Syracuse Football Report Card: Who did well against NC State?

This is going to be the first time that we discuss the Syracuse coaching staff and how they fared against the Wolfpack. Dino Babers delivered an inspiring halftime speech that fired up the Syracuse team, who responded by marching down the field and scoring to bring the game to within 26-14.

With this being said, Syracuse once again came out incredibly flat and making mental errors. Syracuse simply can’t expect to go on the road and win games against teams that have more talent than them like LSU and NC State. In both of those games, Eric Dungey’s first pass was picked off and this is just unacceptable and something that can’t happen if you expect to get a win against a more talented team on the road. Can’t happen.

The first week it happened against LSU I was upset, but you can forgive it. It has now happened in two straight weeks and whether it’s Dungey’s fault or predictable play calling by the offensive staff there is no excuse.

Babers and the staff must do a much better job at weathering the storm in the beginning of the games. The offense does eventually seems to get track once they wear out the opposing team’s defense, but until then they have struggled mightily to put points on the board. I think some creativity and better play calls can do the trick for the offense, who clearly needs to get into a rhythm in order to get in gear.

The Orange.

In the first half this year, the Orange has scored a total of 78 points. However, in games against Central Connecticut State and Central Michigan, Syracuse recorded 55 points. It appears that scoring early on in the game leads to a win for the Orange as the offense has scored 87 points in the second half, taking their foot off the gas against both the Blue Devils and the Chippewas.

Dino Babers is the right head coach at Syracuse and he can experience success here, changing the entire culture of the football program. He can recruit and we certainly need to give him at least two more years before even consideration of the “hot seat.” We need to see how his recruits develop as they become sophomores and juniors and learn the system. I can understand the frustration of a lot of fans, but if they got rid of Babers, they are going to have to pay him a lot of money remaining on his contract, and who can they attract with the current state of the program that would be better?

The team is improving, they are getting closer and I think that the talent gap between us and top-tier teams is closing. Give it time and the results will come. The staff’s play calling is questionable at times and the defensive improvement is undeniable.

Next: Syracuse Football: Top 5 bittersweet oranges from loss to NC State

But it is fair to say that the Syracuse coaching staff needs to get the team ready for the opponent, rather than relying on halftime adjustments to start scoring. Mental mistakes need to be cut down and the offensive coordinators need to get more creative and find ways to move the ball early on in the game.