Whigham's Take

[OrangeXtreme]

Omari Palmer came up last weekend and told me how he and Trudo would bully Slayton on the field during practice. While the potential was there for Slayton, the lack of size and experience saw him lose a lot of reps. Seems UCONNs line is struggling with this as well.

A young secondary or WR core is a mixed bag. The easiest positions to get on the field at are fartherst away from the ball. Less about strength and power and more about athleticism. Problem is learning the scheme and the technique.

Freshman WRs are usually meat. They tend to struggle reading coverages and getting off of the line. Young DBs struggle w/ technique or understanding their fit in a zone. This leaves two reasons they play. Either they’re smart or there’s nobody else.

For UCONN, I think it’s the latter. Their 3-9 record from last year is evidence.

All of this to say I expect Syracuse to win handily. The experience and size up front and the way Syracuse’s WR are coached to take advantage of zones and inexperienced DBs, the offense should have a game. Same for Syracuse’s defense.

If you’re a Cuse fan looking for improvement out of this game, I’d check out Kendall Coleman and Alton Robinson asking “are they still winning their one-on-one’s or was Florida States line just terrible?”

With a wider scope, I’m looking at the defense and asking “where is UCONN having success?” The hope is no where but playing against weak teams usually shows you your own weaknesses rather than your strengths.

Best to patch them before Clemson but if they’re issues we’ve seen in the past, consider those problems part of this teams DNA.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[NKR1978]

I really hope the defense puts that one awful quarter in a coffin.

UConn is the 2nd worst team on our schedule by far. This has to be a 4+ TD win.

 

[tbonezone]

sloppy tackling and blown coverages has characterized the orange secondary last several years. let's hope we've turned that corner and can keep receivers in front of us and stick them hard when they do connect.

 

[corpjet]

We need to be careful with this game, get it won first and foremost and stay healthy for next week.

It won't do us a bit of good to have a replay of Western Michigan, lets get on top early, stay on top and let some younger guys get reps.

 

[texascpa]

I really hope the defense puts that one awful quarter in a coffin.

UConn is the 2nd worst team on our schedule by far. This has to be a 4+ TD win.

The problem is too many on this board keep bringing it up. That's half the battle.

 

[TheCusian]

The problem is too many on this board keep bringing it up. That's half the battle.

I think it’s fair to wonder if the 3rd Q WMU d issues have been solved or not. Wagner and FSU were not great tests, though the D passed with flying colors. I don’t know just how much we’ll learn vs UCONN either.

I think we’re better, we have some proof. Just need to see more.

 

[All4SU]

Omari Palmer came up last weekend and told me how he and Trudo would bully Slayton on the field during practice. While the potential was there for Slayton, the lack of size and experience saw him lose a lot of reps. Seems UCONNs line is struggling with this as well.

A young secondary or WR core is a mixed bag. The easiest positions to get on the field at are fartherst away from the ball. Less about strength and power and more about athleticism. Problem is learning the scheme and the technique.

Freshman WRs are usually meat. They tend to struggle reading coverages and getting off of the line. Young DBs struggle w/ technique or understanding their fit in a zone. This leaves two reasons they play. Either they’re smart or there’s nobody else.

For UCONN, I think it’s the latter. Their 3-9 record from last year is evidence.

All of this to say I expect Syracuse to win handily. The experience and size up front and the way Syracuse’s WR are coached to take advantage of zones and inexperienced DBs, the offense should have a game. Same for Syracuse’s defense.

If you’re a Cuse fan looking for improvement out of this game, I’d check out Kendall Coleman and Alton Robinson asking “are they still winning their one-on-one’s or was Florida States line just terrible?”

With a wider scope, I’m looking at the defense and asking “where is UCONN having success?” The hope is no where but playing against weak teams usually shows you your own weaknesses rather than your strengths.

Best to patch them before Clemson but if they’re issues we’ve seen in the past, consider those problems part of this teams DNA.

That’s an interesting statement. I’d like to hear more about that.

 

[SWC75]

I'm still waiting for us to get the sort of explosive plays WMU got against us. We've been grinding it out for the most part. We need to make this game easier.

 

[Finwad32]

Don't sweat the small stuff... Execution and experience... Enjoy the day.

 

[upperdeck]

well you have to catch the long passes first.. and we havent thrown to the right guy several times... WMU got long plays on pretty simple blown assignments not by any great scheme.

but we have had maybe 2-3 really solid runs. one thing last week about there were 7-8 run plays that the back didnt get thru the hole and there was no LB or Safety on the back end.. our RBS have gone down so easy at times. Our big run was the RB making a play in the hole and taking off, but also it was well blocked so that there wasnt anyone else around to make the play at the 2nd level.

 

[Orangtiz]

I really hope the defense puts that one awful quarter in a coffin.

UConn is the 2nd worst team on our schedule by far. This has to be a 4+ TD win.

I got us covering

 

[SWC75]

Our offense has scored 17 touchdowns in three games. Six have been from 20+ yards but the longest was 28 yards, (Nykiem Johnson vs. Wagner). Two of them have been from 10-19 yards and 9 within 10 yards. We are grinding it out- something the better teams we will play after this might not let us do. We need to get some explosive plays going. If we can't do it vs. UCONN, we never will.

