Wayne Williams off the team

[CuseLegacy]

You would think but the wierd thing is, it was. Know one of the players, said it had to do with academics. Didn't really clarify outside of that.

Perhaps he was told by the staff that if he screwed up one more time he was off the team and then he did something really stupid. He is lucky that he is being allowed to finish his education at SU.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I really think this is a major blind spot in your evaluation of the coaches.

Generally speaking I think they plan on getting better on offense and getting better on defense. No one is planning on sucking on either side of the ball. That's what I meant about getting too far into the weeds. I don't think this concept of "our defense will be worse, so we'll need to score more" is something you plan on have happening. It's a week-of game plan or in-game adjustment.

I don't think Shafer will ever be able to appease your particular brand of "putting offense 1st"... He will never be Leach.

But I'll say it again - we've never had a Shafer led team that the offense is worthy of that kind of trust. At the same time we've had very good defenses that he leans on. White-knuckling is the default with that mix. If our offense starts putting 30 pts on the board easily I think we'll see him think like the former QB he is.

This is where I feel like our programs struggles have brainwashed our fan base over the years:

There is no such thing as an offense unworthy of trust. That is not a thing. Does not exist. This is BS fans tell themselves to make excuses. There is no mix for white knuckling. There is no such thing as leaning on your defense, because the best but most unlikely thing your defense can do is score points - the very thing offense is inherently designed to do.

We have to stop with inventing these conditions for when we can prioritize offense. It has to prove itself. When it shows it can score regularly. When we have a QB. When the talent is better. We trust our defense more to " make something happen." Uh, no.

It's hilarious that everybody else in college football understands this. On our board though, voicing these concerns and doubts about how our staff prioritizes game day decisions is hubris.

We have zilch for proven Dline depth. We have a really inexperienced set of linebackers. There are questions in the secondary.

Meanwhile, we have a senior QB. We don't return a ton at running back, but we do have two guys that have seen the field. We return experienced WRs and TEs. We have a lot of OL starters back.

Given those two scenarios, it would seem as though the offense has the edge. Does anybody actually believe that our coaches are going in to games thinking "well, we're really going to have to light up the scoreboard to give our team its best chance today." Based on two years of decisions made by the staff, how likely is that the thought process?

That's why when we lose a rotation DL and Scooch says we better plan on some shootouts there's a very tragic comedy to the whole thing.

To close - they are welcome to prove me wrong. Nobody will be happier. But I'm done celebrating the defense playing well at the expense of our offense.

 

[Crusty]

We need to score 30+ PPG. That is all.

 

[TheCusian]

This is where I feel like our programs struggles have brainwashed our fan base over the years: There is no such thing as an offense unworthy of trust. That is not a thing. Does not exist. This is BS fans tell themselves to make excuses. There is no mix for white knuckling. There is no such thing as leaning on your defense, because the best but most unlikely thing your defense can do is score points - the very thing offense is inherently designed to do. We have to stop with inventing these conditions for when we can prioritize offense. It has to prove itself. When it shows it can score regularly. When we have a QB. When the talent is better. We trust our defense more to " make something happen." Uh, no. It's hilarious that everybody else in college football understands this. On our board though, voicing these concerns and doubts about how our staff prioritizes game day decisions is hubris. We have zilch for proven Dline depth. We have a really inexperienced set of linebackers. There are questions in the secondary. Meanwhile, we have a senior QB. We don't return a ton at running back, but we do have two guys that have seen the field. We return experienced WRs and TEs. We have a lot of OL starters back. Given those two scenarios, it would seem as though the offense has the edge. Does anybody actually believe that our coaches are going in to games thinking "well, we're really going to have to light up the scoreboard to give our team its best chance today." Based on two years of decisions made by the staff, how likely is that the thought process? That's why when we lose a rotation DL and Scooch says we better plan on some shootouts there's a very tragic comedy to the whole thing. To close - they are welcome to prove me wrong. Nobody will be happier. But I'm done celebrating the defense playing well at the expense of our offense.

You're missing the point. I don't think coaches think about white knuckling or going balls to the walls on offense. I think they think about putting the best offense on the field and the best defense on the field. The goal of the offense is to score and the goal of the defense is to stop the other team. The goal of the team and HC is to win. What they might need to do to achieve that goal is week to week, or in-game.

Again - you're in the weeds. We need to out score the other team every week. If both sides of the ball do their jobs, we win. That's big picture.

Game to game:

I DO think that they look at each game and think "our defense can't handle FSU and Winston we're going to have to take more chances down the field" (which we did). Or "we need to keep ND off the field let's try that fake punt if they line up like that" (which we did). When our coaches believe we are overmatched they have modified their offensive philosophy.

----

To your first point. If the defense holds the opposing team to 7pts as opposed to 35, that's making the job of the offense easier. If the offense scores 35, that makes the defensive job easier. This idea that offense is all that matters because that what scores points is pure silliness. Ever team that plays this game would prefer to win 45-3 than 45-43. It's more of a balancing act than you like to think. You can put your defense in a bad position by taking chances on offense. You can put your offense in a bad position by being too soft on defense. This is the ying and yang of football. As it always was and is and will be.

In a vacuum, I'd prefer us to be more aggressive on offense (like 2012 Marrone) rather than 2010 era Marrone where we white-knuckled all the time. But your passion over this overstates reality.

 

[Finwad32]

We need to score 30+ PPG. That is all.

30 PPG is a healthy number. I'd take it in a heartbeat.

 

[TheCusian]

30 PPG is a healthy number. I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Yep. regardless of how the defense is playing.

 

[Crusty]

In order to make the top 25 we need 30+ PPG. We have a long way to go.

 

[HeaterCuse22]

Perhaps he was told by the staff that if he screwed up one more time he was off the team and then he did something really stupid. He is lucky that he is being allowed to finish his education at SU.

Perhaps he is staying enrolled because he wants to prove to someone he can overcome a mistake and perhaps be given the opportunity to earn some trust.

 

[anomander]

Perhaps he is staying enrolled because he wants to prove to someone he can overcome a mistake and perhaps be given the opportunity to earn some trust.

That's all well and good, but he let a lot of people down. It's not like it was his first "mistake". He is almost 23 years old, he isn't a kid anymore.

and i'm sure CL knows exactly what transpired.