Can Brown really use Saturday's loss as a way to better the Orange program?
The Syracuse University football team was pummeled 70-7 on Saturday afternoon by Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium.
The historic beatdown dropped the Orange to 3-8 on the season and continues a disappointing campaign that spiraled downwards when quarterback Steve Angeli got hurt in September.
After the game, head coach Fran Brown called the experience "humbling," and he described it as a "learning experience."
Per reporter Ashley Wenskoski on social media:
Fran Brown following Syracuse's 70-7 loss to Notre Dame:
"Tough event out there today...humbling experience. A learning experience."
"I know this may sound crazy, but the opportunity of getting the chance to learn from that, and watch that football game...and learn from that the entire offseason...there's a lot of good I see from that football team that I want my football team to look like."
Syracuse allowed 396 yards of offense to the Fighting Irish and also committed three turnovers, with two of them leading to Notre Dame interception returns for touchdowns. The Orange had just 95 yards passing, and despite holding the ball for 42 of 60 minutes, they lost by 63.
Upon hearing Brown's thoughts on the loss, I am curious about the idea of this being a "learning experience."
What we're saying:
As noted in the video player above:
First and foremost, I don't know what Fran Brown is really supposed to say, right? Is he going to come out and publicly just rip the team that he put together? I don't think so. So, I don't know that there's really any other way to attack this other than saying 'it's a learning experience, that team's at a different level. We hope to get to that level. That's what we one day want to look like.'
But when you step back, big picture, I do wonder, in today's college landscape, how big a learning experience a loss like that can really be. Because, 10 years ago, when you kept your players, by and large, for three and four years, I think you could have those learning experiences, right? You get beat down in one year, and it fuels you, you learn from it, you grow from it, and the team is better two years later. And they point to that loss and say, 'hey, that's what really kind of set the light off for this program.'
In today's day and age, I'm wondering, legitimately wondering, can you really do that? Because this is the day and age where people leave, and if you're getting pummeled like that, then guys just bounce on your program potentially. And you have to sell them week-to-week and day-to-day about your program. Do players want these kind of learning experiences, or do they just want to go where there is instant gratification and they can instantly be in a different situation?
Obviously, a lot of these players will be back, and a lot of them will be able to learn from this in some way. But I'm sure there will be other guys that leave this program at the end of the year, and the learning experience, as Fran Brown calls it, won't have mattered to them. And if the message of this game is only getting through to a portion of your roster because a portion of it has left, well, then how much does it really serve the purpose of a learning experience? It's just a philosophical question."
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