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AmeriCU Dino Babers Show Returns Thursday - Syracuse University Athletics
The season's first edition of the AmeriCU Dino Babers Show is set to air at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2, live from Heritage Hill Brewery.
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.
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: Listen to Free Radio Online | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
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
Submit your question for Syracuse Learfield Sports Network programs.
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
First segment question:
“Coach a week ago it was felt that we needed to jump out on top of an 0-4 Florida State team to discourage them. We also are committed to a rushing attach, which works better when you are in the lead than when you fall behind. In the first 24 minutes of that game we gained 49 yards and scored no points. In the last 36 minutes, we gained 340 yards and scored 30 points. What adjustments were made to produce those results and why couldn’t we play that was from the beginning of the game?”
Second segment question:
“Coach, every team in the ACC Atlantic has been to at least 5 bowl games since we joined the conference in 2013, except us. We’ve been to two. Wake Forest is the one team we have a winning record against, 5-3, (thank you Trill Williams), but they’ve been to 5 bowl games in a row. How can we get to bowl games at least as often as Wake Forest does?”
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.)
How are things? DB: “Things are good. We had a spiffy practice, the best Thursday practice of the year. It was a light practice: 35 minutes on the offense and defense, then 25 on special teams. We probably snapped the ball 100 times” (Orange is still the new fast in practice.) Matt suggested it was “like a pre-exam: you already know all the questions: do you have the answers.” Dino: “We put Saturday to bed on Sunday. By Tuesday we’ve got a game plan. Wednesday is reinforcing things. Friday is for new ideas. We’re so tired at the beginning of the week we’ve got no creative juices. Then the fog begins to lift.” Matt asked if the coach’s office was a democracy. Dino: “I always listen but you’d better have a batting average.”
On the Florida State game: “I’m trying to let go of it. It was competitive, great for the fans. I wish we’d done a few things differently and made a few plays we didn’t make. Their quarterback got away to set up a routine field goal. That’s all I can say about it.” (And not get fined.) “Our players did a lot of things right. On fourth and 2 we could have kicked the field goal and wound up in overtime. There was no call on a third down play down the right side. There were so many little things. The tight end of the pop pass- the ball came out of his hand differently than it had in practice. We’re doing some things in some situations that I’m not happy with.”
That set up my question about what did we do differently and why didn’t we do it from the beginning of the game. He said “with Rhino back, we wanted to knock people out of the way, maybe a bit too much. There were some missed offensive line assignments and the running backs made some bad decisions. We got a little more aggressive. It was one of our better days. They were tough on short yardage. Their nose tackle made some plays I haven’t seen in 30 years.
Mark in Cazenovia wondered about the prosses of contesting called – what happens and what do they do? Matt broke in to say that ‘contesting’ is “a bit of an over-statement”. Dino: “We look at a play, take that play and submit it to the head of officials, who agrees with us or with the game officials. They are usually prompt. I’m not going to say what the answers were – I’d be fined for that. Any coach can submit an inquiry but on my staff they all have to go through me. My goal is to get an agreement 75% of the time. Every coach has a reputation and I want ours to be at the highest level. I submitted three plays in the FSU game and won two of them – 66.7%. I won’t tell you which plays were involved but on one I got an answer I’d never heard before in 35 years of coach about why we were wrong. I referred some basketball games in college for some extra money and I learned to anticipate calls but to never call it unless you see it.”
I wish he’d officiated this game:
About Wake Forest, Matt suggested that “some of the stuff they do resembles ‘old us’.” Dino: “They are an old team. One defensive player is in his 7th year, God bless him.” Matt wondered if he was on the faculty. “Wake is experienced and efficient. They got at things almost in slow motion. Slow-mo translates into fast-mo. They don’t turn it over so we can’t either. You can’t give them opportunities. They don’t get many holding penalties.” (Who does against us?) Matt suggested that slow-developing plays should create more holding calls. DB: “They use quarterback sneak blocking. They wait for the defense to move out of the way and the backs find the creases. Their hit chart goes sideline to sideline.” (Then so should ours. I like the strategy of waiting for the defense to move out of the way.)
They marveled at the quality of the two place-kickers in this game:
Andre Szmyt College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
Check out Andre Szmyt's College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits and More College Stats at Sports-Reference.com
www.sports-reference.com
Nick Sciba College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
Check out Nick Sciba's College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits and More College Stats at Sports-Reference.com
www.sports-reference.com
Tom in Syracuse wants Dino to “take them out of their comfort zone by going to the two-minute drill early”. Matt suggested that was the basis for Dino’s whole offense – until a couple of weeks ago. He pointed out that Wake “has 3 guys with 40-50 carries and 3 guys with 20 receptions:
2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Stats | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Stats
www.sports-reference.com
2021 Syracuse Orange Stats | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
2021 Syracuse Orange Stats
www.sports-reference.com
Something reminded Dino of a 2018 pop pass to “our tight end…what was his name- he went to Kent State. We were going to win but they said a tackle was downfield and we had to do it over again and they scored in 92 seconds.”(I hope it’s too late to fine him for that.)
