Syracuse Loses Opener, and a Hell of a Game it was

OK, so we lost. Let's get that out of the way. I'm really not sweating that at all though. It came down to one bad decision (as these close games often do) and Greg Paulus just had a delusion of grandeaur and wanted to win the game on one throw. Dude hasn't played football in 4 years. Keeping that in mind, the guy was excellent. Hell of a leader on the sideline too, from the student section you could see him doing work on the sideline for the most of the game. A few thoughts:

1. Delone Carter had a solid, if unspectacular game.

2. The option stuff we were running worked much better than our normal offense. Why not run it with Paulus in there as well? When Nassib came on, it tips off the D that it's coming. Then we line him up at WR where we could have a better blocker in there for the wide runs.

3. This team is going places. The feeling inside the dome was unbelievable. Best atmosphere since I've been at Cuse and it's not even close.

4. Mike Williams runs a hell of a slant pattern. Also, the touchdown he scored on was a spectacular play call after lulling them to sleep with the run, screens, and short passes the entire game before that. The corner's first step was forward and thats all Williams needed for a giannnnntttt gap.

5. I really freakin hope I can help out this year. I wanted to be standing there on that turf more than anything in the world, even if it's with a goofy polo shirt, visor, and maybe even a goddamn water bottle to squirt in the players mouths.

6. I'm going to be ready for next year. Oh, I'll be small, slow, and so ready to go.

7. Paulus has excellent awareness in the pocket and made outstanding reads the entire day. He avoids the rush well and just seems like he didn't miss a beat. Compare that with what we were watching last year, and it's night and day. He has a long way to go, but wow. Just cool, calm, and collected under fire with the exception of that one last play where he threw into like quadruple coverage. Just gotta get the ball out a little better.

8. Art Jones. #97. 1st round draft pick. No question the best D-lineman in the Big East, and one of the top in the country. He was double teamed on EVERY...SINGLE....PLAY and was still a standout. A manchild.

9. Dont know why this is ninth, because for me this was the biggest change from last year to this year that I saw, and there were many (it was like an entirely different place inside the dome) The playcalling was so good. I mean so, so good. The system and playcalling hid the weaknesses of our offense and highlighted the strengths. The only thing we need to do is figure out more ways to get Williams the ball, but I'm sure they're already cooking that up. God, I'm excited. Finally, real football. Basketball, my ass. Here comes Syracuse football, back to kick your ass.

More to come on this game as I digest it a bit more and also more updates on your favorite (only) hopeless walk on soon enough.

Leave your thoughts on the game in the comments!