That Old Familiar Feeling: South Florida 34, Syracuse 20
by Sean Keeley on Oct 3, 2009 4:39 PM EDT
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PrintIn a game that featured five turnovers within the first five minutes, it looked like both teams were going to end up paying for their mistakes. In the end, it was only the Orange who kept making them as South Florida took advantage of seven (SEVEN!) SU turnovers to win 34-20.
Greg Paulus bore the brunt of things with five interceptions, the most by a Syracuse QB since 1982, and tying the school record. The third quarter pick-six to Jason Pierre-Paul was the most damaging as it opened the floodgates for a 20-point USF 3rd quarter. Paulus finished 25-46 with two touchdowns to go with his five picks. (Boxscore here)
Mike Williams put up some nice numbers for those in the silver lining department, 13 catches for 186 yards and two scores. To be fair, that 2nd TD was in garbage time.
As many noted, that was the first time it felt like we were watching a Greg Robinson football team. As Greg would say, time will tell if USF is just that good or if SU just played that poorly. Methinks it's a little of both.
Hopefully, Marrone doesn't commit felonious assault tonight. We'll find out in the morning. Share your thoughts on the game below.
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Agreed
I think that 2nd TD was pretty impressive. USF still had their first team on the field and it wasn’t quite garbage time yet. After that TD is was a 2 possession game with about 10 min to go. If the defense could have gotten a stop on that 4th down play, who knows what could have happened…
Also, I agree – there will be hell to pay this week from Coach Marrone for those 7 TOs. Some of the INTs were bonehead throws, but not all were entirely Paulus’s fault. The OLine did him very few favors.
by DMF on Oct 3, 2009 6:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah completely disagree with what you said there
His score made it a 2 poss game with 10.5 mins to go. If our d had made a stop with 7mins left on 3rd and 11(?), the game could have had a closer ending at worst.
I still like this team and coaching staff a lot
Just watch Marrone’s presser, as well as the polite, respectful commentary by Williams and Paulus. This is step one on a journey to the top again.
Attended the UM/MSU game today. The UM fans I was with were laughing at the fact that G-Rob was dressed differently than the rest of the coaches. He was the only one in Maize. Kind of funny. Gave up 400 yards offense to MSU too. Outstanding game.
Of course, as I posted on Cuse Orange…4 hours in 50 degrees with rain is not the best thing. Appreciate the Dome….
I have to disagree about looking like a Grob team
I remeber saying at half time how each week I am more and more amazed by how bad a coach Robinson was. We outgained and had 9 more first downs than a South Florida team that had most of the same players who ran all over us in Tampa last year. I mean it wasn’t a fun feeling to be down 20 in the third but this team didn’t quit like a Grob team would. With a 2 possession game with 10 minutes left we still had a shot. Plus the intensity that lacked during the Grob era was still there this game.
CUSE '13
My thoughts on the game
Man those turnovers were painful. The INTs weren’t all Paulus’ fault, but the pick 6 on the screen pass certainly was.
The opening play of the 2nd half was brutal. It basically killed the momentum we took into halftime. There was a play fake, so I guess that sucked in the safety help. But I don’t know how the corner let his man get so far behind him.
Mike Williams and Arthur Jones are both going to be drafted on the first day this spring.
I also agree w/ the above posters that the last TD wasn’t garbage time. All it would have taken was a 3rd down stop w/ 7 mins left & we’re right back in it.
I was very disappointed by the turnout at the game. There were a ton of empty seats. I guess the announced paid attendance was over 40k, but there definitely weren’t that many people actually there. Far fewer people there than at the Minnesota game, and I think even the Northwestern game had more people there.
Way too pessimistic take on this team
I think your analysis of the game is flawed in several ways. First, that 2nd TD was FAR from garbage team. Yes, Cuse was down 21 but the TD made it a 14 point game and we a big play away from a very close contest. We had a shot despite the turnovers.
Secondly, this didn’t look like a Grob team at all. They played with heart, energy and never gave up. Grob would have lost this game by 40.
Marrone has this team playing hard and aggressive. They are fun to watch and the promise of the future is upon us. This team will score a big upset this year and it isn’t unfathomable to think they could get 6 wins and a bowl bid… a stretch but a possibility.
+1 to the blowout comment
remember every game against USF the past 3 years has been a worse loss than the year before. We played a fairly decent game, and the TO’s made it a classic What If? game. I give Paulus blame for 3 picks, on one he was hit mid-throw, and another Williams stopped his route early. We will not see many defense’s with the speed and athleticism of USF, there are some freaks over there. Hey, they held Florida St to 8 points, and we put up some serious yards and points against them.
Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!
by bigbluethruandthru on Oct 4, 2009 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions
classic what if game?????????????
Thats rediculous, what if we tackled better?What if we didnt fumble?What if we hadnt had 5 interceptions? What if our db’s could consistantly defend the deep ball? What if our Defensive Coordinator…………..And the thought that that in some way this game didnt resemble those that we have watched for four years nows, is crazy. …….But you may be on to something, this didnt look like a g rob team, his teams never turned the ball over 7 times in one game.
When are you guys gonna get over g rob?Fact is our defense is worse than his.Check the stats.
Come on man
The point here is that without the seven turnovers it’s a tight game. True, Robinson’s teams didn’t turn the ball over seven times…but they didn’t score either. Ever. Anyone who watched the game couldn’t put yesterday’s loss on the defense, by the way – it was all on the offense, and generally they were moving the ball before shooting themselves in the foot. Like the old saying goes, statistics are for losers. This year’s defense, while still no good, passes the eyeball test in terms of having improved over GRob’s creampuff pushovers.
It’s going to take time to clean up the last four years of Greg Robinson, which were an absolute abortion in terms of coaching. If you don’t think that Marrone’s team has shown honest to goodness improvement over the train wreck that is the Greg Robinson era, then…I really don’t know what to tell you.
"(BARF)" - Donovan McNabb, during his game winning drive against Virginia Tech in 1998
Amen to all of this
Once upon a time, we went into every game thinking we could win.
In the G-Rob era, we went into most games wondering if it would be interesting in the 3rd quarter.
I think we can win every remaining game this year. I know we wont. We may not win more than 1 or 2. But they will be worth watching on TV and in person.
That would not have been an improvement in 1994 or 1999… but it unfortunately is in 2009.
So Sad
And so true. That said, I feel like this program IS improving, to the degree that if a couple recruits fall right, a player like Nassib pans out long term, and we sign 10 more Mike Williams’, we might be closer to contending for the Big East than most of us here think. The state the conference is in, its at least POSSIBLE we are fighting for the top in 3-5 years. Still, it wasnt easy to see 7 TO’s next to Donte Greens name, and its equally unsettling to see it next to SU’s offensive numbers yesterday.
the true silver lining
for me was during the post game radio show and coach mac said that it was ok since we won’t play usf in the playoffs this year….
As someone who was at the game, I give the team a lot of credit. They were WAY over matched in the talent department. They were bigger, faster and more athletic. Their DL is more athletic than many of our wide receivers. Greg has never seen that kind of pressure. But how could you simulate it?
We turned the ball over and only lost by 2 scores. FSU lost to this time last week by 2 scores. Our guys didnt quit on this game.
Keep in mind how short handed we are. We had 20 guys quit the team on top of ones who graduated. Returning starters are few and far between and take that with a grain of salt, they are returning from a historically bad team. Our players are going all out, playing on guts alone. They have been over matched in just about every game this year. Thats exhausting. There are no backups and to keep it up at that level drains our guys.
We have no depth at CB. Our scheme leaves guys on an island from time to time and thats getting exploited. They are young and HCDM will bring in the right guys to fit the system.
USF knew the screen was coming. I called it last week… the let Paulus beat us defensive scheme is done and DCs are going to make our OL open holes. USF’s 4 DLmen were good enough to get past our OLine (5 guys). They took away the pass and made us try and beat them with the run. That left guys to ball hawk and cut off routes. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE SEEN A D FOCUS ON SHUTTING DOWN PAULUS FIRST. Thats how you know hes a good QB.
Credit should be given to Mike Williams and Greg for finding the seams in the zone so many times. Maybe its a PG skill, but wow he did it a lot.
I dont think we should have expected to win this game and had someone said we loose to a team that should have been ranked by 2 scores, with our roster (notably OL, LB and CB), Id have been ok with it.
South Florida didnt play well........
and still caused 7 turnovers. They backed off at the end of the third quarter, after their last score realizing they had the game won.
Paulus’s decisions were bad at best, and the only offensive bright spot was Williams.Your thought that they were focused on stopping Paulus has more to do with the predictability of our run game more so than the effectiveness of Paulus ytd. If in fact that was S Florida’s game plan they would have doubled Williams all day long.
You said, “They have been over matched in just about every game this year. Thats exhausting.”……….I tend to disagree with that statement our players are on par with Minn and NW, and far superior to Maines roster.Penn St had better personel ill give you that one.
The fact remains, we came out flat after half-time in the defensive backfeild. If the Scott twins can not cover consistantly then it is time to change our opproach. Remember Scott Schafer had this same problem last year with his defense in Mich. The same Defense that our be-hated Greggers has actually improved this year, while our has stepped backwards.I give Marone credit to moving Hogue to lb though, I love hogue on the defensive side.
