Football
- Here are my positional grades from yesterday's win at Syracuse…
Quarterback – Chris Jacquemain was efficient and smart. He wasn't the one who carried the offense, but it's important to note that the quarterback supplemented drives, rather than stymied them. He threw one pick, but oh well. Fantastic improvement. Grade: B+
Running back — We saw the Alex Allen that many predicted when the Youngstown product arrived on campus. Syracuse is a poor tackling team as it was; Allen made them look like the jayvee squad. Dennis Kennedy and Andrew Johnson each had their moments, too. You can't ask for much more out of these three. Grade: A
Receiver/tight end — Last season, it was Jabari Arthur and maybe a catch or two from some other guy. Saturday, the Zips six top pass catchers all entered the mix, led by Andre Jones, whose route running was fabulous for a guy who just converted to the position. Grade: B+
Offensive line — These guys take my game ball. The running backs shed plenty of tacklers, but the offensive line is the reason the runners reached Syracuse's backfield. There were holes galore. Also, the line avoided all penalties and gave up only two sacks. Kennedy rightfully credited them when talking to the media afterward. Grade: A+
Defensive line — Almondo Sewell made eight tackles. Linemen other than Sewell combined for only five. In the 3-3-5 defense, the line's performance cannot be measured in such terms. It's more important if they require more than one blocker in order to free up the linebackers and secondary to make plays. Cowles Stewart and Dan Marcoux don't appear to be doing that at this point in their careers. **Paging Ryan Bain. Paging Eric Lively.** Grade: D+
Linebackers – Kevin Grant was more involved than I remember him being at any point the past two seasons. Mike Thomas was a playmaker, too, with an interception, fumble recovery, tackle for loss and seven tackles. Overall, not bad. Grade: B
Secondary – Syracuse quarterback Cameron Dantley passed for only 130 yards. The secondary had a few big mistakes, but mostly played decent coverage. Miguel Graham and Bryan Williams played well, in particular. Grade: B
Special teams — John Stec's punts have been longer this season. Igor Iveljic drilled all his extra points, and barely missed a 41-yard field goal. The stats say he logged two tackles, though. (Who knows if that's true?) Bryan Williams averaged almost 40 yards per kick return. Grade: B
Coaching – You can't fault the coaches for much here. The team was prepared and disciplined. There were only five Akron penalties, and none hurt too badly. Although the 3-3-5 lives, I saw at least one play where the Zips used four down linemen. Grade: B
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Igor did have one tackle for sure. He latched on to the returners neck or shoulders and hung on and spun him around it was pretty fun. Our sideline was going nuts. Im not sure if he had another. I wouldnt be surprised becaause they had Suter who is a good returner. I believe he is related to Steve Suter, who played at maryland a few years back as a returner.
The D-Line will continue to get a D grade until Lively and/or Bain returns. Hold your breath – I don't think it will be for the Ball St game or anytime too soon.
Stewart, Marcoux, Harvey all looked like amateurs. Sewell performed ok – but nothing great to talk about. Lemon did ok, too, but again nothing to talk aobut. Stewart, Harvey and Marcoux were all knocked down and pushed aside too many times. I just don't understand what the coaches are looking at when they watch these kids play. We are in desperate need of getting some new blood in there until Lively and Bain are healthy enough to play.
The defense better be buying the offense, in particular the o-line dinner for a month. If the 'Cuse had come back to win that one you could have hung it on the same old defense…poor tackling….missed assignments in the secondary…linebackers missing in (in)action…AND THE FACT THAT THE 3-3-5 JUST DOESN'T WORK HERE…
Receivers should have received an A+. They were outstanding!