Very Very Very Bad start for McDonald

[ImperialOrange]

Way too conservative on offense, we need to get the ball to our playmakers like Kobena, Estime, Broyld, Flemming and Clark, Estime Kobena and Clark had 1 ball thrown their way the whole game. Also how about mixing up the play calling on first down, instead of a run up the gut say we throw the ball on first down, just rantings, very frustrated, a game that was very winnable.

Flemming was never open nor was West. Really wish kobena and clark wouldve gotten more pt early in the game.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Yeah except DeLeone scored points and went to BCS bowls with McPherson, Philcox, Graves, McNabb, Nunes and Patterson.

dont confuse the kids.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

Yeah except DeLeone scored points and went to BCS bowls with McPherson, Philcox, Graves, McNabb, Nunes and Patterson.

At least be intellectually honest. Please help me remember those BCS bowls with Nunes and Patterson. GDL had his day in the sun. And we'd all like to get back to those days. But those days ended 15 years ago.

 

[Upstate]

If there's a remedy for a poor offense, it might just be NW's "defense"

 

[anomander]

Amazing. Can't even get 1 game under his belt before the criticism rains down. Let me guess everyone expected us to come out mid season form with no learning curve? Simply wow

 

[rosconey]

Amazing. Can't even get 1 game under his belt before the criticism rains down. Let me guess everyone expected us to come out mid season form with no learning curve? Simply wow

people have real concerns because the offense had zero flow- couldnt even get plays called in a timely manner-total clusterfudge on mcdonalds part-

and the second half didnt look any better than the first-it wasnt first game jitters-

guy may be proven to be a 1 trick pony-a recruiter who cant coach a lick

 

[timkay99]

I am more concerned with the OL then the WR's, but that may have been b/c I was half-expecting the line to be like it was with Pugh. I was used to us starting slow with the run game, but wearing teams down. It just didn't appear the run wore down Penn State's D-Line like it did last year.

It was nice to see Morris and McFarlane get a little bit of run. Thought Broyld was a factor and the biggest playmaker on the offense outside of Rome. I thought McDonald did a very good job getting him involved in different ways.

For McDonald's first game as an OC, I didn't think he was bad. I mean, you are playing a quality defense in an NFL stadium with a QB making his first start. I was just disappointed we didn't see Allen run the ball more b/c every zone read, the ball was handed off and the Penn State D keyed on that.

I am not too concerned personally. Marrone's first game from a calling plays in perspective was much, much, much worse.

 

[N.Y. Orangeman]

I am not too concerned personally. Marrone's first game from a calling plays in perspective was much, much, much worse.

I believe there are significant differences between Marrone's start and this debacle yesterday. Marrone's issues were talent related; yesterday was largely about a lack of organization and leadership on the offense within the coaching ranks.

I remain of the belief that the going to be a really tough year

 

[rosconey]

marrone didnt call a game-hackett did

and he was just as bad as mcdonald also had far less to work with coming out of the robinson era

 

[gmoney44]

I believe there are significant differences between Marrone's start and this debacle yesterday. Marrone's issues were talent related; yesterday was largely about a lack of organization and leadership on the offense within the coaching ranks.

I remain of the belief that the going to be a really tough year

Perhaps you have forgotten the first offensive play of the Morrone era. It was a snap over the QBs head that led to a TO and TD that was the difference in the game. This was partially due to confusion on the play call by the coaches.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

I give McDonald a pass for this game. I never coached football put coached basketball at the high school level for over ten years. I was an assistant for four years before getting a head coaching job. All I can remember about my first game as a head coach is the speed at which everything happened. I was lucky to have assistants who were very qualified. My point though is no matter how prepared you are the first time you in charge the speed at which decisions have to be made cannot be simulated. McDonald was a failure yesterday, but every week is a new season. Lets see how he does in the next few weeks before we write him off.

 

[BuffOrange]

It wasn't a pick. He picked up a ball lying on the ground and started running where there happened to be no one to tackle him until 50 yards downfield.

And he couldn't juke a freakin' offensive lineman for the score!

