The Upside- Louisville

[SWC75]

- The team never stopped trying, even if they never started succeeding.

- The defense actually recorded 12 tackles for a loss, including 4 sacks. Louisville got only 4TFLs, 3 of them sacks. With any kind of offensive support, we might have stayed in this game.

- Kingsley Jonathan had a strong game on the line. Stefon Thompson did the same at linebacker. And Garrett Williams made an Odell Beckham-like catch of an interception.

- Sean Tucker, amid the wreckage, ran the ball 16 times for 93 yards, a 5.8 averaged. The problem was, that was 73% of our offense.

- Anthony Queeley continues to impress. He only had 31 yards on three catches. But he catches anything close to him, which is more than can be said for our ‘star’ receivers, Taj Harris.

- I was able to get a few chores done around the house during the game. I never felt the need to experience every play of this mess.

- It will all be over in a couple of weeks.

1-8 with 3(?) to go

LET’S GO ORANGE!!!

 

[CA Monk]

Things have a way of turning around despite this year's manifest ineptitude and stymieing tentativeness. I see w/my untrained eye, a tentativeness to try new plays, to improvise, to screw coaching and technique and just play football. Yeah we need WRs, OLmen and a QB real bad. But still we need to play more in the body and less in the mind. Maybe it's a coaching thing, but less assignment football and more intuitive football. If I was a fan of another college team (i.e. didn't have an investment in SU football), I'd say this team looks like a pre-programed automated team - lost and soulless (on offense anyway). The O feels like it's the opposite of thinking outside the box. It's plays way inside the box. Yeah, perhaps a function of talent. Hard to root for anyone on O (Rex excluded) but Tucker.

There was one 3rd and long where Morgan rolls out and tosses it to Hackett, and you can see (everybody can see) Hackett will be hit immediately and not get the 1st down, but Morgan throws it anyway. Yup, he's a freshman w/coaches in his ear trying to keep the game simple. Other teams have QBs that can make that quantum jump from "oh it's a completion and I'm executing the play" to "this ain't gonna get us a first down, I don't care what the coaches say I'm peeling off and gonna look down field or run it - I want to win."

The team will sense that determination and everyone's effort gets amplified. We don't do much of that. Especially w/o Dungey or the QBs of the late 80s and all of the 90s. Painful. If a skilled, field-aware QB improvises and shows the grit to win, the team will generally respond. If only one of the QBs could put the team on their shoulders - even a little - it might be a different story. A tall order? - maybe. But other teams do it and we aren't even close. The players don't seem especially motivated because the same nauseating pattern of 3 and out becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for the O and has the D gassed by the 3rd quarter.

It all started w/Maryland last year. I was there. I couldn't believe it. Who were those guys? So overmatched. So predictable. So pissed. 2019 was so promising. We had an OU transfer at RB, a 4 star at QB and 4 star transfer Jackson @ WR, 2 NFL draftees at DE and it all went to sheet. When DeVito threw that "excuse me" interception deep in Clemson's territory after we had just intercepted and we're hanging around, well, it has been a slow descent since then. Kid couldn't throw it away when he needed to. So dispiriting. It happens. It happened to us this time. Yup just a game, but so frickin' maddening, just when we're on the cusp of relevancy it all came slowly crashing down.
But, like I said, things have a way of turning around.

Give us a serviceable QB to rally around next year, keep the D off the field 50% of the time and convert some god darn 3rd downs and suddenly we're in games and maybe the other team is self-destructing or out of gas in the 3rd quarter.

I hope this scenario is possible. It better be. It's how I'm going to get myself psyched for '21.

 

[Libero2]

It’s so weird to say it, but I still think this defense is tremendous given everything it’s being forced to do. It’s a fun and exciting unit with so many great young players. We have quite a few future NFLers on that side of the ball IMO.

offensively we need to stay committed to the run. We obviously have a passing game that is moving backwards in time. But given Tuckers production, we need to be giving him more touches. If for no other reason purely to help the offense get across the mid field line

 

[sufandu]

It’s so weird to say it, but I still think this defense is tremendous given everything it’s being forced to do. It’s a fun and exciting unit with so many great young players. We have quite a few future NFLers on that side of the ball IMO.

offensively we need to stay committed to the run. We obviously have a passing game that is moving backwards in time. But given Tuckers production, we need to be giving him more touches. If for no other reason purely to help the offense get across the mid field line

Yeah, at one point I was thinking, "Just give Tucker the ball every play." I know it wouldn't work, but nothing else was either.

