Unexpected HUGE contributors and other re-watch observations

[Cuseregular]

Holy cow you learn so much on a rewatch that you miss in person (unless you possess the photographic brain of Tomcat!), but, yeah wow.

#23 Barron was huge all game long! speed strength and game instincts wouldn’t expect to see from a freshman. #7 Thompson was the key in the fourth down stop, wow, and he played well most of the game as well. #18 roscoe is the best DL guy we have and the others are all very good! He made the game winning strip.

I expected the rest of the DL to be stellar but, so far by and large they all look good as does future AA IMO #3. Despite getting burned twice each still have faith in #8 Williams and deuce. They’re players. This is the best D in YEARS. Wax, wow, another freshman?! I now believe we can win every game this year if the O is even serviceable.

Speaking of the O saw Benson moving well essentially normally on the sidelines, no knee brace and no crutches like he had during last game post injury, that means it’s a mild grade 1ish knee sprain and he’ll be back sooner vs later.

With the O, much in the same way post Ohio rewatch I thought tommy did even better than I thought, same here with GS. Put us in a position to win plain and simple. He makes moves and plays that won’t show up in the stat line.

Rather than retype things Just going link it here:

So Babers is sold on Shrader?

to me, it’s not really about GS being good. It’s that Devito didn’t win and got plenty of chances. It’s time to move on...we did this week and won. *shrug*

syracusefan.com

If we can avoid injuries (especially on the OL which currently is looking the best in quite a while but is Likely thin), the rest of this year is going to be fun competing to WIN every game, and not just being being ok with and being competitive in every game, even with my preseason optimism, I wouldn’t thought that was possible in August.

LGFO, surprise the college football world, get ranked again, compete for an ACC crown, bring #44 to Tuck and get a little Heisman hype for the best RB we’ve had here since #47!

 

[rocklloyd]

I too saw benson walking without brace/crutches. Had the slightest of limp but I felt same way in that it had to be good news.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

I watched again last night. Holy cow did Shrader save the day on a dozen bad snaps by Servais. Clean those up or shuffle the line again.

 

[gmoney44]

The ACC is wide open for the first time since we’ve been in the league. Just saying.

 

[Trueblue25]

Wax fights through blocks likes he’s in a barroom fist fight lol love it

 

[JRHEETER]

Love this recap, thanks for sharing it!

 

[elimunelson]

Am I crazy thinking Bleich may be our best OL-man in a long time. Seems to be a huge factor in this line.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Am I crazy thinking Bleich may be our best OL-man in a long time. Seems to be a huge factor in this line.

He is what a four star offensive lineman looks like. I believe Jones was a four star too. Ratings don’t lie, but there are also many under valued three stars too.

 

[cusefan88]

Am I crazy thinking Bleich may be our best OL-man in a long time. Seems to be a huge factor in this line.

I think Bergeron is better overall but Bleich is the best run-blocker I've seen in awhile. That left side of Bergeron-Bleich is unreal.

 

[Newhouser]

I watched again last night. Holy cow did Shrader save the day on a dozen bad snaps by Servais. Clean those up or shuffle the line again.

I don't understand the Servais switch. He wasn't good at Center when he moved their earlier. Hopefully the snaps is just a practice cure but man...

 

[Cusefan69]

So I think the Servais switch back to center was to reduce the center of the line penetration. He is seemingly larger and stronger than Vet. So now you are stable from center to LT and center to RG . Helps run game and reduces (not eliminate) center of line collapse we have seen allot the last 2 years. His snaps must get better though.

 

[upperdeck]

snaps have been bad but the blocking has gotten better up the middle which is a must

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

Hopefully Servais will get the rust off during week of practice. I really don’t remember him being a bad snapper in 2018. He is a better center than Vett in every other aspect.

 

[Chip]

Good call on Barron, he had a couple of huge plays.

It's still crazy to think that this D could have Cisco, Iffy, Trill. We're not a place where kids typically leave early, and never after just 3 years.

Most amazing part of the D, to me, is how well all the guys are playing that weren't starters on that first depth chart. Roscoe, Okechukwu, Simmons, Barron, Cole. The linebackers, of course, have been as advertised.

On offense, Adams looked good in limited time. More than capable of spelling Tucker and keeping him fresh. Alford needs to play more. I don't know if he's the one running wrong routes, but it seems like something goes wrong every time a ball is thrown Sharrod's way. Queeley was invisible against Liberty, but I don't know how much of that is his fault.

Really hope we get Benson back. Play action passes to Benson over the middle will help keep the D honest. They don't need to be deep middle, just over the committing LB for 10-15 yards will work.

