SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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The show this year will be broadcast on Thursdays at 7PM from TGI Fridays on the third floor of Destiny USA, (just past the theater ticket booth and on the right after you walk down the hallway). I don’t know if they will take questions from the audience there but they say you can watch the show whereas when it was at a restaurant, their table tended to be in a secluded location. (Remember its Thursdays at TGI Fridays, not Fridays at TGI Thursdays). The football show is an hour in duration, (Coach Boeheim’s basketball show is usually 2 hours).
Note: because the first game is on a Friday Night, the first show will be on Wednesday, September 2nd. After that it will be on the Thursday before each game until the last game when the show will again be on a Wednesday, (11/25) due to Thanksgiving.
“Fans are invited to attend the show in person or participate via telephone (1-888-7-Go Cuse or 424-8599) or Twitter (@CuseIMG) using the hashtag #AskShafe. 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: http://tunein.com/radio/WGVA-1240-s29191/
That first phone number is 1-888-746-2873 numerically.
You can also send them in advance at this site:
http://cuse.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4
(I do both so they can be prepared to give me an informed, reasoned answer.)
My Question(s)
“Coach, last year Pittsburgh was 1-5 in close games and this year they are 5-1. We have a young team that has been losing close games. Is there such a thing as “learning how to win” and how do you do that? Also, is there such a thing as “learning how to lose” and are we in danger of doing that?”
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 said that Florida State must be pretty angry after losing the way they did to Georgia Tech but that we’ve also lost two games in a row on the last play, so we have every reason to be riled up. Coach Bullough had told him that he wanted his defense mad that they had lost and that he’s seen that in practice this week. Coach Shafer verified that observation. “I like the player’s attitude and their preparation….Their maturity level is high. We’ve got to get their learning level to a higher degree. Anticipation can be taught. They are learning A-B-C-D-E but eventually they have to turn the letters into sentences and paragraphs. Then they can begin attacking defenses and let it rip” he said how much he likes when he can ask a player after a play why he did what he did and he can give a technical explanation, like the halfback was over the tackle and thus he knew what play it was. He cited Doug Hogue, whom they moved from running back to linebacker. “He struggled a bit at the beginning but became a very good player.” Matt suggested Zaire Franklin’s “monster game” against Pitt suggested that “You can see it coming.”
About FSU’s loss, he said “Usually the play is to get away from the ball. I saw the look on their coach’s faces: Get away, get away…Take it to the house!” Matt said that like the “ick six” between Alabama and Auburn, it was a bunch of linebackers and safeties vs. a bunch of offensive linemen and tight ends and the faster players won. SS: “Some big ol’ hosses were in there. Of course some of those linemen know how to tackle. They do it on every play.”
Liam of Pompey again called in before me, (I dually wait for the first break). He wanted an expectation of the play where Boyd was called for going out of bounds and coming back in. SS explained that the rule is about a player who goes out of bounds on his own and then comes back onto the field to make a play. Boyd was forced out of bounds and that determined the call.
I called in my question about learning to win and learning to lose and Donnie In Syracuse was right: they weren’t meaningful phrases to the coach: “I don’t think its learning to win or lose – it’s learning to get better. The ball bounces in funny ways. You don’t want to over-think it. We’ve forced 15 fumbles and recovered only 6 of them. Ron Thompson gets a fumble on a sack but it goes behind him. Davion Ellison puts his helmet where the ball is and it bounces backwards and they get it. A field goal attempt hits the upright and bounces through. In some seasons it balances out. In others it doesn’t. You don’t over-analyze the non-controlables. We don’t want noise in the player’s heads about luck.”
Matt pointed out that the NCAA leaders in recovered fumbles are tied at 10, (they don’t record forced bumbles). With some luck, Syracuse could have had that many and the more fumbles we force, the more we have a chance to get. . SS: “We work on ball disruption and making plays in the kicking game to create opportunities…. It’s like a baseball player. When he’s hot he’s getting bloop hits. When he’s not they are catching line drives. You can’t kill yourself over it. You work on the fundamentals. You keep hitting hard and we’ll come up with it. We’ve had good success turning turnovers into touchdowns. Eric came into last week with one interception. He got two more on a batted pass and a not great decision. We work on things daily and have a chance to improve, especially since you’re teaching kids who are going to be around for a few years.”
