I really wish Washington would've beaten BYU

by bloodyyank44 on Sep 7, 2010 10:41 AM EDT

Well I never bought into the argument that UW might look past the game w/ SU this weekend, being that it is sandwiched between BYU and Nebraska, two teams that have enjoyed much more success in football than SU as of late. But now that UW lost a close one @ BYU to start the season 0-1, I think this game went from being a should-win game to an absolute must win for them, at the same proportion that Akron was a must-win for SU. They desperately need to beat us, otherwise they're likely looking at an 0-3 start.

Had UW beaten BYU on the road, it'd have been a big win to start the season for them, putting them on the fringe or perhaps into the top 25. Something to stir up more hype, which could've hindered their focus. Thats gone now. Plus, if SU pulls out a W on Saturday, as impressive as it is to us, UW now will simply look like a bad PAC-10 team and not a PAC-10 contender with a possible heisman-caliber QB.

Anyways, as thrilled as I am about SU crushing Akron, I was not surprised by it. The rest of the events that unfolded on week 1 were about as horrible as I could've expected for the Big East. The one ray of light was that, the Big East looks a lot more winnable now, for any team, Syracuse included. I'm not predicting a conference championship, but winning 2-3 games in October doesn't sound too crazy now.

Maybe I'm making too much of all this, but what do you guys think? Anyone actually gonna predict we beat UW this weekend? I'd love to hear the reasoning behind it if so.

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I still think we lose on Saturday.

It’s at UW which will be hard enough to deal with, but add the huge roadtrip to it and it will be really tough. Locker should bounce back since he is apparently much better at home than on the road. But, I now have a little more hope than I did one week ago about this game. We didn’t look perfect, but we looked pretty damn good overall, especially on D. I think we can somewhat contain Locker on the ground and a UW alum I do pub quiz with said the receivers were a problem for them. If that’s true, we might have a puncher’s chance.
I do agree with you on Wasington not looking past us anymore though. They know they can’t lose this one, so they will be ready. HoyaSuxa said it somewhere else though, this is a house-money game. We are supposed to lose, so if we do, it’s not the end of the world.

by NOLACuse on Sep 7, 2010 11:14 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah

But man, it’d be sweet if we could roll into the Dome at 2-0! I agree with everything you’ve said though. I don’t expect UW to have a field day on our defense. I don’t think Locker will be able to run much, but I think he’ll be able to exploit the secondary enough. I have also read that their run D is suspect, but our O-line troubles me. I think that SU will have a tough day on offense if they don’t get that together, especially if Doug keeps the playcalling plain.

speaking of HCDM, how classy was it to have Nassib take a knee on the goal line to end the game @ Akron? My only question is, if we were more concerned about being classy and not scoring, why not plug RGLCL in for that last series? Honestly, it would be nice to know that we have a QB that has at least taken a few snaps to back up Nassib in case he goes down. I also think Gulley should have had a couple touches there too, it’s his hometown after all, and if Bailey or Carter go down, he’s sure to be playing lots.

GO ORANGE

by bloodyyank44 on Sep 7, 2010 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Well it was Nassib's 1st game as starter.

Let him enjoy the best formation in football [victory] a few times before we worry about giving the back-ups time.

by goober112 on Sep 7, 2010 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it's still a toss up

So I can predict we can win Saturday.

They don’t have an answer for our rushing game, and our defense forces them to pass nearly every down resulting in a lot of blitzing and forces Locker to run around too much against a good rush defending team.

by actioncuse on Sep 7, 2010 3:13 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed with the main arguement of the post

Could have been the perfect trap game, but I think if SU’s defense can keep WU one dimensional we might have a chance…that is until we muff a punt in the second half and half the board starts breaking laptops/TVs.

Not saying that’s gonna happen….just saying….

Go Orange(men)!

by SUmonkey on Sep 7, 2010 4:40 PM EDT reply actions

I believe we can win

If nothing else, I believe we can win on Saturday because of the way HCDM prepares the team. He’s probably been preparing for UW for half the summer. You know he has a scheme in place to slow down Locker. The question, of course, is whether the players can execute. But I’m tired of people in the media acting like this game is unwinnable. Locker is very good, but this Syracuse team seems to have a toughness to them. I think we’ll see a good game on Saturday.

by GoForthAndConquer on Sep 7, 2010 11:16 PM EDT reply actions

right on

I think this game will come down to how good of a passer Locker is and how well our DBs play. I doubt Locker or Polk will be able to run much. My thinking is we need our DBs to lock it down for at least 2 quarters (pick any 2), which is completely doable. The other issue is taking care of the ball on offense. If SU commits zero turnovers I think we win outright.

Overall I think we can win and this, and we would thrash them if this were a home game. But UW is tough to beat on their own turf. I’m going to say it will be something like 28-24 UW. This will be a battle. I think our defense keeps us in this, but I don’t trust the offense enough yet to put up the points to win our keep from making costly mistakes…I’d love to be wrong about that though.

GO ORANGE

by bloodyyank44 on Sep 8, 2010 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions

I thought so

But maybe it is the opposite. UW has ALL the pressure. They have to win. But they also have to win BIG because Syracuse still is not a name opponent. And they beat us badly last time.

Think L-ville 2007. Excellent QB. We jumped on them early and they were toast. Until G-Rob and A-Rob found a way to make it a nailbiter.

If we get the ball first and score on a big play, we can scare them big time.

Of course, even if we just stay close with them for most of the game, I think the crowd will be tense too. And that tension will feed into the players…. who did not get the confidence boost of a tough win last week. Anything can happen in a close game.

Only a fool bets mortgage money on a ’Cuse win outright. But it will be fun to see how we do. We are never going to be more healthy than we are this week.

by ezcuse on Sep 8, 2010 9:44 AM EDT reply actions