Saturday, November 27, 2010

Sorry, Ryan, but it's time for a change

Syracuse.com

Just made it back from Syracuse after watching the Orange drop their second straight and third of their last four to close out the 2010 regular season. 7-5 was the goal at the beginning of the year, but the way these last two games went down, it’s easy to be just a little disappointed.

Which brings us to the point of this post: Ryan Nassib. Honestly, the kid can make the throws. That bullet to Marcus Sales in the first quarter on Saturday was a thing of beauty – Nassib released the ball while Sales was still one step away from making his cut. Sure, he misses some throws over the middle from time to time, but he clearly has the arm strength and the ability to be a starting quarterback in the Big East.

The problem with Nassib, however, is pocket presence. He has none. And on a team with an offensive line as inexperienced (read: terrible) as the Orange, you need a quarterback who can sense the rush and make adjustments. At the beginning of the year, it was excusable – he’s never started before, and the line doesn’t give him any time to make his reads. It seemed easy to fix with time and experience in the pocket, but the fact is, over 12 games, Nassib’s ability to recognize the rush and get rid of the ball seems to have actually regressed.

Nassib has been sacked 31 times this season (not all his fault) and fumbled the ball 10 times (all his fault). Ten fumbles is nearly one per game. That's inexcusable. 

When he’s not picking himself up off the dome turf, he’s getting happy feet and scrambling out of the pocket, trying to make something happen with his feet rather than standing in there and trying to make a throw. Or he’s making ill-advised (and illegal) double passes on tipped balls like last week against UConn. Louisville showed the rest of the Big East the blueprint when they brought the house against Nassib and dared him to find the open receiver under pressure. He simply couldn’t make the reads he needed to make them pay. Defensive coordinators will not forget this.

The fact is the O-line isn’t getting any better between now and the bowl game. And if you look at it honestly, the line probably won’t get any better next year either (if there was a stud waiting in the wings, he probably would have seen the field by now). Nassib could turn into a good quarterback some day, as long as he’s on a team that could protect him and give him the chance to show off that cannon of an arm. But that team is not Syracuse in 2010. And it’s probably not Syracuse in 2011 either.

It’s time to see what the young guns can do at quarterback. They may not have the skills Nassib has – the arm strength or the ability to throw the deep ball down the sidelines – but they have to be more aware in the pocket (or at least have the ability to develop that skill). I’ll take my chances with the less-talented guy who can make better decisions and make up for the many deficiencies in the offensive line.

If Marrone doesn’t take that chance, get used to more offensive performances like these past four weeks.

And don’t get used to going to bowl games.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Bowling!!! ZOMFG!!

It's not hyperbole when I say I wasn't sure this day would ever come again. The powerhouse state schools can have a few off years and bounce back, but a private school in the Northeast? I wasn't so sure. This is just a great day for the school, the team and all its fans. Everything else is a bonus from here on out this year. I'll have to leave it at that for tonight, before I start crying all over my keyboard. We'll reflect more on this tomorrow.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

The No. 1 way to NOT do that again: Shotgun

Let me start this by saying I love Ryan Bartholomew. He is the best player on the offensive line, their leader and the rock in the middle. When he was temporarily injured on Saturday, I feared the O-line would not be able to recover without him.

That being said, Syracuse needs a shotgun snapper. Nassib was taking hits before he even set up his drops yesterday, and that could have been easily solved by going into the shotgun. If Big Bart can't do it, Marrone needs to find someone who will.

Relax now ... I'm not saying you bench the best player on a mediocre offensive line. That would just be foolish. There's a precedent for this though, with the 2001 New England Patriots. Damien Woody was a fantastic center at the time, who could not snap the ball in the shotgun. The Patriots didn't want to lose that part of their offense, and they also didn't want to take one of their best players off the O-line, so they would slide Mike Compton (a guard) over to center for shotgun plays and move Woody to guard. They did this all season, including in a 20-17 win over the Rams to earn the franchise its first of three super bowl titles.

Bartholomew has played guard before, so it wouldn't be much of a challenge for him to slide over a spot occasionally during the game. The question is, can one of the guards move over to center and snap shotgun. Frankly, it's not that hard to do. The shotgun snap is nowhere near as difficult as a long snap, but sometimes players like Bart get the yips and simply can't do it.

It's worth a try, because opposing teams will follow the Louisville blueprint the rest of the season and bring the heat on Nassib. If he can't get a head start into his drops, he won't stand a chance to be successful.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

5 things to watch on Saturday


1. Delone Carter's hip
The hip looked fine as DC3 was cruising to another 100-yard game at Cincy last week. But with the Prince out for the next few weeks with mono, and Carter's history of hip issues, the SU running game is one awkward fall away from consisting of just Antwon Bailey. I love Bailey as much as anyone, but he's far more valuable as a change of pace back than as your only back.

2. Opening drives (on each side)
What went wrong against Pittsburgh? Well, many things, but the first thing to go wrong was SU starting out with a three-and-out. Then when the Orange punted to the Panthers, they promptly gave up a TD on the first play. You could just about see the Dome physically deflating. If SU can put points on the board early against Louisville, the crowd will hopefully carry them through the rest.