What happened to "our best team in the last 20 years?" | Syracusefan.com

What happened to "our best team in the last 20 years?"

OttoinGrotto

2023-24 Iggy Award Most 3 Pointers Made
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There were people with pretty credible opinions this off-season that talked up the talent we have and how good this team is.

Maybe that team is still in there, but nothing looks right.

Were those opinions just way off-base? Did we fluke into 10 wins last season?
 
We didn't back our way into anything last year.

We don't have a lot of margin - most team don't, and anyone here can point to a few things in games 2 and 3 that could've turned the tide.
 
We have players that lack mental toughness. We need more "ballers".
We make a handful of really good plays, and then we squander the advantage and fail to capitalize.
In big moments, players are making too many mistakes.

There were obviously 2 or 3 terrible dropped passes early on that undermined the confidence of the offense.
The defense got torched early, but then got a foothold in the game and stabilized things.
The offense had 4 chances in the red zone, and only 2 FG's to show for it.

When Tommy threw the interception on first down from their 9 yard line with the chance to make it a 4 point game, I thought that was the game. But we got right back down there after another interception, and we couldn't punch it in on 4 tries.

We have a lot of talented players on this roster, but we don't seem to have tough guys to provide leadership in big moments. And it doesn't feel like the offense plays together "as a group". They feel disjointed.

And I don't want to turn this into "Tommy Bashing", but for the third straight game, he threw a terrible interception right at the defender. He didn't get close on a couple fade routes in the end zone when we got down close, and although he did have one aggressive run on a scramble, I only remember one. "Pretty Boy" Trevor Lawrence was more of a threat running the ball than Tommy.

They need to really light up these next 2 teams, or this season is going to turn into a crap-fest. North Carolina State is the game that determines whether or not we even get to a bowl game this year.

P.S. - Oh, I have one big question about the defense - why in the world was 5-8 Cordy covering that 6-4 WR Tee on seemingly every play? Don't we have about 10 DBs who are 6 feet tall? Didn't Cordy fail to make our two-deep until this week? What the hell happened in the secondary that he was our best option, after he was getting beat one-on-one over and over and over?
 
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We have players that lack mental toughness. We need more "ballers".
We make a handful of really good plays, and then we squander the advantage and fail to capitalize.
In big moments, players are making too many mistakes.

There were obviously 2 or 3 terrible dropped passes early on that undermined the confidence of the offense.
The defense got torched early, but then got a foothold in the game and stabilized things.
The offense had 4 chances in the red zone, and only 2 FG's to show for it.

When Tommy threw the interception on first down from their 9 yard line with the chance to make it a 4 point game, I thought that was the game. But we got right back down there after another interception, and we couldn't punch it in on 4 tries.

We have a lot of talented players on this roster, but we don't seem to have tough guys to provide leadership in big moments.

Those two possessions after the INT’s were Horror movie level stuff. I can’t ever unsee that.

The worst thing is as soon he didn’t get in the end zone on the second interception, all my excitement went out the window and I knew we had no chance to score. Scary. As soon as he got tackled I legit sat down all dejected, shaking my head. No cheering whatsoever after the play.
 
Did we fluke into 10 wins last season? No, but a lot of things broke our way, including strong relief play by Devito in two game, and very few injuries. Biggest differences — multi-year starters at OTs and TE and — obviously — Dungey’s ability to run the ball. Dungey was inspirational and the team MVP.

Without Dungey, if you want to be honest, we are about where our recruiting puts us.
 
Those two possessions after the INT’s were Horror movie level stuff. I can’t ever unsee that.

The worst thing is as soon he didn’t get in the end zone on the second interception, all my excitement went out the window and I knew we had no chance to score. Scary. As soon as he got tackled I legit sat down all dejected, shaking my head. No cheering whatsoever after the play.


Yeah, after the second time, that was the end of the game, even though there were about 20 minutes left to play. After Clemson started marching down the field, I gave up. So did the team.
 
Problem is we all go around with orange colored glasses thinking we are killing it in every position. The truth of the matter is that we have lost out on most of our top targets. Wr and ol misses have hurt we have no real backup qb. All these issues have compounded and we are now facing the reality of a long season with growing pains. The staff needs to take a hard look at what they are doing and fix the delinquencies we have in the recruiting department.
 
I’m pretty sure most level headed fans thought we’d take a step back - lost a lot on the OL and our best QB since McNabb.

I’ve though 7-5 type season this year, and am sticking to it.

Clemson is heads and shoulders the best team in the country this year. Yes the MD game was a debacle, but this team will improve by leaps and bounds by year end.

Dino can coach - these kids just need a lot of reps and time to gel.
 
