USF recap

First of all great win. Totally unexpected. The last 3 games our D has been MIA but they showed up big time yesterday. And teh same can be said of the OL as the did a great job establishing the run.

The O

Great gameplan and play calling by Marrone/Hackett. We ran the ball really well. Nassib struggled missing some open guys but overall he got the job done. The biggest issue for the O was all the penalties.

The D

Great gameplan by Shafer. The D looked awesome out there. Time and again they came up with big stops. We did get lucky with two blown coverages.

STs

We hit two FGs. We punted and covered well downing the ball at the 2. We had 3 of our best KO coverages of the year. And we blocked a PAT. However we had a ton of penalties, one of which extended a drive. And another which USF took the FG instead of a 4th and 1. Also we extended a drive by letting a punt hit blocker. Luckily the D bailed us out on those. But they couldn't bail us out of the KR for a TD right after we took the lead. Can we get a game where we don't have major issues here?

USF

I really thought their O gameplan was odd. SU had struggles against the spread option vs Maine and Colgate. USF ran it some in the first half with success but in the 2nd half they ran the ball under center the whole time which limits Daniels and plays into our strength. Also UW killed us on the edges with short passes and USF barely used it. The first play they did and got 12 yards. Then later that drive we bit on a fake and Daniels should have had an easy TD but did not see the open WR. Why in the hell did they not try this again? They looked best the first drive and then went away from it. Odd. Maybe our pass rush had something to do with it. It seems Holtz has gone more max protect this year. Then again the announcers said that Holtz didn't want Daniels to run as much. Um big mistake. Very conservative IMO as he had the players to do what UW did passing and what Maine/Colgate did rushing. His gameplan was perfect for our D.

1st Q

-Love deferring to the 2nd half especially on the road. Having the ball to start the 2nd half is big IMO. That way if you happen to be down you can score first.

-The opening KO went to the goaline for once and we covered for once, nice to see. Did anyone else notice all the divots on the field?

-USF their first drive used mostly spread. We were killed with short passes to the slot vs UW, and I feared the same vs USF. In fact USF started the game with one for a 12 yard gain. I also feared we would stay in our base D as we did vs UW and last year vs USF. We did not put much pressure on Daniels last year and he got in a comfort zone. This game we went to the Okie and brought blitzes early and often. They moved the ball well this drive even converting a 3rd and 10. However the drive ended with a nice INT by Merk. On the play Daniels pumped to the slot and both Holmes and Phil Thomas jumped it leaving the 3rd WR running all alone. One of them screwed up. Fortunately for SU Daniels decided to just launch it to a covered man.

-Our first drive was a 3 and out highlighted by a drop by Lemon. It wasn't the greatest of passes but needs to be caught. Lemon seems to be in a Sophomore slump. Was expecting big things from him this year.

-USF was forced into a 3 and out highlighted by a blitz and sack by Suter when USF went 5 wide. However on the ensuing punt Cater "roughed" the kicker. The refs could have let it go IMO as he barely touched the punter. Now with the drive extended we get a big sack out of the Okie on 2nd down. Marinovich got good pressure and had his hand graze Daniels helmet. It looked like it went off Daniels visor and IMO if it were not there Marinovich may have ended up grabbing the facemask. Instead Sharpe, who had a good game, ended up finishing Daniels off. On 3rd and long we put pressure on again causing Daniels to scramble for no gain. USF was forced to punt and it went only 28 yards. Great job by the D stopping USF with two 3 and outs due to the penalty.

-SU took a deep shot and may have dodged a bullet. Pugh got beat and Nassib was hit as he threw. The ball went deep and fell incomplete not near any WR and thankfully any defender. On 3rd down Nassib scrambled for a 1st down. However the play came back due to illegal hands to the face by Tiller, which was a good call. This forced SU to punt from deep in its own territory giving USF the ball at the SU 42.

-Again the D stepped up with another 3 and out. The big play was on 3rd down when Daniels threw it up for grabs. Two SU players had a shot at the ball but it was grabbed by the USF WR. Fortunately he lost control when he hit the ground. Good call despite what the idiot Cangemi said. With it 4th and 5 at the 37 Holtz played it waaay too conservative an punted, giving SU teh ball at its own 5.

-SU started teh drive with a nice jump and catch by Chew, who continues to play well. It gave SU its first, 1st down. On the next set of downs SU faced a 2nd and 7. SU came out with Cater, Harris, Cruz, Provo, and Graham. Very odd personnel for a passing down in which all but Carter went out for a pass. Nassib had time but couldn't find an open man resulting in a sack. On 3rd down Nassib over threw Sales resulting in a punt.

