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[QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1968135, member: 289"]
This season I will once again be charting Syracuse’s games in terms of “winning plays”. I look at the results of each play and decide which team got the minimum they wanted out of the play. Rather than making instinctive judgments, I use a formula:

-          On first down, the offensive team wants to get at least a third of the way to a new first down: they will have two more games before they might have to surrender the ball and if they gain that same amount of yards on each of those two plays, they’ll get the first down. If they don’t make it a third of the way to a new first down, the defense won the play.
-          On second down, the offense wants to get halfway to a new first down by the same logic.
-          On third and fourth down, they want to get the new first down.
-          Penalties, if added onto a play by the referees, are added on to the results above. If the offense gains 5 yards on first down but there was holding and they lost yardage instead, the defense won the play. If a running back made a 20 yard run on first and ten and the holding was 15 yards downfield, turning it into a 5 yard gain, that’s still a win for the offense. If the defense is penalized and it’s tacked on, again the net result is what is evaluated.
-           If a penalty was not tacked onto a play, it’s a lost play for the team being penalized. I'll count them separate from the other plays from scrimmage because I don't know if the intended play before the penalty would have been a run or a pass - so i wouldn't know where to put it in the chart below.
-          A turnover is, obviously, a win for the team that wound up with the ball.
-          On a kick-off a touchback brings the ball out to the 25 yard line. Teams still seem to be trying to kick the ball into the end zone and avoid a runback if they can, so any kick-off that results in the receiving team starting between their goal line and their 25 is a win for the kicking team.
-          On a punt, a touchback takes the ball out of the 20. So any punt that results in the other team taking over from their goal line to their 20 is a win for the punting team. If the next change in field position is at least 40 yards, the punting tam has also won the play.
-          A successful place kick is, obviously a win for the kicking team.
-          Any play that results in a touchdown is, obviously, a win for that team that scores it.
-          A “victory play” where a team accepts a loss just to let the clock run out, is a win for the offensive team.

I will indicate in parenthesis how many yards there were to go to get a new first down, (if other than 10), unless it was for no gain or negative yardage. If it was a touchdown, (“TD)” a sack (“S”) a victory play (“V”) or involved a penalty (P). I’m undecided about whether to count a scramble as a running play or passing play. For now, I’ll count it as a running play and put an ‘S’ next to it in case I change my mind. Thus an S in running plays is a scramble, an S in passing plays a sack.  1R means first down running plays. 1P means first down passing plays, etc.

When SYRACUSE had the ball:

KO:                FS 25, SU 45 (onsides failed)
Total:            Syracuse 1 Florida State 1
P:                  24 to FS 44 (partially blocked), 35 to FS 25, 62 to FS 17, 35 to FS 8, 43 to FS 10, 50 to FS 26, 53 to FS 7, 58 to FS 22 (fumbled to SU), 60 to FS 10
Total:            Syracuse 7 Florida State 2
FG:                No attempts
Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 0
XP:                Good, Good
Total:            Syracuse 2 Florida State 0
Kicking plays total:            Syracuse 10 Florida State 3

1r:                  2, 3, 0, 7, 2(13), 2, 3, 5, -2, 1, 2, 6                
Total:            Syracuse 3 Florida State 9
1p:                4, I, I, I, 7, 13(5), 4, I, I, 4, I, 5, 3, I, I
Total:            Syracuse 6 Florida State 9
First Down Total:            Syracuse 9 Florida State 18
2r:                 3(6), 2(7), 2, 0, 7(11), 1(6), 1, 6, 0, 7(5), 2
Total:            Syracuse 4 Florida State 11
2p:                 I, 29, I, I, -4(S), 7(3), Interception, 46TD, 7(6), I, I, -6(S), I, 5
Total:            Syracuse 5 Florida State 9
Second Down Total:            Syracuse 9 Florida State 20
3r:                 0
Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 1
3p:                 12(8), I, -4(S), -2(S), I, -5(S), Interception, -3(S), 16(9), I, 17TD, 8(7), 12(23), I
Total:            Syracuse 4 Florida State 9
Third Down Total:            Syracuse 4 Florida State 10
4r:                 0                                                                               
Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 1
4p:                -2(S)
Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 1
Fourth Down Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 2

