Clearly Troy has been watching the games this season.I know you enjoy those nice convos that Sean from Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician. Sadly, because of the holiday on Monday, we got a little delayed with our little question and answers. Therefore, today we proudly present the latest collaboration for your enjoyment.
1. Orange::44: So we lost again. Are you surprised we hung in the game as long as we did, or did it finish as expected?
Nunes: I have to admit I was surprised although it wouldn't be fair for me to say I thought we were gonna win it in the end. When it comes down to it, I don't trust a Greg Robinson-coached team when it's crunchtime and the score is close. And Greg proved my fears to be true the way he handled the fourth down plays towards the end of the game. I was fine with the team going for it, I just didn't like the play-calling.
There's this new-found sense that the team could be turning some kind of corner, and I hope that's true, but I don't but it. I think we caught West Virginia with their pants down. They were without Pat White and the were exposed. We're probably going to find as the season progresses that, like the Louisville game last year, the opponent wasn't as good as they were made out to be.
Credit where credit is due for the SU players to fight their butts off and remain competitive. But I just don't think we're going to see that carry over to USF this week.
2. Orange::44: What is the biggest storyline to come out of the West Virginia Game?
Nunes: Overall it's probably that West Virginia's in a shitload of trouble. They're not that good, they're not that well-coached and their fans have turned on them quicker than anything I've seen in a long time.
As for SU, probably this new-found passing game that was created. We realized a while back that the long passing game wasn't going to be a possibility for the Orange but if we can't get quality, let's at least get quantity. I don't care if each pass play only gets 4-5 yards, it frees up the pressure from Brinkley and allows him to do Curtis Brinkley things. Finally, we saw an SU offense with more than one dimension. Let's hope they build on it.
3. Orange::44: How good is Curtis Brinkley?
Nunes: Poor guy, if he goes to SU in any other era he probably leaves as a 1st or 2nd-round draft pick. As-is, he's going to be remembered as the best player on one of the worst teams in SU history. He's a legit running back and probably the first one since Mungro that we've been able to rely on so heavily. We expect Curtis Brinkley to rush for 100 yards every game now and that's a luxury we haven't had in ages, or at least it seems that way.
Fingers crossed his body holds up and we could be looking at the first of two very productive years for him.
4. Orange::44: Looking to USF, will the team do better and actually give them a run for their money, or will it be typical Syracuse form?
Nunes: I can appreciate the sentiment that we've been building and we're looking better and better each week but this is just the wrong team to play right now. Grothe might be the best QB we face all season, their getting Selvie back on defense, they run the spread the way we THOUGHT West Virginia was going to...this one is probably going to be ugly. That doesn't mean the Orange have taken a step back...it's just too good of an opponent for us right now. If we build on what we accomplished in the WVU game we might be able to at least make it respectable. But I don't see a W just yet.
5. Orange::44: Why isn't this guy fired yet?
Nunes: You're asking me? I give up trying to figure out the madness of the SU Athletics Department. If I know anything about DOC Gross, it's that he always thinks about the PR implications. So you can bet he wants the entire process managed to a T. He wants to do it exactly right, whatever that means. So if I had to guess, I think it's a foregone conclusion that he's gone, they will announce his "firing" before the Cincinnati game and they will make public the coaching search that has already started, making their decision swiftly to ensure that we get the best candidate possible and cut down on recruiting issues. And DOC will try to come out looking like the hero, somehow.
6. Orange::44: Turning to basketball, what is the one thing that makes you most excited about the upcoming season?
Nunes: The law of averages. We've missed the NCAA Tourney two straight years. It's theoretically impossible that this won't be a good year for the team. All the pieces are there for a return to the NCAA Tournament. And even though this season hasn't started yet, it's worth noting that we don't really lose anyone after this season (except Kristof! and assuming Flynn stays). We could be looking at the start of an extremely dominating run for SU basketball. Boeheim's last hurrah?
7. Orange::44: Finally, it turns out Lloyd Carr was in Syracuse after all. Does that mean anything? Would you take him as the coach?
Nunes: First, I'd like to say congrats on the vindication. Even though others tried to paint it like you started an outlandish rumor, we now know it wasn't. And I remember thinking that when SU Athletics made their official denial about him meeting with SU officials. They went out of their way to deny that he MET with anyone, not to say that he wasn't there. Lame.
Honestly, nah. I'd rather not. I'm all about a young, new, untarnished regime coming into Syracuse and hitting the ground running. Carr did a great job for the most part at Michigan but let's face it, his early teams were much better than his later teams and he benefited greatly from the UM mystique.
Give me a 30-something recruiting whiz surrounded by experienced coordinators over Lloyd Carr or any other older coach with their own agenda. We need a Ron Zook or an Urban Meyer, not a Howard Schnellenberger or a Larry Coker.
Editor’s Note: This is another installment in the ongoing collaboration between Orange::44 and Nunes/Magician. Usually every other Tuesday Nunes::44 will appear here, while the following week Orange::44/Magician will appear on his site. Until then, enjoy Nunes/Magician articles and stay tuned to Orange::44 for complete postgame coverage from every Syracuse game.