-USF ran a play action pass and Daniels under pressure hit his WR who made a nice one handed catch.

-After 1Q USF had the ball 9:30 mins to 5:30 for SU. Yardage was 86 to 21 in USF's favor. They would only get 133 more yards the rest of the game. Daniels was 4-6 passing but went 5 of 17 the rest of the way. DC3 ran it 5 times for only 7 yards. But ran 21 times after that for 98 yards.

2Q

-USF continued the drive by converting on a 3rd down. Then they were forced into 3rd down again. Expecting SU to blitz, which we didn't, they tried a screen pass which was a dangerous throw that could have been picked. So USF had to settle for 3. They made to FG but SU was offsides. USF kept the points vs going for a 4th and 1 from the SU 8 yard line.

-During the broadcast they mentioned Dodd being the player of the week. Interesting how you can award a guy before the other BE teams play!

-Bailey finally makes an appearance and has a couple nice runs. Nassib throws a dangerous pass to Cruz who takes a lick. Now on 3rd and 8 we get a delay of game. However we convert anyway as Nassib dumps it to Bailey for 30 yards. On the play Nassib nearly fell dropping back. We continue on until 3rd and 10 where Nassib overthrows Wales. SU takes a 35 yard FG which was a nice answer to USF's score.

-Another KO went to the goaline and again covered well. What is going on here? USF gets a big gain but it is called back due to an illegal shift. SU forces a 3rd down and blitzes out of the Okie. Daniels is flushed out and hits his WR but the ball is jarred loose by a hit by Holmes. USF punts but again they have their drive extended. This time the punt hit Fisher who was blocking on the play (a dumb rule). While Fisher is mostly to blame Holmes needs to do a better job of letting his teammates know to get away. That is the PRs job and he did nothing. After getting a 1st down Holmes gets a closeline sack. Surprised a guy Daniels size went down there. SU forces a 3rd and 10 and show the Okie but only rush 2. Daniels throws in a crowd but his WR cannot make the play. USF settles for a 42 yard FG which they hit however a false start turns it into a 47 yard FG which they miss. Another dodged bullet by SU.

-SU now with the ball back starts moving the ball. Eventually SU has a 3rd and 7 at the 26 but a false start by Cruz with 1:50 left makes it 3rd and 12. Marrone calls a TO with 1:42 left which seems odd to me. Why not let more time run off the clock? If you get the first down you have 2 TOs and only need to go 31 yards. And if you have to kick a FG why leave time for USF? Nassib then scrambles and picks up 11 leaving a long 4th and 1. Marrone takes a TO right away with 1:27 left. Again why not let more time run off the clock? You have 20 yards to go for a TD and one TO left. Do you need 1:27? And what if you do not get the 1st down? You leave USF with plenty of time to score themselves. That was awful time management. SU gives the ball to Harris (really?) who comes close with his 2nd effort but was still short. Which brings up going for it in the first place. Why? You get the ball to start the 2nd half. Why not take the lead here? That should be a give me FG for Krautman. He hit two at similar distances in that direction. If the FG were over 40 yards I would understand. If it were 4th and inches I would understand. If it were 4th down or punt I would understand. If it were inside the 10 I would understand. But at that point on the field with a defensive battle you have to take the points. Even if you get the 1st down you still have a lot of work to get a TD. In addition our OL has not been good at getting a push. Which decreases our chances of getting a first down. As my friend said not even Belichick would have gone for it and he goes for everything. I was not of fan of that decision but had more of a problem with the time management. Then we challenge the spot. It is very difficult to get a spot overturned unless it is obvious. Too many bodies in one area. So we lost our challenge which isn't smart as it leaves you without one in the 2nd half. That could be costly in a close game. You cannot rely on the booth to review things. So IMO Marrone bungled 4 things all at the end of the half.

-Now USF takes over with 1:24 left. They run the ball on 1st and nearly fumble. On 2nd down they take a deep shot looking for a big play but the ball is thrown well out of bounds. Then USF runs out the clock to end the half.

-For the Q TOP was pretty even. Daniels was 2 for 7. SU had 10 rushes for 72 yards. And we out gained USF 120 to 38.

3rd Q

-SU gets the ball 1st and feeds DC3 three times getting a 3rd down conversion. Later a chop block puts SU in a 2nd and 22 hole. Then on 3rd and 18 a quick throw to Chew gets a 1st down. It was a nice run by Chew who was sprung by Sales blocking two guys. Moving on SU gets into a 3rd and 10 where a bad pass is dropped by Provo short of the first down. SU settles for a 41 yard FG and the lead. The FG barely wobbled over the upright.

