The Upside

[SWC75]

- No it wasn’t a “moral victory”, (a ridiculous term), but we played the #2 team in the country and outgained them 461-442 and out first downed them 27-17. This was supposed to be a team that we couldn’t compete with and we did. They came out going for it on fourth down because they thought we couldn’t stop them, a sign of total disrespect. They stopped doing it after the first period. I think they will be flying back to the coast with a lot more respect for the Syracuse Orangemen.

- We are averaging 527.5 yards and 35 points per game. And I don’t think that’s going to change much. It might actually get better. Nassib is on pace to pass for 4782 yards. He might actually do it.

- Ryan Nassib out passed Matt Barkley 327-186. That’s amazing. Of course Barkley had 6TD passes, (giving him 11 in two games with us) and Nassib had only two (three in games vs. Barkley). But last year Barkley out-passed Ryan 230-324. For some reason, Barkley never threw deep, (I think his longest pass was 25 yards). I thought that was where they would burn us. We must have had too much deep coverage, (which allowed them to rush for 256 yards). Even on the completions, our defenders were right there.

- Two games into the season Marcus Sales has 20 catches for 237 yards and 3 scores. Multiply by 6 and you get 120 catches for 1422 yards and 18 scores. We’ve had some fine receivers- Art Monk, Rob Moore, Marvin Harrison, etc. But we’ve never had anybody put up numbers like that before. And now that Alec Lemon is back, Nassib will have a fine pair of receivers to throw to.

- Will any other receivers come to the fore? I’m not that impressed with Beckett Wales but Jarrod West had 6 catches for 94 yards. He could be the next one to emerge.

- I didn’t think much of Prince-Tyson Gulley before this year but I think a lot of him now. He’s gotten a lot stronger and reminds me of Ant Bailey. He’s rushed for 109 yards on 16 carried, (6.8) vs. Jerome Smith rushing for 91 on 26 carries (3.5). I want to see more of Gulley as the season moves on. With a strong passing game, he’ll be the perfect one to keep the defense honest with some quick-hitting runs into the gaps.

- The defense missed some tackles badly in the second half after they got tired and everything got wet but they hit hard in the first half and kept us in the game while we fooled around trying to establish the run. There will be a lot of bruised-up Trojans on the plane tonight.

- We cut down on the penalties, from 12 to 5 and did make any really boneheaded plays.

- I really think we won’t be playing very many teams the rest of the way that would have beaten us the way we’ve played the first two games. And I think we will get better.
　
0-2 but with 10 to be done

LET’S GO ORANGE!!!

 

[AccuRater]

It's a shame that this is already buried on P4. Like Google, one seldom looks past the first page. Lots of insightful comments here and on "The Downside". Two thoughts:

1. Admins, please pin these.

2. If you don't get "pinned", salt these with a few dumb or ill-considered comments. I know it's not in your nature. But then you will get replies and these posts will stay on the first page where they belong.

 

[SWC75]

It's a shame that this is already buried on P4. Like Google, one seldom looks past the first page. Lots of insightful comments here and on "The Downside". Two thoughts:

1. Admins, please pin these.

2. If you don't get "pinned", salt these with a few dumb or ill-considered comments. I know it's not in your nature. But then you will get replies and these posts will stay on the first page where they belong.

I get plenty of hits and likes but they don't put you on page one. Still, I think people are aware of what I said.

 

[ElwoodJBlues]

When Pugh gets back and Hickey gets moved to the right side, it will solve a lot of the issues the offense is having. Through two games, the receivers are getting open and the opposing secondaries haven't done a great deal to knock down passes.

One thing I took away from the USC game that I think is a positive is that our downfield secondary coverage is very strong. It was relatively rare to see Woods or Lee open and in a position for Barkley to pass 15+ yards.

Additionally, I think Goggins had a monster game inside. There were a few occasions where the USC OL had to collar him from behind or "fall" on his legs to stop him from collapsing the pocket.

 

[Cuse Action]

- No it wasn’t a “moral victory”, (a ridiculous term), but we played the #2 team in the country and outgained them 461-442 and out first downed them 27-17. This was supposed to be a team that we couldn’t compete with and we did. They came out going for it on fourth down because they thought we couldn’t stop them, a sign of total disrespect. They stopped doing it after the first period. I think they will be flying back to the coast with a lot more respect for the Syracuse Orangemen.

- We are averaging 527.5 yards and 35 points per game. And I don’t think that’s going to change much. It might actually get better. Nassib is on pace to pass for 4782 yards. He might actually do it.

- Ryan Nassib out passed Matt Barkley 327-186. That’s amazing. Of course Barkley had 6TD passes, (giving him 11 in two games with us) and Nassib had only two (three in games vs. Barkley). But last year Barkley out-passed Ryan 230-324. For some reason, Barkley never threw deep, (I think his longest pass was 25 yards). I thought that was where they would burn us. We must have had too much deep coverage, (which allowed them to rush for 256 yards). Even on the completions, our defenders were right there.

- Two games into the season Marcus Sales has 20 catches for 237 yards and 3 scores. Multiply by 6 and you get 120 catches for 1422 yards and 18 scores. We’ve had some fine receivers- Art Monk, Rob Moore, Marvin Harrison, etc. But we’ve never had anybody put up numbers like that before. And now that Alec Lemon is back, Nassib will have a fine pair of receivers to throw to.

- Will any other receivers come to the fore? I’m not that impressed with Beckett Wales but Jarrod West had 6 catches for 94 yards. He could be the next one to emerge.

- I didn’t think much of Prince-Tyson Gulley before this year but I think a lot of him now. He’s gotten a lot stronger and reminds me of Ant Bailey. He’s rushed for 109 yards on 16 carried, (6.8) vs. Jerome Smith rushing for 91 on 26 carries (3.5). I want to see more of Gulley as the season moves on. With a strong passing game, he’ll be the perfect one to keep the defense honest with some quick-hitting runs into the gaps.

- The defense missed some tackles badly in the second half after they got tired and everything got wet but they hit hard in the first half and kept us in the game while we fooled around trying to establish the run. There will be a lot of bruised-up Trojans on the plane tonight.

- We cut down on the penalties, from 12 to 5 and did make any really boneheaded plays.

- I really think we won’t be playing very many teams the rest of the way that would have beaten us the way we’ve played the first two games. And I think we will get better.
　
0-2 but with 10 to be done

LET’S GO ORANGE!!!

You are far and away the best poster on this board.

 

[SoBristol]

Agree about Gulley, and West showed he is ready now. We didn't lose all that much with Lemon still slowed, as West took advantage of his opportunities.

Our defensive tackles (Goggins & Bromley) played well. I know that Redd got his yards and tackles were missed, but our LBs showed something as well. Diabate covers a lot of ground from MLB and he sticks his nose in to plug gaps. We should be OK as a defense against the rest of our schedule.

I was skeptical about scheduling USC, but this game gives us something to build from. Has to help with recruiting downstate.

 

[baggerbob]

Maybe USC isn't the 2nd best team in the nation, but they are within the top 25. We actually battled a top team, didn't roll over each time we got behind,continued to come back. That is something in Coach P's last years, we didn't do very well. Are we where we want to be no, but the train is at the station, and warmed up getting ready to roll.