The Downside - Pittsburgh | Syracusefan.com

The Downside - Pittsburgh

SWC75

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- When I was a kid, one of the ways Mom used to really irritate me, (a tiny number compared to the ways I must have irritated her), was to come up to me during an SU game that was not going well and ask me: Why do you care about these games when they make you unhappy? She felt being a sports fan was a silly waste of time. I would explain to her that you stick with your team even when things are going poorly so you can enjoy the good times even more, knowing that you never stopped caring about them. She still didn’t understand. She’s been gone for 14 years but still makes appearances in my mind, most of them benevolent and wise but she often shows up when SU football or basketball have reached some nadir. She was in there today, wondering why I was watching this game when it was making me so unhappy. I wondered, too. There’s nothing worse than seeing a pathetic performance by your team or seeing a season full of potential deflate like a balloon with a hole in it.

- The great Carlos Del Rio Wilson era has, at best, been postponed. The talent back-up quarterback who had excited us by leading us to 17 second half points against Notre Dame on 190 yard on 11 completions played the whole game today and completed 8 passes for 120 yards. It got us three field goals. A repeat of last week’s second half, when he completed three passes of 20+ yards, would have won us the game. Instead, we got mostly dink and dunk, only he doesn’t dink. He’s much better at throwing deep, except he didn’t even do that well after Pitt’s punter lined the ball into his won guys, giving us a chance in the fourth quarter. But CDRW failed to lead DeMarcus Adams and overthrew Oronde Gadsden on plays, either one of which could have produced a touchdown. We wound up with 15 incompletions and was sacked 6 times.

- In 2013, Terrell Hunt missed 1 game of 13. In 2014, he missed 7 of 12 games. In 2015 he was injured and out for the year early in the first of 12 games. Eric Dungey missed 3 of 12 games in both 2016 and 2017. He started all 13 games in 2018, (but didn’t finish the Florida State, North Carolina or Notre Dame games). Tommy DeVito started 11 of 12 2019 games, 4 games in 2020 and 3 games in 2021. Garrett Shrader started the first 8 games this year but was on the sidelines for this one. That’s 41 games of 118 (35%) that were not started by the original #1 QB at the beginning of what are now 10 seasons, an average of 4 a year. Doesn’t it seem like we should be putting almost as much into preparing the back-up quarterback to play as the starter?

- Gadsden played as if he was bored, running to spots and expecting the QB to get the ball to him there and whiffing on blocks that might have sprung Tucker. From my preseason, review, after looking at his highlight film: “They seem to emphasize his blocking ability, which is the type of thing coaches notice more than fans. A good block from a wide receiver can turn a 10 yard play into a 50 yard play.” (I say that a lot.) Sean Tucker will be glad to have Mr. Gadsden on the field.”

- I think Sean might wish he had left for a school with a better offensive line or for the pros, (was he eligible yet?) rather than spend this year fighting his way back to the line of scrimmage. I’ve never understood why we can’t run a simple sweep, (which we attempted to do on second and goal from the Pitt one). Lombardi knew how to do it.


- OK, so we lost Chris Elmore in the opener. Kalan Ellis missed this game. But does that fully explain why our line was so bad? Dakota Davis moved back to his natural guard position and promising Enrique Cruz took the tackle spot. We couldn’t protect Del Rio-Wilson and give Tucker those 18 inches Dino wants to get him, (“We couldn’t get enough push on the NFL guy in the middle and we couldn’t get to #7, the linebacker because he was protected by the three and the one technique.”)

Gayle Sayers Highlights

- It wasted a gutty performance by the undermanned defense, which never gave up and kept giving us chances to get back into the game, which we couldn’t take advantage of. We also couldn’t take advantage of the absence of Pitt’s big weapon, Izzy Abanikanda, or the fact that their quarterback, Kedon Slovis now had 5 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions in 9 games, a year after Kenny Pickett had 42 and 7. This was the year to beat Pitt and we have now lost to them 5 times in a row and 18 of the last 21 games. We haven’t won in their place in 21 years.

- The injuries keep piling up for our defense. We’ve lost Chase Simmons, Terry Lockett, Denis Jaquez and now perhaps Jaitus Greer from the line, Stefon Thompson from the linebacking crew and Garrett Williams from the backfield. Our guys continue to hold out but it must seem like the Alamo.

- November in Syracuse: We are now 6-19 under Dino and 9-28 in this month since we joined the ACC. We just don’t have the depth to compete in this conference for 12 games. Florida State is beating Miami 38-3 and then comes Wake. Another season seems to be slipping away. 6-6 is on the table and so it 6-7. What do we do then?
 
I heard the entire game while driving on the interstate. I started tuning into football games on the radio back in the 1950s and this might have been the most boring game I have ever listened to. Thanks for the Upside and Downside posts. Your recaps are always good.
 
I heard the entire game while driving on the interstate. I started tuning into football games on the radio back in the 1950s and this might have been the most boring game I have ever listened to. Thanks for the Upside and Downside posts. Your recaps are always good.
It was brutal to watch, I envy your sensory deprivation for this game
 
FWIW, I was at the game and JT Geer returned after the injury and played. I zeroed in on him with my binoculars when he came back and he looked to be doing OK. I think we may have escaped one here. This guy is good and will only get better.
 
FWIW, I was at the game and JT Geer returned after the injury and played. I zeroed in on him with my binoculars when he came back and he looked to be doing OK. I think we may have escaped one here. This guy is good and will only get better.

I thought I saw him on TV but the post-game articles and summaries didn't seem to acknowledge it.
 
Pitt fans trolling the SUFB twitter page something awful. I cannot stand them.
 
Doesn’t it seem like we should be putting almost as much into preparing the back-up quarterback to play as the starter?
Ive said this so many times. The development of a backup QB with in game reps is a lost art nowadays. Its just not at Syracuse, but a lot of college schools.
 

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