Total on running plays:            Syracuse 7 Florida State 22
Total on passing plays:            Syracuse 15 Florida State 28
Total on plays from scrimmage:            Syracuse 22 Florida State 50

Penalties not tacked on to plays: -5, +5, +5, -5, -5, -5, -5, +15, +10, -15           Syracuse 4 Florida State 6

Game total when SYRACUSE  had the ball:            Syracuse 36 Florida State 59

Comments:  Our third down passes are interesting to look at. We lost 14 yards and threw a pick in 7 consecutive plays, then gained 53 yards and scored a TD on the next 5. Our running game is hard to look at no matter how many different ways you try.

One area where we were as good or better than the Noles was in the kicking game, with Sterling Hofrichter’s booming punts and Brisley Estime’s explosive kick returning. We gained an average of 47 net yards per punt. They gained an average of 17. We may not like punting but we are very good at it. Of course matt Park said that if you’re talking about the punting, it means you probably lost.

When FLORIDA STATE had the ball:

KO:                SU 16, SU 25, SU 28, SU 25, SU 17, SU 36, SU 25
Total:            Syracuse 2 Florida State 5
P:                   6 to FS 39, 12 to FS 50, 33 to FS 42
Total:            Syracuse 3 Florida State 0
FG:                No Good from 54, Good from 42
Total:            Syracuse 1 Florida State 1
XP:                Good, Good, Good, Good, Good, Good                 
Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State  6
Kicking plays total:            Syracuse 6 Florida State 12

1r:                  21, 41, -1, 6, 2, Interception, 14, 6, 2, 25TD, 18, Fumble, 11, 9, 10, 5, 1, 17TD, -8(P), -1, 4, 9, Fumble, 2, 14, 6, -4, 5(16), 9
Total:            Syracuse 11 Florida State 18
1p:                14, I, 15, I, I, 18, I, I, -5(S), 39, 28, 14, 5, I
Total:            Syracuse 7 Florida State 7
First Down Total:           Syracuse 18 Florida State 25
2r:                 5, 4, 0, 0, 11(15), 11TD, 11(4), 8TD, 9(1), 15(5), 4(4), 2, 7
Total:            Syracuse 3 Florida State 10
2p:                15TD, 12(10), 16(8), 12(8), -2(S), I, 16(5), 28(19-P), 7(8), 3(14)
Total:            Syracuse 3 Florida State 7
Second Down Total:            Syracuse 6 Florida State 17
3r:                 3(1)
Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 1
3p:                 16TD, I, I, 21(4), 28(12), I, 10(4), I
Total:            Syracuse 4 Florida State 4
Third Down Total:            Syracuse 4 Florida State 5
4r:                  None
Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 0
4p:                 None
Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 0
Fourth Down Total:            Syracuse 0 Florida State 0

Total on running plays:           Syracuse 14 Florida State 29
Total on passing plays:            Syracuse 14 Florida State 18
Total on plays from scrimmage:            Syracuse 28 Florida State 47

Penalties not tacked on to plays:  +5, +5, -5          Syracuse 1 Florida State 2

Game total when FLORIDA STATE  had the ball:            Syracuse 35 Florida State 61

Overall game total:            Syracuse 71 Florida State 120

Comments: First down plays for State were wild. Fifteen of them went for 10+ yards. Seven of those were the first play of a possession. Two went for scores. But they also lost yardage five times, (once due to a holding penalty) and turned the ball over three times.  Their third down passes had a similar result: we stopped them 4 times in 8 plays but gave up 75 yards on the other four plays. To quote Coach Babers, we were occasionally great, not consistently good.
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