Syracuse Football: Do We Really Have To Have These Discussions Already?

I had a great column idea in my head on Sunday. I was going to write about My Four Least Favorite Syracuse Fans From Saturday. I'd throw down on Syracuse Fan Who Thinks The Season Is Already Over and Syracuse Fan Who Wants To Bench Drew Allen and we'd all agree and disagree and agree to disagree and the Syracuse Orange sports world would keep on spinning.

And dammit, wouldn't you know Matt basically distilled the entire essence of my idea into his fantastic post-game thoughts. Sonofa...

After you read Matt's piece, come back and let's try to answer the question...(deep breath)...why do we have to have these discussions already?

Why do we have to talk about whether or not Drew Allen should be benched after one game against a solid defense?

Why do we have to decide right now that, if he doesn't play well against a Top 25 team this weekend, he shouldn't get the chance to rebuild himself against Wagner and Tulane?

Why do we have to make decisions about who this team is and what they're going to be after one game, which was basically a road game in front of a hostile crowd against a quality opponent?

I don't really have answers here. Sure, I'm disappointed. In the back of my mind, I thought Syracuse would win this game (and for all the crappy play, they almost did!). I want this program to make The Leap so much. Desperately, really. I don't want to be the program people think we are. And it's scary when we think, at least for one game, those people might be right.

If the last two seasons have taught us anything, it's that a lot can change game-to-game and month-to-month when it comes to Syracuse Football. We've seen it work in both directions, with teams headed one way in September and headed a completely different way come November. Like Matt said in his piece, I don't know if that's going to happen this season, but I refuse to take a close loss to Penn State "on the road" as definitive proof that this year will be a bust.

The questions being asked right now...I don't think we'll truly have answers until at least Week 4. At that point, Syracuse will have played two tough games away from home and two easy ones at home. We'll see how everyone, including Allen, have grown and changed. And at that point, if we don't like the answers, I think I'm willing to ask some tough questions myself. Until then, I'm gonna let this team breath.