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The Daily OrangeFB | McCullough: Logic lacking in Robinson's coaching moves
By Andy McCullough
Posted: 9/29/08, 12:55 AM EST Section: Sports
In the end, little of this made sense. The figures didn't compute, the synapses didn't fire - whatever, pick a metaphor, they all fit. Even some of the players didn't get it.
A coach who has won twice in 22 Big East games getting complacent? The same coach saying that trying to gain a yard was "desperate?" A running back who had almost 100 yards in the first half carrying the ball six times in the second? A defense that saw the game slipping away, ground down by the opponent's ground game, but still not blitzing?
None of it made sense in Syracuse's 34-24 loss to Pittsburgh, a sad end to a day that had started with such a promise.
Syracuse let a flat Pitt squad inflate and let a double-digit second half advantage evaporate. The Orange didn't pounce on the Panthers when it had a chance to in the first half and didn't close them out when it needed to in the second half.
All that stuff makes sense. Losing is just the way of the world these days for Syracuse football.
But after the game the explanations came. And things stopped making sense.
Because this wasn't like the early-season beatings. This team has learned from those losses. This team has improved.
This coach has not.
Head coach Greg Robinson was asked, in general, why his team lost. Robinson retreated to a familiar refrain: He just didn't know. "I don't really know what the answer is, other than, they made some plays that we didn't make," Robinson said. "And we have to assess why. It isn't that clear. I don't get replays and all those other things."
A typical answer these somber Syracuse days, but that's OK. Because when Robinson can explain why decisions were made, it's tough to understand.
For example, why was never-before used freshman running back Antwon Bailey in the game for Syracuse's first possession in the fourth quarter? Why, when the score was now tied, and Curtis Brinkley was running wild, was he not given the chance?
Because usual replacement Doug Hogue was hurt and Brinkley needed a breather, Robinson said. One problem: Brinkley said he was fine. Ready. Willing. More than willing. "I wasn't hurt or nothing," Brinkley said. "I wasn't tired."
A coach who has won twice in 22 Big East games getting complacent? The same coach saying that trying to gain a yard was "desperate?" A running back who had almost 100 yards in the first half carrying the ball six times in the second? A defense that saw the game slipping away, ground down by the opponent's ground game, but still not blitzing?
None of it made sense in Syracuse's 34-24 loss to Pittsburgh, a sad end to a day that had started with such a promise.
Syracuse let a flat Pitt squad inflate and let a double-digit second half advantage evaporate. The Orange didn't pounce on the Panthers when it had a chance to in the first half and didn't close them out when it needed to in the second half.
All that stuff makes sense. Losing is just the way of the world these days for Syracuse football.
But after the game the explanations came. And things stopped making sense.
Because this wasn't like the early-season beatings. This team has learned from those losses. This team has improved.
This coach has not.
Head coach Greg Robinson was asked, in general, why his team lost. Robinson retreated to a familiar refrain: He just didn't know. "I don't really know what the answer is, other than, they made some plays that we didn't make," Robinson said. "And we have to assess why. It isn't that clear. I don't get replays and all those other things."
A typical answer these somber Syracuse days, but that's OK. Because when Robinson can explain why decisions were made, it's tough to understand.
For example, why was never-before used freshman running back Antwon Bailey in the game for Syracuse's first possession in the fourth quarter? Why, when the score was now tied, and Curtis Brinkley was running wild, was he not given the chance?
Because usual replacement Doug Hogue was hurt and Brinkley needed a breather, Robinson said. One problem: Brinkley said he was fine. Ready. Willing. More than willing. "I wasn't hurt or nothing," Brinkley said. "I wasn't tired."
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