Put me in this camp. Yes, he obviously made a huge net positive play. But man how do you not score there.

Of course we couldve done 100 other things better to win but its unclear if we're capable of a lot of those things (like having a competent offense). I mean we've seen our share of 2012 Northwestern "no way we should've lost" games. Yesterday PSU gave us every chance in the world to flip the script and not finishing that play was probably the single biggest reason we didn't steal it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[OrangePA]

At least be intellectually honest. Please help me remember those BCS bowls with Nunes and Patterson. GDL had his day in the sun. And we'd all like to get back to those days. But those days ended 15 years ago.

Two things.

First, the sentence was obviously poorly constructed. The DeLeone offense helped SU to the Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar Bowls with QBs such as McPherson, Graves and McNabb. The offense also helped the team go to a number of lower tier bowls - Hall of Fame, Gator, Peach, Liberty, Music City, Insight and Champs Bowls with guys like Nunes, Anderson, Patterson, and McDonald.

The point was that that offensive scheme served us quite well for many years.

Second, I didn't bring the subject up - somebody else did.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I barely ever blame coaching but the offense was a complete mess guys out of position. Plays coming in late. It was really embarrassing to be honest.

As jake said not sure who to blame but this must improve

Well, we started well, at least. Allen hit something like 7 of his first 9 passes, and Jerome got that 22 yard run in the 1st quarter. I was optimistic at the outset. Allen looks the part, at least. Paulus was running for his life out there.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

Two things.

First, the sentence was obviously poorly constructed. The DeLeone offense helped SU to the Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar Bowls with QBs such as McPherson, Graves and McNabb. The offense also helped the team go to a number of lower tier bowls - Hall of Fame, Gator, Peach, Liberty, Music City, Insight and Champs Bowls with guys like Nunes, Anderson, Patterson, and McDonald.

The point was that that offensive scheme served us quite well for many years.

Second, I didn't bring the subject up - somebody else did.

Fair enough. I'd take a DeLeone 200/200 offensive split. Wasn't that always the goal? It just didn't happen with any consistency toward the end. And it sure isn't happening now down in Storz.

You just wish we could "reload" instead of constantly rebuilding. That offense on Saturday screamed rebuild. And it was frustrating to watch as a fan, after finally having a legit D1 offense just nine months ago.

 

[Chip]

We have to give him more time. I'm obviously a little concerned too. But it was his debut, it was against Penn State. Do we need to go back to the worst individual days of our previous OCs? Because each one of them had multiple games that were worse than yesterday. And on days that weren't their first games. And they were against lesser defenses.

He's going to be our OC for the year unless it causes him or Shafer to have a panic attack, so let's give him a season. He wasn't handed a full offense, our passing game production almost all left school.

Tighten up the organization, communication. See if someone can step up in the passing game given the obvious void. Hopefully break off a few more runs against the less talented front 7s that we're about to face. And hope the QB can see a blitz coming directly at him because it will be hard to promise that our OL will hold up.


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[Shenexon]

I'm a bit puzzled over the level of discouragement following our first game with a new staff & qb. We were outscored by 3 in the first and fourth quarters and had a chance to win the game at the end. We played pretty even with a decent team. While there were plenty of things to be discouraged over, there were bright spots as well. Penn State has good players and good coaching. Their QB may have been a freshman, but the best freshman QB in the country this year. No moral victories, but not a complete failure either. I expect the coaches to adjust and come out ready for the next game. LGO!

 

[SUbear]

I'm a bit puzzled over the level of discouragement following our first game with a new staff & qb. We were outscored by 3 in the first and fourth quarters and had a chance to win the game at the end. We played pretty even with a decent team. While there were plenty of things to be discouraged over, there were bright spots as well. Penn State has good players and good coaching. Their QB may have been a freshman, but the best freshman QB in the country this year. No moral victories, but not a complete failure either. I expect the coaches to adjust and come out ready for the next game.

LGO!

Not discouragement more disappointed. Main problem was the play calls, both in getting them in and just what was called. We had more than enough opportunities that we just threw away, either with turns or just flat out bad plays. Defense played well enough, except for two huge lapses in coverage by the D backs.

