6th Annual **Cali Award Thread** | Syracusefan.com

6th Annual **Cali Award Thread**

Trueblue25

Cali Award Magistrate; 2023 Cali Award Rushing Yds
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Apologies for the delay, things have been busy and sorting through your awful, overly optimistic predictions takes time.


After another numbing season of Syracuse football, I’m happy to present to you the winners of our 6th annual Cali Prediction Awards. But first - a little recap and I’m sure a welcomed reminder of where things stood before Fran swooped in.

Things were looking up. We returned an offense headed by a healthy Garrett Shrader, a dynamic up and comer in LeQuint Allen and an NFL calibre receiver Oronde Gadsden.

On D, we lost some important names to the portal but returned the core of what had been an exciting group including Marlowe Wax, Caleb Okechukwu, Alijah Clarke, Justin Barron among others. The Mob.

Surely 8 years in, Dino had finally found his groove and we’d be able to find some stable footing. Maybe this year the injury bug wouldnt sting.

But still the echos of depth concern, staff turnover and scheme echoed throughout the corridors of syracusefan.com.

Once again, the pessimists got the last laugh. Or realists. What have you.

We started off to a quick exciting first 3 games, building hype slowly after a horrid ending to 2022, but then real concerns begin to show vs Army. Similar to the rest of Dino’s tenure, nothing looked easy or straightforward and instead of playing down to competition it became clear that we were all that better than lower p5/mid g5 teams.

I wont spend too much more time going over this season. It hurt, and its almost painful to summarize. Injuries hit again. Inept coaching plagued us again. Hype was obliterated and national perception deteriorated. But I’ll end by pointing out the positives.

Oronde’s back next year 100% healthy.

Allen and Wax are both back, and are studs.

Villari’s back and ready to lead.

Fran’s got the fanbase and city energized and hungry. Ill drop it here.

And now for your Awards, based off the below thread of preseason predictions.


____________________________________

Regular Season Record: 6-6

Pulling in this Cali was CiscoCuse correctly guessing 6-6.

Looking back, like many of you, after having watched the season I asked myself

“why did I do it to myself again?”
“Why did I buy into the hype?”
“Wait… was there even hype?”

CiscoCuse predicted a cloudy day and stagnant disappointment, and we got it. Sad!!

Congratulations on your Cali.

________________________________

Bowl Game Prediction: Boca Raton Bowl

Wait - you mean to tell me nobody saw us going to the illustrious Boca Raton Bowl to get absolutely plowed by USF?!

Shame on me
Shame on you
Shame on us all

No Cali!

_______________________________________

Points For: 306

UnknownOrange was closest, guessing 302. Our offense was undoubtedly hampered the moment Oronde went down to injury. But I’ll use this as another moment to point out a positive. Oronde received SEC, Big 12 and Big 10 offers to leave us in the portal. Perhaps our best offensive draft prospect since Williams or earlier. He stayed. Great kid and future great pro.

We did not have the high octane offense we pictured but we saw gutsy performances put some points on the board. Some expected from Shrader - but I thought what we got from Villari and Allen was unexpected and just so impressive. Grit, pride and toughness.

Congrats!
______________________________________

Points Against: 330

Stevenson was closest having guessed 333. That comes out to about 26 points a game, good for 70th in the country. Mediocre. Not what we expected from the mob. But yet again we found ourself constantly beaten up and fatigued. It didn’t help that this year we tended to let games really get away from us. Our defense showed how poor the team culture had gotten.

Congrats on the cali!

_____________________________

Average Home Attendance: 36,868

This Cali goes to orangenauburn being the closest at 37,619.

Our best attended game was probably the most infuriating game ive watched in some time, home vs BC. If anything made it clear how badly we needed Dino gone it was national and casual fan perception. People stopped caring, apathy seeped in. I really cant say there was one lively great crowd this year. That said, we still hit over 40k twice.

Congrats!


To be continued tomorrow - busy weekend with some work.
 
Ben Affleck Acceptance Speech GIF by The Academy Awards
 
Apologies for the delay, things have been busy and sorting through your awful, overly optimistic predictions takes time.


After another numbing season of Syracuse football, I’m happy to present to you the winners of our 6th annual Cali Prediction Awards. But first - a little recap and I’m sure a welcomed reminder of where things stood before Fran swooped in.

Things were looking up. We returned an offense headed by a healthy Garrett Shrader, a dynamic up and comer in LeQuint Allen and an NFL calibre receiver Oronde Gadsden.

On D, we lost some important names to the portal but returned the core of what had been an exciting group including Marlowe Wax, Caleb Okechukwu, Alijah Clarke, Justin Barron among others. The Mob.

Surely 8 years in, Dino had finally found his groove and we’d be able to find some stable footing. Maybe this year the injury bug wouldnt sting.

But still the echos of depth concern, staff turnover and scheme echoed throughout the corridors of syracusefan.com.

Once again, the pessimists got the last laugh. Or realists. What have you.

We started off to a quick exciting first 3 games, building hype slowly after a horrid ending to 2022, but then real concerns begin to show vs Army. Similar to the rest of Dino’s tenure, nothing looked easy or straightforward and instead of playing down to competition it became clear that we were all that better than lower p5/mid g5 teams.

I wont spend too much more time going over this season. It hurt, and its almost painful to summarize. Injuries hit again. Inept coaching plagued us again. Hype was obliterated and national perception deteriorated. But I’ll end by pointing out the positives.