1. Orange::44: So we lost again. Are you surprised we hung in the game as long as we did, or did it finish as expected?
Nunes: I have to admit I was surprised although it wouldn't be fair for me to say I thought we were gonna win it in the end. When it comes down to it, I don't trust a Greg Robinson-coached team when it's crunchtime and the score is close. And Greg proved my fears to be true the way he handled the fourth down plays towards the end of the game. I was fine with the team going for it, I just didn't like the play-calling.
There's this new-found sense that the team could be turning some kind of corner, and I hope that's true, but I don't but it. I think we caught West Virginia with their pants down. They were without Pat White and the were exposed. We're probably going to find as the season progresses that, like the Louisville game last year, the opponent wasn't as good as they were made out to be.
Credit where credit is due for the SU players to fight their butts off and remain competitive. But I just don't think we're going to see that carry over to USF this week.
2. Orange::44: What is the biggest storyline to come out of the West Virginia Game?
Nunes: Overall it's probably that West Virginia's in a shitload of trouble. They're not that good, they're not that well-coached and their fans have turned on them quicker than anything I've seen in a long time.
As for SU, probably this new-found passing game that was created. We realized a while back that the long passing game wasn't going to be a possibility for the Orange but if we can't get quality, let's at least get quantity. I don't care if each pass play only gets 4-5 yards, it frees up the pressure from Brinkley and allows him to do Curtis Brinkley things. Finally, we saw an SU offense with more than one dimension. Let's hope they build on it.
3. Orange::44: How good is Curtis Brinkley?
Nunes: Poor guy, if he goes to SU in any other era he probably leaves as a 1st or 2nd-round draft pick. As-is, he's going to be remembered as the best player on one of the worst teams in SU history. He's a legit running back and probably the first one since Mungro that we've been able to rely on so heavily. We expect Curtis Brinkley to rush for 100 yards every game now and that's a luxury we haven't had in ages, or at least it seems that way.
Fingers crossed his body holds up and we could be looking at the first of two very productive years for him.
4. Orange::44: Looking to USF, will the team do better and actually give them a run for their money, or will it be typical Syracuse form?
Nunes: I can appreciate the sentiment that we've been building and we're looking better and better each week but this is just the wrong team to play right now. Grothe might be the best QB we face all season, their getting Selvie back on defense, they run the spread the way we THOUGHT West Virginia was going to...this one is probably going to be ugly. That doesn't mean the Orange have taken a step back...it's just too good of an opponent for us right now. If we build on what we accomplished in the WVU game we might be able to at least make it respectable. But I don't see a W just yet.
5. Orange::44: Why isn't this guy fired yet?
Nunes: You're asking me? I give up trying to figure out the madness of the SU Athletics Department. If I know anything about DOC Gross, it's that he always thinks about the PR implications. So you can bet he wants the entire process managed to a T. He wants to do it exactly right, whatever that means. So if I had to guess, I think it's a foregone conclusion that he's gone, they will announce his "firing" before the Cincinnati game and they will make public the coaching search that has already started, making their decision swiftly to ensure that we get the best candidate possible and cut down on recruiting issues. And DOC will try to come out looking like the hero, somehow.
6. Orange::44: Turning to basketball, what is the one thing that makes you most excited about the upcoming season?
Nunes: The law of averages. We've missed the NCAA Tourney two straight years. It's theoretically impossible that this won't be a good year for the team. All the pieces are there for a return to the NCAA Tournament. And even though this season hasn't started yet, it's worth noting that we don't really lose anyone after this season (except Kristof! and assuming Flynn stays). We could be looking at the start of an extremely dominating run for SU basketball. Boeheim's last hurrah?
7. Orange::44: Finally, it turns out Lloyd Carr was in Syracuse after all. Does that mean anything? Would you take him as the coach?
Nunes: First, I'd like to say congrats on the vindication. Even though others tried to paint it like you started an outlandish rumor, we now know it wasn't. And I remember thinking that when SU Athletics made their official denial about him meeting with SU officials. They went out of their way to deny that he MET with anyone, not to say that he wasn't there. Lame.
Honestly, nah. I'd rather not. I'm all about a young, new, untarnished regime coming into Syracuse and hitting the ground running. Carr did a great job for the most part at Michigan but let's face it, his early teams were much better than his later teams and he benefited greatly from the UM mystique.
Give me a 30-something recruiting whiz surrounded by experienced coordinators over Lloyd Carr or any other older coach with their own agenda. We need a Ron Zook or an Urban Meyer, not a Howard Schnellenberger or a Larry Coker.
Editor’s Note: This is another installment in the ongoing collaboration between Orange::44 and Nunes/Magician. Usually every other Tuesday Nunes::44 will appear here, while the following week Orange::44/Magician will appear on his site. Until then, enjoy Nunes/Magician articles and stay tuned to Orange::44 for complete postgame coverage from every Syracuse game.
Labels: Big East, Football, Nunes/Magician
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