The Dino Babers Show - before Virginia | Syracusefan.com

The Dino Babers Show - before Virginia

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)

(after I congratulate Coach and the team on the great victory)

“Coach, you said that if you are a cornerback and you come to Syracuse, you’re going to be on an island with no help. Doesn’t having 5 defensive backs give you the capability to double-cover the nation’s leading receiver when you are protecting a 10 point lead with 8 minutes to go in the game?”



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 the coach was “staring at the Virginia game plan”. He didn’t reveal anything of it but asks “where do you start” in preparing for Virginia. Dino: “We spent Sunday breaking down tape . I’m a Clint Eastwood guy. We divide the films into ‘The Good, The Bad and the Ugly’.


“Players in individual units don’t normally get to see all the mistakes their brothers make. Sunday had to be Monday, Monday Tuesday, Tuesday was Wednesday and so on. The NCAA requires that we give thew plays a day off. This week, this will be Saturday, the day AFTER the game. Meanwhile the coaches will be out- recruiting New York State. I will have a meeting with recruits who came in to visit on Friday, the hit the road for 4 hours. I can tell you who I’ll be talking to but I’ll be getting home late and won’t be able to watch any of the games being played that day.”

“It’s not been an easy week. We have to consider what we are good at and what needs work. We also need to consider what Virginia is good at an what they are working on. Then we look at match-up.” Matt pointed out that “they’ve got a 6-5 receiver but we have a couple of them.


I called and got the feed of the show but nobody answered the phone. Herman from Liverpool managed to get through and could be heard by matt and the Coach but he could not hear them. He asked if the coach would sign something but his feed broke up when he was trying to say what it was. Matt suggested he attend the show and the Coach would be glad to sign whatever it was. (Maybe they should have determined what that is before making such a promise.)

Matt said that the first half was low-scoring but not boring but after we took the lead late in the third quarter, the fourth quarter was “zaniness”. Dino said that the key was taking the ball after winning the coin toss, which “gave us an extra possession” and allowed us to win the game at the end. [Actually, per the drive chart, we had 11 possessions and they had 13 of them. Purdue’s total Includes a 13 second possession at the end of the half and the last 7 seconds of the game. SU did not get credited for a possession on Okechuckwu’s pick six. It seems to me that there is no way, at the beginning of the game, to ensure that you get an ‘extra’ possession or the last one.]

“I wanted to feel good and if you’d taken my blood, (pressure), you’d have concluded that I did feel good. But then we got on that roller coaster.” Matt suggested that Garrett Shrader “is good at game-winning drives”. Dino: “He’s got that moxie to him.” [That’s a word I haven’t; heard in a long time. For you youngsters: Moxie - Wikipedia ]
Dino talked about Jim McMahon, whom he played against when Jim was at Brigham Young. “He was just that different. The things he said to his BYU line were different. The things he said to our players was different. He was just different.” Matt asked if “you can tell about player’s leadership skills watching a high school game”. Dino: “If I can see you, it’s hard to miss an evaluation. Even if I watch you play golf, I can tell.”

I had called back and got through this time. I congratulated him and the team on the victory, which I said was one of the most exciting games in Dome history. I told him cheering for the team had exhausted me so much that I felt like a zombie on Sunday. Dino said he felt the same way. I told him I could not imagine how he graded film on such a day. I admitted my question was of a critical nature.

Dino responded to the question by saying that, indeed having 5 defensive backs does allow us to double-team the oppositions’ best receiver and that we did so several time. “That guy was worth it.”. I advised him not to let the cornerbacks get too lonely and got a laugh. After I hung up, Matt picked up the conversation, suggesting that “for 94% of the game, it was a great battle between Garrett Williams and Charlie Jones.” He suggested that, “you want guys who want to go one on one”. Dino agreed. “We have ‘cat’ coverage: you cover that cat, you cover this cat. They want to do it even with All-Americans.” Matt: “We want players with a bit of swagger. The previous group is in the pros and you want guys who are thinking of doing the same thing.” [I still think we should have double covered Mr. Jones on every play after we got that 10 point lead.]

Matt asked if the coach like the new scheduling model, where we could play everyone in the league in four years. (isn’t two years?) Coach: “This is my first game against Virginia. Miami hasn’t bene here since the Big East years. It will give us an opportunity to play everybody and see all 14 teams.” [He meant the other 13 teams: we are the 14th team.] Matt bemoaned the loss of rivalries with conference realignment. Dino said something about “playing geographical undesirables”.

