SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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- In the first halves of the last two games we have been out-gained 253-515 and out-scored 6-37. The fact that we had a good second half last week didn’t translate to this week at all. Will it translate to the next week?
- Also the shots we took downfield should have set up the short passing and running games but we waited forever to try to take advantage of it and by then we were too far behind to do much besides chucking it deep.
- Moe Neal and Abdul Adams totaled 9 carries for 32 yards. The 32 yards aren’t much but don’t you have to give your running backs more than 9 carries?
- Aaron Hackett and Luke Benson have 4 catches for 23 yards in the last two games, (all by Hackett). Remember when they seemed like major weapons?
- We now have given up 35 sacks in 7 games with 5 to go. At that rate, we will have given up 60 sacks. G-Rob’s worse team in 2007 gave up 54 sacks.
- That was the team that destroyed Andrew Robinson. In this game Tommy DeVito got leveled and was face down on the ground for a long while. He got removed from the game and did not return. Dino said that the doctors cleared him to return but he decided to go with Clayton Welch for the rest of the game.
- Welch launched an improbable comeback but he hardly seems like the answer the rest of the season. Most of his short passes were wounded ducks and his long passes were basically Hail Marys that his receivers had to out-fight the defense for. Welch is big and strong and can rumble forward but he has no speed. On one play he bobbled a high snap, ducked past the rush and fumbled the ball again, bouncing it off the turf as if he thought he was Jalen Carey for a moment. He regained it and gained a yard. His success today seemed like a pitcher just called up from the minors who gives up line drives all over the place because of his lack of velocity but somehow most of them were caught. That’s not going to happen most of the time.
- We got back Andre Cisco and Iffy Melifonwu but lost Trill Williams. Trill was behind the play and decried he would reach over the ball carrier’s shoulder and try and pry the ball out. He planted his left foot to give himself leverage to do this and had the guy fall on it, rolling his ankle. Cisco saw it and put his head in his hand. It’s probably one of those “You don’t want to see the replay” injuries. He was on the sidelines out of uniform and with a boot on his leg in the second half. (As I write this, Brent Axe is saying on his night-of-the-game podcast that Sam Heckel’s injury is a concussion problem and he doesn’t think he’ll ever play again.)
- Terrible field positon and the shock of William’s injury seemed to take the steam out of a valiant defensive effort late in the first half as Pitt scored the two touchdowns that gave them a commanding 6-24 halftime lead. The defense was able to rally for a fine second half but the damage had been done.
- We couldn’t flip the field in the first half because Pitt kept making it on third down and we kept failing. For the game they were 10 of 19. We were 5 of 18. Our third down plays in the first half produced 3 sacks, a holding penalty, an incomplete pass on a hurry, a 1 yard run by Neal, an incomplete pass by Welch and two runs by Welch of 23 and 18 yards, the only two that got the first down.
- It was another strangely officiated game. My favorite moment was on a punt when Otto Zaccardo leveled a guy, saw that he was hurt, ran over the Pittsburgh bench to tell them the trainer needed to come in. he was flagged for taunting. Then the refs realized he wasn’t taunting. They picked the flag up and announced “There is no foul for taunting “. Then they called Otto for unnecessary roughing.
- But the big call was the reverse on the fumble call at the end. I thought watching it that Ruff yanked the ball away when they were on the ground. But the call on the field was in our favor, so they had to have indisputable video evidence that the call was wrong and the several replay angles didn’t make that clear yet they reversed it. Brian Higgins, the sideline reporter, said that SU’s video guy had an angle the reviewing officials did not see that they said showed the ball coming out before they hit the ground.
- There were also some strange spots and some calls that were made based on minor contact that got Matt Park and Adam Terry upset in the radio booth. In fact, Park and Terry have been doing more complaining about the refs than I’ve ever heard from a Syracuse booth.
- We still commit too many penalties, 9 of them in this game after 12 last week. The worst was a false start after Dino had sent in a trick play on third and 2 from the Pitt 20 on the first play of the 4th quarter. Then Welch was sacked and Szymt missed a 49 yard field goal.
- On our first play Trishton Jackson bobbled and dropped a pass where he was wide open and might have taken it the distance. It was the old thing: he turned to run before he completed the catch. Then Nykeim Johnson bobbled and caught a ball just as he was breaking into the clear. The time he had to take to secure it allowed the defender to close on him and tackle him. We got a first down but he looked like he could have gone all the way. Then there was the pass throw right into the hands of Evan Foster deep in Pitt territory. Instead of catching the ball he sort of fought it off and it tumbled to the ground. When you get a chance to make a big play, you’ve got to make it. You never know what the situation might be at the end of the game.
- Pitt knew they’d been in a game when this one was over all right. They also knew that they’d won it. There were a mouthy bunch. Our players mouthed back at them. More words were exchanged than at the democratic debate.
- We are 3-0 against non-power conference teams and 0-4 against power conference teams. And power conference teams are the only ones left on the schedule.
