a lead, but we were down only -ironically- 21-27 until the Tigers scored on a fumble return with 1:26 left in the third quarter. They got two more scored in the fourth quarter to win 21-47. And that was our 1-10 team. Here is a breakdown in the scoring by quarters of these last three trips to Clemson: 13-31; 38-13, 7-13, 7-44 – that’s 58-57 after three quarters, then 7-44). Matt: “You can’t seem to seal the deal but that’s part of sports.” Dino: “I won’t say that you need to beat them twice, but you need to clearly beat a good team to win.”

Dino was appreciative for “the opportunity to get the opportunity to play Notre Dame in the JMA Dome – Oops!, I think I said that twice….I’ve heard from people on the west coast who are going to be watching this game at 9AM out there. People are noticing what we are doing.” Matt noted the times we’ve sold out the Dome since the 1998 Tennessee game: the 2019 Clemson game the 2022 NC State game and the 2022 Notre Dame game.

I actually got my call through and had somebody pick it up after the first couple of rings. I was able to get on after the break and the Coach and I could actually hear each other. His answers to my questions:
- “I took the time out because the clock was running out and I wasn’t sure Andre could kick the ball that far if we went back 5 yards, (to 51 yards away in the face of a wind). I couldn’t really tell but he told me he pulled up when he heard the whistle. I told him that I want him to make every kick, (regardless of what else is going on), to make it a practice to be perfect every time. I just decided that to beat the 5th ranked team in the country on the road, we needed to score as many points as we could.”
- “The team’s attitude this week is really good. I don’t really believe in having a mental let down after a frustrating defeat. They are so physical that you don’t go into your next game at full strength. Players either can’t go or are hurting. A team like Clemson is bigger, faster, more talented and more physical than most teams. They block and tackler harder than most teams do.

Matt Park said that “leadership is not an issue.” And asked about the health of Garrett Williams. Dino: Garrett Williams practiced all week. He lined up and played with the defense.” Matt said that he suspected that he would not be able to play against Clemson when he saw in practice that Williams was “really not pushing everything against the scrubs”. Dino: “He’s way, way better than that now. He would not have been able to protect himself against Clemson’s athletes. A Garrett Williams at 80% is better than most players at 100%.” Matt suggested that the drop-down for SU is minimal with players like Isaiah Johnson and Jeremiah Wilson. Dino: “Our seniors are outstanding college players.” [Not that Johnson or Wilson are seniors.] Matt noted that the NC State, Clemson and Notre Dame games coming in a frow were the biggest reason why this was regarded as such a tough schedule, and we seem to be doing pretty well. [It helps that two of those teams are missing their starting QB.]

A restaurant patron, (I didn’t get the name), said that their group of fans sit behind the SU bench, at a point where the offensive linemen tend to sit when not on the field and they are appalled that those big linemen are forced to sit in the same folding chairs that the other players sit in. Can’t they find bigger chairs for the big guys? Dino: “This question is dynamic! Guys like Dakota Davis and Carlos (Vettorello) should have to sit in chairs designed for basketball and lacrosse players! We’re gonna take this upstairs!” [If Dakota and Carlos aren’t comfortable, how is Kalan Ellis feeling? And what about the chairs?]

Another patron named Thomas asked if the coach would run a flea flicker against Notre Dame. Dino: “I can’t say if we will or not, but it’s one of my favorite plays”. Thomas also invited him to join their tailgate after the game. Dino said that he will be looking forward to eating fired noodles at home after the game. That’s what his wife cooks for him after each victory.

Stephanie had three questions, the first two of which Coach refused to answer:
- Which bowl does he want to go to? “Pass.” How about the Hula Bowl? “There isn’t one. They knocked the stadium down.”
- The second one was something about what people, (recruits?) Dino knows were in the building. Dino: “No one.”
- How does Coach get along with Jim Boeheim? He did agree to answer that. “You need to ask him. I do a lot of listening. He knows ball, all kinds of ball. I figured I better listen to him.“ [My father’s favorite saying was that “You learn more by listening than you do by talking.” I agreed but, taking it to its logical end, I suggested that if everyone followed that dictum, no one would learn anything. They’d all be listening.]

Mark in New York called in, calling himself “Your half-court buddy.” He’d made a half-court shot at Madison Square Garden that caused Dino to “jump out of his shoes”. Dino: “I haven’t come out of my feet [sic] like that in decades”. Mark wanted to know what notable people had contacted Dino about the success of the team. Did he have any “cool names”? Dino said the details of conversation were private, but he’s talked to Dwight Freeney and the Jones brothers, various actors and even the President. “All the Orange are coming out of the closet.” [We were in the closet?] “Anybody wearing orange is getting people rushing up to them to congratulate them.”

Mark said that he’d jumped out of his seat when Ja’Had Carter returned that fumble. Dino said that Carter had “screwed up” making that play and also an interception in the end zone because “now that he’s cleared that bar, that will be the minimum people will accept now. “I can’t wait to see how he backs it up.”

John in Baltimore asked about sending in videos of controversial calls – are there any consequences? Also, how goes the search for a competent #2 receiver? DB: “Auditions started in August. I’ve coached everything in football except the lines and coaching wide receivers was my favorite positional job. Normally they all have the ability. It’s more a question of consistency. We need more speed and separation on the outside…. The referees agree or disagree with our submissions. Referees can be downgraded based on them.” Matt brought up the name Damien Alford of whom he said “doesn’t get noticed until he makes a big play at the end of the game.” Dino: “Several of them are right there- really close. But you can’t push them into the pool. They have to dive in on their own.”

Matt referred to Coach’s Monday press conference in which he acknowledged that Sean Tucker needed to get more touches. Then he went to quote Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who said he was “teaching the right way”. Dino: “Coach is teaching but the student must want to receive the knowledge.” [..Grasshopper…] “In athletics you figure things out extremely quickly. We have to figure out how to reach them.”

Joe Moore was the long timeline coach at Pitt and Notre Dame “and they never had a bad offensive line. Now the nation’s best offensive line gets the Joe Moore Award. “Notre Dame never has a bad offensive line. They can run the ball on most people. Their receivers are not as productive, mostly due to their using a back-up quarterback.” Matt opined that “Isaiah Foskey dents you in the sternum”. Dino felt that ND’s line is “so good that you can’t get to the linebackers and D-backs. They are leaded with 5 stars and 4 stars, similar to Clemson.”

Nick Monroe coaches the secondary and is “our top recruiter” per Mat. How are things going back there? “We’re cooking. We’re keeping the ball in front of us or taking it away. Multi-sport athletes can see the ball in the air and can track the ball. We rotate guys so the spotlight isn’t too big for them…Michael Mayer, (Meyer?) is heir s tar tight end. He makes things happen. You can’t stop him but if we can just hold him down a bit, we can control him. He’s 6-4 and 265.”
 
Great recap and fun questions this week! So cool to hear that the President knows about our 6-1 start.
that's awesome about Joe, but what does SU grad Brian Stepanek of Zack and Cody fame think?
 

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