Steve in Camillus asked about the offensive line. In fact, the O-line was there are the restaurant. Dino lauded them for learning more than one position “so we can put our best five guys out there. We need the O-line and the D-line to stay healthy.” In an effort to get Sean Tucker going, “We’ve put the microscope under a lot of stuff” [Translation: “We’ve put a lot of stuff under a microscope.”] he reiterated “It was not a relaxing week around here. There was intensity and the desire to perform to a certain standard.”

“Taking what the defense will give you is normally the best strategy but sometimes, that E-G-O comes into play and you say “Damn the torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead! There’s something about getting to the top of the hill. Even if you get a flat tire, get out and push. If we make a mistake, it’s going to roll over us so don’t make mistakes!” {I would add that while you want to exploit defensive weakness, you shouldn’t turn away from your strengths, either. The defense may be giving you what you aren’t very good at.]

Coach had a long-term habit of having his wife cook him some friend noodles after a victory. Eddie in Manlius asked Coach if he still does that. He said he’s been doing it since 1990. “Sometimes I have it with hot dogs or with egg whites – I’m not allowed to have the yolks – they aren’t good for me.”

Matt asked about the fact that OC Robert Anae and QB coach Jason Beck having coached the team we are about to play, just last year. Dino: “They gave us a mental evaluation of the players but people grow and change. You can coach ‘em and make them better or you can coach ‘em and make them worse. You’ve got to leave room for a young man to grow. You know what they used to be but they may not be exactly like that now.”

Matt suggested that QB Brennan Armstrong may “lack room to wing it, trying to learn a new offense. A new coach will institute his system, anticipating that he will be around longer than the players he inherits.” Dino: “It will click eventually, hopefully not Friday night it takes a total buy-in.” He mentioned “When I think of Coaches Beck and Anae, the last thing I think of is ‘free lancing’.” And added, “We’ve changed our system since I got here. Everyone thinks their system is the way to go but I’ve found out through aging that there’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

On Caleb Okechuckwu’s pick 6: “It’s rare for a defensive linemen to get an interception. The fact that he scored indicates that he made it in the red zone. He wasn’t caught.” Mikel Jones “got his usual ten tackles and won the football game…Art Jones addressed our defensive linemen meeting today.”

John in Baltimore wondered why we didn’t throw down the middle in our final drives, since we had 3 time outs. Dino: “We did throw down the middle. It almost got intercepted. There was more space on the sidelines.”

Chris Acuff, who is coaching the defensive lines, came on at the end of the show. He was with the Cardinals with Chandler Jones for two years. “I just pointed him in the right direction.” ON his current charges: “They are young and unknown but fast and physical. Jaitus Geer set up Caleb’s interception with a spin move. Kevon had 8 tackles. These guys are interchangeable.”

Matt noted that Armstrong, (great name for a QB!), is left-handed. Acuff: “We’ve got to attack ‘em. Stop the run is #1. Then contain the quarterback. Armstrong moves around well. if you push him and give him a lane, he’ll take it.

And with that, the show ended.
 
Thanks as always SWC. I got a big laugh out of your comment about the guy bringing something into sign. Yes, it might be a good idea to know what the guy wants signed, people could bring in strange stuff!
 
Man, John in Baltimore didn't believe us. Had to get the same answer from the horse's mouth.
 
Man, John in Baltimore didn't believe us. Had to get the same answer from the horse's mouth.
It was interesting hearing it from him. I still don't think one unsuccessful pass should eliminate the middle of the field for the whole drive, unless that's all that was open. Would be a little surprised if the Purdue D wanted to give us the sidelines. All's well that ends well, but IMO we were fortunate with some of those calls on the last drive, especially the defensive holding on 3rd and 10.
 
It was interesting hearing it from him. I still don't think one unsuccessful pass should eliminate the middle of the field for the whole drive, unless that's all that was open. Would be a little surprised if the Purdue D wanted to give us the sidelines. All's well that ends well, but IMO we were fortunate with some of those calls on the last drive, especially the defensive holding on 3rd and 10.
We didn’t run that many plays that last drive, not sure we actively “eliminated” the throw in the middle or just went for something Shrader was more comfortable with, especially given his shaky accuracy coming off illness and lack of practice.
 
It was interesting hearing it from him. I still don't think one unsuccessful pass should eliminate the middle of the field for the whole drive, unless that's all that was open. Would be a little surprised if the Purdue D wanted to give us the sidelines. All's well that ends well, but IMO we were fortunate with some of those calls on the last drive, especially the defensive holding on 3rd and 10.
Not trying to be a naysayer here, but we were most fortunate that Purdue decided to play m2m on that last play. What a bone-headed decision that was.
 
Is it possible that Dino didn't want to throw a player under the bus for not getting over to help Williams? Sometimes his "That doesn't seem to make sense?" answers actually have a reason.
 

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