If there is a good blogger for the opposition, I’ll try and talk to him. There was a dry patch for a few games, but it’s back. Say hello to Matt from Syracuse :: 44 :: Orange. Matt and I have been exchanging some e-mails. He posted my responses to some of my questions, and now here’s the first round of answers from Matt.

How are ‘Cuse fans taking this season? It seems that the transition to a
West Coast Offense (was it from a pro-set style?) has been more painful than expected, and point totals seem to be dropping. Is it simply trouble with the transition, more an issue of the talent just not being there at the moment, the wrong talent for the system, something else or some combination of all?

It’s not very surprising that this season has taken a nasty toll on Syracuse supporters across the nation. After the loss to Connecticut, a suicide watch probably would have been appropriate. Following the loss to Rutgers, however, most ardent followers of the football team have simply turned toward utter resignation and misplaced hopefulness for next season. Syracuse nation has suffered through some frustrating seasons the last few years (read: only needed to beat Temple last season to assure a BCS bid), and the product that Coach Robinson has put on the field has merely been more of the same.

With regards to the transition of offensive philosophy, the team has actually moved from George DeLeone’s multiple option attack to the West Coast Offense. While the WCO was expected to highlight Syracuse’s ability to attack with the run and generate more balance through a sophisticated passing attack, neither has come to fruition. As you mentioned, point totals are down (dramatically), yards per play are down (dramatically), and there doesn’t seem to be any cohesion in offensive methodology. For all the faults that DeLeone brought to the field offensively, he at least had a plan, and he stuck to it. Coach Pariani (the new offensive coordinator from the Denver Broncos) seems to be more enamored with simply calling plays rather than having an ultimate goal he is striving for. This scatterbrain approach to offense, I believe, is ultimately what is killing drives and putting Syracuse’s point production in the pisser.

In terms of the talent being the primary reason for the offense’s woes, I’m not exactly sure. Syracuse is loaded in the backfield and should have no trouble running the football, yet Coach Pariani cannot find a way to break Rhodes/Brinkley/Jones/Washington free. And considering that Walsh always maintained that the ability to run the ball was paramount in the WCO, Syracuse shouldn’t be fighting through a lot of these troubles.

From a quaterback and receiver standpoint, there is a lot to be desired. Perry Patterson has no accuracy and is immune to delivering the ball with any touch. He is the anti-Palko. Patterson loves to hold onto to the ball for about 4 seconds and a quick release may just be his kryptonite. The receiving corps is downright terrible. There is some young talent there (Bruce Williams and Lavar Lobdell (injured for the season)), but the upper class guys in Tim Lane and Rice Moss just cannot get open to save their lives. Once they learn how to beat their man and fine space, I think the offense may begin to click a little bit, but right now, they’re just running routes.

What is freaky weird is the play of the offensive line. The DeLeone attack put much more of a burden on the offensive line in terms of blocking assignments and philosophy. The WCO is tremendously more accesible from a blocking standpoint, and yet, this line has been just atrocious. The transition here should have benefited the offense, rather than turning it into an automatic sack machine. Is it the talent here? I would have to think so.

So, I guess the short of the long is that this team is plagued with a combination of your aforementioned reasons for the offense’s woes. The talent should be able to fit into this system, but they haven’t yet. The transition from the multiple option look to the WCO, I think, may be overblown a bit and the troubles resulting from the transition are probably more attributable to the offensive coordinator unsure of what he wants to do.

How has that affected the feelings toward Coach Robinson, the assistants and even the new AD? I imagine there has to be some frustration and resentment (we sure had it going on with Pitt after a September to forget).

For the most part, people are still on the Coach Robinson bandwagon. He’s still working through his honeymoon period and generally, people are more in favor of giving him slack than tying the noose around his neck. Should Robinson tank it during the recruiting period, then I think Robinson will start to feel some fire and there may be an opportunity to part ways before the traditional four-year grace period has expired.

As I alluded to earlier, I think a lot of the resentment toward the coaching staff has been directed toward the Offensive Coordinator – Brian Pariani. The offense seems to have little to no direction, and it doesn’t make more than a mild literate to realize that this team has produce a whole lot of nothing in terms of offense this season. As a guy that has only coached the tight ends in Denver, Pariani has a lot to prove that he can step up to the plate and call an effective game. He has yet to do so this season.

The one thing that has really cooked my cookie is that people are still hopelessly in love with Major Applewhite (QB coach). Perry Patterson and Joe Fields have been downright terrible this season and have shown no improvement since game one. I think a lot of the blame for the lack of progression needs to fall on Applewhite’s shoulders, and yet the media and fans have yet to demand results from the young assistant. It’s simply mind-boggling.

Speaking of the AD (Dr. Darryl Gross), an interesting storyline has blossomed this week with Gross’ comments regarding the state of the football program. To paraphrase the good doctor, the football team’s woes is directly attributable to the team’s lack of talent, and that expectations of victory need to be tempered because of this. Suprisingly, people are up in arms about this comment and would like Gross to apologize to the players.

Personally, I’d rather have an AD that’s a straight talker. If he thinks that this team is untalented, that’s a strong charge to the coaching staff to right the ship. I have no problem with an AD that calls out the athletes under his supervision to perform; these are young adults, they can handle some criticism. Reality is a bitter pill sometimes, and I like an AD that serves it straight rather than muddled.

What were the expectations going into the season? (As I recall, ‘Cuse was predicted for somewhere in the middle of the pack.) Did the fans think higher or lower?

You’ve hit the nail on the head – middle of the pack.

I expected a 6-5 season with upsets over Virginia and Notre Dame (as an aside, man, was I wrong about ND this season). I really thought that even though this team was changing direction, a 6-5 season was reasonable considering the strength of the Big East this year.

It’s important to note that before the disaster that was the 2002 season where Syracuse went 4-8, the Orange had maintained a winning record for something like 15 consecutive seasons. So, even when SU is retooling, there is a latent belief that this university should, at a minimum, be at or above the .500 mark.

Matt and I should have at least one more set of exchanges posted between tonight and Friday.