Coach discussed Florida State’s defense. Matt had described cornerback Jalen Ramsey as “a future pro”, (they’ve probably got a lot of them). Coach said that Ramsey and his colleague Marquez White have “great skill sets, great feet. They walk up to you face-to-face and play bump and run. They have long arms. We call them ‘long levers’. They are very astute. Jalen directs traffic. He’s been tough enough to play nickel back. Their safeties are very sure tacklers. They play a ‘one high’ scheme, man to man with pressure up front. But they shift their tacklers form the low hole to the high hole. Their linebackers are still developing. They are not as dominating as in the past but they are on the verge. They bounce Reggie Northrup around. Their four down linemen create havoc. They have big, strong kids who can run. They are very athletic and can get after you. And watch out for Ramsey and Kermit Whitfield returning kicks. Florida State reloads every year.”
Matt said that Syracuse’s Florida players are certainly aware of Florida State. Dalvin Cook is from Miami central and Shafe said that they’d recruited several players form there. (Cook was a little too aware of Florida State and went there instead of here. ”He’s 5-11 200 and does it all: pass protect, catch the ball, line up outside he has great vision and speed and knows how to cut back against the grain. We have to circle the wagons. The backside tackle and linebackers have to run hard but they need to have discipline and “backside pride”. (I don’t know about you, but I take a great deal of pride in my backside.)
Matt said that Syracuse and Florida State had met eight times previously and Syracuse had won only once. His trivia question for the night was: “Who holds the Syracuse Rushing Record vs. Florida State?” I’ll post the answer to that tomorrow.
Midway through the show it was announced that Dalvin Cook would we unavailable for the game due to an ankle injury. Coach Shafer: “Sorry to hear that. But it’s OK since it’s this week. Now we’ve got to focus on Jacques Patrick and Johnathan Vickers. They are both bigger than Cook- about 230 pounds and they have the speed to take it all the way.” (We’re used to guys like that.) Shafe reminisced about his days at Northern Illinois when a star back named Thomas Hammock suddenly had to give up football due to a heart condition and got replaced by Michael Turner, who rushed for 1,919 yards for the Huskies and later had three 1,000 yard years with the Falcons. FSU has six players out for this game: running backs Dalvin Cook and Mario Pender, offe3nsive linemen Cole Minshew and Derrick Kelly, linebacker Terrance Smith and cornerback Marcus Lewis. I’ll bet their back-ups are guys we wished we had. Kendall Moroere and Ben Lewis are out for SU. Donnie Simmons is “probable”. 6-8 331 freshman offensive tackle Denzel Ward had foot surgery. “They found some deformities. It was very painful for the young man. He’s out.” He didn’t say for how long- game, year, career?
What did the coach tell Eric Dungey? “To go play another good football game. Read the defenses. They only sue a couple of coverages. They don’t disguise anything- there’s not a lot of trickery. Get a little better and just go be yourself.” ( If you have better athletes, you don’t need trickery.)
Matt suggested this game was to some degree a measuring stick. Shafe agreed, noting the great recruiting classes, among the top in the country that FSU always get. “We’re going on the road and we have to get after them and see where the improvement is.” (I doubt it’s to that level.)
Dave in Syracuse was concerned about the offensive line next year because we lose so many players there. Coach: “We’ve got a slew of young offensive linemen we recruited last year. It’s our best ‘scout’ offensive line since we’ve been here. I can’t wait to begin coaching in spring ball and getting them in the weight room. We are using one- Cody Conway at left tackle. They’ll be a bunch of young guys and a bunch of veterans. We’ve already got young guys playing on the defensive line now. People talk about all our young backs but our young linemen can be special, too. Coach Adam is working with them, taking them out there every game day to go through the whole routine. “
Matt said the game was a “Noon start- now the next step is to win. “ Coach Shafer jumped on that, repeating his points that we had a fumble go backwards and a field goal bounce off the upright and insisted that Blewitt’s 56 yard field goal vs. Georgia Tech “made it by three inches”. I got the impression he’s been asked questions about why we can’t seem to win all week and is a bit tired of it.