They brough on running backs coach Mike Lynch. Matt said he’d bene in one with coaches getting their flu shots and they were still ”shaking their heads over the game.” Mike said “You can’t have one team beat you twice”. He’s seen considerable growth in Sean Tucker since he came here. “He’s got a great work ethic. He asks great questions. He knows how to read keys. You gotta love having Rhino out there. He blows open huge holes. He’s a powerful, explosive guy.” He also said that he can “run swing and option pass routes. He’ll get better as the season goes along. He’s starting to get his timing with Schrader.” Matt noted that in some sets, both Sean Tucker and Abdul Adams were in their together. (My heart flutters- a two back backfield!) Lynch: “We can mass protect, we can have one guy block for the other. One guy can go into the flat.” He also noted that #24, (Cooper Lutz) and #27 (Adams) are in there on kick protection. “It helps the team and keeps them warm for when they have to come into the game.”
Gomez took over for the second half hour and asked the coach what was the last concert he attended. He said that “second to last was Santana and the last was the Temptations – just before the pandemic”. (Maybe Coach Boeheim can get him a gig singing with the Temptations, as he once did at a charity benefit.)
John in Baltimore wanted to clarify what he was saying about trick plays last week. He doesn’t want the quarterback sent out on pass patterns. He prefers to “put the quarterback in space” or run a flea-flicker so he doesn’t get hurt. This week he wanted to know about time management. Also, on third and long, could we run quick slants rather than throwing the ball downfield? DB: “Those are a lot of questions. On third and 15 if you throw a 5 yard pass, you get a lot of questions about it the next week. It’s frustrating. You want to ‘throw for the chains’. Against man-for-man teams you can get some YAC but zone teams keep you in front of them and tackle you short….We have to find ways to get Sean Tucker touches. He can change the game….I was tutored in clock management by Homer Smith, who used to coach at one of the military academies. He’s got some books on the internet about it.”
The Complete Handbook of Clock Management - 2021 Edition: Homer Smith, Steve Axman: 9781606795446: Amazon.com: Books
He also said that something was said to him that was not accurate. I didn’t quite get that part. I’m guessing he was talking about the failure to review the catch at the end of the half.
Gomez asked if the replays at Doak Campbell Stadium included controversial plays. Dino said “I hope I say this and avoid a fine. In stadiums where it doesn’t snow much they show the home team plays a lot and the home team coach gets to decide whether he wants to request a review. They don’t show the visiting team’s (controversial) plays at all. SU needs to do a better job for the home team. It’s not what I’m used to.”
I called in my second question about keeping up with Wake Forest. DB: “Scheduling They are a lot different. It allows them to get to the ACC games healthy. They don’t lose key players to injury and it’s 50-50 rather than 40-60 for them. They don’t get beat up.” Should we schedule like them? “I’m not in charge of scheduling. But it’s very evident that their scheduling is working.” Dino described the Clawson approach: “Get old. Red shirt your freshmen, take your lumps early. They wouldn’t get NFL type players who want to go early, like the three guys we lost last year. Young men want to get to the NFL as fast as they can. You’ve gotta change your body and few can do it in 2-3 years. If Trill had stayed, he’d be a top 3 draft pick next year…It will be interesting to see if NIL will get more players to stay in college longer. It could help the schools who have trouble recuriting in depth….In basketball, Lebron James is untouchable. Anyone who makes contact with him will be called for a foul. In football a guy with no shot at the pros can end your dreams.”
Wake’s recent schedules: Wake Forest Historical Scores
Syracuse’s: Syracuse Historical Scores
Theirs looks similar to what we are trying to do. Why do they play Army and we don’t?
Gomez marveled at Duce Chestnut’s interception. “It looked so easy.” Dino: “real good athletes don’t second guess themselves. They use their God-given instincts. Liberty burned him on an out and up. I told him not to hesitate on the next one. Go with your intuition and run through the play.”
Gomez wondered about Dino’s reference to the movie ‘Heartbreak Ridge’:
Heartbreak Ridge (1986) Official Trailer - Clint Eastwood Drama Movie HD
Dino said it was all about making adjustments, which we should have done at the end of the half and which Marlowe Wax had to make after the roughing the passer call. I think I figured out when Dino said to get that flag against Rutgers: “With all due respect, sir, you’re beginning to bore the hell out of me!”
