Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 4024412, 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 plays 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 at least halfway to a new first down by the same logic. - On third and fourth down, they want to get the 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. The penalties I’ve listed negated the play entirely and are a “loss” for the penalized team and thus a win for their opponent. . - 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. Beyond that, the receiving team wins. - 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 scramble/sack (“S”) a victory play (“V”) or involved a penalty (P). I’ll treat a scramble or a sack as a passing play as the Cuse.com play by play now tells you when it’s either of those two. 1R means first down running plays. 1P means first down passing plays, etc. When Syracuse had the ball: Drive Starts: SU 25, SU 25, SU 20, SU 2, SU 25, SU 25, SU 12, SU 25, SU 34, SU 25, VT 45, SU 30 Average: 303/12 = SU 25 with 897 yards to go, (7 more than Virginia Tech in one less possession). KO: VR 25, VT 25, VT 30, VT 25, VT 29, VT 13 Total: Syracuse 4 Virginia Tech 2 P: 40 to VR 30, 29 to VT 43, 33 to SU 46, 9 to SU 40, 40 to VT 25, 42 to VT 31 Total: Syracuse 3 Virginia Tech 3 FG: Good, Blocked and returned for -2 points, Good, Good, Good Total: Syracuse 4 Virginia Tech 1 XP: No Good from 19 Total: Syracuse Virginia Tech Kicking plays total: Syracuse 0 Virginia Tech 1 1r: 2, 6, 2, 7, -1, 2(11), 9TD, 23, 3, 0, 5, 1, 3, 0, 5, 3TD, 0, 12, 2(9) Total: Syracuse 8 Virginia Tech 11 1p: 7, 1(15), 9, 18, 12, I, I, 17, I, I, -3(s), 9, I, 13, 45TD Total: Syracuse 8 Virginia Tech 7 First Down Total: Syracuse 16 Virginia Tech 18 2r: 7(8), 20(4), 2(3), 21, 4(7), 17, 21TD, 6, 11, 8, -1 Total: Syracuse 10 Virginia Tech 1 2p: 3(8), I, 10(9), 38(3), I, I, I, I, 17, 8(5), I, I, I Total: Syracuse 4 Virginia Tech 9 Second Down Total: Syracuse 14 Virginia Tech 10 3r: 3(1), 495), 9(11), 491), 8(3), 21913), 15(1), 6 Total: Syracuse 6 Virginia Tech 2 3p: I, 24(14), I, I, 10(12), I, I, 12(12) Total: Syracuse 2 Virginia Tech 6 Third Down Total: Syracuse 8 Virginia Tech 8 4r: 28TD. 2(2), 6(4) Total: Syracuse 3 Virginia Tech 0 4p: 9(2) Total: Syracuse 1 Virginia Tech 0 Fourth Down Total: Syracuse 4 Virginia Tech 0 Total on running plays: Syracuse 27 Virginia Tech 14 Total on passing plays: Syracuse 15 Virginia Tech 22 Total on plays from scrimmage: Syracuse 42 Virginia Tech 36 Penalties not tacked on to plays: -4, -1, -5, -5, -5 Syracuse 0 Virginia Tech 5 Game total when Syracuse had the ball: Syracuse 53 Virginia Tech 48 When Virginia Tech had the ball: Drive Starts: VT 25, VT 25, VT 30, VT 43, VT 30, VT 20, VT 25, SU 46, SU 40, VT 25, VT 31, VT 29, VT 13 = Average 410/13 = VT 32 with 890 yards to go, 7 less than Syracuse (in one more possession) KO: SU 25, SU 25, SU 25, SU 25, SU 25, VT 45 Total: Syracuse 1 Virginia Tech 5 P: 35 to SU 20, 57 to SU 2, 49 to SU 12, 32 to SU 30 Total: Syracuse 2 Virginia Tech 2 FG: Good from 48, Good from 33 Total: Syracuse 0 Virginia Tech 2 XP: Good, Good, Good, Good, Good Total: Syracuse 0 Virginia Tech 7 Kicking plays total: Syracuse 3 Virginia Tech 14 1r: 8, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 3, 12, 4(8), 2, 3, 38, -3v, 26, 1, 5(7), 2, 10, 45, 2, 8, 2 Total: Syracuse 11 Virginia Tech 11 1p: 30, 30, I, I, I, I, 16, 29, I Total: Syracuse 5 Virginia Tech 4 First Down Total: Syracuse 16 Virginia Tech 15 2r: 5(2), 1, 10(8), 1(5), 6(7), 4TD, -7, 3(7), 2, 1299), 2TD, 5, 1(2), 1(8) Total: Syracuse 8 Virginia Tech 6 2p: 1(9), 22TD, 19(15), I, I, 11(8) Total: Syracuse 3 Virginia Tech 3 Second Down Total: Syracuse 11 Virginia Tech 9 3r: 12(8), 7(4), 3(1), 4(8), 1(5), 47TD Total: Syracuse 4 Virginia Tech 