Drop your thoughts, opinions, observations here.
Surprised Tech ran the ball as well as they did. I didn’t think Dino’s first half was terrible overall, but the end of the first half was a disaster. At least he admitted it was his fault after the game. Punting is my main area of concern moving forward.I thought Babers 1st half coaching was awful, especially the end of the half. There was no reason not to go for it on the 1 yard line. I think in the 2nd half Shrader took over and was able to throw the ball and do whatever he wanted. Good Win, should really be 7-1 or 8-0
special teams is a big problem for this team. I have no clue why our punter is so bad, plus what happened to our FG kicker?Surprised Tech ran the ball as well as they did. I didn’t think Dino’s first half was terrible overall, but the end of the first half was a disaster. At least he admitted it was his fault after the game. Punting is my main area of concern moving forward.
The kicker situation is baffling. I think Szmyt has let the struggles beyond 40 yards get into his head in situations he was normally automatic. The blocked extra point was not his fault, but the missed field goal was. I do think the kick coverage and punt coverage units have been pretty solid. And Pena did break off a long return on Syracuse's second to last touchdown drive that cut the lead to two. That return was critical as it saved enough time to allow for the game winning drive.special teams is a big problem for this team. I have no clue why our punter is so bad, plus what happened to our FG kicker?
I agree with you on the defensive game plan. When Syracuse has been at its best, it is aggressive. Blitzing. Pressuring the quarterback. I know you defend different teams differently, but man I would've gone back to that after the first half. They did get the stop when they needed to late in the fourth though.I just think the coaching has been terrible and really has taken points off the board. Special teams has just been terrible. The defense was terrible today, we didn’t hear some of the names we normally hear making plays. They ran all over SU, with not very good running backs. I think some of that was SU dropping their line backers back in coverage and playing a lot of zone, allowing the RB’s to go off. Just stop the run and let our line get after that QB. I didn’t like the game plan on the defensive side. They weren’t aggressive, a lot of dropping back. That’s not SU defense!
A great point. Syracuse was a perfect 4-4 on fourth down.I was glad to see them go for it on 4th down with all of the special teams struggles. That was the difference in the game today. Hope to continue the aggressiveness in the coming games.
Right you really want to see the in game problems fixed not compounded. Our penalty issues earlier in the year seem to be corrected. Now the coaches need to fix themselves and get the game management right.We’re winning despite the coaching, not because of it.
Every game it seems we’ve left enough points due to coaching indecision, time management or personnel issues that could have won us the game, or made it easier. that’s not even including the massive fall-off of ST play that used to be a strength.
While I love the moxie of Shrader and this team and love the win, it doesn’t give me too much hope for the future if this stuff is happening 5 years into this staff. I hope we grab two more wins this season but history is not on this staff’s side.