First of all, we all need to give 'Cuse a lot of credit. They were well prepared, did their homework, and were a step ahead today in the schematic part of the game. They are also very talented. Most of their skill guys on offense will be playing on Sundays. Their QB may be the best we have faced in a few years, including UNC's and UGA's. He was on point and on time all day. Going in, we pretty much knew we would surrender some yards through the air. To me that what not surprising at all. On the surface, it looks like we didn't defend at all, nor have a good plan. But in many ways I was very happy with our defense and our scheme. We forced A LOT of 3rd downs in this game, many of them for over 5 yards. That puts us in good position to get off the field. We win yesterday, if we could have just held them to 50% (or just under) on 3rd down. Sadly, they always seemed to have the right play called at the right time and executed very well.
On offense, GT didn't run the ball well enough to win either. I thought 'Cuse did a really good job of mixing in run/pass blitz with drop 8 and cover. Once again, I feel like more often than not, they had the right defense called for the plays we chose to run. Some of that is luck. Some of that is just good film study, and good coaching / game planning.
In short, the game flipped on those two facets: lackluster 3rd down defense and failing to sustain enough of a run game to place us in 2nd and 5 situations.
What to do? Well, I think both of our coordinators might need to self scout themselves a little bit moving forward, especially in terms of tendencies with down and distance. We ended up on the short end of the stick with play calling yesterday. Some of that is luck. Some isn't. In terms of physicality, I saw yesterday's game as a pretty even battle. We did not WIN that battle as I had hoped. If you do win that battle consistently enough, it really doesn't matter much what plays you call. With that said, it doesn't mean we aren't an improved team on that front. In my estimation we clearly are. Syracuse will win a lot this year. In November, this will not look like a bad loss.
As sad as you may feel today, take some solace in the fact that our kids fought like hell to the end. That matters a whole lot to me. We came crazy close to having another miracle finish on a game we didn't really deserve to win. If we were lucky enough to come down with that batted ball in the scrum on that last drive (Efford?), it would have been right there on a platter. That's why you keep fighting even when the average human being feels like quitting. If that keeps up, it will pay off in a game this year that really matters.
. That put us in a huge hole.