2 3p: 11(10), -10(s), -8(s), I, I, -10(s) Total: Syracuse 1 Virginia Tech 5 Third Down Total: Syracuse 5 Virginia Tech 7 4r: none Total: Syracuse 0 Virginia Tech 0 4p: I Total: Syracuse 1 Virginia Tech 0 Fourth Down Total: Syracuse 1 Virginia Tech 0 Total on running plays: Syracuse 23 Virginia Tech 19 Total on passing plays: Syracuse 10 Virginia Tech 12 Total on plays from scrimmage: Syracuse 33 Virginia Tech 31 Penalties not tacked on to plays: -5, +10 Syracuse 1 Virginia Tech 1 Game total when Virginia Tech had the ball: Syracuse 37 Virginia Tech 46 Overall Game total: Syracuse 90 Virginia Tech 94 Comments: Our second-down runs were amazing: we won the first 10 in a row and gained a total of 117 yards on those 10 carries. Finally, we lost a yard when Garrett Shrader fell on a fumble. Meanwhile, on defense , after giving up an 11 catch on 3rd and 10 in the first quarter, stopped five straight passes with two incompletions and three sacks totaling -28 yards! The first quarter consisted of 2 ½ possessions. They had a 12 play 6 minutes and 11 touchdown drive. We answered with a 9 play, 4 minute and 11 second touchdown drive. They returned service with a 10 play 5 minute, 16 second touchdowns drive, the first 7 plays and 4:28 of which were in the first period, which ended with the Hokies having the ball at the 50 yard line. I decided to keep track of explosive plays – gains from scrimmage of more than 20 yards, interception n returns of more than 20 yards, plus blocked kicks and kick returns of more than 20 yards or RFLs of more than 24 yards. Here’s the score this season: Ohio U.: We had runs of 47 and 28 yards, a pass of 21, kickoff returns of 25 and 26, a punt return of 32 yards and an interception return of 23 yards. They had passes of 38, 32 and 39 yards, kickoff returns of 21, 24 and 27 yards. Total: 7-6 Rutgers: We had a 24TD run, a 51 yard pass and two 24 yard kickoff returns. They had a 30TD pass Total: 4-1 Albany: We had runs of 56TD, 26TD and 50, passes of 27(p), 73TD, 44, 72TD, 32(p) and 21 yards. They had passes of 30 and 20, a 25TD interception return and a -24 TFL. Total: 9-4 Liberty: We had a run of 27TD. They had runs of 26, 23TD and 30, passes of 23, 22, 25, 23TD, 33TD and 35 yards. Total: 1-9, (believe it or not) Florida State: We had runs of 55TD and 32, passes of 26, 24 and 26TD, kickoff returns of 24, 29, 27, 39 and an interception return of 21(p) yards. They had runs of 20, 65, 33 and 25. Total: 10-4 Wake Forest: We had runs of 24, 25(p), passes of 21, 24TD, 29, 28, and kickoff returns of 20 and 22 yard They had passes of 42, 46TD, 25, 69TD, and 22TD and kickoff returns of 22, 23 yards. Total: 8-7 Clemson: We had runs of 54 and 39 and a pass of 62TD They had a run of 20, passes of 30 and 23 and a kickoff return of 23 Total: 3-4 Virginia Tech: We runs of 20, 28TD, 23, 21, 21TD and 21 yards, passes of 28, 24 and 45TD a 51 yard kick-off return They had runs of 38, 26, 45 and 47TD, passes of 22TD, 30, 30, the blocked extra point return, kick-off returns of 23 and 20 yards and a 40 yard punt return. Total: 10-11 Total for the season: SU 52 Opponents 46 This was 90-94 game: -4. These are the closest games to that in the Dino Babers Era: 2016: Syracuse 103 Virginia Tech 104 = -1 We won 31-17 2017: Syracuse 97 Pittsburgh 96 = +1 We won 27-24 2017: Syracuse 95 Clemson 97= -2 We won 27-24 2017: Syracuse 120 Wake Forest 125 = -5 We lost 43-64 2017: Syracuse 96 Louisville 100 = -4 We lost 10-56 (believe it or not) 2018: Syracuse 113 North Carolina 115 = -2 We won 40-37 2020: Syracuse 76 Louisville 81 = -5 We lost 0-30, (Louisville gets all the big plays) 2021: Syracuse 79 Liberty 83 = -4 We won 24-21 2021: Syracuse 90 Virginia Tech 94 = -4 We won 41-36 [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?