The Cuse!

[WoVeU]

Great comeback! Why couldn't I have had that game on down here! Early avoidance of Big East ridicule has been delivered.

(Kentucky doth stinketh! Western should be beating them!)

[Cane from the Bend]

Yep & yep . . .

Syracuse really showed some gump' tonight. They stood tall when they needed it, and held their ground once they got ahead.

That is what good coaching will do for you. Go in at half time, adjust to your opponents game plan, then execute.

And Western Kentucky should be winning this game. They have had a few bad calls against them. I'm starting to find myself favoring the `toppers.

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[WoVeU]

I was a bit upset at that INT call that went against WKU on that long pass down the middle. It was a bang-bang play but I thought the replay showed enough to overturn the call. If nothing else, at that speed, the ball would have had to have been incomplete. Well, I assume, I'd think you'd have to control the ball more than a tenth of a second and control it to the ground.

[Brian Roastbeef]

Oh man, what a game... After last season, we actually have expectations for our team around here. Yet even in the decent years we usually start with some hiccups. It looked that way most of last night, but even an rough 4th quarter rally an OT W is still a W. Gotta agree w/Cane as far as good coaching, Marrone is showing the impact he's having with these guys.

[strawman]

I'm glad they pulled that out, I was about to go 0-2 to start my pool season, Idaho stunk up the field and that was my 2nd highest confidence game. Good to see my prognostication skills are as sharp as ever. I have TCU as my highest and that line has been dropping like a rock, does everyone else know something I don't - uh oh.

[WoVeU]

Oh man, what a game... After last season, we actually have expectations for our team around here. Yet even in the decent years we usually start with some hiccups. It looked that way most of last night, but even an rough 4th quarter rally an OT W is still a W. Gotta agree w/Cane as far as good coaching, Marrone is showing the impact he's having with these guys.

I think there is more growth in that kind of win! Easily worth 2 games against a reasonably skilled FCS team or lower FBS squad. A lot of mileage out of an opening game.

While I might have a heart attack, I 'd like to see 9 or 10 bad calls (terrible ones) and see WVU have to play 6 overtimes with Marshall and pull out the win of course. They'd get killed in the polls but would have an experience value of about 3 games!

[billybud]

The Cuse were bad. Wake is a bad team and they could and should have put Syracuse away. Wake, a -6.5 underdog, was 15 points ahead when their starting QB tore up his knee. And it went to OT.

Syracuse sucked in the game...Wake did too.

[donovan]

The Cuse were bad. Wake is a bad team and they could and should have put Syracuse away. Wake, a -6.5 underdog, was 15 points ahead when their starting QB tore up his knee. And it went to OT.

Syracuse sucked in the game...Wake did too.

A win is a win..but I think I watched the same game Mr. Billybud watched. There can be big changes in a week with good coaching and I think Syracuse has responsive coaches.

[Cane from the Bend]

And players responding to those coaches.

They could have just as easily gave up, seeing themselves out of it early. Wake started the game by jumping all over the Orangemen, and pulled away.

Syracuse prevented things from getting too far out-of-hand, and brought themselves back into the game.

If Syracuse is as bad as Billybud suggests they are, then, this is the kind of win which may be their confidence booster. (better that it should happen now, rather than after losing 2 or 3)

I am reminded of Utah last season.

The Utes over achieved, starting the year with an overtime win vs what was an over-ranked #15 Pitt team.

Utah went on to an 8-0 beginning; however, after losing to TCU in humiliating fashion 47-7, the Utes responded by losing to notre dame 28-3 (this, after notre dame lost back to back games against Navy, and Tulsa; having lead most of the game).

Their final two games were scrape by wins against Sand Diego St 38-34, and vs BYU 17-16. Before turning around & losing to Boise St 26-3 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Sometimes teams perform better than they normally would with these types of morale lifting wins. So, maybe, this win was not just a win . . . instead, a win that will spawn several more victories they likely would not have accomplished.

That being posted; Wake's qb might have gone out, yet, their defense did not continue to prevent Syracuse from scoring.

I guess once momentum shifts, thing tend to get a little murky with respect of talent level. Still, nobody on the Deacons' team stepped up with a play to shutdown the sway of the the momentum. Nor did Wake seize momentum back long enough to win. They were able to tie the game so they didn't lose at the end of regulation . . . but that didn't pull in the W.

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[billybud]

Syracuse scored on two back to back pass interference calls in a drive.....

The Cuse will be a bottom half team in the Big East...and Wake will be in the same position in the ACC.

[Cane from the Bend]

Maybe so . . . then again, funny things happen on a weekly basis.

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[Brian Roastbeef]

We'll see what the coaching can do. 'Cuse always starts out slow, and there is no denying that this win was ugly. USC two weeks from today will be a real test of whether Marrone can move these guys. I don't know if Marrone will move them enough to pull out a huge season, but I'm certain he learned a lot from this game and I have a lot more confidence here than I ever did under Robinson.