 

[SWC75]

Things have a way of turning around despite this year's manifest ineptitude and stymieing tentativeness. I see w/my untrained eye, a tentativeness to try new plays, to improvise, to screw coaching and technique and just play football. Yeah we need WRs, OLmen and a QB real bad. But still we need to play more in the body and less in the mind. Maybe it's a coaching thing, but less assignment football and more intuitive football. If I was a fan of another college team (i.e. didn't have an investment in SU football), I'd say this team looks like a pre-programed automated team - lost and soulless (on offense anyway). The O feels like it's the opposite of thinking outside the box. It's plays way inside the box. Yeah, perhaps a function of talent. Hard to root for anyone on O (Rex excluded) but Tucker.

There was one 3rd and long where Morgan rolls out and tosses it to Hackett, and you can see (everybody can see) Hackett will be hit immediately and not get the 1st down, but Morgan throws it anyway. Yup, he's a freshman w/coaches in his ear trying to keep the game simple. Other teams have QBs that can make that quantum jump from "oh it's a completion and I'm executing the play" to "this ain't gonna get us a first down, I don't care what the coaches say I'm peeling off and gonna look down field or run it - I want to win."

The team will sense that determination and everyone's effort gets amplified. We don't do much of that. Especially w/o Dungey or the QBs of the late 80s and all of the 90s. Painful. If a skilled, field-aware QB improvises and shows the grit to win, the team will generally respond. If only one of the QBs could put the team on their shoulders - even a little - it might be a different story. A tall order? - maybe. But other teams do it and we aren't even close. The players don't seem especially motivated because the same nauseating pattern of 3 and out becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for the O and has the D gassed by the 3rd quarter.

It all started w/Maryland last year. I was there. I couldn't believe it. Who were those guys? So overmatched. So predictable. So pissed. 2019 was so promising. We had an OU transfer at RB, a 4 star at QB and 4 star transfer Jackson @ WR, 2 NFL draftees at DE and it all went to sheet. When DeVito threw that "excuse me" interception deep in Clemson's territory after we had just intercepted and we're hanging around, well, it has been a slow descent since then. Kid couldn't throw it away when he needed to. So dispiriting. It happens. It happened to us this time. Yup just a game, but so frickin' maddening, just when we're on the cusp of relevancy it all came slowly crashing down.
But, like I said, things have a way of turning around.

Give us a serviceable QB to rally around next year, keep the D off the field 50% of the time and convert some god darn 3rd downs and suddenly we're in games and maybe the other team is self-destructing or out of gas in the 3rd quarter.

I hope this scenario is possible. It better be. It's how I'm going to get myself psyched for '21.

The quarterback is the beating heart of a football team. if he's confident, determined and opportunistic, the team will be too. If he's cautious and tentative, so will the offense be and the defense will get worn out. There's nothing better that could happen to a team than to get the right guy at quarterback and nothing worse than having the wrong guy there.

 

[SWC75]

It’s so weird to say it, but I still think this defense is tremendous given everything it’s being forced to do. It’s a fun and exciting unit with so many great young players. We have quite a few future NFLers on that side of the ball IMO.

offensively we need to stay committed to the run. We obviously have a passing game that is moving backwards in time. But given Tuckers production, we need to be giving him more touches. If for no other reason purely to help the offense get across the mid field line

Yeah, at one point I was thinking, "Just give Tucker the ball every play." I know it wouldn't work, but nothing else was either.

And why not incorporate some running plays for the quarterback? Dino said on his show that in 4 of the 5 years here, he hasn't bene able to complete the season with his #1 QB. That's why he doesn't like running quarterbacks. John in Baltimore pointed out that Tommy DeVito was out for the season, too. Dino replied that "football is a dangerous sport". Actually, two of those four years it was Dungey, a running QB and two of those four years it was DeVito, a pocket passer. And Morgan was hurt in the pocket as well.

 

[sufandu]

And why not incorporate some running plays for the quarterback? Dino said on his show that in 4 of the 5 years here, he hasn't bene able to complete the season with his #1 QB. That's why he doesn't like running quarterbacks. John in Baltimore pointed out that Tommy DeVito was out for the season, too. Dino replied that "football is a dangerous sport". Actually, two of those four years it was Dungey, a running QB and two of those four years it was DeVito, a pocket passer. And Morgan was hurt in the pocket as well.

I'm not sure we have a good running QB right now. It looked like they ran a few zone option plays and it looked horrible each time.

I don't buy the not liking running QBs thing. Most good teams now have a QB that can run. You don't see Clemson protecting their QBs. Just because a guy is a running QB doesn't mean he has to get hurt. Kyler Murray did it in college and is also doing it as a pro. I realize he is different because he is elite, but plenty of guys do it just fine in college. If anything, a running QB may be less likely to get hurt because he can get out of trouble and get rid of the ball before he gets crushed by trying to just stand in the pocket. QBs don't all have to be Dungey and most aren't. They can get out of bounds or slide before taking hits if they're on the run.