-Well SU did not have the lead long as USF gets a 95 yard kick off return for a TD. It was awful coverage as he easily went right up the field without having to make a move or getting touched. However we block the PAT and are only down 3, which I wish we had at the end of the half.

-A block in the back on the KR sets SU back in its own territory. When will the return teams stop making mistakes? Lemon is wide open on a deep pass which may have been 7 but Nassib misses him badly. Nassib then gets sacked the next play when he runs backwards and had plenty of time to get rid of it. Then a delay of game and false start makes it 3rd and 24. SU ends up punting giving USF the ball at the SU 42. Are things about to unravel?

-USF runs a play action and Daniels throws it deep but it is over thrown and the WR gets tangled with Merk. However on the play another blown coverage left a guy wide open. Phil Thomas was out of position but luckily another bullet dodged. USF ends up getting a first down a Merk is hit with a pass interference on 3rd and 6. SU forces another 3rd down and rushes two out of the Okie. Daniels on the move under throws his man and Wilkes gets a big INT and return. SU survives again.

-USF gets SU into a 3rd down and Nassib is sacked when the LB blitzes right up the middle untouched. Poor blocking. Another 3 and out for SU. A good punt changes field position.

-USF starts moving the ball highlighted by a play action pass to the fullback who goes for 25. Eventually USF gets into a 3rd and 1 and we have the play of the game. SU appears to jump offsides but Daniels is called for a false start. I couldn't see it and IMO SU got lucky. That ended the Q.

-TOP SU lead 9:30 to 5:30 for the Q. SU had 6 penalties. SU had only 21 yards rushing on 11 carries but two sacks lost 22 yards. The RBs had 9 carries for 43 yards. Total yardage was pretty even. Daniels was only 1-4. SU after 3 Qs had 11 penalties for 82 yards.

4th Q

-Now with a 3rd and 6 a QB draws brings up a 4th and 1. USF decides to go for it but a false start makes it 4th and 6. Two huge penalties on USF. They only had 4 for the game and these two came at an awful time. Now with it 4th and 6 at the 38 they punt? Risky as most of the time you will end up with an 18 yard net. But USF downs it at the 2 yard line. Again SU is backed up.

-Runs by Harris and Bailey get SU a first down. Then a shovel passes to Lemon Make sit 3rd and short. A flag was throw for illegal touch as Lemon went out of bounds but it was ruled he was forced out. DC3 gets a big 1st down and SU is on the move. Eventually we get into a 3rd and short inside the 10. And again DC3 comes through. Those would be the only 3rd downs needed on the drive. Which shows that we did great on 1st and 2nd down. With it first and goal at the 3 Nassib hits a wide open Sales for a TD. What a great time for his first catch of the year. An amazing 98 yard drive.

-Now for the KO. The ball only goes to the 10 but we get our best coverage of the year stopping USF at the 20. USF runs a play action pass and under pressure Daniels throws it deep but Merk makes a great play to tip it away. On 2nd down we blitz out of the Okie and Shamwow gets a big sack. On 3rd down Daniels is flushed out of the pocket and Sharpe knocks him out of bounds. On the play USF is called for holding, which was declined. However the refs missed that Daniels was in the endzone and it should have been a safety. Big missed call.

-After the punt we give Bailey a few runs picking up the 1st down. Interesting we didn't use the workhorse DC3 there. Nassib scrambles and is sacked on 2nd down. USF decided to take a TO with 3:49 left which seems early to do IMO. Then after a DC3 run they take another TO at 3:44. SU punts and it is caught by Graham at the 2. That is two straight games he has done this.

-USF gets a couple first downs and then is forced into a 3rd and 5. Then Phil Thomas just misses an INT that likely is a pick 6. Then on 4th and 5 the Daniels pass falls incomplete which may have been aided by the ref being in the way.

-SU then runs out the clock but not before Hay jumps offside on a play where we were going to kneel. Really?

-Daniels finished 9-23 for 124 yards and 2 INTs. Plus 13 rushes for negative 1 yard. He was 2 of 6 in the 4th, which made it 3 of 10 in the 2nd half. TOP in the 4th was 10:30-4:30 and 20-10 in the 2nd half. Nassib was 5-5 in the 4th Q. We rushed 16 times for 83 yards in the 4th. Total yards was 114 to 38 in the Q and USF only had 95 yards in the 2nd half.