Syracuse Post Game

[bobongo]

Well just finished watching. Was going to make a comment that Syracuse was stronger, faster, hungrier and pretty much played better at every position on the field.

I still think that's the case but holy **** was that an absolute idiotic coaching decision not taking the chop block penalty. Somebody is more than welcome to correct me but off the top of my head, that was the single worst coaching decision I've seen Key make. That's going to impact the entire season.

Also, I called it in the chat but but that missed FG by Birr was huge. Good teams cannot miss free points.

Aw. c'mon. A lot of coaches would let the down tick over. It was a perfectly reasonable decision. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

[jeffgt14]

If anybody on this board agrees with not taking that penalty, you should be banned from giving any opinion about anything for the rest of the year. That was peewee level, asinine dumassness.

 

[stinger78]

This is what I saw we got out coached they play better than we did.

Fact we have a lot of really bad fans, win a game they think we will win the ACC, lose a a game and we won't win another game.
we are 2-1 who thought at the beginning of the season we would be 2-1, 90% thought we would but we would but lose to FSU and win this game.
I have faith in our coaching staff (although this was not a good game for them) I have faith in our players as bad as they did not quit. It's easy to watch a game and tell people I would have done this and not that and second guess the coaches.

FWIW, I still think we have a pretty good team but we have a very rough schedule. I still see 6-7 wins. Essentially, we swapped wins with F$U and SU.

 

[iceeater1969]

Stech, are you drinking again? The defense is awful which puts the offense in a position of having to score more than four touchdowns a game to win. This is a mid tier ACC team with good players here and there but any team in this era of shotgun formations and receivers who can get twenty yards in a blink that cannot get pressure is going to lose a lot of games. That is Tech right now. Syracuse is a good team with an excellent experienced and tested quarterback and talented receivers. It is also a team that struggled to put Ohio away and damn near gave this game right back to Tech on a really dumb middle screen call that almost went awry and a third down conversion to their best player #19. Tech has to beat Louisville and it will not be easy. OK, I am a really bad fan also one who sees things as they are not as I would like them to be.

You arent a bad fan unless u dont show up

 

[bobongo]

But we didn’t give ourselves the chance. So what if we miss it? We still have to get the top.

To me, in times like that, you put as much in your hands as you can.

Like I said, it could go either way. If he'd onsides, I would be all for that, too. I can see it either way. But we had a chance on 3rd down. That's what it came down to.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

NE, I love your takes on this board but if I near-guaranteed you Haynes F'n King gets the ball with 1:35 and 1 timeout to go 75 yards to win the game or a 50% chance that Haynes F'n King gets the opportunity with 1:50 and 3 timeouts to go 75 yards to win the game, what are you taking? You can simply adjust your pacing and playcalling to accommodate the less time and less timeouts.

Well, that’s the advantage of second guessing. Nobody knows how it actually would have turned out. We needed one stop to get the ball back to King with timeouts left. We didn’t get that one stop.

 

[stinger78]

Like I said, it could go either way. If he'd onsides, I would be all for that, too. I can see it either way. But we had a chance on 3rd down. That's what it came down to.

Both the onside kick and penalty denial have rationale on both sides, especially the penalty denial. Hard to turn down a 3rd and 9, but the D folded.

 

[Randy Carson]

I'm gonna post my thoughts on this game and then go back to read the thread.

1. I was nervous about this game going in. We'd beaten FSU (hasn't everyone?), and we were ranked. That's the kind of stuff that goes to your head.
2. It was an away game in a tough venue.
3. During the first half, I was having flashbacks to the CPJ era: watching our secondary get carved up by a good QB.
4. Anybody beside me think that McCord is going to play on Sunday?
5. Didn't see the second half but it appears either we made some adjustments or they took their foot off the gas a bit.
6. Glad we have a chance to tighten things up next week before going to Louisville.

At 2-1, we're right were I expected us to be. Just not how I expected to get here. But we're all good.

 

[jgtengineer]

I'm gonna post my thoughts on this game and then go back to read the thread.

1. I was nervous about this game going in. We'd beaten FSU (hasn't everyone?), and we were ranked. That's the kind of stuff that goes to your head.
2. It was an away game in a tough venue.
3. During the first half, I was having flashbacks to the CPJ era: watching our secondary get carved up by a good QB.
4. Anybody beside me think that McCord is going to play on Sunday?
5. Didn't see the second half but it appears either we made some adjustments or they took their foot off the gas a bit.
6. Glad we have a chance to tighten things up next week before going to Louisville.

At 2-1, we're right were I expected us to be. Just not how I expected to get here. But we're all good.

We forced tighter windows somewhat which lead to some drops

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

You arent a bad fan unless u dont show up

Well, at 70 years of age, I am not going to Syracuse, New York that is for damn sure. I only attend a couple of games a year these days as it is always the Elons, VMIs, etc. That is just the way it is.