Note: because the first game is on a Friday Night, the first show will be on Wednesday, September 2nd. After that it will be on the Thursday before each game until the last game when the show will again be on a Wednesday, (11/25) due to Thanksgiving.
“Fans are invited to attend the show in person or participate via telephone (1-888-7-Go Cuse or 424-8599) or Twitter (@CuseIMG) using the hashtag #AskShafe. 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: http://tunein.com/radio/WGVA-1240-s29191/
That first phone number is 1-888-746-2873 numerically.
You can also send them in advance at this site:
http://cuse.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4
(I do both so they can be prepared to give me an informed, reasoned answer.)
My Question(s)
“Coach, last year Pittsburgh was 1-5 in close games and this year they are 5-1. We have a young team that has been losing close games. Is there such a thing as “learning how to win” and how do you do that? Also, is there such a thing as “learning how to lose” and are we in danger of doing that?”
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 said that Florida State must be pretty angry after losing the way they did to Georgia Tech but that we’ve also lost two games in a row on the last play, so we have every reason to be riled up. Coach Bullough had told him that he wanted his defense mad that they had lost and that he’s seen that in practice this week. Coach Shafer verified that observation. “I like the player’s attitude and their preparation….Their maturity level is high. We’ve got to get their learning level to a higher degree. Anticipation can be taught. They are learning A-B-C-D-E but eventually they have to turn the letters into sentences and paragraphs. Then they can begin attacking defenses and let it rip” he said how much he likes when he can ask a player after a play why he did what he did and he can give a technical explanation, like the halfback was over the tackle and thus he knew what play it was. He cited Doug Hogue, whom they moved from running back to linebacker. “He struggled a bit at the beginning but became a very good player.” Matt suggested Zaire Franklin’s “monster game” against Pitt suggested that “You can see it coming.”
About FSU’s loss, he said “Usually the play is to get away from the ball. I saw the look on their coach’s faces: Get away, get away…Take it to the house!” Matt said that like the “ick six” between Alabama and Auburn, it was a bunch of linebackers and safeties vs. a bunch of offensive linemen and tight ends and the faster players won. SS: “Some big ol’ hosses were in there. Of course some of those linemen know how to tackle. They do it on every play.”
Liam of Pompey again called in before me, (I dually wait for the first break). He wanted an expectation of the play where Boyd was called for going out of bounds and coming back in. SS explained that the rule is about a player who goes out of bounds on his own and then comes back onto the field to make a play. Boyd was forced out of bounds and that determined the call.
I called in my question about learning to win and learning to lose and Donnie In Syracuse was right: they weren’t meaningful phrases to the coach: “I don’t think its learning to win or lose – it’s learning to get better. The ball bounces in funny ways. You don’t want to over-think it. We’ve forced 15 fumbles and recovered only 6 of them. Ron Thompson gets a fumble on a sack but it goes behind him. Davion Ellison puts his helmet where the ball is and it bounces backwards and they get it. A field goal attempt hits the upright and bounces through. In some seasons it balances out. In others it doesn’t. You don’t over-analyze the non-controlables. We don’t want noise in the player’s heads about luck.”
Matt pointed out that the NCAA leaders in recovered fumbles are tied at 10, (they don’t record forced bumbles). With some luck, Syracuse could have had that many and the more fumbles we force, the more we have a chance to get. . SS: “We work on ball disruption and making plays in the kicking game to create opportunities…. It’s like a baseball player. When he’s hot he’s getting bloop hits. When he’s not they are catching line drives. You can’t kill yourself over it. You work on the fundamentals. You keep hitting hard and we’ll come up with it. We’ve had good success turning turnovers into touchdowns. Eric came into last week with one interception. He got two more on a batted pass and a not great decision. We work on things daily and have a chance to improve, especially since you’re teaching kids who are going to be around for a few years.”