I’m pretty sure most level headed fans thought we’d take a step back - lost a lot on the OL and our best QB since McNabb.

I’ve though 7-5 type season this year, and am sticking to it.

Clemson is heads and shoulders the best team in the country this year. Yes the MD game was a debacle, but this team will improve by leaps and bounds by year end.

Dino can coach - these kids just need a lot of reps and time to gel.
Yeah. Still a lot of season for things to shake out.

I just think back on the enthusiasm a guy like Whigham had, who seems pretty keyed in. That's not matching what we see on the field right now.
 
The liberty game was the first game with a new qb. Liberty was hyped. That game is a pass.

Maryland we obviously overlooked and were unprepared. We got punched early in the mouth and couldnt recover. Clearly the defense is better than that.

Clemson is top 2-3 team. Thats just a tough ask. I think their defense is a lot better than people talk about. They held texas am to few points last week. Our defense held its own.

Now, the real season starts and find out how good we are. Dino said in the preseason that the offense couldnt move the ball well against the defense. That was a sign. Need the offense to find some mojo and then can win some games.
 
Yeah. Still a lot of season for things to shake out.

I just think back on the enthusiasm a guy like Whigham had, who seems pretty keyed in. That's not matching what we see on the field right now.

If we had punched it in a couple times when we should’ve and made it an exciting game and ended up losing 41-24 or something, and even kinda showed up at Maryland and lost competitively, I wouldn’t feel bad.

104-26 the last two weeks is just ridiculous.
 
There were people with pretty credible opinions this off-season that talked up the talent we have and how good this team is.

Maybe that team is still in there, but nothing looks right.

Were those opinions just way off-base? Did we fluke into 10 wins last season?
We were outgained last year per play. Who wants to talk about when everything is working out but it's always in the back of my mind
 
We didn't back our way into anything last year.

We don't have a lot of margin - most team don't, and anyone here can point to a few things in games 2 and 3 that could've turned the tide.

A few things in game 2 could have turned the tide. Analyze the box score and play by play. That game we were dominated. For ever score we had they scored three times. 2 - 3 plays might have gotten us a trip to the red zone where we are terrible. That game wasn’t lost by little things here and there. We were dominated from start to finish.
 
I’m pretty sure most level headed fans thought we’d take a step back - lost a lot on the OL and our best QB since McNabb.

I’ve though 7-5 type season this year, and am sticking to it.

Clemson is heads and shoulders the best team in the country this year. Yes the MD game was a debacle, but this team will improve by leaps and bounds by year end.

Dino can coach - these kids just need a lot of reps and time to gel.
I'm in panic mode about the tackles. Nothing works when blocking is this bad
 
Those two possessions after the INT’s were Horror movie level stuff. I can’t ever unsee that.

The worst thing is as soon he didn’t get in the end zone on the second interception, all my excitement went out the window and I knew we had no chance to score. Scary. As soon as he got tackled I legit sat down all dejected, shaking my head. No cheering whatsoever after the play.
Our group had the exact same feeling
 
I'm in panic mode about the tackles. Nothing works when blocking is this bad

Babers made a comment about the QB, TE, and RBs. I saw Neal whiff on a few blocks that Strick probably would have picked up. I know the TE (think it was Benson) was supposed to chip, then release and clearly forgot that aspect on another one.

My guess is it’s 50/50. I mean, we had a few guys so open on slants it was stupid. Then again, after getting hit every play I get why Tommy got gun shy as well.

Alexander definitely struggled. We need to get Heckel back so Servais can slide to LT and Carlos can move to RT.
 
I’m pretty sure most level headed fans thought we’d take a step back - lost a lot on the OL and our best QB since McNabb.

I’ve though 7-5 type season this year, and am sticking to it.

Clemson is heads and shoulders the best team in the country this year. Yes the MD game was a debacle, but this team will improve by leaps and bounds by year end.

Dino can coach - these kids just need a lot of reps and time to gel.


I think most people felt that 8 wins was the floor. But that was based on the expectation that we would have a functional offensive line. So far, the O line is crap. We probably ought to move Servais back to LT and try a rookie at center. It worked out OK with Mackey McPherson.
 
If we had punched it in a couple times when we should’ve and made it an exciting game and ended up losing 41-24 or something, and even kinda showed up at Maryland and lost competitively, I wouldn’t feel bad.

104-26 the last two weeks is just ridiculous.
Yeah. We look incomplete.
 
We have players that lack mental toughness. We need more "ballers".
We make a handful of really good plays, and then we squander the advantage and fail to capitalize.
In big moments, players are making too many mistakes.

There were obviously 2 or 3 terrible dropped passes early on that undermined the confidence of the offense.
The defense got torched early, but then got a foothold in the game and stabilized things.
The offense had 4 chances in the red zone, and only 2 FG's to show for it.

