Syracuse - West Virginia Postgame Reactions OR We Got Burned, Not Our Couch
2 Comments Published on 10.15.2008 by Brian Harrison
Did you see that? My hopes and dreams just flew away.So if you think you need to go,
If you wanted to be free,
There's one thing you need to know
And that's that you can't count on me.
No you can't count on me.
~ You Can’t Count On Me by Counting Crows
Syracuse had a chance in this game. When Pat White does not play for West Virginia any team would have a chance. But of course, you cannot really count on Syracuse to pull out a win over anyone but a 1-AA team, and even then it was questionable on occasion. What you can count on, is Syracuse seeming to find endless ways to lose the game, or in this case make a major coverage mistake.
Offense
B-
The offense was pretty good in this game. The big story was Curtis “Boonah” Brinkley tearing off 144 yards and gaining 5.1 yards a carry against West Virginia, a defense that is fairly strong in the Big East. Cantley had an alright day (24/40, 204yds, 0 TD, 1 INT), but nothing spectacular. Really this game was on the back of Carter, as he ran the best he could, hitting the hole full speed and getting a lot of yards after contact. Interesting stat of the game is that Syracuse earned 4.9 yards per pass, while West Virginia only got 2.6 yards per pass.
Defense
C
The defense again lasted for most of the game, but just could not last an entire four quarters, highlighted by a 92 yard run on a third and seven from the WVU eight yard line by Noel Devine to put the game basically out of reach for the Orange. All season the M.O. for the Orange has been to be tough on the run, usually limiting the backs to limited yards, while the QB’s just make monster passes over the top for big scores with the greatest of ease. This time, while the run defense lasted most of the game, apparently the combination of no Pat White and luck resulted in only 52 passing yards for the Mountaineers. Either way, the defense cannot last the entire game and that will continue to be a big problem.
Special Teams
A-
Patrick “Sex Offender Mustache” Shadle hopefully got laid this weekend after hitting a monster field goal 53 yards long. Morgantown’s own hit the bomb, plus another FG to earn six points for the orange. Mike Holmes and Max Suter combined for four kick returns and 100 yards total, which is not a bad day. Rob Long also had a decent day, kicking five times for a total of 224 yards and a touchback. Sadly none of which were inside the 20, but sometimes you have a day like that. All in all, a solid day for the Special Teams unit.
Coaching
B-
There were no egregious coaching errors in this game, which frankly is refreshing these days. I was fine with Greg going for it on forth down when he did. At that point, what else could you do to try and win the game. Either way, the continual problem of missed tackles and no energy down the stretch are getting tiresome for me and the rest of the fan base. It will be great when a new coach comes in and actually has players tackle in practice.
GPA
B- (2.75)
Not a bad game for the Orange, but definitely a missed opportunity. With Pat White out, you have a chance to stop an offense that has confounded Syracuse the last few seasons, as well as have a chance to out score them. Syracuse squandered that opportunity by again only playing 3 quarters really well. Again, while this loss is not as bad as the Pittsburgh game, and I cannot dispute that West Virginia is a better team so this loss is not that shocking, there was a change for the Orange to gain some momentum heading into South Florida or at least feel good about themselves temporarily and they missed it.
Syracuse will look to take on #20 South Florida in Tampa this weekend at noon. This game is not on TV, so unless you magically get ESPN 360 at home, you’ll have to go to a bar with the ESPN Gameplan. Hopefully Syracuse will be able to stop this team from embarrassing them, but at this point it would not be surprising if they couldn’t. Either way, Syracuse will most likely notch another loss in a game that even they probably do not think they can win. Stay tuned later today for my chat with Mountainlair editor and all around good guy (despite being a WVU fan) John Radcliff about the game, West Virginia, and the Big East as a whole.
Offense
B-
The offense was pretty good in this game. The big story was Curtis “Boonah” Brinkley tearing off 144 yards and gaining 5.1 yards a carry against West Virginia, a defense that is fairly strong in the Big East. Cantley had an alright day (24/40, 204yds, 0 TD, 1 INT), but nothing spectacular. Really this game was on the back of Carter, as he ran the best he could, hitting the hole full speed and getting a lot of yards after contact. Interesting stat of the game is that Syracuse earned 4.9 yards per pass, while West Virginia only got 2.6 yards per pass.
Defense
C
The defense again lasted for most of the game, but just could not last an entire four quarters, highlighted by a 92 yard run on a third and seven from the WVU eight yard line by Noel Devine to put the game basically out of reach for the Orange. All season the M.O. for the Orange has been to be tough on the run, usually limiting the backs to limited yards, while the QB’s just make monster passes over the top for big scores with the greatest of ease. This time, while the run defense lasted most of the game, apparently the combination of no Pat White and luck resulted in only 52 passing yards for the Mountaineers. Either way, the defense cannot last the entire game and that will continue to be a big problem.
Special Teams
A-
Patrick “Sex Offender Mustache” Shadle hopefully got laid this weekend after hitting a monster field goal 53 yards long. Morgantown’s own hit the bomb, plus another FG to earn six points for the orange. Mike Holmes and Max Suter combined for four kick returns and 100 yards total, which is not a bad day. Rob Long also had a decent day, kicking five times for a total of 224 yards and a touchback. Sadly none of which were inside the 20, but sometimes you have a day like that. All in all, a solid day for the Special Teams unit.
Coaching
B-
There were no egregious coaching errors in this game, which frankly is refreshing these days. I was fine with Greg going for it on forth down when he did. At that point, what else could you do to try and win the game. Either way, the continual problem of missed tackles and no energy down the stretch are getting tiresome for me and the rest of the fan base. It will be great when a new coach comes in and actually has players tackle in practice.
GPA
B- (2.75)
Not a bad game for the Orange, but definitely a missed opportunity. With Pat White out, you have a chance to stop an offense that has confounded Syracuse the last few seasons, as well as have a chance to out score them. Syracuse squandered that opportunity by again only playing 3 quarters really well. Again, while this loss is not as bad as the Pittsburgh game, and I cannot dispute that West Virginia is a better team so this loss is not that shocking, there was a change for the Orange to gain some momentum heading into South Florida or at least feel good about themselves temporarily and they missed it.
Syracuse will look to take on #20 South Florida in Tampa this weekend at noon. This game is not on TV, so unless you magically get ESPN 360 at home, you’ll have to go to a bar with the ESPN Gameplan. Hopefully Syracuse will be able to stop this team from embarrassing them, but at this point it would not be surprising if they couldn’t. Either way, Syracuse will most likely notch another loss in a game that even they probably do not think they can win. Stay tuned later today for my chat with Mountainlair editor and all around good guy (despite being a WVU fan) John Radcliff about the game, West Virginia, and the Big East as a whole.
I'm pretty sure the South Florida game is a nooner on the Big East Network. It'll be picked up locally in the Syracuse/Elmira areas on Time Warner Sports, and I believe in the greater NYC area on SNY, "The Home of the Big East."
Probably doesn't do much for you in Springfield, though.
Clearly not.