Coach discussed Florida State’s defense. Matt had described cornerback Jalen Ramsey as “a future pro”, (they’ve probably got a lot of them). Coach said that Ramsey and his colleague Marquez White have “great skill sets, great feet. They walk up to you face-to-face and play bump and run. They have long arms. We call them ‘long levers’. They are very astute. Jalen directs traffic. He’s been tough enough to play nickel back. Their safeties are very sure tacklers. They play a ‘one high’ scheme, man to man with pressure up front. But they shift their tacklers form the low hole to the high hole. Their linebackers are still developing. They are not as dominating as in the past but they are on the verge. They bounce Reggie Northrup around. Their four down linemen create havoc. They have big, strong kids who can run. They are very athletic and can get after you. And watch out for Ramsey and Kermit Whitfield returning kicks. Florida State reloads every year.”
Matt said that Syracuse’s Florida players are certainly aware of Florida State. Dalvin Cook is from Miami central and Shafe said that they’d recruited several players form there. (Cook was a little too aware of Florida State and went there instead of here. ”He’s 5-11 200 and does it all: pass protect, catch the ball, line up outside he has great vision and speed and knows how to cut back against the grain. We have to circle the wagons. The backside tackle and linebackers have to run hard but they need to have discipline and “backside pride”. (I don’t know about you, but I take a great deal of pride in my backside.)
Matt said that Syracuse and Florida State had met eight times previously and Syracuse had won only once. His trivia question for the night was: “Who holds the Syracuse Rushing Record vs. Florida State?” I’ll post the answer to that tomorrow.
Midway through the show it was announced that Dalvin Cook would we unavailable for the game due to an ankle injury. Coach Shafer: “Sorry to hear that. But it’s OK since it’s this week. Now we’ve got to focus on Jacques Patrick and Johnathan Vickers. They are both bigger than Cook- about 230 pounds and they have the speed to take it all the way.” (We’re used to guys like that.) Shafe reminisced about his days at Northern Illinois when a star back named Thomas Hammock suddenly had to give up football due to a heart condition and got replaced by Michael Turner, who rushed for 1,919 yards for the Huskies and later had three 1,000 yard years with the Falcons. FSU has six players out for this game: running backs Dalvin Cook and Mario Pender, offe3nsive linemen Cole Minshew and Derrick Kelly, linebacker Terrance Smith and cornerback Marcus Lewis. I’ll bet their back-ups are guys we wished we had. Kendall Moroere and Ben Lewis are out for SU. Donnie Simmons is “probable”. 6-8 331 freshman offensive tackle Denzel Ward had foot surgery. “They found some deformities. It was very painful for the young man. He’s out.” He didn’t say for how long- game, year, career?
What did the coach tell Eric Dungey? “To go play another good football game. Read the defenses. They only sue a couple of coverages. They don’t disguise anything- there’s not a lot of trickery. Get a little better and just go be yourself.” ( If you have better athletes, you don’t need trickery.)
Matt suggested this game was to some degree a measuring stick. Shafe agreed, noting the great recruiting classes, among the top in the country that FSU always get. “We’re going on the road and we have to get after them and see where the improvement is.” (I doubt it’s to that level.)
Dave in Syracuse was concerned about the offensive line next year because we lose so many players there. Coach: “We’ve got a slew of young offensive linemen we recruited last year. It’s our best ‘scout’ offensive line since we’ve been here. I can’t wait to begin coaching in spring ball and getting them in the weight room. We are using one- Cody Conway at left tackle. They’ll be a bunch of young guys and a bunch of veterans. We’ve already got young guys playing on the defensive line now. People talk about all our young backs but our young linemen can be special, too. Coach Adam is working with them, taking them out there every game day to go through the whole routine. “
Matt said the game was a “Noon start- now the next step is to win. “ Coach Shafer jumped on that, repeating his points that we had a fumble go backwards and a field goal bounce off the upright and insisted that Blewitt’s 56 yard field goal vs. Georgia Tech “made it by three inches”. I got the impression he’s been asked questions about why we can’t seem to win all week and is a bit tired of it.
