This is a bad team right now

[upperdeck]

The big question. Is he starting to see the field better or did the competition make the throws easier, or did the play calling start to find rhythm with what plays work the best?

if its #1 and or #3 that's a good thing. If its #2 who knows.

But let's hope the Oline allows less and less of the mistake free runs to the QB. You have to live with the Dline making plays, We don't want to give them plays as well.

 

[anomander]

The sharp upgrade in athletes and speed is completely apparent. Syracuse hasn’t had talent like this since 2003.

Angeli is improving. The receivers are improving - and there are many options. And Willis is going to be a first class back - once he figures out blocking schemes.

Yes - the schedule is a B*tch. But to compare this group, and the energy around the Program to what it was 10 years ago is like comparing an orange to a grape.

The crazy part is we used to starve for WR’s. Now it seems we have a number that can play and produce. RB is probably our next best position group and we have an above average QB in Angeli.

OL can improve as the season goes on if we get Mack back and Byron continues to develop. I know it was against a smaller school where it’s easier for big guys like him can dominate. It will be interested if he can do the same against quicker athletes. From what i saw, he can, and will only get better. That gives us 3 solid offensive linemen in Ferguson, Mack, and Washington. We need more offensive lineman.

defensively, we’re a mess. We need linebackers and defensive lineman. I like the potential we having committed. 6’5 explosive edge rushers are a premium. Linebackers should be easy to attract. Defensive backfield is ok, especially when Grant is back. Him, Duce, Samuels, and Peal are serviceab.

I just wish it was other years where we needed playmakers. Now we have the playmakers but lacking elsewhere.

 

[Dinkyspond]

Let me explain these things called neutral site games they do sometimes. I can break out a map for you and print out some mapquest directions showing how far a drive it is for Tennessee fans down to Atlanta. Maybe you saw on TV that was the wrong color Orange 90% of the fans were wearing too.

it was decidedly a Tennessee home game

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Year 2 under Fran. I’m giving him MAJOR grace. He’s still the right guy even if we end up with 3 or 4 wins. Just a brutal schedule. But I have a feeling he’ll find a way to pull a couple of rabbits out of his hat, as well as lay a few eggs, as the team finds a way to 6 wins.

 

[Chip]

I see 9 chances to get 4 wins. But if we have a 50/50 chance of winning each game... that is 4.5 wins = 6.5 wins. 6 wins, 5 losses... heading into BC. I think everyone would take that and run.

But let's say we have a 10% chance against Miami, a 20% chance against Ga Tech and ND, a 30% chance against SMU and Clemson... that is 1.1 wins (.1 + .2 + .2 + .3 + .3). For the remaining 4 games, if we have 90% chance of beating two and an 80% chance of beating the other two... that is .9 + .9 + .8 +.8 = 3.4 = 6.5 wins (3.4 + 1.1 + the 2 that we have). And that is being very generous... assuming we will give SMU/Clemson better games than, say, Duke and UNC will give us, etc.

Unless the wheels fall off for a few more ACC teams, we have a tough road to get to 7, much less 8 wins. Anything is possible. Clemson's QB could get hurt between now and the 2nd half. QB could lose their QB before or during our game. Who is Miami's back up QB? ND could be on QB#3 by that game. But so could we by then.

If we look at the teams as they are today... even thinking of a 7th win is actually pretty positive. Any combination of 5 wins out of 9 games is impressive somehow. 5-1 at home, 2-4 on the road/neutral? 6-0 at home, 1-5 on the road means an upset.

 

[kcsu]

We should improve. We play two freshmen linebackers and a freshman defensive back. The other corner is a sophomore and our experienced safety has missed the past two games. We still have not seen two of our second string receivers. Our best running back didn’t play against Colgate and our starting quarterback has started four games in his career. I think this bodes well the rest of the season. All these guys should get better. Our starting offensive lines still hasn’t played two games together. Will the schedule be tough? Yes, but stop all the doom and gloom.

So sick of the CNY negativity. Teams young but talented playing against a very tough schedule.

 

[RF2044]

Reminds me of some years before that where we had coaches who have no business being the defensive coordinator because they go way back and were from the right part of the right state

That might be exactly the situation we are in now, but for slightly different reasons.

 

[GoSU96]

So sick of the CNY negativity. Teams young but talented playing against a very tough schedule.

What’s negative. If those rankings are what they are after the easy part of the schedule, that doesn’t project good things going forward.

I wouldn’t say this is a young team, there are a lot of Seniors and Juniors starting, but they didn’t have a lot starts coming into this season.

If the OL gels, protection and running can improve. Shorten the defensive rotations and play the better guys more snaps.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

So sick of the CNY negativity. Teams young but talented playing against a very tough schedule.

about to play a very tough schedule. the Tennessee game was rather uninspiring but not a total flop. They are extremely lucky to be 2-1.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

What’s negative. If those rankings are what they are after the easy part of the schedule, that doesn’t project good things going forward.

I wouldn’t say this is a young team, there are a lot of Seniors and Juniors starting, but they didn’t have a lot starts coming into this season.

If the OL gels, protection and running can improve. Shorten the defensive rotations and play the better guys more snaps.

