SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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Why SYRACUSE will win
- I’m sorry Demon Deacon fans, but Syracuse is not Wake Forest. We are the 20th winningest FBS team of all time. Wake is #108. Before injuries wiped out last season we’d won three bowl game sin four years. Wake hasn’t been in a bowl game since 2008, the last time they had a winning record. We lost to them in 2006 but have beaten them three times in a row since, including a combined 43-7 over the least two years. We had one bad year because 18 of our 22 original starters missed games and the “experts” think we’re turned into Wake Forest. The experts are about to find out how wrong they are.
- Remember how bad our offense was last year? We averaged 146 yards rushing, 184 passing and 17 points per game, ranking 90th, 103rd and 118 of 125 teams. Wake averaged 40 yards rushing- 40!-, 176 passing and 15 points. The rankings were 124-107-124. Their total offense was 216 yards per game, (vs. 330 for Syracuse). That was obviously 125th. It was also “the worst offensive performance the FBS has seen in a decade”, per ESPN. They averaged 1.3 yards per rushing play- 1.3! But of course, that included 48 sacks- the most in the country. The opener against Elon wasn’t as much better as you’d think. Other than Wolford’s 70 yard run, they averaged 3.2 yards per carry and he was sacked 3 times - by Elon. Imagine how many times a Scott Shafer/Chuck Bullough defense will get to him.
- Remember what getting sacked 54 times in 2007 did to Andrew Robinson? I know Wolford had a big game vs. Elon but they say that every punch a boxer receives has an effect, even when he wins the fight. It stays with him. Those sacks on Wolford will add up if they are not stopped. And I hate to mention this because, believe me, it’s not something I’d ever root for, but there’s a strange history in our games of Wake Forest quarterbacks going down and with all those sacks, one wonders if the quarterback situation might even up before the game is over. Not a good thought but we’re looking into what could happen here, so I’m reporting it.
- I think Jordan Fredericks is the real deal and will poke holes in a lot of team’s defenses this year. But I note the previously disappointing George Morris averaged 5.9 yards per carry with Fredericks breathing down his neck. DeVante McFarlane must feel the same heat now that he’s trying to hold onto his #1 running back positon. Nothing but good can come of this for Syracuse. Three talented backs running hard on every play. I’d love to see two of them in there at once but we have a similarly crowded situation with the H-backs, which is also good news.
- Which means we will see less of whirling dervish Jacob Hill in the backfield. But we didn’t get much of a chance to return kick-offs in that game and we’ll see plenty of Hill there. With a healthy Salt Badger, (Brisley Estime) joining him on kickoffs, I think dramatic kick returns like the punt Brisley took back on the last play of the half will become an important part of our offense, not a once-a-decade thing as it has been for years here.
- I think our defense is going to surprise some people this year. Despite the loss of 8 starters and a couple of other players they expected to have, they looked very quick and aggressive in this game. Yes, they were playing Rhode Island but the distance between two points looked awfully short when SU was on defense last Friday.
- I think the emotion generated by the Coach Mac tribute and the all-orange uniforms after two years of a civil war between blue and gray, (and white) will carry us thought this one. The loud house will be LOUD.
- Gut feeling: We win and the game won’t be as close as people think. The virtues we saw in our team against Rhode Island weren’t just because we were playing Rhode Island.
1-0 with 11 or 12 to go…..
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
- I’m sorry Demon Deacon fans, but Syracuse is not Wake Forest. We are the 20th winningest FBS team of all time. Wake is #108. Before injuries wiped out last season we’d won three bowl game sin four years. Wake hasn’t been in a bowl game since 2008, the last time they had a winning record. We lost to them in 2006 but have beaten them three times in a row since, including a combined 43-7 over the least two years. We had one bad year because 18 of our 22 original starters missed games and the “experts” think we’re turned into Wake Forest. The experts are about to find out how wrong they are.
- Remember how bad our offense was last year? We averaged 146 yards rushing, 184 passing and 17 points per game, ranking 90th, 103rd and 118 of 125 teams. Wake averaged 40 yards rushing- 40!-, 176 passing and 15 points. The rankings were 124-107-124. Their total offense was 216 yards per game, (vs. 330 for Syracuse). That was obviously 125th. It was also “the worst offensive performance the FBS has seen in a decade”, per ESPN. They averaged 1.3 yards per rushing play- 1.3! But of course, that included 48 sacks- the most in the country. The opener against Elon wasn’t as much better as you’d think. Other than Wolford’s 70 yard run, they averaged 3.2 yards per carry and he was sacked 3 times - by Elon. Imagine how many times a Scott Shafer/Chuck Bullough defense will get to him.
- Remember what getting sacked 54 times in 2007 did to Andrew Robinson? I know Wolford had a big game vs. Elon but they say that every punch a boxer receives has an effect, even when he wins the fight. It stays with him. Those sacks on Wolford will add up if they are not stopped. And I hate to mention this because, believe me, it’s not something I’d ever root for, but there’s a strange history in our games of Wake Forest quarterbacks going down and with all those sacks, one wonders if the quarterback situation might even up before the game is over. Not a good thought but we’re looking into what could happen here, so I’m reporting it.
- I think Jordan Fredericks is the real deal and will poke holes in a lot of team’s defenses this year. But I note the previously disappointing George Morris averaged 5.9 yards per carry with Fredericks breathing down his neck. DeVante McFarlane must feel the same heat now that he’s trying to hold onto his #1 running back positon. Nothing but good can come of this for Syracuse. Three talented backs running hard on every play. I’d love to see two of them in there at once but we have a similarly crowded situation with the H-backs, which is also good news.
- Which means we will see less of whirling dervish Jacob Hill in the backfield. But we didn’t get much of a chance to return kick-offs in that game and we’ll see plenty of Hill there. With a healthy Salt Badger, (Brisley Estime) joining him on kickoffs, I think dramatic kick returns like the punt Brisley took back on the last play of the half will become an important part of our offense, not a once-a-decade thing as it has been for years here.
- I think our defense is going to surprise some people this year. Despite the loss of 8 starters and a couple of other players they expected to have, they looked very quick and aggressive in this game. Yes, they were playing Rhode Island but the distance between two points looked awfully short when SU was on defense last Friday.
- I think the emotion generated by the Coach Mac tribute and the all-orange uniforms after two years of a civil war between blue and gray, (and white) will carry us thought this one. The loud house will be LOUD.
- Gut feeling: We win and the game won’t be as close as people think. The virtues we saw in our team against Rhode Island weren’t just because we were playing Rhode Island.
1-0 with 11 or 12 to go…..
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