Offense must be better or this team will be in trouble all year, big part of that being better will be speeding up our tempo by getting plays in quicker, and that frankly was and is squarely on the oc. Too many runs up the gut, and pass plays that were for nought. I want to see passes for at a minimum of five yards at catch. Disappointed in coaching for this game. Physical errors by players are to be expected,and can be cleaned up. We will see if the coaching is improved.

 

[Sudano]

I give McDonald a pass for this game. I never coached football put coached basketball at the high school level for over ten years. I was an assistant for four years before getting a head coaching job. All I can remember about my first game as a head coach is the speed at which everything happened. I was lucky to have assistants who were very qualified. My point though is no matter how prepared you are the first time you in charge the speed at which decisions have to be made cannot be simulated. McDonald was a failure yesterday, but every week is a new season. Lets see how he does in the next few weeks before we write him off.

The greater fault lies not in McDonald but the hiring of McDonald. This level of D1 is not the level where an offensive coordinator should be calling his first live game and learning on the job. How does the interview go when the Head Coach asks about his offensive philosophy and how he likes to play calls.
His answer can't be 'I've never done it before coach'. He should have a resume of innovative ideas with having called plays at much lower levels of competition. DIII, JC, HS, even Bowling Green or even Cornell. But not in the ACC. We see what happens. Of course he'll get better but when will that level be at the level to beat Defensive Coordinators at this level with decades of experience? 1, 2, 3 years? We can't wait that long.

 

[TheCusian]

The greater fault lies not in McDonald but the hiring of McDonald. This level of D1 is not the level where an offensive coordinator should be calling his first live game and learning on the job. How does the interview go when the Head Coach asks about his offensive philosophy and how he likes to play calls.
His answer can't be 'I've never done it before coach'. He should have a resume of innovative ideas with having called plays at much lower levels of competition. DIII, JC, HS, even Bowling Green or even Cornell. But not in the ACC. We see what happens. Of course he'll get better but when will that level be at the level to beat Defensive Coordinators at this level with decades of experience? 1, 2, 3 years? We can't wait that long.

Over. Reaction. Brown bag to breathe into. Stat.

 

[CUSU]

The greater fault lies not in McDonald but the hiring of McDonald. This level of D1 is not the level where an offensive coordinator should be calling his first live game and learning on the job. How does the interview go when the Head Coach asks about his offensive philosophy and how he likes to play calls.
His answer can't be 'I've never done it before coach'. He should have a resume of innovative ideas with having called plays at much lower levels of competition. DIII, JC, HS, even Bowling Green or even Cornell. But not in the ACC. We see what happens. Of course he'll get better but when will that level be at the level to beat Defensive Coordinators at this level with decades of experience? 1, 2, 3 years? We can't wait that long.

He was the OC at Western Michigan from 05-06. Not extensive but it is there.

 

[Sudano]

He was the OC at Western Michigan from 05-06. Not extensive but it is there.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Sudano]

Over. Reaction. Brown bag to breathe into. Stat.

Did you see the game? Not an over reaction, IMO. When do you think we will have a minimally functioning offense enough to win games against an ACC opponent. We're not playing Cinncinatti and Connecticut anymore. Next season? That was all on preparation, play calling, offensive preparedness.

 

[GoSU96]

The greater fault lies not in McDonald but the hiring of McDonald. This level of D1 is not the level where an offensive coordinator should be calling his first live game and learning on the job. How does the interview go when the Head Coach asks about his offensive philosophy and how he likes to play calls.
His answer can't be 'I've never done it before coach'. He should have a resume of innovative ideas with having called plays at much lower levels of competition. DIII, JC, HS, even Bowling Green or even Cornell. But not in the ACC. We see what happens. Of course he'll get better but when will that level be at the level to beat Defensive Coordinators at this level with decades of experience? 1, 2, 3 years? We can't wait that long.

He was OC at WMU for two seasons, so the premise of your post is false.

 

[kcsu]

does he suffer from memory loss looks like he needs a refresher course