Syracuse knocks off Wake Forest 13-0 at the Dome. Here’s my instant reaction:
-If you were looking for offense or excitement, you were left staring into space. Lots of three-and-outs in the first half, and plenty of sloppy offense. From Syracuse’s perspective, Terrel Hunt was scattershot and ineffective until the third quarter. The ground game was stagnant, and the offensive line couldn’t open any space. Luckily, Wake’s attack was just as putrid.
-By the second half, SU’s ground game wore down the Deacons and the Orange backs started finding holes. The crease on PTG’s 67-yarder was a tremendous job by the line, and Gulley’s speed was on full display. Great job by PTG to find the second level of the defense and then get into the secondary. It took awhile for the offense to start churning, but the commitment to the run ended up paying dividends. SU is 35th in the nation in rushing yards, averaging nearly 200 per game. Keep feeding the dogs, because Jerome Smith and PTG are the strength of the offense.
-Mike Campanaro’s injury was a huge one for Wake. He’s the Deacons best big-play threat. Jay Bromley was a monster all afternoon. Isaiah Johnson’s deflection and interception was a tremendous individual effort.
-Loved the play call by GMcD on the reverse, wide receiver throw to Estime on the TD. The offense was sluggish for most of the afternoon, so why not try to mix it up? SU has some playmakers and should utilize speed and athleticism however possible. Great call caught the Wake defense completely off guard, and the throw by West was on the money. Since Hunt’s been fairly ineffective through the air in conference play, why not find more ways to open up the playbook? The Orange is one of the worst passing teams in the nation (ranked 101st). Shafer admitted after the game he needs to find ways to get Estime and Ashton Broyld the ball. Hey, it’s already November guys. This should’ve been in the works since April.
-The SU defense was terrific. Stuffed the Wake attack all day. The Deacs only finished with a measly 213 total yards. But the most incredible number is 40. That’s the rushing yards on 18 carries for Wake. Syracuse held the Deacons to a paltry 2.2 yards per carry. Great job the defensive line allowing no holes to run through, and dominating the trenches. Scott Shafer clearly doesn’t mind¬†relying in his defense and winning ugly. That’s what Saturday was all about.
-Good bounce back performance after getting slaughtered by Georgie Tech last week. Thankfully the defense kept SU in the game, and the Orange offense wasn’t asked to put up many points. The recipe for a bowl game is still very much in play. The win pushes SU to 4-4, and means the Orange need to win 2 of 3 from Maryland, BC and Pitt (assuming FSU beats Syracuse). Two of those are at the Dome and Maryland lost to this Wake Forest team a couple of weeks ago. The Orange as given itself some breathing room in its race for the postseason.
-I like the idea of honoring former SU greats like McPherson and McNabb on Saturday. Hanging their jerseys in the rafters is a cool idea. But can we get bigger, brighter, better banners for it? These little jerseys look like dollhouse cut outs, and are hung in the corner of the Dome. Why not do them big, and hang them over the center of the field? Doc wants to make the Dome more colorful, but they’re only going halfway in doing it. Go big or go home. These legends deserve it.
Posted: D.A.
16 responses to “Syracuse Shuts Out Wake Forest 13-0: D.A.’s Knee-Jerk Reaction”
BOth Jerome and PTG have shown they don’t have the kind of speed to score on long runs before being overtaken and put down. Both will struggle to get into the pros. Gulley should have scored on his long run. He was running free and had his balance once he cleared the LOS I have to wonder if Morris or Devante have that kind of speed.
A win is a win and an even better win when it is an ACC opponent. Defense played great. Hunt played well enough to win but he looks to run to much and over threw Broyld down the sideline for a sure TD. A Div. 1 QB needs to make that throw, but it is his first year starting so he needs t be given a little lee way. Gotta say the streak continues 14 years as a season ticket holder and we take the wives to one game a year and they have never seen a loss. Maybe we should get them season tickets.
Hey guys..a win is a win and we had to have this homegame to have a shot at the PS bowl!!I would have really been down if we did’nt take this game!!Were not at a point yet were we can take anyone for granted…congrats Fizzfam on the big win(they all are)and keeping our hopes for a minor bowl alive!!Oh happy day!!Now hopefully my Fantasy FB team will do as well!Ha Ha..”good day today huh Ron,Terry,Malone,CDL?”I would have responded sooner in joy but left my LP home!