Defense has stepped backwards? Wrong.
Our numbers and ranking at this time last year:
Pass D- 255 yds/game #103
Pass Eff (against)- #111
Rush D- 205 yds/game #105
Total D- 462.4 #114
Scoring- 36.4 #110
Sacks- .8 #112
TO margin- .2 #54
Numbers this year:
Pass D- 290 #116
Pass Eff (against)- #113
Rush D- 91.4 #15
Total D- 381.4 #86
Scoring- 28.6 #89
Sacks- 2.4 #33
TO margin- -.2 #73
Our pass defense has gotten worse, true. But our rush defense is way better. Over twice as good. As a result our total D is better. Our scoring defense is almost 10 points better. Our turnover margin would be fine if it wasn’t for the offense yesterday. The sacks are way better. Three times as many sacks this year. Not sure how you can say we stepped backwards. Our secondary is worse, no one is arguing it isn’t bad. But basically every other facet of the defense is better. Much better rush D (muuuch better), better overall D, better scoring D, more sacks and more turnovers. Not sure how you can say the defense is worse this year. It isn’t. It’s better.
Our corners are young. They have to learn sometime. Better now, in a rebuilding year, than some other. Recruits will see the responsibility we put on our corners and want to play in that system that showcases their abilities. This is a college football D, and it is geared to stop the run (the run is the strength of most college football programs). So far that has worked. You also cant knock our DC after how much better our guys are at hitting, tackling and staying on their assignments. We get burned 1 on 1 on a few pass plays. How many times last year did we let a 3 yard run turn into something much bigger right up the middle? We cant do anything about slow corners. Honestly, that play in the third, had we doubled the WR with a safety, 2 guys would have gotten burned as opposed to one.
Correct
This defense, despite really struggling to defend the pass, is better than last year. We also have no linebacker or secondary depth because the guys G rob recruited either couldn’t play or didn’t stick around.
Because of the D this team is not gettting blown out the way they were for the last 4 years.
We have given up fewer yards than Michigan too
And Michigan has played E. MIchigan, W. Michigan, Indiana, Michigan St (2-3 team on road) and Notre Dame.
I think our schedule has been significantly more difficult too: Maine, Northwestern, Minnesota, South Florida, and Penn St. (4-1 team on the road).
Also… we STILL have as many Big 10 victories as 9 of the 11 teams in that conference.
And we didn’t play the biggest bottom feeders… Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue.
Like most other fans, Im trying to be optimistic about our chances this year, but please dont loose sight of the fact that these are GRob players, minus the class of 09, and 20 defections. This team has already exceeded expectations. Dont get greedy.
Everyone said at the start of the season, we could play better and still have a worse record.
I hate to tell you, but our playbook is simple because thats what these guys can do. Our OL is not athletic enough to pull or downfield block and you can only get so creative with that kind of talent. Its the same reason there are different plays for Paulus and Nassib. You construct plays for the players you have.
Go down our roster and any other in the league. We are not as talented as Minn. NW is probably better because they have a full roster of guys. Backups included. SU has no depth at any position.
Our guys are playing their asses off. You can see it on the field. The D is stopping the run (priority number 1) and we have successful passing game for the first time in years. No one has blown us out. Our players have never quit. The culture has changed. Given they are doing that, with the roster they have, you cant fault them for losses.
This is a monumental rebuilding job and HCDM is way ahead of schedule.
+1
After 4 years of constantly being told the few positives to come out of poor performances, it can be difficult to continue to do so, especially when it became clear that the coach proposing this was out of his depth and had a lack of confidence of anyone following the program.
As many have said, I don’t agree that “it felt like we were watching a Greg Robinson football team” HCDM and his staff have attempted to institute changes in the program that will pay off in the long term, starting in the way that the team competes on the field and prepares off the field. Because of early evidence of the positive aspect of these changes, there was actually belief on many fronts that the game would have been competitive and that we might even be able to pull out a victory. We did not, due to mistakes made and better play by a superior team. But the fact that even the glimmer of hope was there reflects the positive changes being made.
by Trapped_In_ACC_Hell on Oct 5, 2009 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions
According to Rahme we INSTALLED PLAYS for the USF game
Name one game in the prior for years where there was any indication that we had done so.
Instead, it was four years of simply demanding better execution for the same crappy plays that failed the prior weeks. It wasn’t that the game plan was “bad,” it was that the players still needed to improve their execution on those crappy plays.
Now we change from week-to-week to match up with out opponents weaknesses. It will not always work or succeed… but it is the first step in the process and really the only thing you can do to overcome superior talent and depth.
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