When Tommy threw the interception on first down from their 9 yard line with the chance to make it a 4 point game, I thought that was the game. But we got right back down there after another interception, and we couldn't punch it in on 4 tries.

We have a lot of talented players on this roster, but we don't seem to have tough guys to provide leadership in big moments. And it doesn't feel like the offense plays together "as a group". They feel disjointed.

And I don't want to turn this into "Tommy Bashing", but for the third straight game, he threw a terrible interception right at the defender. He didn't get close on a couple fade routes in the end zone when we got down close, and although he did have one aggressive run on a scramble, I only remember one. "Pretty Boy" Trevor Lawrence was more of a threat running the ball than Tommy.

They need to really light up these next 2 teams, or this season is going to turn into a crap-fest. North Carolina State is the game that determines whether or not we even get to a bowl game this year.

P.S. - Oh, I have one big question about the defense - why in the world was 5-8 Cordy covering that 6-4 WR Tee on seemingly every play? Don't we have about 10 DBs who are 6 feet tall? Didn't Cordy fail to make our two-deep until this week? What the hell happened in the secondary that he was our best option, after he was getting beat one-on-one over and over and over?
God I hated that fade call. It's an I give up play call
 
So a couple things:
1). I think we had a couple seasoned ballers on the team last year that obviously made a difference regarding execution. Example: D Strick ran tough but really knew how to pick up the blitz. Strong blocking for ED. We are not seeing that with Moe or Abdul. I would consider putting Howard or Elmore back there for protection.
2). I think our line was a weak link with dline going into the season and losing Martin and Conway were big difference makers. Again with a QB who could scramble we had I believe 39 sacks. We all hoped the oline coach was trending the position favorably and losing our starting LT didn’t help.
Side note: Allot of posters said that TDs elite throwing and quick reads would make up for the line deficiencies. That is clearly not the case. Maybe once TD is more experienced and we have better line play.
Side note 2: Clemson dline and lbs showed a number of looks yesterday with stunts, lineman dropping back into coverage and lbs rushing, our oline had significant challenges keying in on who was who.
3). I am very confused by the play calling and if I am HCDFBs I am spending a good chunck of time this week talking with my OC. To many empty backfield sets, not enough quick routes with the empty backfield sets (knowing our oline is beeing overwhelmed), absolutely gave up on the run (even when its not going great, you still need to run the rock) and not enough play calls that helped TD find a groove. We should be practicing this week some intentional roll out plays and give TD some space “intentionally “.
4). Some of ya will hate this but there were intentional run calls for ED last year and they need to keep that going with TD. It absolutely looks clear to me that TD has been told not to run. For our quarterback thinking that our QB should be pure passer just no way. He can spin it, he is not near Elite yet. He can be, until then incorporate a few runs for him, to help him out and move the chains.
5) Lastly our d showed pretty well all things considered. I saw the fight in the dog yesterday. Better tackling this week. If the game was closer, I think they would have been more rested and would have fed of crowd.

Still plenty of season left. People wanted to get caught up in the turned the corner thinking and again we haven’t. Some things need to change. Some fans need to recalibrate expectations. They are still our team, and require our support. I was there against Clemson and will be there against WM. Go Cuse.
 
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Our wideouts, except Jackson, are neither sizeable or scrappy.

Cordy, Foster, and Armstrong consistently fail to wrap on tackles and it’s killing us.

For the life of me I do not understand how Stritz or Coley haven’t earned a starting spot.


LAWRENCES BALLS HUNG IN THE AIR, JUST TURN AROUND AND FIND THE BALL.
 
I love the summer weight room stuff but we look like a bunch of guys that can squat a lot and can’t move. We look so slow.

We’ve heard the same story on the oline every year. If you can’t pass or run block you shouldn’t be on schollie. These guys can’t do either.

The fundamentals are shocking. You have a 10th year senior that still can’t wrap up. A qb that can’t read a defense. WRs that can’t catch.
 
Our wideouts, except Jackson, are neither sizeable or scrappy.

Cordy, Foster, and Armstrong consistently fail to wrap on tackles and it’s killing us.

For the life of me I do not understand how Stritz or Coley haven’t earned a starting spot.


LAWRENCES BALLS HUNG IN THE AIR, JUST TURN AROUND AND FIND THE BALL.

Chip & Millhouse now furtively searching for this Lawrence guy. :p

Agreed - our DB’s NEVER turn to look for the ball.
Like, ever.

They need to act like a WR in those spots, turn and fight for the ball themselves, rather than face guarding the WR’s and hoping they’ll drop it.
 

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