- I just watched the top ten plays on Sports Center and the 94 yarder didn’t make the cut. And it was better than any of the top ten plays they chose.
- Also the shots we took downfield should have set up the short passing and running games but we waited forever to try to take advantage of it and by then we were too far behind to do much besides chucking it deep.
- Moe Neal and Abdul Adams totaled 9 carries for 32 yards. The 32 yards aren’t much but don’t you have to give your running backs more than 9 carries?
- Aaron Hackett and Luke Benson have 4 catches for 23 yards in the last two games, (all by Hackett). Remember when they seemed like major weapons?
- We now have given up 35 sacks in 7 games with 5 to go. At that rate, we will have given up 60 sacks. G-Rob’s worse team in 2007 gave up 54 sacks.
- That was the team that destroyed Andrew Robinson. In this game Tommy DeVito got leveled and was face down on the ground for a long while. He got removed from the game and did not return. Dino said that the doctors cleared him to return but he decided to go with Clayton Welch for the rest of the game.
- Welch launched an improbable comeback but he hardly seems like the answer the rest of the season. Most of his short passes were wounded ducks and his long passes were basically Hail Marys that his receivers had to out-fight the defense for. Welch is big and strong and can rumble forward but he has no speed. On one play he bobbled a high snap, ducked past the rush and fumbled the ball again, bouncing it off the turf as if he thought he was Jalen Carey for a moment. He regained it and gained a yard. His success today seemed like a pitcher just called up from the minors who gives up line drives all over the place because of his lack of velocity but somehow most of them were caught. That’s not going to happen most of the time.
- We got back Andre Cisco and Iffy Melifonwu but lost Trill Williams. Trill was behind the play and decried he would reach over the ball carrier’s shoulder and try and pry the ball out. He planted his left foot to give himself leverage to do this and had the guy fall on it, rolling his ankle. Cisco saw it and put his head in his hand. It’s probably one of those “You don’t want to see the replay” injuries. He was on the sidelines out of uniform and with a boot on his leg in the second half. (As I write this, Brent Axe is saying on his night-of-the-game podcast that Sam Heckel’s injury is a concussion problem and he doesn’t think he’ll ever play again.)
- Terrible field positon and the shock of William’s injury seemed to take the steam out of a valiant defensive effort late in the first half as Pitt scored the two touchdowns that gave them a commanding 6-24 halftime lead. The defense was able to rally for a fine second half but the damage had been done.
- We couldn’t flip the field in the first half because Pitt kept making it on third down and we kept failing. For the game they were 10 of 19. We were 5 of 18. Our third down plays in the first half produced 3 sacks, a holding penalty, an incomplete pass on a hurry, a 1 yard run by Neal, an incomplete pass by Welch and two runs by Welch of 23 and 18 yards, the only two that got the first down.
- It was another strangely officiated game. My favorite moment was on a punt when Otto Zaccardo leveled a guy, saw that he was hurt, ran over the Pittsburgh bench to tell them the trainer needed to come in. he was flagged for taunting. Then the refs realized he wasn’t taunting. They picked the flag up and announced “There is no foul for taunting “. Then they called Otto for unnecessary roughing.
- But the big call was the reverse on the fumble call at the end. I thought watching it that Ruff yanked the ball away when they were on the ground. But the call on the field was in our favor, so they had to have indisputable video evidence that the call was wrong and the several replay angles didn’t make that clear yet they reversed it. Brian Higgins, the sideline reporter, said that SU’s video guy had an angle the reviewing officials did not see that they said showed the ball coming out before they hit the ground.
- There were also some strange spots and some calls that were made based on minor contact that got Matt Park and Adam Terry upset in the radio booth. In fact, Park and Terry have been doing more complaining about the refs than I’ve ever heard from a Syracuse booth.
- We still commit too many penalties, 9 of them in this game after 12 last week. The worst was a false start after Dino had sent in a trick play on third and 2 from the Pitt 20 on the first play of the 4th quarter. Then Welch was sacked and Szymt missed a 49 yard field goal.
- On our first play Trishton Jackson bobbled and dropped a pass where he was wide open and might have taken it the distance. It was the old thing: he turned to run before he completed the catch. Then Nykeim Johnson bobbled and caught a ball just as he was breaking into the clear. The time he had to take to secure it allowed the defender to close on him and tackle him. We got a first down but he looked like he could have gone all the way. Then there was the pass throw right into the hands of Evan Foster deep in Pitt territory. Instead of catching the ball he sort of fought it off and it tumbled to the ground. When you get a chance to make a big play, you’ve got to make it. You never know what the situation might be at the end of the game.
- Pitt knew they’d been in a game when this one was over all right. They also knew that they’d won it. There were a mouthy bunch. Our players mouthed back at them. More words were exchanged than at the democratic debate.
- We are 3-0 against non-power conference teams and 0-4 against power conference teams. And power conference teams are the only ones left on the schedule.
- I just watched the top ten plays on Sports Center and the 94 yarder didn’t make the cut. And it was better than any of the top ten plays they chose.
