We did it in 2013, why can't we this year?

[cuse309]

We have the same record at this point that we had in 2013. Our 4th loss in 2013 was a 56-0 drubbing by an ok Georgia Tech team. A bowl was a laughable thought at that point. We needed to win 3 of the final 5. That final 5 included eventual national champs Florida State.
We are in the same boat right now. Why can't we pull out 3 wins. Granted the schedule is a bit tougher having Florida State and Clemson to deal with, but we have a better team than we had in 2013. We can absolutely win @ L'ville, @ N.C. State, and home vs. BC. I even give us a bit of a punchers chance vs. Florida State. They may get caught looking ahead to Clemson the next week.
This aint over.

 

[CanadianSU]

Your right, there is still a chance. Just gotta take it one week at a time.

 

[GoSU96]

We have the same record at this point that we had in 2013. Our 4th loss in 2013 was a 56-0 drubbing by an ok Georgia Tech team. A bowl was a laughable thought at that point. We needed to win 3 of the final 5. That final 5 included eventual national champs Florida State.
We are in the same boat right now. Why can't we pull out 3 wins. Granted the schedule is a bit tougher having Florida State and Clemson to deal with, but we have a better team than we had in 2013. We can absolutely win @ L'ville, @ N.C. State, and home vs. BC. I even give us a bit of a punchers chance vs. Florida State. They may get caught looking ahead to Clemson the next week.
This aint over.

Lville and NCSt are MUCH better than Wake and Maryland were.

And just because the QB is better means the rest of the team is better. The run game isn't as good and the defense isn't close.

Just because it might be a better team next year or the year after that as a whole, doesn't make it better today.

 

[donniesyracuse]

Granted the schedule is a bit tougher having Florida State and Clemson to deal with

you answered your own question

 

[Ozcuse]

We have the same record at this point that we had in 2013. Our 4th loss in 2013 was a 56-0 drubbing by an ok Georgia Tech team. A bowl was a laughable thought at that point. We needed to win 3 of the final 5. That final 5 included eventual national champs Florida State.
We are in the same boat right now. Why can't we pull out 3 wins. Granted the schedule is a bit tougher having Florida State and Clemson to deal with, but we have a better team than we had in 2013. We can absolutely win @ L'ville, @ N.C. State, and home vs. BC. I even give us a bit of a punchers chance vs. Florida State. They may get caught looking ahead to Clemson the next week.
This aint over.

I may be not be remembering this 100%, but I believe the 2013 schedule was front loaded and we got lucky breaks with several peer teams such as WF and MD missing their best players and BC's stud RB getting hurt early. This schedule is backloaded with Clemson, @FSU, @LVille, @NCST, and BC. You're right that we didn't feel a lot of optimism back in 2013 after GT.

 

[Full_Rebar]

We have the same record at this point that we had in 2013. Our 4th loss in 2013 was a 56-0 drubbing by an ok Georgia Tech team. A bowl was a laughable thought at that point. We needed to win 3 of the final 5. That final 5 included eventual national champs Florida State.
We are in the same boat right now. Why can't we pull out 3 wins. Granted the schedule is a bit tougher having Florida State and Clemson to deal with, but we have a better team than we had in 2013. We can absolutely win @ L'ville, @ N.C. State, and home vs. BC. I even give us a bit of a punchers chance vs. Florida State. They may get caught looking ahead to Clemson the next week.
This aint over.

You are right. I'd even say winning 2 out of 5 is going to give you some hope for next year. 1 out of 5 and it gets a hell of a lot murkier since we are considering 3 of these games against winnable opponents.

 

[upperdeck]

what would the opinion be of the D had it just made a 4th down stop without committing a penalty? its not like teams have gone up and down the field to score this year.

RI shut out.
Wake held to 17
CMU had 17 until the last drive
LSU and USF played poorly for stretches but held LSU to 7 at the half.
Virg 14 going into the 4th
Pitt 13 going into the 4th

you could argue pretty easily that points wise 5 games they played better than most expected. but not finishing the games 4 weeks in a row with a stop when needed over shadowed some decent efforts.

we had the lead 5 of 7 games late thats not normally a sign of a team going south.

 

[cuse309]

you answered your own question

That's why I prefaced it with "granted", but like I said...L'Ville NC State, BC, are all very winnable games.

 

[donniesyracuse]

That's why I prefaced it with "granted", but like I said...L'Ville NC State, BC, are all very winnable games.

all games are winnable; will they be favored in any of them?

 

[K Otto XLIV]

what would the opinion be of the D had it just made a 4th down stop without committing a penalty? its not like teams have gone up and down the field to score this year.

RI shut out.
Wake held to 17
CMU had 17 until the last drive
LSU and USF played poorly for stretches but held LSU to 7 at the half.
Virg 14 going into the 4th
Pitt 13 going into the 4th

you could argue pretty easily that points wise 5 games they played better than most expected. but not finishing the games 4 weeks in a row with a stop when needed over shadowed some decent efforts.

we had the lead 5 of 7 games late thats not normally a sign of a team going south.

Smoke and mirrors. When you allow 5 minute drives all day the game is shortened and the score is lower.

 

[cuse309]

Lville and NCSt are MUCH better than Wake and Maryland were.

And just because the QB is better means the rest of the team is better. The run game isn't as good and the defense isn't close.

Just because it might be a better team next year or the year after that as a whole, doesn't make it better today.