So will deep balls to Alford or Taj, but I think we'll keep getting dared until we complete one. Maybe more. Needs to be something they believe will actually burn them, which is more than the WR breaking open.

 

[MGDCuse]

I don't understand the Servais switch. He wasn't good at Center when he moved their earlier. Hopefully the snaps is just a practice cure but man...

I think he had lost a bunch of weight that year to play tackle and then was forced to play center due to injuries. Think he's 25ish pounds heavier now.

 

[LAOrange]

Hopefully Servais will get the rust off during week of practice. I really don’t remember him being a bad snapper in 2018. He is a better center than Vett in every other aspect.

He was a good center. He was even on the "star center" watch list. Shotguns aren't easy but he's fully capable of being a great center. He's our line captain and it's easier to call the line plays from there.

 

[Chip]

I don't understand the Servais switch. He wasn't good at Center when he moved their earlier. Hopefully the snaps is just a practice cure but man...

Schmidt feels like we'll run the ball better with him at center. Hard to argue with it so far. He snapped the ball fine in 2018 and 2019, so it seems fixable.

Schmidt is playing with the hand he was dealt, not a ton of time for him to evaluate, and he was given a couple of soft spots in the best 5 he had. Seems like he's made a difference in how they run block, which might just be motivational more than anything else.

No holds Friday which is good. Clean up a couple procedure calls and snaps, and just keep improving each week.

 

[TexanMark]

I watched again last night. Holy cow did Shrader save the day on a dozen bad snaps by Servais. Clean those up or shuffle the line again.

I love TD...great kid but you are right GS saved several disasters delivered from Servais. I'm not sure TD could have caught all those. The good news is Servais should get better as he settles into center.

BL: each QB brings something to the war...I feel confident we can win with either this year. When was the last time we had two QBs who could win a game for us?

 

[orangencpolice]

Am I crazy thinking Bleich may be our best OL-man in a long time. Seems to be a huge factor in this line.

As much as I like Bleich and believe this line has taken many steps forward from last year, I still believe Justin Pugh is our best in a long time. Tucker would not be able to get the yards he has gotten without improvement from the guys up front from last year.

 

[Chip]

Am I crazy thinking Bleich may be our best OL-man in a long time. Seems to be a huge factor in this line.

He was a great and much needed addition to this line.

But I think the guy playing to his left is a bit better.

This is a much better debate than wondering if our fullback is better than the other guard.

 

[007]

Schmidt feels like we'll run the ball better with him at center. Hard to argue with it so far. He snapped the ball fine in 2018 and 2019, so it seems fixable.

Schmidt is playing with the hand he was dealt, not a ton of time for him to evaluate, and he was given a couple of soft spots in the best 5 he had. Seems like he's made a difference in how they run block, which might just be motivational more than anything else.

No holds Friday which is good. Clean up a couple procedure calls and snaps, and just keep improving each week.

Good post. Schmidt has made a big difference in run blocking. I think it is more than "motivational" - seems to be a big change in techniques, communication, and aggressiveness.

 

[RF2044]

Good post. Schmidt has made a big difference in run blocking. I think it is more than "motivational" - seems to be a big change in techniques, communication, and aggressiveness.

Which is important, because we get raw prospects who have to be molded. It is great to have a developmental type of OL coach, since we aren't landing many blue chip guys who are ready to see the field out of the gate.

 

[upperdeck]

They best thing is that there are times where every game we seem to be mauling the dlines.. That never happened that last couple yrs. if we force teams to really stack the box thats really a battle won.. You just have to have the next answer because you will have guys 1x1 all over and you need to make teams pay for that

 

[syrBossHogg]

I think Servais is a cool guy and he's a solid OL, but I would love if one of the younger guys can be a solid upgrade over him long term.

Bergeron and Bleich are legit ACC linemen, and I think young guys like Cruz and Ellis can get there as well

 

[RF2044]

I think Servais is a cool guy and he's a solid OL, but I would love if one of the younger guys can be a solid upgrade over him long term.

Bergeron and Bleich are legit ACC linemen, and I think young guys like Cruz and Ellis can get there as well

Agree on Cruz / Ellis. I wonder if they'll get worked in as the season unfolds, a la Bergeron two years ago. Guess it all comes down to how well they understand the playbook.

Our big weak link now appears to be RT [Vet or Tisdale], although Tisdale did reasonably well last week I thought. I have no idea whether a kid like Cruz [who is the highest rated OL we've landed in a while] might be ready to play LT, which would give us the option of shifting Bergeron over to RT.

Our OL has gone from worst ever last year to more than serviceable this year. Strengthening that lone weak link position would enable them to be even better.