After further review, having watched the game again......

[caliGopher]

I thought this yesterday at the time, but watching the replay, Syracuse's first play of the game should have been a penalty, not a turnover. Assuming the clock on the ticker at the top of the screen was correct, the play clock expired before the snap.

I'll take it given how many of these things have screwed us over the years, but it was pretty late. A good 2-3 seconds after the play clock showed zero.

Outside of SDSU, this is the worst team we'll face. If they win a game, I'll be surprised. Paulus did have poise, but I can throw the ball with more authority than he does (and that is not a complement to either of us).

Time will tell, but the coaching staff at Syracuse got just about everything possible out of the players they have. It appears they have a coach who can, well, coach. I'm told that is not very important, but I think it will help them improve in the next few years.

The O looks even worse when the game isn't on the line.

Weber has taken a lot of flack on the board, but a number of his worst throws were to places receivers were supposed to be, and often they weren't there. I'd give credence to some of this being on Weber if he weren't able to find Decker so easily on these throws. The level of coaching with the receivers to get them on the same page must increase. Bringing in Gray isn't going to change this. Weber's reliance on Decker wasn't as obvious watching the game vs. remembering it. Weber threw to a lot of guys. He did have some poor throws, but guys ran the wrong routes a lot. Particularly Green (early) and Tow-Arnett.

The o-line looks even worse a day later. Screen plays should be monster gainers for us. The D-line's won't notice when the blow right past our line that it is any different than every other play. QBs running for their lives isn't going to help the offense be successful.

The Defense was slow to react, but did react and improved in the second half. Syracuse gained yards on falling down d-backs, and basically two plays.

Like I said yesterday, you can't argue with 38 yards in the second half. OT was bad for the D until the INT. Given just how bad Paulus really is I'll wait to start praising the D until we see them this weekend. If they are patient and disciplined, we may give up yards, but we'll hold the AF o in check for the most part and leave it to the offense to win. We'll see.

Brown's roughing the passer penalty was awful. It wasn't agressive, part of the game or anything like that. It was 2+ steps late and cheap, even if he hit him like a little girl.

The good news is, most improvement takes place between weeks one and two, or so I'm told. We're still 1-0.

 

[josh087]

The Weber fumble in SU territory early in the 4th Quarter also came on a play where (at least according to the ESPN box at the top of the screen) the play clock was clearly expired.

Assuming there was no play clock synchronization issues between the ESPN graphic and the actual play clock, both teams were hurt with a TO on a delay of game that wasn't called.

 

[What Up Guy]

I have actually heard an explanation of why the TV playclock always expires and there is never a penalty called...it was very logical, but naturally i dont remember it.

 

[WAGopher]

As far as I know, the official time is still kept on the field by one of the officials, so both the game and play clocks may be incorrect. Usually, the game clock is corrected by the officials, but I don't think they're going to interrupt the quarterback to correct the play clock.

 

[ncgo4]

Paulus

The late hit penalty was a poor call, IMHO. He barely touched him. I'll bet real money that in Coach K's family room there was a huge shout something like, "That's my boy! I taught him that flop!"

Never the less, he shouldn't have been touched.

 

[cheeseheadgophfan]

If we're talking bad calls.....

How bout the spot on 4th and 1 on Weber's QB sneak? Watch the ref who is in charge of the spot. All we needed to do was get to the yard mark....he comes racing down the line showing the spot of the play a good half yard in advance and by the time the ball is measured it's a good half yard back. I couldn't believe it.

 

[mkAz]

Weber has taken a lot of flack on the board, but a number of his worst throws were to places receivers were supposed to be, and often they weren't there. I'd give credence to some of this being on Weber if he weren't able to find Decker so easily on these throws. The level of coaching with the receivers to get them on the same page must increase. Bringing in Gray isn't going to change this. Weber's reliance on Decker wasn't as obvious watching the game vs. remembering it. Weber threw to a lot of guys. He did have some poor throws, but guys ran the wrong routes a lot. Particularly Green (early) and Tow-Arnett..

How exactly are you able to deceiver whether a receiver ran the incorrect route or not? Do you have a copy of the playbook? All I know is that I saw lots of throws to the feet of his receivers, lots of throws behind his receivers, basically lots of throws very much off target.

 

[spermophilus]

I Won't

Outside of SDSU, this is the worst team we'll face. If they win a game, I'll be surprised.

They will likely get poleaxed at Happy Valley and by Northwestern (making them 0-3 in the Big Ten), but assuming they stay healthy I can easily see them equaling or bettering their 3-9 mark from '08.

 

[caliGopher]

How exactly are you able to deceiver whether a receiver ran the incorrect route or not? Do you have a copy of the playbook? All I know is that I saw lots of throws to the feet of his receivers, lots of throws behind his receivers, basically lots of throws very much off target.

I do not have a copy of the playbook, but I do have eyes, and a DVR.

Not saying I didn't see Weber make some poor throws, but there were many throws that were timing patterns with a ball thrown to a specific spot on the field with a receiver that cut away from the throw not towards it. So either the receivers are not reading the defense the same way as Weber or Weber thinks our uniforms are green with some funky white stripes here and there and really big numbers.

Decker seems to go to where the ball is being thrown consistently. Hence the observation that some of the problem is not Weber.

Assuming each of those instances I saw the receiver and Weber were on the same page and the balls were caught, we're talking the difference of maybe 5 completions (from 19-41 to 24-41) and an additional 35 - 45 yards. That's still is up to 17 passes that Weber threw flat out poorly (I'm not disagreeing he looked real bad at times), but would put his completion % up around 59%.

Just my observations as the original post suggests.