- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 254
- Reaction Score
- 88
Just got back from a sunny 60 degree game where I should've left my jacket home! What a nice day and a well-deserved comeback win that the seniors haven't seen since their freshman year and that's only if they red-shirted. This has made up for the last 3 WTF losses against Rutgers. Some quick thoughts on the game split in 3 parts: team/coaches and fans. Not a "view from section" write-up by any means.
The team:
Wow, what a showing. If this team showed up every week we would be back in a BCS bowl. Louisville or Cinci who are the last two teams that can go to the Orange bowl this year are beatable, young and making it there with 2nd year coaches. I remember now why Syracuse fans complained that Coach P had a lot of WTF games but could compete in any game even against a more talented team. The "explosive gains" RU had on us showed us the talent gap at skill positions (WR/QB mostly) and what that can do when you need the yards. Sure it didn't help them but that game lasted way longer than it should have. More on that later. Our seniors played lights out, Kendall more than made up for the penalty last week, Kashif had a handful of excellent catches, Teggart kicked with ice in his veins even though he missed the last extra-point breaking a 1xx streak no one could track anymore and JJL was terrific in the running game and I can't figure out why we hadn't used him more after he recovered from his injury. I'm sure there's lots of seniors I'm missing here.
Next the coaches:
Great job with the game planning, keeping the kids focused all the way till the end and ending the Randy jinx era vs. Rutgers. Ironically in the same time the Maryland - NC State was on and Randy was up 41-14 mid-way through 3rd quarter (we were up 40-10 around the same time) and then they gave NCState 6 consecutive TDs to win 56-41. My only concerns here are still clock-management and decision making. We could've used some time-outs at the end of the first half and gone for a TD but it looked like the plan all along was to run out the clock and go for the field goal. In the second half the mercy play was a mistake, I think you kick the field goal there no matter what the score is, you don't do wildcat on 4th and 5. I understand being nice and not running up the score but Coach P does not know the WTF 4th quarter losses we had the last couple of years. After Rutgers scored there and recovered the on-side kick there was that feeling coming back that anything could happen against Rutgers. Good job Blidi and Sio for making drive-ending plays at the end there.
Finally the fans:
Rutgers brought in about 7k I would say and that's generous. They were fairly loud on 3rd down and on any down closed to their side of the stadium. The positive out of all this is that our fans were louder than they were vs. Syracuse and louder and more numerous than they were vs. Louisville. The crowd was into it and while the atmosphere wasn't as good as it was vs. Rutgers in 2009 or WVU in 2008 it still beat the cold weather anemic crowds from the Pitt/WVU games last year. Nothing like a chance to play spoiler vs. SnookiU in late November on a sunny, warm day. Amazingly, a ton of our fans were wearing red Red Sox/Patriots or UMass gear (assuming they weren't BC fans ha) Interactions were mostly positive. R U chants died down after the first quarter. U R not Big East champions is what I told some of our "friends" in section 222.
Next week, we go to Cinci with another chance to spoil championship chances (and BCS hopes as well) and bowl eligibility on the line. Let's see which team shows up, it has been a roller-coaster season and you probably have a better chance predicting the stock market.
The team:
Wow, what a showing. If this team showed up every week we would be back in a BCS bowl. Louisville or Cinci who are the last two teams that can go to the Orange bowl this year are beatable, young and making it there with 2nd year coaches. I remember now why Syracuse fans complained that Coach P had a lot of WTF games but could compete in any game even against a more talented team. The "explosive gains" RU had on us showed us the talent gap at skill positions (WR/QB mostly) and what that can do when you need the yards. Sure it didn't help them but that game lasted way longer than it should have. More on that later. Our seniors played lights out, Kendall more than made up for the penalty last week, Kashif had a handful of excellent catches, Teggart kicked with ice in his veins even though he missed the last extra-point breaking a 1xx streak no one could track anymore and JJL was terrific in the running game and I can't figure out why we hadn't used him more after he recovered from his injury. I'm sure there's lots of seniors I'm missing here.
Next the coaches:
Great job with the game planning, keeping the kids focused all the way till the end and ending the Randy jinx era vs. Rutgers. Ironically in the same time the Maryland - NC State was on and Randy was up 41-14 mid-way through 3rd quarter (we were up 40-10 around the same time) and then they gave NCState 6 consecutive TDs to win 56-41. My only concerns here are still clock-management and decision making. We could've used some time-outs at the end of the first half and gone for a TD but it looked like the plan all along was to run out the clock and go for the field goal. In the second half the mercy play was a mistake, I think you kick the field goal there no matter what the score is, you don't do wildcat on 4th and 5. I understand being nice and not running up the score but Coach P does not know the WTF 4th quarter losses we had the last couple of years. After Rutgers scored there and recovered the on-side kick there was that feeling coming back that anything could happen against Rutgers. Good job Blidi and Sio for making drive-ending plays at the end there.
Finally the fans:
Rutgers brought in about 7k I would say and that's generous. They were fairly loud on 3rd down and on any down closed to their side of the stadium. The positive out of all this is that our fans were louder than they were vs. Syracuse and louder and more numerous than they were vs. Louisville. The crowd was into it and while the atmosphere wasn't as good as it was vs. Rutgers in 2009 or WVU in 2008 it still beat the cold weather anemic crowds from the Pitt/WVU games last year. Nothing like a chance to play spoiler vs. SnookiU in late November on a sunny, warm day. Amazingly, a ton of our fans were wearing red Red Sox/Patriots or UMass gear (assuming they weren't BC fans ha) Interactions were mostly positive. R U chants died down after the first quarter. U R not Big East champions is what I told some of our "friends" in section 222.
Next week, we go to Cinci with another chance to spoil championship chances (and BCS hopes as well) and bowl eligibility on the line. Let's see which team shows up, it has been a roller-coaster season and you probably have a better chance predicting the stock market.
