SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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- This Syracuse team appeared to be on the verge of great things with the 3-0 start and after slugging it out with a top ten team with our fifth string quarterback on the field. These last two games have made it clear that the great things aren’t going to happen this year. We are now 3-3 and, arguably, every team we will play the rest of the season will be better than either of these last two teams we have lost to. We are staring another 3-9 season right in the eyeballs. And if that happens, we will be starting over again- once again.
- This series has featured alternate periods of dominance- total dominance- for decades. It resumed after a long hiatus in 1955 and for the first 9 years is was close at 4 wins for SU, 5 for Pitt. But then Syracuse had a 7-2 featuring scores like 51-13, 33-7, 50-17 and 43-13. Then Pitt won 11 in a row from 1973-83. The Orange completely turned that around with a 17-1 stretch from 1984-2001. Pitt has responded with a 2-11 stretch since then. They are still in that stretch.
- The reason for these streaks is that the programs recruit the same players. Whoever has the upper hand in recruiting those players will have the upper hand on the field. The semi-comical events with Pitt’s coaching staff in recent years .. They’ve actually had 8 different head coaches since 2010, between guys who left, guys who were fired, (one of whom never coached a game) and interim coaches. This should have a glorious opportunity for Syracuse to turn the series back around in our favor. We haven’t done it.
- Coach Shafer said last week that he preferred to get Eric Dungey’s carries in single digits. That was after he had 17 carries vs. USF. He had even more vs. Virginia, 18. In those two games, Jordan Fredericks got 16 “touches”, Erv Phillips 17, Steve Ismael 9 and Brisley Estime 5. Dungey got 35. He’s a talented guy and that leap made the Sports Center top ten. But if you made a list of these guys in order of who you’d like to see wind up with the ball, wouldn’t Dungey be last? A quarterback is a conduit for the ball from the center to the real playmakers- the guys who will gain the yardage and score the touchdowns. As I said Last week, Dungey is like a scoring point guard on a team full of shooters. This offense won’t reach its full potential until Fredericks, Phillips, Estime and ismael are the guys who wind up with the ball.
- One preview I read said : “Senior Julian Whigham will likely be covering (Tyler) Boyd in this game. If he can keep Boyd from splash plays then Cuse has a chance.“ No comment and none needed-except that Boyd has been described as the Leonard Fournette of receivers.
- They lost James Connor, a 250 pound monster who had a monster year last year with 1,765 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns. But Qadree Ollison has the same average per carry as he does: 5.9. That means that they have great depth at that positon- or that their line is so dominant it will make a star of anyone. Or both.
- While our defense has been a sinking ship, Pitt is 17th in the nation in total defense. One preview said “Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has started to shore up some of their early season woes. They are especially stingy late in games.” That’s the opposite of what we’ve done. One of the differences in the teams is that they got their big-time defensive backfield recruit, Jordan Whitehead, and we didn’t get ours, Marquise Blair, and Whitehead has gone on to be probably their best defensive player.
- Their kicker, who has the wonderful name of Chris Blewitt, just kicked a 56 yarder to win a game. Does anybody have any confidence in Cole Murphy at this point?
- Both teams have played almost nothing but close games. They both know how to compete. The difference is that Pitt has learned how to win and we haven’t.
- This series has featured alternate periods of dominance- total dominance- for decades. It resumed after a long hiatus in 1955 and for the first 9 years is was close at 4 wins for SU, 5 for Pitt. But then Syracuse had a 7-2 featuring scores like 51-13, 33-7, 50-17 and 43-13. Then Pitt won 11 in a row from 1973-83. The Orange completely turned that around with a 17-1 stretch from 1984-2001. Pitt has responded with a 2-11 stretch since then. They are still in that stretch.
- The reason for these streaks is that the programs recruit the same players. Whoever has the upper hand in recruiting those players will have the upper hand on the field. The semi-comical events with Pitt’s coaching staff in recent years .. They’ve actually had 8 different head coaches since 2010, between guys who left, guys who were fired, (one of whom never coached a game) and interim coaches. This should have a glorious opportunity for Syracuse to turn the series back around in our favor. We haven’t done it.
- Coach Shafer said last week that he preferred to get Eric Dungey’s carries in single digits. That was after he had 17 carries vs. USF. He had even more vs. Virginia, 18. In those two games, Jordan Fredericks got 16 “touches”, Erv Phillips 17, Steve Ismael 9 and Brisley Estime 5. Dungey got 35. He’s a talented guy and that leap made the Sports Center top ten. But if you made a list of these guys in order of who you’d like to see wind up with the ball, wouldn’t Dungey be last? A quarterback is a conduit for the ball from the center to the real playmakers- the guys who will gain the yardage and score the touchdowns. As I said Last week, Dungey is like a scoring point guard on a team full of shooters. This offense won’t reach its full potential until Fredericks, Phillips, Estime and ismael are the guys who wind up with the ball.
- One preview I read said : “Senior Julian Whigham will likely be covering (Tyler) Boyd in this game. If he can keep Boyd from splash plays then Cuse has a chance.“ No comment and none needed-except that Boyd has been described as the Leonard Fournette of receivers.
- They lost James Connor, a 250 pound monster who had a monster year last year with 1,765 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns. But Qadree Ollison has the same average per carry as he does: 5.9. That means that they have great depth at that positon- or that their line is so dominant it will make a star of anyone. Or both.
- While our defense has been a sinking ship, Pitt is 17th in the nation in total defense. One preview said “Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has started to shore up some of their early season woes. They are especially stingy late in games.” That’s the opposite of what we’ve done. One of the differences in the teams is that they got their big-time defensive backfield recruit, Jordan Whitehead, and we didn’t get ours, Marquise Blair, and Whitehead has gone on to be probably their best defensive player.
- Their kicker, who has the wonderful name of Chris Blewitt, just kicked a 56 yarder to win a game. Does anybody have any confidence in Cole Murphy at this point?
- Both teams have played almost nothing but close games. They both know how to compete. The difference is that Pitt has learned how to win and we haven’t.
