Why Syracuse might win | Syracusefan.com

Why Syracuse might win

SWC75

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- Because we hang in there, even when the going gets tough. Even in the one game that was uncompetitive on the scoreboard, the Pitt game, we had the ball for 42 minutes, out-gained the Panthers by 100 yards, had 10 more first downs and won the second half. We’ve won our two overtime games. We won the only game in which Kyle McCord hasn’t thrown for 300 yards. We keep coming.

- Cal has some great defensive stats but have they come up with a quarterback who will be in the NFL next year and can throw to a variety of receivers, some of whom will, too? Well, yes they have. Against Miami, Cam Ward passed for 437 yards and 2 scores with 1 pick and the Canes erased a 25 point deficit to win 39-38.

- If Cal’s line is worse than ours, we ought to be able to put some serious pressure on their backfield and force some turnovers of our own.

- Maybe we can finally ‘pop’ a kick return, as Coach Brown said he hoped we can do on his show this week.

- Cal commits even more penalties than we do. Their radio color man said on local radio here that shooting themselves in the foot has been a problem for the Bears. You’re supposed to watch out for a wounded bear but does it count if they wounded themselves?

6-3 and 3+ to go!

LET’S GO ORANGE!


Stats that favor Syracuse (16):
SCORING OFFENSE SU- 31.67 CA – 28.67
OFFENSIVE FIRST DOWNS SU- 25.89 CA – 21.78
TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS SU- 442.80 CA – 397.60
OFFENSIVE PASSING YARDS SU- 353.78 CA – 279.22
OFFENSIVE 3RD AND 4TH DOWN PERCENTAGE SU- 51.53 CA – 36.49
OFFENSIVE RED ZONE POINTS (extra points assumed) SU- 221/42 = 5.26 CA – 186/40 = 4.65
SACKS ALLOWED SU- 22 CA – 30
TACKLES FOR A LOSS ALLOWED SU- 50 CA - 69
DEFENSIVE PASSING YARDS SU- 198.89 CA – 227.44
DEFENSIVE 3RD AND 4TH DOWN PERCENTAGE SU- 34.86 CA – 38.06
KICKOFFS THAT WERE RETURNED SU- 8/52 = 15.38% CA - 12/54 = 22.22%
OPPONENT KICKOFFS THAT WERE RETURNED SU- 14/49 = 28.57% CA – 8/36 = 22.22%
PUNT RETURNS SU- 9.08 CA – 4.54
PUNTS RETURNED SU- 11/27 = 40.74% CA - 13/40 = 32.50%
PENALTIES SU- 7.56/64.11 CA – 8.33/67.89
TIME OF POSSESSION SU- 33.16 CA – 28.39

We gain more yards, get more first downs and score more points. Both teams are good passing teams but we still pass for 74 more yards. Even in the Pitt game, McCord passed for 321 yards. We are much better on 3rd and 4th down, (but weren’t last week vs. BC), and are better in the red zone. This allows us to dominate time of possession. We complain about our offensive line but Cal’s seems to be worse from the sacks and TFLs. We’ve given up fewer yard passing, despite the greatness of their secondary. We’re a little better at getting off the field when the opposition has a 3rd and 4th down. We return more kickoffs and punts. And, amazingly, they commit more penalties than we do.


Stats that were (relatively) even ():
OFFENSIVE PASSING YARDS PER COMPLETION SU- 11.49 CA – 11.32
DEFENSIVE FIRST DOWNS SU- 19.00 CA – 18.44
DEFENSIVE PASSING YARDS PER COMPLETION SU- 11.05 CA – 11.63
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE SU- #63 CA - #61
(Everybody has their own system for this: I used this page as a source: NCAA College Football Strength of Schedule Rankings & Ratings
 
I really hope the O-line gets it together, as well as the defense.. McCord needs to get time to throw the ball, and the hurry up is a Babers era that most are use to, but not able to address. I know there on concerns on all but from PITT, and successive games, and we know all can be exploited. We just can't tackle or block on either side, and it is an issue for offense as well as defense.
 
I really hope the O-line gets it together, as well as the defense.. McCord needs to get time to throw the ball, and the hurry up is a Babers era that most are use to, but not able to address. I know there on concerns on all but from PITT, and successive games, and we know all can be exploited. We just can't tackle or block on either side, and it is an issue for offense as well as defense.
Chris Carlson said on Axe’s program that Cal’s defensive line wasn’t anything special (paraphrasing here) and that might give us some opportunities on offense.
 
As I stated in another post. If we bring our A game, we win, and if we don’t, we lose.

in the last 3 games, we brought our A game for the second half of Virginia Tech, and that is it. If we could do that for even 3 quarters, we will win.

Are we overdue for a good game? Or will our defensive line issues be too much to overcome?
 

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