 

[AUFC]

Well, that’s the advantage of second guessing. Nobody knows how it actually would have turned out. We needed one stop to get the ball back to King with timeouts left. We didn’t get that one stop.

I'm not asking that our coin flips the right direction every time - I just want my coach to properly calculate expected value and probabilities and lay the cards on the table. He's been really sound at that but he wasn't today - that's my main complaint.

 

[stinger78]

Well, that’s the advantage of second guessing. Nobody knows how it actually would have turned out. We needed one stop to get the ball back to King with timeouts left. We didn’t get that one stop.

Yes, however, on the onside/pooch kick it doesn’t matter how it turns out. It’s pure opportunity. If you miss, you just have to stop them just as if you kicked away. The onside/pooch doesn’t cost you anything.,

 

[stech81]

Stech, are you drinking again? The defense is awful which puts the offense in a position of having to score more than four touchdowns a game to win. This is a mid tier ACC team with good players here and there but any team in this era of shotgun formations and receivers who can get twenty yards in a blink that cannot get pressure is going to lose a lot of games. That is Tech right now. Syracuse is a good team with an excellent experienced and tested quarterback and talented receivers. It is also a team that struggled to put Ohio away and damn near gave this game right back to Tech on a really dumb middle screen call that almost went awry and a third down conversion to their best player #19. Tech has to beat Louisville and it will not be easy. OK, I am a really bad fan also one who sees things as they are not as I would like them to be.

answer to your question is YES. And the defense was awful today, but one game doesn't make them awful just as the FSU didn't make them great. Don't judge a team on one game. Do I think we can win the ACC, no. But I think we can win 7 or 8 games. And I don't think you are a bad fan just pissed off after this game which I hope the coaches and players are also.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

If anybody on this board agrees with not taking that penalty, you should be banned from giving any opinion about anything for the rest of the year. That was peewee level, asinine dumassness.

Kind of invested in this aren’t you.

 

[Eli]

So you take the penalty even if you are trying to save timeouts? And even when your defense probably doesn’t have an extra stop left in their tank? OK.

Yes. Regardless if they hit a 15 yard play you are in the same situation you were in if you didn’t take the penalty. Taking the penalty also changes Syracuse philosophy. They might have try to hit one chunk play on 2nd and 22 and what if it was incomplete? If the defense wasn’t going to hold up on 2nd and 22 I sure as hell don’t have faith in them stopping a 3rd and 10

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

If anybody on this board agrees with not taking that penalty, you should be banned from giving any opinion about anything for the rest of the year. That was peewee level, asinine dumassness.

I kind of agree with you on taking the penalty given the field position but if you can't stop a team on 3rd and 10 well, its pretty academic anyway.

 

[GT_B]

The entire team looked tired and slow to me.

Offense:
Jamal Haynes is like a shell of himself, no explosiveness, low energy. He got that Toss play late in the game and had 2 blockers in front of him and wide open lane and he basically just looked like he was in quicksand and then ran right into the guy getting blocked and fell over…I’ve never seen him like that before. I would definitely be looking to just rest him for a game/week.

OL did a decent job in pass pro, but they really struggled on run plays, Syracuse did a lot of run blitzing and our guys didn’t respond well to it. Wasn’t much room all day for the RBs to go through.

Defense:
Same issues that has haunted us for a long time, no legitimate pass rusher/consistent pressure. Lack of overall team speed on defense, get exposed a lot in plays in space and in coverage because we don’t have speed, especially at LB. I love efford but he is a liability in pass coverage and then they just started blitzing him every play trying to get pressure and that wasn’t working either.

 

[jeffgt14]

Kind of invested in this aren’t you.

Yes. It's early, but it was the worst coaching decision I've seen across all levels of football this season.

 

[gte447f]

Well just finished watching. Was going to make a comment that Syracuse was stronger, faster, hungrier and pretty much played better at every position on the field.

I still think that's the case but holy **** was that an absolute idiotic coaching decision not taking the chop block penalty. Somebody is more than welcome to correct me but off the top of my head, that was the single worst coaching decision I've seen Key make. That's going to impact the entire season.

Also, I called it in the chat but but that missed FG by Birr was huge. Good teams cannot miss free points.

You’re wrong. Declining that penalty is not the story of this game, and certainly not the season. Declining that penalty is just a shiny object for those worshipping at the analytics altar. We got beat on both sides of the ball, especially on defense.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Yes. Regardless if they hit a 15 yard play you are in the same situation you were in if you didn’t take the penalty. Taking the penalty also changes Syracuse philosophy. They might have try to hit one chunk play on 2nd and 22 and what if it was incomplete? If the defense wasn’t going to hold up on 2nd and 22 I sure as hell don’t have faith in them stopping a 3rd and 10

You bring up an interesting point what if McCord actually misses one on second down? That changes the dynamics considerably. Who knows? They may have tried that middle screen again.