L'ville has beaten Sanford, an awful BC team, and a mediocre NC State team. They played some good teams close, but as we found out when we played LSU close, that doesn't translate to being almost as good as that team. I am not impressed at all with that resume'.
NC State has beaten, or should I say eaten the who's who of the Hostess cupcake factory. Troy, Eastern Kentucky, ODU, South Alabama, and Wake. Maybe you just look at the record, or the name L'ville on the jersey, and consider those games not winnable. I've seen NC State play twice, I've seen L'ville play twice, once against eachother, and those are 2 VERY winnable games. Our D has improved every week since the USF fiasco. I think they'll do just enough to allow 2 wins there.
As for BC, they've beaten Main, Howard, and NIU. Lost 3-0 to Wake for craps sake.

 

[cuse309]

all games are winnable; will they be favored in any of them?

Favored vs. BC. I am in no way an odds maker but I'll say they are a 8 point dog at Louisville, and a 6 point dog at NC State.

 

[TheCusian]

what would the opinion be of the D had it just made a 4th down stop without committing a penalty? its not like teams have gone up and down the field to score this year. RI shut out. Wake held to 17 CMU had 17 until the last drive LSU and USF played poorly for stretches but held LSU to 7 at the half. Virg 14 going into the 4th Pitt 13 going into the 4th you could argue pretty easily that points wise 5 games they played better than most expected. but not finishing the games 4 weeks in a row with a stop when needed over shadowed some decent efforts. we had the lead 5 of 7 games late thats not normally a sign of a team going south.

This. If you look at the whole season we've yet to put a whole game together on either side of the ball. I think that's youth.

 

[cuse309]

I may be not be remembering this 100%, but I believe the 2013 schedule was front loaded and we got lucky breaks with several peer teams such as WF and MD missing their best players and BC's stud RB getting hurt early. This schedule is backloaded with Clemson, @FSU, @LVille, @NCST, and BC. You're right that we didn't feel a lot of optimism back in 2013 after GT.

I recall those injuries as well. An off field injury is luck. That was only the case for us vs. Maryland who didn't have Diggs. I recall taking Campanaro out against WF, and taking Williams out against B.C. Our defense took them out. Injuries are a part of the game that matter. The whole point of hitting someone hard and clean, is to either take them out, or make them timid. Our defense did that. Diggs was hurt in some other game.

 

[Crusty]

We have the same record at this point that we had in 2013. Our 4th loss in 2013 was a 56-0 drubbing by an ok Georgia Tech team. A bowl was a laughable thought at that point. We needed to win 3 of the final 5. That final 5 included eventual national champs Florida State.
We are in the same boat right now. Why can't we pull out 3 wins. Granted the schedule is a bit tougher having Florida State and Clemson to deal with, but we have a better team than we had in 2013. We can absolutely win @ L'ville, @ N.C. State, and home vs. BC. I even give us a bit of a punchers chance vs. Florida State. They may get caught looking ahead to Clemson the next week.
This aint over.

Exactly!

 

[donniesyracuse]

Favored vs. BC. I am in no way an odds maker but I'll say they are a 8 point dog at Louisville, and a 6 point dog at NC State.

so, five games remaining in which the team might be favored in one of them; I don't like my chances of going 3 - 2. I'm not giving up hope, but I don't think it is likely.

 

[cuse309]

I don't care if they're favored or not. Those lines are based on perception. We know this team is capable of winning those games. I actually expect to beat NC state and BC. L'ville will be tougher, but winnable.

 

[supp]

We have the same record at this point that we had in 2013. Our 4th loss in 2013 was a 56-0 drubbing by an ok Georgia Tech team. A bowl was a laughable thought at that point. We needed to win 3 of the final 5. That final 5 included eventual national champs Florida State.
We are in the same boat right now. Why can't we pull out 3 wins. Granted the schedule is a bit tougher having Florida State and Clemson to deal with, but we have a better team than we had in 2013. We can absolutely win @ L'ville, @ N.C. State, and home vs. BC. I even give us a bit of a punchers chance vs. Florida State. They may get caught looking ahead to Clemson the next week.
This aint over.

I agree in that I think FSU will be more doable than people might think. It's not Dungey's or the team's first road trip, so away jitters should be less. It's a noon start. The crowd will be deflated (and less intimidating) both because of what happened last week and because of this week's opponent (us!). Shafer and Co. usually play it more fast and loose when they're big underdogs. We'll need that.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I don't care if they're favored or not. Those lines are based on perception. We know this team is capable of winning those games. I actually expect to beat NC state and BC. L'ville will be tougher, but winnable.

capable of winning the games, sure, but you have to admit the odds are against going 3-2. I'm definitely hoping the team will beat the odds. I like my chances with Dungey better than Hunt.

 

[skytop44]

IMO the schedule is tougher but yes it can be done. The only thing is we lost to Clemson, Penn State, Northwestern and GT that year who are better than who we've lost to this year. I just don't feel very confident right now about 3 more wins but I hope we can do it!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

We can, and truthfully, we need to.

 

[SUskibum]

D

I agree in that I think FSU will be more doable than people might think. It's not Dungey's or the team's first road trip, so away jitters should be less. It's a noon start. The crowd will be deflated (and less intimidating) both because of what happened last week and because of this week's opponent (us!). Shafer and Co. usually play it more fast and loose when they're big underdogs. We'll need that.

I dream for the day that they wake up and realize that playing aggressive and taking chances is not only the best way to beat the top teams but also gives us a better chance against ~peers

 

[OttoinGrotto]

D

I dream for the day that they wake up and realize that playing aggressive and taking chances is not only the best way to beat the top teams but also gives us a better chance against ~peers

Amen.

 

[Chris02M]

all games are winnable; will they be favored in any of them?

bc probably

 

[Crusty]

Don't think we will be favored in any. BC rated much higher than we are probably because of their awesome defense.