SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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- Remember when Doug Marrone’s first team frittered away a game we should have won at Louisville, falling by a point, 9-10? Both teams were 4-8 that year, 2009. The next year we were 8-5 and they were 7-6. Then we went 5-7 while they went 7-6. Then we were 8-5 again but they were 11-2. Last year we were 7-6 but they were 12-1. There’s more gas in the tank at Louisville when they press the accelerator than there is in Syracuse. This school is going to be about the level of Clemson in our league, dreaming of upsetting Florida State, not just for an upset but so they can win the title. They recruit better players than we do, (Coach Shafer said they have more players from Florida than any other school outside of Florida and they are in SEC territory and not far from the recruiting grounds of Ohio and Pennsylvania. They are going to be better than we are, even when they are rebuilding. They lost Charlie Strong, but get back Bobby Petrino, who first built them into a powerhouse a decade ago.
- Shafe described their ‘skill’ positon players as “exceptional, not average”. That’s really what differentiates us from the really good team. They have big-time playmakers and we don’t. Their fourth string running back ran for 129 yards and two scores vs. Wake. We can play well by normal standards but lose because of 70+ yard plays we can’t duplicate.
- But Louisville’s strength isn’t offense. It’s defense. They are 14th in the country in scoring defense, (they were 12th last year. So don’t expect a lot of scoring form the SU offense-again. We night not even get the yards this time- the Cards are #3 in Total defense at 225 yards per game. Theya re #1 on the ground with 58 yards per game. Charlie Strong was a defense coach and he recruited for defense. And those guys are back- in force. Our offense, all yards and no points vs. their defense that doesn't allow even the yards is the Resistible Force vs. the Immovable Object.
- We are limited to trying to put together 10-12 play drives and don’t have the discipline to avoid false starts and we can’t pass well enough to covert third downs. That’s’ why we gain lots of yards but don’t score. It’s monopoly money and you can’t pay the rent with that.
- We might be able to think of and upset if we were full strength but we aren’t. We won’t either Ashton Broyld or Brisley Estime. We also won’t have Ivan Foy or Wayne Morgan. Other guys are banged up.
- Our coaches insist that their game plan, which has a run and throw deep team trying to play like they were Oregon and Baylor, isn’t the problem. The mind-set of the players is. They need to find their “Shatori” and “get in the flow”. Right…
- We’ve beaten an FCS team in a game we should have lost, crushed a crippled MAC team and lost games to Maryland and Notre Dame that were decided early. We haven’t done anything. Why do we think we’re going to do something big now?
- Shafe described their ‘skill’ positon players as “exceptional, not average”. That’s really what differentiates us from the really good team. They have big-time playmakers and we don’t. Their fourth string running back ran for 129 yards and two scores vs. Wake. We can play well by normal standards but lose because of 70+ yard plays we can’t duplicate.
- But Louisville’s strength isn’t offense. It’s defense. They are 14th in the country in scoring defense, (they were 12th last year. So don’t expect a lot of scoring form the SU offense-again. We night not even get the yards this time- the Cards are #3 in Total defense at 225 yards per game. Theya re #1 on the ground with 58 yards per game. Charlie Strong was a defense coach and he recruited for defense. And those guys are back- in force. Our offense, all yards and no points vs. their defense that doesn't allow even the yards is the Resistible Force vs. the Immovable Object.
- We are limited to trying to put together 10-12 play drives and don’t have the discipline to avoid false starts and we can’t pass well enough to covert third downs. That’s’ why we gain lots of yards but don’t score. It’s monopoly money and you can’t pay the rent with that.
- We might be able to think of and upset if we were full strength but we aren’t. We won’t either Ashton Broyld or Brisley Estime. We also won’t have Ivan Foy or Wayne Morgan. Other guys are banged up.
- Our coaches insist that their game plan, which has a run and throw deep team trying to play like they were Oregon and Baylor, isn’t the problem. The mind-set of the players is. They need to find their “Shatori” and “get in the flow”. Right…
- We’ve beaten an FCS team in a game we should have lost, crushed a crippled MAC team and lost games to Maryland and Notre Dame that were decided early. We haven’t done anything. Why do we think we’re going to do something big now?
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