Tucker

[sufandu]

I actually think Clemson figured that out.

Yeah. The decoy stuff worked early to get Shrader some space to run. In the second half they weren't falling for it anymore.

 

[sufandu]

He averaged over 10 yards per carry.

But he did call to come out. And he did call to come out last year on some key 3rd downs as well.

We should be rotating at the RB position throughout the game, and make sure Tucker is fresh for the key situations. It's a Dino philosophy that a RB who is "on" should play the whole game, but this, like his 2 minute decision strategy, should be retired.

The staff seems to play who they can trust. When Wison came in earlier this year when Shrader had his helmet come off, the didn't hesitate to call passes for Wison cold off the bench. They don't trust the other RBs to be productive.

 

[Trueblue25]

We were up 14 and had 4 turnovers go our way. We need to run the ball. If he’s hurt, have Allen or Price run it. They’re more than serviceable.

 

[sufandu]

We were up 14 and had 4 turnovers go our way. We need to run the ball. If he’s hurt, have Allen or Price run it. They’re more than serviceable.

That's just it. The coaches don't think they're serviceable. If they did, they'd use them. Has Price seen action on offense outside of the Wagner game?

 

[pokercuse08]

At the end of the day, we didn't need a ton of production. Even getting an average of one first down a drive and taking the maximum amount of time off the clock would have been big. 2-3 yard runs on first and second downs to keep the chains manageable on third down would have been big.

 

[sufandu]

At the end of the day, we didn't need a ton of production. Even getting an average of one first down a drive and taking the maximum amount of time off the clock would have been big. 2-3 yard runs on first and second downs to keep the chains manageable on third down would have been big.

Nobody is arging against that. The coaches don't think Tucker's backups could do that against Clemson. And they haven't played them much through most of games. They see them in practice everyday. I don't think RB is like QB where rhe starter takes way more practice reps than the back up. They must see something in practice that keeps them from having confidence in the back ups.

 

[Xanadu]

Think he's still banged up and we were always playing him as the decoy. Was odd when Allen came in early on and he didn't get many touches after that.

I said it in another thread. If he’s that hurt then they need to start running Allen/Price more. We became one dimensional. It’s almost like Tucker has a clause in his scholarship that says another Cuse RB can’t get more than five snaps a game whether or not he’s 100%. I love Tucker, but the entire situation is mind boggling and frustrating.

What’s funny is the entire thing runs counter to Dino’s story about his coach taking a timeout.

 

[Oakland]

Correct. He’s banged up and it’s obvious. And he’s better banged up than his backups, because, get this, he’s one of the top 5 RB’s in college football.

We aren’t Alabama and we don’t have that depth. So some of the commentary I see is mind numbing.

What is the evidence that he is banged up (presumably more than average for any player)? This seems like speculation to me.

 

[PhatOrange]

LoL, they managed him because he got like 1 touch in the 2nd half. It’s criminal and no amount of spin will change how crazy that is by the staff.

Even if you take away Tuckers 23 yard gain. His other 4 carries averaged 7.75. what more do,you want?????

 

[anomander]

Hurt or not he had more room to run today than he had the whole season. i can't believe we went away from the run in the 2nd half. that and the refs killed us.

 

[tep624]

What is the evidence that he is banged up (presumably more than average for any player)? This seems like speculation to me.

Pulling himself out of the game multiple times and wincing seems to be pretty good evidence of that along with having his thigh wrapped.

But I’m not a doctor so what do I know.

 

[PhatOrange]

Pulling himself out of the game multiple times and wincing seems to be pretty good evidence of that along with having his thigh wrapped.

But I’m not a doctor so what do I know.

If he is that hurt then you have to go to someone else, you can’t completely abandon the running game.

Regardless the number of carries that Shipley ended up getting the announcers couldn’t believe how many carries the other Clemson running back was given. My opinion because Shipley got rocked a few times he was hurting.

Our defense is very good because the backups get so many reps. the offense is the opposite.

 

[mark79]

This is not a response to anyone on this topic, just an observation. Looked to me like both our offensive and defensive lines ran out of gas in the second half. Because of that, in the second half we struggled to run well or pass block in order to give Shrader adequate time to pass. And of course they put a spy on Shrader. And we got some very untimely (and yes questionable) penalties.

And on defense, in the second half our line was also out of gas and struggled to stop the run. We were probably quality depth on our lines away from beating them. This is not a knock on our lines though, they played their hearts out. The whole team did.

 

[elimunelson]

This is not a response to anyone on this topic, just an observation. Looked to me like both our offensive and defensive lines ran out of gas in the second half. Because of that, in the second half we struggled to run well or pass block in order to give Shrader adequate time to pass. And of course they put a spy on Shrader. And we got some very untimely (and yes questionable) penalties.

