Wow, too much to process. Couple quick thoughts

[sufandu]

Devito was not the issue, when he came in they just changed what they did on D against us and we were trying to stay simple. with dungey they worried about the run with Devito that just collapsed the oline

Isn't some of that on Devito though? When the defense changes, doesn't the offense have to do the same. He is supposed to have the most accurate arm on the team, yet some of his throws looked way off and he held the ball way too long on those sacks. He's had a year in the system, which is way more than Dungey had when he was thrown in as a freshman. I didn't expect him to come in and look like Tom Brady, but I think he looked more uncomfortable than I expected, given how many reps he has reportedly had with the first team. The offensive line didn't do him any favors with run game, but I don't think we should have looked that anemic with him in there.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Devito was not the issue, when he came in they just changed what they did on D against us and we were trying to stay simple. with dungey they worried about the run with Devito that just collapsed the oline

Yeah, they blitzed the back up QB who just came into the game.
It's not like we couldn't see that coming.

He threw a few nice balls, but just missed on a couple that could have made a big difference in his confidence level. When Dungy wanted to come in after 1 and then 2 scores in the third quarter, and they still put Tommy out there, you could feel the team deflate.

 

[AAM62]

I think the line was good early against the run. WMU only had a couple first downs in the first 15-20 minutes of play. It was 34-7 at the half. The D line played pretty well, giving up just the one long run early on. Third quarter was a nightmare, like they were not ready to play.

57 and 98 were horrible on the d line. The entire secondary looked horrible as well. Some just had poor tackling and some were bad overall.

 

[AAM62]

Also the entire team deflating when dungey is out just means that their weak. It’s been the case for a while now. The defense needs to step up in those cases and not give up over 200 points in 4 games

 

[billsin01]

In fairness, Tommy did make a couple plays in that first series or two, like that 10-15 yard run for a first down, and he threw a couple nice balls over the middle, and one nice out that was dropped. I think Dino wanted to put the young man under pressure and see if he could rise to the occasion.

The answer was, not this first time. He's got more to learn, and to get up to game speed against live competition. It's not just practice. He found that out today. But he throws a nice ball.

De Vito will be absolutely fine. I just feel like if Dungey can play, don’t mess around. Put it away then give DeVito some run. I’m just interested to hear what the logic was.

 

[sufandu]

I don't buy that the team deflated with Dungey out. I think WMU adjusted and played better on offense, and we saw how dependent we still are on Dungey for our offense. That scares me. We need to be getting to the point where Dungey doesn't have to be superman to beat mediocre teams. We need him to be able to save that for the really good teams.

 

[Chip]

the Safety is the biggest issue, you cant be under the deep ball and take the wrong angles on the long runs 5-6x a game

Yeah, I thought Cisco just looked completely lost out there. But he’s a kid being thrown right into the deep end of the pool.

There were times the D just looked like they were in slow motion. Which usually means guys don’t know where to be. Not good.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I don't buy that the team deflated with Dungey out. I think WMU adjusted and played better on offense, and we saw how dependent we still are on Dungey for our offense. That scares me. We need to be getting to the point where Dungey doesn't have to be superman to beat mediocre teams. We need him to be able to save that for the really good teams.

My take as well.

 

[baggerbob]

Here are my take aways.

1. Dungey makes us go, despite throwing at least three balls where guys had to reach backward to make spectacular catches in a way that could get them killed against ACC teams. 1a. Devito isn't ready yet. 1b. We need him be ready soon.

2. Custis looked like a stud. Butler did not.

3. WMU had the fastest player on the field (maybe the 3 fastest)... and our secondary couldn't figure it out. It was as if they said, "There's no way he can run that fast AGAIN!"

4. I want Moe Neal carrying the ball instead of Strickland. Sometimes it's as if Strickland just stands there waiting for a hole to open instead of moving his feet and probing the way most backs do.

5. Neither line looked as good as I had hoped.

I like that this was a win that showed what we need to work on with what should ne a live scrimmage next weekend.

Neal and Strickland are better as receivers then as running backs, they both can catch, have decent speed, and are good in space. Neither of them are good blockers, which a single back set needs.

 

[sufandu]

Neal and Strickland are better as receivers then as running backs, they both can catch, have decent speed, and are good in space. Neither of them are good blockers, which a single back set needs.

Agreed. My comment was just about my preference between the two since they were the only RBs that carried the ball. My hope would be that one of the younger, bigger, hopefully more physical backs would show something this year and push them aside.

 

[TheCusian]

If you take out the deep ball issues, the D looks totally different. Might be as simple as starting Trill.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

The safeties have to learn to play deeper and recognize the deep post route much faster. And a couple of those young DBs just gave up in pursuit, when they could have laid out like that WMU defender did, taking away that naked sweep by Dungy that could have been yet another TD.