 

[tbonezone]

-1.3 in turnovers. keep winning that battle and good things happen.

 

[Chip]

Our offense has scored 17 touchdowns in three games. Six have been from 20+ yards but the longest was 28 yards, (Nykiem Johnson vs. Wagner). Two of them have been from 10-19 yards and 9 within 10 yards. We are grinding it out- something the better teams we will play after this might not let us do. We need to get some explosive plays going. If we can't do it vs. UCONN, we never will.

Never?

Custis dropped a pass, and Howard decided to protect the ball at the end, slowing himself up. Custis made a great catch and was out at the 1.

Guys like Taj Harris are still getting acclimated and will be worked in more.

We'll have explosive plays, even if they're not tomorrow.

 

[SWC75]

-1.3 in turnovers. keep winning that battle and good things happen.

2017: 456.3 yards per game -12 turnovers 27.4 points per game

2018: 485.7 yards per game +4 turnovers 49.0 points per game.

Our offense hasn't grown all that more productive but due to the kicking game and the defense, they don't have nearly as far to go so those yards mean more.

 

[upperdeck]

would love to get 55 so that we are over 50 going to clemson, not that it means anything.

 

[GoCuse14]

would love to get 55 so that we are over 50 going to clemson, not that it means anything.

It MIGHT mean something though. I haven't looked at the full schedule of games for next week, but what happens if Syracuse is 4-0 (trying not to get ahead of myself...gotta win this week) rolling into Death Valley having just put up over 50 points. The same Syracuse team that upset the #2 Clemson team last year. Game Day? We havent had a real strong schedule, I get that. But if we score a crap ton and beat UCONN by more than 40...I think its possible

 

[#FRANchise]

It MIGHT mean something though. I haven't looked at the full schedule of games for next week, but what happens if Syracuse is 4-0 (trying not to get ahead of myself...gotta win this week) rolling into Death Valley having just put up over 50 points. The same Syracuse team that upset the #2 Clemson team last year. Game Day? We havent had a real strong schedule, I get that. But if we score a crap ton and beat UCONN by more than 40...I think its possible

Ohio State - Penn State will be Game Day that weekend

 

[GoCuse14]

Ohio State - Penn State will be Game Day that weekend

Yep..good call.

 

[Ish88888]

The problem is too many on this board keep bringing it up. That's half the battle.

It's ok, none of us are suiting up tomorrow...at least, I don't think so

 

[SmilinBob]

It's ok, none of us are suiting up tomorrow...at least, I don't think so

That is very true Ish but that said, I'd assume the players look at the interwebs/paper and read what people are saying and after reading it's going to be "an easy game" and many times at that. I don't expect this game to be close but it is a physical game and UConn Super Bowl and players have to bring the intensity and not play to not get hurt right out of the box. Anyone that has played a game like this knows what I'm talking about and it does look like SU can finally win on just pure talent (ie, just show up so to speak) vs UConn and I'm curious to see if SU plays their B or even C game and how they do.

There are a lot of young players on this team but to their and the staffs credit they seem to be hungry to move to the next level and want to improve when they play weaker teams, tweek their game and get ready for the rest of the ACC season which will be a battle from here on. It also helps having talented backups that are hungry to play, helps add a little motivation to the starters to do their jobs.

Wait, now that I think about we fans are suiting up...in Orange!

 

[RMH44]

2017: 456.3 yards per game -12 turnovers 27.4 points per game

2018: 485.7 yards per game +4 turnovers 49.0 points per game.

Our offense hasn't grown all that more productive but due to the kicking game and the defense, they don't have nearly as far to go so those yards mean more.

Agreed, thanks to the defense and special teams, the offense has been working mostly on short fields. IMO, the offense's efficiency has vastly improved which leads to better red zone numbers and higher scoring averages.

 

[TheCusian]

Agreed, thanks to the defense and special teams, the offense has been working mostly on short fields. IMO, the offense's efficiency has vastly improved which leads to better red zone numbers and higher scoring averages.

Our effeciency on O isn’t that much better than last year with Eric. And our red zone scoring % is similar or worse than last year. I haven’t checked - but I think field position has given us more red zone opportunities, which has led to more scoring.

There’s more meat on the bone. And the good news is, I don’t see why it can’t get better.

(For example - I think Babers was trying to prove a point by running so much vs FSU in the red zone last week)

 

[SmilinBob]

SU's D has been quite effective vs the first possession of the game forcing the opponent to punt from less than the 30 yard line thus starting the field position battle in a positive way. The opponent punts to the SU 30 to 35 and it begins and SU needs just 1 first down to pin them...sometimes no first down but due to Hoff he kicks them back to the 15.

Not being a fan of the jumbo backfield and seeing plays go to the 10 or 5 due to being tackled from behind, I see this as a problem in the future unless this Jumbo package produces TD's at a better rate because the DL's, LB's and DB's are all going to be faster and stronger after this UConn game. I agree Chip that SU will be doing this, scoring from +30 yards, but until they do we better hope this Jumbo package starts to click or we are going to be failing at a short 4th and goal or kicking field goals from the 3 to 5 which can and will come back to bite SU in the butt in a close game.