And on defense, in the second half our line was also out of gas and struggled to stop the run. We were probably quality depth on our lines away from beating them. This is not a knock on our lines though, they played their hearts out. The whole team did.

The penalties were a result of a spent team

The team ran out of gas.

 

[SUOrange44]

Pulling himself out of the game multiple times and wincing seems to be pretty good evidence of that along with having his thigh wrapped.

But I’m not a doctor so what do I know.

I will say this. I sit towards the top of the 1st level behind the SU bench at around the 20 yard line. I have been convinced Tucker has been dealing with an injury (or at least significant pain since Louisville). I was assuming it was a hip pointer but I may be wrong.

There was one play in particular which I believe was against Virginia that reaffirmed it. It would have been around the 15-20 yard line towards the end zone away from the student section. 34 made a big play and Dino met him as he was coming off the field and whispered something right in Sean’s ear hole. I am neither a body language expert nor a mind reader but it really had the look of him being appreciative of Tucker continuing to play hard given the situation.

Though if any one of 6 things happens in yesterday’s second half, SU probably wins and we are talking about The President and GameDay coming to Onondaga County in the span of 48 hours. Big things no matter your political stance or if your are a sports fan.

My biggest disappointment yesterday was the play calling immediately after a couple of turnovers where I would have made sure to run the ball to a) milk time and b) give the Defense more time to rest. Did not care if the run was ineffective by GS or whether or Allen or whomever but it says a lot that 34 kept coming out and was not on the field for a key play. He is definitely injured.

Onecan only wonder what this offense would look like if Elmore did not get hurt.

SUOrange44

 

[sufandu]

The penalties were a result of a spent team

The team ran out of gas.

Some of them were. Running out of gas doesn't explain the stupid head bob Vetterello got called on for the false start or the defensive lineman reaching inside the 2nd string QB's facemask while he's lying on the ground. Some of the penalties remain stupid and lack of attention to detail.

 

[dan7800]

Our RBs averaged like 8+ ypc. We couldn't move the ball in the second half. Why weren't they at least trying to run with our RBs?

Clemson handed us this game for 3 quarters, and then we couldn't do anything, so they took it right back.

 

[mark79]

Again another observation not pointed at anyone. Seems like Clemsons gameplan keyed on stopping Tucker and Gadsden at all costs. Which is why Shrader had such a good first half running. Then in the second half they put a spy on Shrader to stop him. Which meant that Tucker could have had opportunities but unfortunately by that time our line was too worn down to block effectively and perhaps Tucker was hurt. Definitely a chess match.

The fact that they weren’t penalized for the late hit really bugged me.

 

[Cusefan69]

Our RBs averaged like 8+ ypc. We couldn't move the ball in the second half. Why weren't they at least trying to run with our RBs?

Clemson handed us this game for 3 quarters, and then we couldn't do anything, so they took it right back.

Not to split hairs but our defense had allot to do with Clemson not playing well. I do agree that for 3 qrtrs if we had taken advantage of opportunity our defense provided we would have won. Heck our defense did things in the 4th that still gave us a chance at winning.

 

[dan7800]

Not to split hairs but our defense had allot to do with Clemson not playing well. I do agree that for 3 qrtrs if we had taken advantage of opportunity our defense provided we would have won. Heck our defense did things in the 4th that still gave us a chance at winning.

Agreed.

 

[mark79]

The Mob played great until the line wore out a bit late. Not sure I remember another time when we took a fumble 99 yards for a TD. Proud of this bunch even with the loss.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Some of them were. Running out of gas doesn't explain the stupid head bob Vetterello got called on for the false start or the defensive lineman reaching inside the 2nd string QB's facemask while he's lying on the ground. Some of the penalties remain stupid and lack of attention to detail.

Is there something else to the Vett head bob? Because I swear he does that multiple times a game and it isn't always flagged.

 

[sufandu]

Is there something else to the Vett head bob? Because I swear he does that multiple times a game and it isn't always flagged.

I don't know, but those and the illegal snaps are crazy.

 

[FrancoPizza]

If the coaches think we can get by with Shrader doing it all, the season could unravel. The Tucker decoy gig is up. The other team knows it, Tucker knows it. Do our coaches know it?

 

[PhatOrange]

Again another observation not pointed at anyone. Seems like Clemsons gameplan keyed on stopping Tucker and Gadsden at all costs. Which is why Shrader had such a good first half running. Then in the second half they put a spy on Shrader to stop him. Which meant that Tucker could have had opportunities but unfortunately by that time our line was too worn down to block effectively and perhaps Tucker was hurt. Definitely a chess match.

Seems ridiculous they could rush 3 or 4, spy Shrader, scheme Tucker AND drop into zone coverage smothering the receivers.

Didn’t happen