Said same to my buddy during UCONN game, just seems like they need to figure that out.

 

[Cusefan69]

So sick of the CNY negativity. Teams young but talented playing against a very tough schedule.

KCSU with all due respect you can shove your constant reference to CNY negativity up your @$$. It's like saying all old people are negative. It's stupid to blanket statement like that. Plenty of us are positive about the program and in general lots of things about the area and region. So give it a rest ole man.

 

[upperdeck]

Tenn was the better team.

But luck can go both ways. We throw a pass that gets tipped and a guy dives and catches and mostly puts the game out of reach. Bad luck.

Tenn throws a bad pass that gets tipped into a crowd of SU players and we don't come down with it. At the time its 24-14 and we get the ball to start the 2nd half. We don't catch it, Tenn then breaks a million tackles and has a long run leading to a score and ends up 31-14 at the half and not 24-21 or 24-17. Bad luck

Much like two the fumble plays. Tenn scoops and scores and we just fall on theirs. Ball bounce luck sometimes. 4 key plays and they all went Tenn way.

 

[JKinUtah]

KCSU with all due respect you can shove your constant reference to CNY negativity up your @$$. It's like saying all old people are negative. It's stupid to blanket statement like that. Plenty of us are positive about the program and in general lots of things about the area and region. So give it a rest ole man.

I don’t agree with a lot of what KCSU has to say but he’s right about this one. All you read here is the team sucks, noon kickoffs suck, attendance sucks, cell service in the dome sucks, traffic to/from games sucks, the weather sucks…need I go on? My entire family still lives in CNY and all they do is complain about everything. It’s a thing for sure.

 

[orangecuse]

What’s negative. If those rankings are what they are after the easy part of the schedule, that doesn’t project good things going forward.

I wouldn’t say this is a young team, there are a lot of Seniors and Juniors starting, but they didn’t have a lot starts coming into this season.

If the OL gels, protection and running can improve. Shorten the defensive rotations and play the better guys more snaps.

Dang! Just had a hoops flashback from a few years ago when JB tried to pitch to the fan base how his team was young (with Juniors and Seniors in the starting lineup) because of their new roles as such. Good times!

 

[orangefog]

I don’t agree with a lot of what KCSU has to say but he’s right about this one. All you read here is the team sucks, noon kickoffs suck, attendance sucks, cell service in the dome sucks, traffic to/from games sucks, the weather sucks…need I go on? My entire family still lives in CNY and all they do is complain about everything. It’s a thing for sure.

YOU SUCK!!!!

 

[JKinUtah]

YOU SUCK!!!!

Damn, when did my wife start posting here?

 

[Cusefan69]

I don’t agree with a lot of what KCSU has to say but he’s right about this one. All you read here is the team sucks, noon kickoffs suck, attendance sucks, cell service in the dome sucks, traffic to/from games sucks, the weather sucks…need I go on? My entire family still lives in CNY and all they do is complain about everything. It’s a thing for sure.

Hey JK I hear ya. I am certainly not saying it doesn't happen at all. I feel safe to say it pretty much happens everywhere. That said I know plenty of people that love the area, teams, etc. With KCSU he tends to go there frequently and it gets a bit stale. A quick aside I was stationed at Hill AFB a few years. Lots of nice places out your way.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don’t agree with a lot of what KCSU has to say but he’s right about this one. All you read here is the team sucks, noon kickoffs suck, attendance sucks, cell service in the dome sucks, traffic to/from games sucks, the weather sucks…need I go on? My entire family still lives in CNY and all they do is complain about everything. It’s a thing for sure.

Yeah, it is a thing you pick up on when you're no longer living in it for a while.

Obviously anecdotal, but there's a difference in tone even on Facebook posts from people back in CNY vs friends I have from the rest of the US.

 

[23Zone]

Lots of unnecessary hostility going on between fellow Syracuse fans, shame to see.

I'll just say be careful not to confuse realism with negativity. I do think our best football is ahead of us. Having said that I am not optimistic about clemson. Brutal environment

 

[RF2044]

It is interesting to me that we are again leading the nation in passing [I know -- it's early; but this suggests that Nixon's offense is legit, and that Angeli is up to the task. Also that the WR group has seamlessly replaced the previous group, two of whom are in the NFL, the third at Penn State].

What I'm most disappointed in are the following:

• Both lines have been worse than I expected
• DL looks the part, but doesn't hold up against the run as well as hoped
• We generate virtually no pass rush from the front 7

On the other hand, there are some positives:

• Angeli is for real
• Willis is legit, despite having big shoes to fill
• WR group are studs, and the third unit even is talented
• Villari is showing that he can be a difference maker as a receiver, filling the void from OG
• CBs [Samuels / Peal / Kerr] are better than expected
• True frosh like Samuels / Deslauries are getting comfortable

For this team to improve, we need to iron out a few things -- namely:

1. Need to figure out the best 5 on the OL, and improve their execution [important to keep in mind that we have 4 new starters]
2. Need to get healthy on both sides of the ball -- lots of important players dinged up
3. Need to do better defensively, against both the pass and the run
4. Need to find a way to get players upfield, disrupting plays in the backfield. If that's via defensive line pressure, delayed stunts, blitzes -- whatever, but we can't just let QBs have 6-7 seconds to stand in a clean pocket and pick us apart

Those final two things are on the defensive side of the ball. We simply have to do better. Go's ranking above speak volumes.

