Syracuse Orange Football Thread- Please Stay Shafer!

[marshawn lynch]

Syracuse's Schedule

Sat, Sep 1 vs. Northwestern L
Sat, Sep 8 vs. USC L
Sat, Sep 15 vs. Stony Brook W
Sat, Sep 22 at Minnesota L
Fri, Oct 5 * vs. Pittsburgh W
Sat, Oct 13 * at Rutgers L
Fri, Oct 19 * vs Connecticut W
Sat, Oct 27 * at USF W
Sat, Nov 3 * at Cincinati L
Sat, Nov 10 * vs. Louisville W
Sat, Nov 17 at Missouri W
Sat, Nov 23 * at Temple

Pinstripe Bowl- Sat, Dec 29 vs West Virginia

*Denotes Big East game

Carrier Dome"The Loud House"

Home of the Syracuse Orange Football from 1980-Present


Players to Watch

Deon Goggins-With Mikhail Marinovich and Chandler Jones out of the picture, this leaves a huge whole on the dline, specifically at DE. Goggins last year played 12 games at DT where he showed very god explosion and penetration from the DT position. Well with Jones and Mikhail gone he is gonna have to use those traits to transition him to DE. Goggins had a decent year last year with 1.5 sacks and 7.5 TFL. It almost seemed like all his tackles was for a loss. He also racked up 43 total tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 3 QB hurries. Decent stats but in order for him to become a good starting DE, Syracue will need him to step up in a big way. Brandon Sharpe seems poised to take over the other DE job. Goggins really will have to step up in the run game as he has two undersized DTs next to him with Cory Boatman and Jay Bromley. I am also interested in seeing Iowa DE transfer Jon Raymon and see if he can push Goggins for the job. Although at over 300 pounds the SU coaching staff may just elect to put Raymon at DT instead. We will have to wait until Saturday to see if Goggins pentration skills serve him well at DE.



Jerome Smith- Jerome is gonna have to step up in a huge way as well this year. We don't have the comfort at RB like we usually had with Curtis Brinkley, Delone Carter, or an Antwon Bailey. Right now Smith is penciled in as the starter over Prince Tyson Gulley who I thought was gonna be the one to step up. But Smith seemed to be the favorite from the beginning and was out performing PTG. But recent events lead for cause for concern as Doug Marrone switched Devante McFarlane from Safety to RB where he played in high school. McFarlane is reportedly playing good there but do we really want a true freshman starting at RB. We may have to use a RB by commitee this year unless my player to watch, Jerome Smith steps up and can be the starter I know he can be. One thing is for sure is that Smith needs to improve on his yards per carry as he only averages 3.62 yards per carry. He has to atleast increase that to the 4.2 range if he wants to keep his job.He had 134 yards and 1 TD on 37 attempts. THe only good game he had last year stat wise was the last game of the season against Pitt where he had 10 carries for 56 yards and his lone TD. Hopefully that performance can carry over to this year as that was the last game of the season. PTG last years stats where better but unfortunately got injured. Maybe Ashton Broyld our QB of the future will make a good RB!




Impact of Weapons on our Offense

Our offense since Doug Marrone got here has seemed stale. Which seems kind of odd as he was the OC of the Saints before coming here and got to work with Sean Payton and Drew Brees everyday. I am not sure if it is caused by QB play, Marrone's play calling, or if there is just not enough weapons on our offense. With concern in the backfield and our depth at WR I would really like to see Marrone use more of a spread style attack this year. I really think Nassib can thrive in that style of play with a quick strike offense and all the possesion type WRs we have. Marrone has said there are a few tweaks to the offense this year and lets hope it is for the better. That combined with the amount of weapons this year should make for a much better offense this year.

Lets start out talking about some freshman that could impact our offense. Ron Thompson the 4 star TE this year can make a nice target for Nassib this year but he will be a backup. Nassib and Beckett Whales seem to have a much better connection at this point. Whales has become one of Nassibs favorite targets but I can see us using two TEs sets alot just to get Thompson's talent out on the field. Then you have Devante McFarlane who I mentioned ealier switched back to RB. He may not make much of an impact right away as Marrone waited to almost the beginning of the season to make the swicth. But I do expect him to make a difference with struggles at RB. And the man you have been waiting for the future of Syracuse football, Ashton Broyld. He will have the biggest role of any Freshman. He will not be the starting QB this year but he will be the Brad Smith of college ball. He will do it all. He will play RB, TE, WR, Wildcat, and some QB this year. I see much value in him as he can play where ever we need him. Say hello to the next Cam Newton fellas.