Our safeties and corners are just not that good. This will be our Achilles heel this year (again)...

 

[IthacaMatt]

Our safeties and corners are just not that good. This will be our Achilles heel this year (again)...

I don't think it's fair to say that. They're big and (mostly) young and can really hit. Trill looked good in press coverage. I think it came down to not recognizing the deep routes and not wrapping up tackles. These things are correctable.

 

[IthacaMatt]

My take as well.

The WMU offense didn't have anything to do with our failure to open holes with our offensive line after Dungy went out.

 

[shu 49]

the Safety is the biggest issue, you cant be under the deep ball and take the wrong angles on the long runs 5-6x a game

So true

 

[tbonezone]

we changed one piece and the offense vanished. so yeah devito has to own some of that. disappointing.

 

[shu 49]

I don't buy that the team deflated with Dungey out. I think WMU adjusted and played better on offense, and we saw how dependent we still are on Dungey for our offense. That scares me. We need to be getting to the point where Dungey doesn't have to be superman to beat mediocre teams. We need him to be able to save that for the really good teams.

Have to disagree with u. We flat out don’t play hard when Dungey isn’t in there period. Don’t know why but it is what it is.

 

[shu 49]

If you take out the deep ball issues, the D looks totally different. Might be as simple as starting Trill.

I was thinking move Bradshaw to nickel Cordy out and Trill at corner and tell Cisco to turn and run before the guy is past u wth.

 

[OrangeDW]

I think it's pretty clear Dungy jammed his shoulder on that run. That's why his touch was so off on some of those passes. The WRs came up with a couple amazing catches after Eric came back in to steady the ship.

Tommy with 4 punts and a fumble in 5 series, when we really only needed him to get one score to settle things down. We certainly need to play him against Wagner and I hope against UConn.
I also wouldn't mind Rex getting a few series if Tommy doesn't play much better next time.

What did Tommy really do wrong though? It’s not like he turned the ball over or missed any wide open receivers. The offense as a whole fell apart, and unlike Dungey he couldn’t cover for our mistakes and lack of playmakers.

Didn’t think he did anything all that bad to say that Rex should get the series’ next time though.

 

[MSOrange]

What did Tommy really do wrong though? It’s not like he turned the ball over or missed any wide open receivers. The offense as a whole fell apart, and unlike Dungey he couldn’t cover for our mistakes and lack of playmakers.

Didn’t think he did anything all that bad to say that Rex should get the series’ next time though.

Yeah the rush to judgment on Tommy is amazing. Obviously things didn't go well, but don't think it was all his fault and I'm not quite as down on him as others.

 

[OrangeDW]

Yeah the rush to judgment on Tommy is amazing. Obviously things didn't go well, but don't think it was all his fault and I'm not quite as down on him as others.

I’m not down on him at all. Only negative is he does look awfully small out there.

I thought his passes looked good, he looked quick, and he showed some smarts on a few plays.

The circumstances of how he went in/stayed in given what was happening in the game did him no favors IMO. Just bizarre stuff.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I’m not down on him at all. Only negative is he does look awfully small out there.

I thought his passes looked good, he looked quick, and he showed some smarts on a few plays.

The circumstances of how he went in/stayed in given what was happening in the game did him no favors IMO. Just bizarre stuff.

If Dungey goes down with an injury the circumstances that TD could enter the game could very well be more stressful and much more unfavorable than a 34-7 lead. I hope last night gives TD, the offense and defense in game feedback adding more incentive and motivation to improve and always be ready just in case, ED can't play. These players (including Dungey) and coaches have hopefully worked too hard and too long to get to a bowl game and relevance, than to be known as a 1 man team - they need each player to be focused all 60 minutes.

 

[sufandu]

Have to disagree with u. We flat out don’t play hard when Dungey isn’t in there period. Don’t know why but it is what it is.

I suppose we just see it differently. It's hard for me to believe we have a team full of guys that have been playing football their whole lives that don't know how to play hard when one teammate leaves the field. I think it's more likely that Dungey covers a lot of less than good football that becomes more obvious when he's out.

 

[JEF44]

I'm kind of wondering if dino purposely was vanilla on O and D for a reason. Expect the same at Wagner then....FSU hopefully stuff he hasn't showed! Think about it a win vs FSU and you're talking 3-0, hype, and Ucan't coming to the dome!

 

[NJCuse97]

For starters, we weren’t favored by a touchdown. We beat that spread by a lot. That said, I’m on the side that says the team let down when DeVito came in. I thought it was almost quantifiable. I also think they had Strickland in more as he is better calling the line assignments and picking up blitzes than the better run threat in Mo. I think they ran DeVito to show WMU he’s a run threat too, in an effort to keep the blitz at bay. It was fairly effective but in that, he’s not Dungey. Let’s face this, our QB ran for 200 yards. That’s masking a pretty sizable problem.