And we need to get improvement on the OL. Angeli is performing well, but taking too many hits. That has to change.

 

[Atlcuse44]

I don’t agree with a lot of what KCSU has to say but he’s right about this one. All you read here is the team sucks, noon kickoffs suck, attendance sucks, cell service in the dome sucks, traffic to/from games sucks, the weather sucks…need I go on? My entire family still lives in CNY and all they do is complain about everything. It’s a thing for sure.

I have to agree. Most of my family still lives in CNY and they are extremely negative about a lot of things. Always seem to be b**ching about something. I have had that said about me when I was younger but I guess 30 years living in the South has mellowed me (except when I am in Atlanta area traffic - I am as foul mouthed and negative as they come).

 

[Archbold44]

It is interesting to me that we are again leading the nation in passing [I know -- it's early; but this suggests that Nixon's offense is legit, and that Angeli is up to the task. Also that the WR group has seamlessly replaced the previous group, two of whom are in the NFL, the third at Penn State].

What I'm most disappointed in are the following:

• Both lines have been worse than I expected
• DL looks the part, but doesn't hold up against the run as well as hoped
• We generate virtually no pass rush from the front 7

On the other hand, there are some positives:

• Angeli is for real
• Willis is legit, despite having big shoes to fill
• WR group are studs, and the third unit even is talented
• Villari is showing that he can be a difference maker as a receiver, filling the void from OG
• CBs [Samuels / Peal / Kerr] are better than expected
• True frosh like Samuels / Deslauries are getting comfortable

For this team to improve, we need to iron out a few things -- namely:

1. Need to figure out the best 5 on the OL, and improve their execution [important to keep in mind that we have 4 new starters]
2. Need to get healthy on both sides of the ball -- lots of important players dinged up
3. Need to do better defensively, against both the pass and the run
4. Need to find a way to get players upfield, disrupting plays in the backfield. If that's via defensive line pressure, delayed stunts, blitzes -- whatever, but we can't just let QBs have 6-7 seconds to stand in a clean pocket and pick us apart

Those final two things are on the defensive side of the ball. We simply have to do better. Go's ranking above speak volumes.

And we need to get improvement on the OL. Angeli is performing well, but taking too many hits. That has to change.

Almost all of this comes down to line play. Can our OL stop 4 DL long enough to execute runs and passes (and with that... can our RB pick up a blitzer)? Can our 4 DL get pressure without needing a blitzing LB or DB? If we can run the ball at an average level and give the passing game an average amount of time, we can be effective. If we can limit the opposing offense to an average amount of running/time to pass, we can do a decent job (especially if we tackle).

I really worry about mobile QBs. Colgate's QBs should not be able to run against us. That first QB looked like a LB and scampered for a few decent runs. They were not exactly dual threat guys that could make tacklers miss... still able to pick up chunks. A true dual threat is going to give us problems.

 

[RF2044]

Almost all of this comes down to line play. Can our OL stop 4 DL long enough to execute runs and passes (and with that... can our RB pick up a blitzer)? Can our 4 DL get pressure without needing a blitzing LB or DB? If we can run the ball at an average level and give the passing game an average amount of time, we can be effective. If we can limit the opposing offense to an average amount of running/time to pass, we can do a decent job (especially if we tackle).

I really worry about mobile QBs. Colgate's QBs should not be able to run against us. That first QB looked like a LB and scampered for a few decent runs. They were not exactly dual threat guys that could make tacklers miss... still able to pick up chunks. A true dual threat is going to give us problems.

Agreed. And as with most years, it comes down to the OL / DL.

The thing is, some of those issues are correctable [difficult schedule notwithstanding]. Not saying that they WILL get fixed, just that they could -- they aren't all insurmountable things due to personnel / depth limitations, for example.

And what we accomplish this season will likely be a direct function of how we improve in both areas, or fail to improve.

 

[kcsu]

What’s negative. If those rankings are what they are after the easy part of the schedule, that doesn’t project good things going forward.

I wouldn’t say this is a young team, there are a lot of Seniors and Juniors starting, but they didn’t have a lot starts coming into this season.

If the OL gels, protection and running can improve. Shorten the defensive rotations and play the better guys more snaps.

I should have used inexperienced vs Young. Our entire D front is made up of older players without a ton of experience. Next year it's another complete rebuild on the D front. I get the criticism of Erob and I agree he needs to improve. I think he will or Fran will support/give play calling duties over to someone else.
5 to 7 wins is my projected finish.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Let me explain these things called neutral site games they do sometimes. I can break out a map for you and print out some mapquest directions showing how far a drive it is for Tennessee fans down to Atlanta. Maybe you saw on TV that was the wrong color Orange 90% of the fans were wearing too.

Home is home. It’s not just about fans. It’s different beds, food, schedules, etc.