We are really really deep at WR this year. We have Alec Lemon returning from a 68 reception season with 834 yards and 6 TDs. One can only hope his stats go up but I don't think they will because I feel that one man returning this year will take some catches from Lemon. Marcus Sales is back fellas and we FINALLY get to see him as a starter. He was projected to be a huge player last year for us after the KSU game. But he got in trouble with the law and turns out he was wrongfully accused. Well it is Sales time and he will get his shot this year. What kind of impact do I expect from him, I want 50+ catches with 750+ yards with 5+ TDs. Lemon and Sales gives us two very good starters and I think they complement each other very well. Then we have redshirt freshman Jarrod West who got injured last year. Supposedly he is playing very well in practice and has the slot job locked down. West was supposed to make an impact last year as a true freshman but now we got an extra year longer with him. Jermiah Kobena our kickoff returner and probably one of the fastest guys on the team is doing a great job in the slot as well and he should be our #4 WR heading into the season. We have two very good outside threats and two players who in practice has perfomed well in the slot. That is why I feel we should use more spread this year. And anytime Andrian Flemming is entering the season as a 5th string WR, it means you are deep.

TEs will be without Nick Provo this year but Beckett Wales has stepped up and should improve on his reception season he had as a sophmore. David Stevens who had 19 catches and a TD last year should also seem to be a good threat for Nassib on certain situations. We all know how much Nassib loves his TEs. And with our great oline we have going into the season they can spend less time helping OTs block and go out and catch some balls. We will also get to see some of Ron Thompson who I mentioned already and Lou Addazio who is a pretty good recruiter for Syracuse football.

Even though we have concern at RB there is no shortage of them. We are stacked at that position with Jerome Smith, Price Tyson Gulley, Adonis Ameen-Moore, Steven Rene, Devante McFarlane, Ashton Broyld, George Morris III, Greg Tobias, and Travon Burke. With so many atleast a couple of these guys will step up and add even more weapons to this offense.

How much will all these weapons impact this offense? That is up to one man and one man only. Ryan Nassib. He has the protection. He has the Recievers. He has a plethora of RBs. All he needs to do is get the ball to his playmakers.



Opening Day

vs.
Saturday, September 1st, 12:00PM on ESPN2- at Syracuse: Carrier Dome


Syracuse Orange (5-7)


2011 FBS Rankings:

Points for- 84th (24.2)
Points against- 73rd (28.5)
Passing Yards- 65th (227.8.)
Rushing Yards- 95th (120.4)


Big East Pre-Season Rankings: 6th

2011 Team Leaders

Passing- Ryan Nassib- 415(Att) 259(Comp) 9(Int) 2685(Yards) 22(TDs)
Rushing- Antwon Bailey- 240(Rushes) 1051(Yards) 4.4 (Avg) 6(TDs)
Receiving- Alec Lemon- 68(Rec.) 834(Yards) 6(TDs)

Tackles- Phillip Thomas- 28(Ast) 54(solo) 82(Total) 4.5 (tackle for loss)
Sacks- Chandler Jones 4.5(sacks) 30(tackles) 7.5 (tackle for loss) 2(forced fumbles)
Interceptions- Phillip Thomas]Phillip Thomas 6(Int) 50(Yds) 0(TDs)

Kicking- Ross Krautman- 19(att) 15(made) 33(XPM) 34(XPA)
Punting- Jonathon Fisher- 43(Punts) 1690(Yards) 39.3 (Avg)
Kick Returning- Jeremiah Kobena- 45(KRs) 1027(Yards) 22.82(Avg)


Season Prediction:

This year it is all about the schedule. We may have the hardest OOC schedule in the FBS including pre-season #1 on neutral field. THis can be a good thing or a bad thing. If we survive it we can end up with a really good bowl game but if we fail it could ruin our whole season. We have one easy won this year and that is Stony Brook. I also see wins with Northwestern, Temple, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Rutgers to put us at 6-6 on the season, 3-4 in the Big East. We earn the Beef O'Bradys bowl.

Lets Go Cuse!

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Jamison on sig

[A.J.]

[marshawn lynch]

[SUfbondarebound]

[marshawn lynch]

[icecoldbruschi]

I'm personally just looking forward to the next coach so we can get this bum out of here. I can't bear one of the most prestigious programs in the country go down the tubes while programs with no history are having success. It just isn't right.

I like the Giants offensive coordinator, I have heard him as a candidate for replacement. Also, the University of Buffalo's coach is someone I have heard mentioned.
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[marshawn lynch]

[marshawn lynch]

What are some of your guys thought on Jake Flaherty?
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Jamison on sig

[SUfbondarebound]

[icecoldbruschi]

[don4593]

cool an SU thread. Whats the deal with Mike Williams...will he be back? I forget the situation.
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Thanks to Pick6_Finnegan for the sig

XBL GT- King Don x

[marshawn lynch]

[icecoldbruschi]

[billzz]

Collier use to goto my rivalry school!!!
Im playing J.V this year
but they are trying to move me up to Varsity
I would be playing with the people that tackled him!!
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[SUfbondarebound]