From: saqx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college
Subject: The 'Cuse is on the loose
Date: 8 Sep 92 03:29:10 EDT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Cornell University

1 down, 11 to go.

The Orange rolled the ECU Pirates this weekend, 42-21, in front of a record
crowd at Ficklen stadium in North Carolina.  The game wasn't as "close" 
as the score might seem to indicate, either.  I managed to catch the
action via pay-per-view in the Syracuse area, and here's my sage assessment
of the feast, er, game:

The two potential problem areas for the Orange going into the season were
the offensive line and the secondary, with many new and inexperienced
players stepping into the lineup.  The secondary certainly got a workout
against the Pirates' offensive scheme, which was, in a nutshell, PASS PASS
PASS!  The tandem of Michael Anderson and Sean McConnell attempted more
passes against SU than any other team in history, a whopping 77 lofts.
The game lasted 3.5 hours, as you can imagine.  In the first half, the
Orange kept the Pirates reasonably in check, pitching a shutout.  The ECU
strategy consisted of a two or three step drop and quick pass, with the
linemen often throwing chop blocks to give the QB those few seconds to get
the ball off.  As a result, the pass rush played little role for most of the
game.  ECU attempted only 14 rushes all game, for a net of 37 yards.  The
Pirates' rush appears to be perfunctory, at best, while the Orange's run
defense looks to be outstanding this year.  But for most of the game, the
young Orange secondary chased ECU's receivers all over the entire state of
North Carolina, it seemed.  ECU often lined up with five receivers on the
line and no backs.  This offense is going to give people headaches all year,
and since ECU plays a light schedule we can expect lots of points and many
wins for the Pirates.  The Pirates ended up with 522 passing yards, most in
the second half when SU's defense began to seem discouragingly lazy and
especially when the second string defense was on the field.  Credit must go
to the Pirates, though, as the quarterbacks (especially Anderson) looked
better and better as the game wore on.  I'm glad the 'Cuse got this game out
of the way early in the season.  It was a wake-up call for the secondary,
valuable experience (and a mild whupping) which they will need when they
face passing offenses like Rutgers and Miami.  I'm still not sure how much
the rest of the defense can learn from this game, though, since the 
offensive scheme was so unlike anything they'll face the rest of the season.  

On the positive side, the Orange offense was, as expected, overpowering.
The offensive line earned some respect by opening enough holes to allow
Orange rushers to gain 421 yards, including Qadry Ismail's 64-yard blast on
the first play from scrimmage, an option pitch from the wishbone.  Last
year's Big East rushing champ David Walker carried 14 times for 95 yards,
but the big surprise came from the fullbacks, with Al Wooten, Marcus Lee,
and Brian Picucci all rushing for more than 40 yards.  Backup tailbacks
Terry Richardson and Kirby Dardar also had good games--no problem in the
Orange backfield this year.  Yes, the Orange had more rushing yards than
Nebraska (!) this week.  

Quarterback Marvin Graves went 11-17 for 213 yards, 3 TD's and no
interceptions, distributing the ball to SU's outstanding corps of flankers
and TE Chris Gedney.  Backup quarterback Kevin Mason saw limited action in
the fourth quarter, leading the Orange on a long drive only to have Terry
Richardson fumble the ball inside the ECU 10.  Last year's backup Doug
Womack has converted to cornerback to get more playing time. He turned
perhaps the backbreaking play in the conetst--ECU scored early in the third
quarter, recovered a surprise onside kick and was driving again.  Womack
blazed into the backfield on a corner blitz and swamped McConnell, causing a
fumble which SU recovered.  The Orange scored a TD on that possession to go
up 28-7 and put the game effectively out of reach.  

SU's special teams, which should be excellent, were surprisingly bad on
Saturday night.  The kickoff coverage was miserable, and the 'Cuse will be
doing a lot of kicking-off this year, so they'd better shore that up in a
big hurry.  Pat O'Neill, who booted most of his kickoffs into the end zone
last year, allowed ECU's speedy returners too many chances this game.  His
punting was fantastic, though.  Two of the three punts went at least 50
yards in the air with plenty of hang time.  The real disappointment was 
John Biskup's field goal kicking.  Biskup, a senior, hit on roughly 75%
of his attempts last year, but missed all three tries in this game, all
within his range.  That will definitely improve by next game.  

By the time the dust had settled, the Orange had racked up their biggest
offensive yardage total ever, 634 yards. More importantly, they got the win,
putting a potentially sticky game behind them.  Now the rest of the country
can deal with that wacky (and tiring) ECU offense.  It's a shame that ECU
didn't make it into the Big East; they'd make a better addition than Temple,
for instance.  (I'm gonna hear it from the Temple fans now--but come on,
guys, opening against Boston University???)

ECU will be a good team this year, not up to last year's standard, but good
nonetheless.  With a light schedule, they should make it into one of the
December bowls, especially since "offense sells tickets" and you need look
no futher for a wide open passing game.  For SU, things are looking very
good.  The pass blocking could use a little improvement, but as the season
progresses these things will pull together.  Barring injuries, the Orange
could very likely end up in the top 5 this year, with the bulk of the
schedule against mid-level opposition while the rest of the country is
beating each other up.  Two tough games in a row now provide the Orange with
the opportunity to prove themselves worthy of their high ranking, or a
chance to choke under pressure.  I'm betting they won't choke.

(Amusing digression--one of the hometown announcers on the pay-per-view 
broadcast said at one point in the second half, "They sure get some big
bugs down here in North Carolina.  One just flew by, about the size of a
pigeon!"  A few minutes later Dave Cohen (play-by-play) added, "I see what
you mean, one of them just landed in front of us here.  I think it was
trying to steal the monitor.  I hit it with a book and nothing happened.")

Random thoughts on this first weekend?  Good showing by Cal, a team fighting
for respect like the Orange.  How did Duke score 21 points on FSU???  
How 'bout them Bearcats?  I would've danced a jig if Penn State had gone
down.  And what the hell happened to Ohio State???  Is Louisville that
good?  (I hope not--SU travels to Louisville later this season!)  All you
OSU woofers, your team is going to have to play a lot better than that to
survive the Big Ten, not to mention your little trip to the Dome on the
19th.  And with Smith out with rib injuries...     The Big East went 6-1-1 
week, the single loss coming from a league game in which Boston College
surprisingly thumped Rutgers, 37-20.  The shame award goes to Pitt, beating
Kent 51-10.  And with Temple playing Boston University, Virginia Tech
romping over James Madison, and West Virginia facing Miami (Ohio), you could
say the competition wasn't exactly stellar.  But hell, with Notre Damn
taking on mighty Northwestern, Penn State vs Cinncinnati, Colorado vs
Colorado State, there was plenty of cream-puffing it around the country.
At least the Orange played a good opponent.  Lastly, anyone else notice how
many top-10 teams played road games this first weekend?  

Go Orange!

Next meal:  Texas Longhorns, Sept. 12, in the DOME
            ABC, 3:30 p.m.
            Tune in for a good game!
-- 
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#                                                            #
#  RNJX@vax5.cit.cornell.edu                                 #             
#  Jeff Wilson                                               #
#  Cornell University                                        #
#  Department of Chemistry                                   #
#  --SF author in the making--                               #
#                                                            #
#  Is what you're living for worth dying for?                #
#                                                            #
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Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college