@Hey SmittySection,we both were thinking and posting the same thoughts at the same time??Congrats to you too and the Defense!!
I thought the D was great and the officiating was terrible. There were several uncalled penalties including a non-call helmet to helmet or two on Hunt. One of them was at least roughing the passer on the non-call pass interference to Broyld. I was watching with a WF fan so it was good to see them finally break through. As soon as SU scored, we both assumed the game over given how hard points seemed to be coming.
TV did a good job covering our rich legacy, which is always good for prospects to see. They talked about Mackey, Little, and the 44 legacy, Czonka, McPherson, and McNabb. They didn’t really talk about Harrison (wonder if that was predetermined). Still think our alums are not publicised enough. Mare and Anderson are two of the greatest kickers in the history of the game for example. Jones bros are making waves, and there’s that dominant pass rusher in San Diego (I know he’s injured, but he’s still great). Recently read a story that said Pugh was outperforming all OL from his draft class and should be considered for rookie of the year (how cool would it be to have an NFL ROY and NBA ROY in the same year?)
I agree with Chris, PTG should be able to get to the house on that run. I was a little upset we couldn’t punch it in on a few of those red zone opportunities. Thought West’s deep catch was a good throw and catch. Maybe getting West involved more would help him. McDonald needs to find a greater or more frequent mix or pass/run I think. Glad to see Estime getting utilized. Moore had a TD, shouldn’t have dropped that one. I hope D line recruits took notice of I. Johnson’s PT and what he’s able to do with it. That’s the sort of thing that should be influencing them.
WF losing Campanero was a big swing I think. We don’t defend receivers like him well. To me that spells trouble for FSU and even Maryland. I think we have a better chance with run first offenses like Pitt and BC, even though both have some very good receivers.
Still not like the offensive playing call. Beginning of the season and past weeks we have discussed using our RB’s more to take the workload off of Hunt. Running the ball more often is goin to open up the pass.
Loved seeing estime get more touches, but where is broyld??
Defense played solid, but WF losing their playmaker changed the whole dynamic if the game.
I feel we need to win at Maryland to go bowling… BC and Pitt are winnable games, but a win at Maryland gives us some breathing room and a better bowl bid. 7-5??
@Russ thanks for giving the shootout i love seeing the good ol “CDL” in the comments it makes me smile down here in Texas have a good one boys good weekend to be a Cuse fan do i have this right Cuse vs. Cornell this friday in hoops?
DA-The wild play call for TD was put in because HUNT is not a DIV 1 quality QB. I read some where that they(SU fan site) feel HUNT is ahead of Ryan in Ryans SO year. Get out of here!! HUNT is terrible. Those flea flickers tell me staff has honestly lost confidence in HUNT. I do not and say HCSS should not condemn HUNT, but he’s going to be the problem if SU does not go bowling this year!!
The “D” was the star of the game
Johnson could be a star in coming years.
DA You said PTG’s speed was on full display. Hell he got caught too!! Also why not lower his shoulder at the db catching him(Jim Brown style) and see if he can break down the tackle and score. Smith needs to stay another year also. Work on pass catching.
Watched Shark play against NE last night. God he looked small against that TE. He had more heart than any player the CUSE has had in recent years to me. Big fan of his. Only he didn’t get drafted by the Stoolers!! DAMN!!
As we were leaving the game a couple of WF fans(I think not SU fans) stated the turf at the Dome has not changed at all. Yes they were drinking,but that issue can’t bring up its ugly head again!! The DOME turf is great. I have talked to many HSFB players that played on it and they have said its the best turf they have ever played on. And most have turf on their HS fields! The drunks said with all the injuries for WF that’s why they feel they got hurt. To that in all of our loud fan support we said how many SU guys went down. SU just must be tougher!! They shut up!! Out numbered I guess!! LOL! But that says HCSS does have this team playng HARD NOSED football. And that showed again Saturday afternoon as WF guys were carried off the field. Some fans bitched about the poor calls by the refs. Well hard nosed FB those things happen. You want the fear factor to play into the minds of the opposing team. Way back in college a prof told us that the brain can only think of ONE thing at a time. That’s what you want them to be confused and HAD NOSED FB does that. Give’m hell HCSS!! Love him!! At Times!!
A good luck call to Terry Mc(CUSE guy) on the Virginia Gov election. Go CUSE!!
Do Not forget the 26 abused PSABUSEDU kids. The NCAA did!!
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