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WF at SYRACUSE, Saturday 3:30 ESPN2

Deac1244 said:
The thing I take away from this game is not just a win and a 6-0 record, but the fact that we found a way to win when we didn't have our "A" game. We can almost always win when we play our best but to gut out a win when we made mistakes, miss throws, have drops and make mental mistakes is a sign that we are moving forward as a program. This is exactly the type of game we lose over the last few years.

My hope is that last years' "free" season of eligibility really propels our program forward into the future even beyond this season. It completely reinforces the idea that a place like Wake can take 2 & 3 star athletes and turn them into 3, 4 or even 5 stars al the while earning an exceptional education.

Go Deacs!
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This. Fans don't have to sugar coat the gameplan, execution, and effort just because we won just like you don't have to criticize them just because we lose.

That was a poor defensive effort. No question. Cuse ran 85 plays. About a third were passes, about a third were RB runs, about a third were QB runs. The same two dudes just ran through our defense like it was nothing. 3 sacks. Maybe one or two TFLs. Cuse was almost always on schedule and if they weren't, Shrader could just scramble on 3rd down and get whatever they needed.
 
I mean, while I'd prefer to win while dominating every facet of the game, I'll still take winning a game where stuff was too crisp at times. Beats the hell out of losing but playing well. I'm glad that we fans, and the team itself, can identify these issues and hopefully work to fix and/or minimize them entering a bye week.
 
DeacsOrDie said:
That underthrow by Sam to Chapman on the first drive still haunts me. Coulda changed the attitude toward the whole game.
We won in spite of dunce plays like that.
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Sam’s gotta string together two great halves. The last two games have been great second halves after kinda troubling first halves. The kid has nerves of fucking titanium (and I think he’s awesome), but starts so damn slow. We usually have a nice first drive and then just go into conservative 2 run-1 pass 3-and-outs.

I was thinking about it after the last two games and here’s my theory: Starting drives predictably with 2 one yard runs can’t help Bc it turns every early third down into a third and long, and makes every throw about 20 times more consequential than it should be… Maybe mixing up the playcalling a bit would help this offense relax earlier because whatever we’re doing at halftime seems to be doing the trick. Just gotta get it going earlier.
 
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CreamyGoodness said:
I said it is fair to nitpick our defense. But my point is if you look at most other top-20 teams you'll find a weakness. A strength of this team is making big plays when it matters. I'd go as far to say that's the most important strength for any team to have.
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I think the predictability has been a problem, Creamy. We knew Cuse was going to run it a thousand times this game and just had nothing all game. Even after we pulverized the QB in the 4th, we let him legit jog into consecutive big runs.
 
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CreamyGoodness said:
And to Deac1244 point, he is correct. Finding ways to win, despite not playing our A game is a sign of a good team.

We played our A game @UVA IMO. If we play like we did @UVA then we could win the rest of the games on our schedule.

Also, look at the massive scores from most every game yesterday. Most all top teams dropping 40ish points and giving up 40ish points. We are imperfect, but so is every other team. No, we don't have iowa's defense, but we are getting the job done.
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I think the issue is that we actually have 2 great and one solid unit. We CAN play better than we did yesterday on defense. But we consistently didn’t and didn’t vs Lville either.

Hopefully we can turn it around because this team’s potential is tantalizing. Seems like some small fixes could go a really long way.
 
Has our special teams ever looked this good? Every game those guys have showed up. Ivan Mora is a pro.
 
Strickland33 said:
I think the predictability has been a problem, Creamy. We knew Cuse was going to run it a thousand times this game and just had nothing all game. Even after we pulverized the QB in the 4th, we let him legit jog into consecutive big runs.
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The staff is more in love with Masterson than a few WF fans I know. He whiffed on the QB on the next to last play of their last drive and didn’t cover 34 on the TD pass the very next play. I know he makes some good plays and does all the right things, but surely we have a faster LB who can replace him at times.
 
wfu22fan said:
The staff is more in love with Masterson than a few WF fans I know. He whiffed on the QB on the next to last play of their last drive and didn’t cover 34 on the TD pass the very next play. I know he makes some good plays and does all the right things, but surely we have a faster LB who can replace him at times.
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Luke is faster than #5 and #46. He may be faster than Jones as well.
 
Strickland33 said:
Has our special teams ever looked this good? Every game those guys have showed up. Ivan Mora is a pro.
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This is true. Special teams used to be a liability from a returns and coverage standpoint. Much Improved so far this year, and the kickers have been very good.
 
Strickland33 said:
Sam’s gotta string together two great halves. The last two games have been great second halves after kinda troubling first halves. The kid has nerves of fucking titanium (and I think he’s awesome), but starts so damn slow. We usually have a nice first drive and then just go into conservative 2 run-1 pass 3-and-outs.

I was thinking about it after the last two games and here’s my theory: Starting drives predictably with 2 one yard runs can’t help Bc it turns every early third down into a third and long, and makes every throw about 20 times more consequential than it should be… Maybe mixing up the playcalling a bit would help this offense relax earlier because whatever we’re doing at halftime seems to be doing the trick. Just gotta get it going earlier.
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Sure but starting drives with Hartman throwing a bad pass doesn’t work either. The running game has to 3+ yards each carry to keep the offense on schedule and optimize the RPO because run and pass both work for the situation.

WFU1977 said:
Luke is faster than #5 and #46. He may be faster than Jones as well.
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Yeah. He’s fast enough but he’s got to be more disciplined. He had 2 sacks and 3 TFLs vs UVa but he let better runners in Cunningham and Shrader get away from him. He’s trying to get sacks rather than keep them from getting the first down.
 
Thanks for coming over. Really enjoyed your contribution to our board. Gotta say that Syracuse surprised me. Much better than I expected. Right back at ya about keepin it rolling. You can start by repeating history and crushing Clemson at the dome.
 
I really think that Hartman needs to pull the ball on the read play and run it a couple of times a half just to keep the defense honest. We all know that isn’t his strength, but our offense is so much better when the defense has to account for at least the possibility that the QB might pull it and run.

Bad day for the defense yesterday, and Masterson in particular struggled to contain Schrader. I am also guessing that Luiji isn’t going to enjoy the film session discussion of the 15 yard penalty he picked up on Syracuse’s last drive. However, the good news is that we played poorly, on the road, and still won. Alabama played poorly on the road and lost. Winning when you don’t have your A game is the mark of a good team—we have a good team.
 
2006 had Marion, Idlette, Phonz, and Moore on returns, Swank kicking and punting. Don't remember the coverage, but I'll take that.
 
Usually you would expect of a team like Syracuse was gonna have success on you it would be more wearing you down late in the game.. They had 250 yd total offense in their 1st 4 drives and a 180 in their next 8.

That suggests to me that we had some scheme problems early in the game which is stuff that we gotta get fixed and shouldn't have been an issue because it's pretty apparent what they were gonna do
 
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