Oronde’s back next year 100% healthy.

Allen and Wax are both back, and are studs.

Villari’s back and ready to lead.

Fran’s got the fanbase and city energized and hungry. Ill drop it here.

And now for your Awards, based off the below thread of preseason predictions.


____________________________________

Regular Season Record: 6-6

Pulling in this Cali was CiscoCuse correctly guessing 6-6.

Looking back, like many of you, after having watched the season I asked myself

“why did I do it to myself again?”
“Why did I buy into the hype?”
“Wait… was there even hype?”

CiscoCuse predicted a cloudy day and stagnant disappointment, and we got it. Sad!!

Congratulations on your Cali.

________________________________

Bowl Game Prediction: Boca Raton Bowl

Wait - you mean to tell me nobody saw us going to the illustrious Boca Raton Bowl to get absolutely plowed by USF?!

Shame on me
Shame on you
Shame on us all

No Cali!

_______________________________________

Points For: 306

UnknownOrange was closest, guessing 302. Our offense was undoubtedly hampered the moment Oronde went down to injury. But I’ll use this as another moment to point out a positive. Oronde received SEC, Big 12 and Big 10 offers to leave us in the portal. Perhaps our best offensive draft prospect since Williams or earlier. He stayed. Great kid and future great pro.

We did not have the high octane offense we pictured but we saw gutsy performances put some points on the board. Some expected from Shrader - but I thought what we got from Villari and Allen was unexpected and just so impressive. Grit, pride and toughness.

Congrats!
______________________________________

Points Against: 330

Stevenson was closest having guessed 333. That comes out to about 26 points a game, good for 70th in the country. Mediocre. Not what we expected from the mob. But yet again we found ourself constantly beaten up and fatigued. It didn’t help that this year we tended to let games really get away from us. Our defense showed how poor the team culture had gotten.

Congrats on the cali!

_____________________________

Average Home Attendance: 36,868

This Cali goes to orangenauburn being the closest at 37,619.

Our best attended game was probably the most infuriating game ive watched in some time, home vs BC. If anything made it clear how badly we needed Dino gone it was national and casual fan perception. People stopped caring, apathy seeped in. I really cant say there was one lively great crowd this year. That said, we still hit over 40k twice.

Congrats!


To be continued tomorrow - busy weekend with some work.
Well done, Trueblue! A great read on top of the announcements!
 
Passing Yards: Shrader 1686

Congratulations to Stevenson once again. My man saw all of us dead eyed optimists drawing smiley faces on fogged up windows and said, not today! Our passing game collapsed into itself like a dying star upon Oronde’s injury. Nobody was able to step in as a clear number 1 option. Oronde’s foot wasn’t the only thing that buckled, so did our staff’s ability to trust itself and run an aggressive pass attack. One positive though - Villari proved he’s an absolute weapon when we have a QB that can get a forward pass to him.

Congrats!
______________________________________

Passing Touchdowns: Shrader 13

*throws up in the 2020 Cali boot bucket*

Congratulations to suorange08 for guessing 12. Good god it was a freaking ugly season. I know everyone had a good time watching us beat Pitt but I’ll be ecstatic if I never have to see that offensive scheme again. But alas - frantastic news is McCord has come to deliver us from evil.

Congrats on the Cali!

_______________________________________

Rushing Yards: Allen 1064

HOLD THE PHONE COTTON.

Ladies and Gentleman, football only’s and off topic board malcontents

This diamond bedazzled, pay side expensed Cali goes to yours truly Trueblue25 . Bow down. At 1075 I left room for the rest of you to try, but alas I was destined for this one. I dedicate this win to Cowtown , br801 and the rest of the OT board crew. See? I can be close to right in at least one of my takes.

_______________________________________

Rushing Tuddies: Allen 9

Folks, we have a three way tie between Cali regulars storange , OttoinGrotto and orangeinohio . But this is the Cali Awards. Ties are for Auburn and Hoyas. So we go to the tie breaker!

Tie breaker: Score of this years Pitt Game? Cuse 28 Pitt 13

The tie breaker goes to….. storange for predicting a 14 point Cuse win. He was closest to margin of victory so I give him the nod. Congratulations on the Cali and Booo Pitt!!

To be continued
 
Receptions: Allen 38

Not what we wanted! But with Oronde hurt and Shrader being forced to bail us out with hero ball… we found ourselves in another one of Babers’ classic blends of owwies and oh no’s. Congratulations to OrangeTarheel and cuse62 both guessing Allen and only being off by… 32 receptions! So we go to tie breaker.

The tie break and Cali goes to cuse62 who was closer to the correct margin of victory and also, admirably, went more out of his way to insult Pittsburgh.

Congrats!

_____________________________________

Receiving Yards: Alford 610


Moment of silence

As we’ve seen in the past, the eternal optimism of our group just could not fathom a season where OG goes down early. No Cali’s to be awarded here. Congrats to Dame for having some flashes of his potential. That said - this may have been towards the all time bad Cuse pass attacks. We just could not find a rhythm.

No Cali!

_____________________________________

Receiving Tuddies: Hatcher, Alford and Villari tied at 3

Goodness we suck at predicting.

Against the board’s better judgement i’ll give a cali to OrangeAl here for being the only contributor to predict Alford. You were off by 7 scores but the rest of us were miles further away. Congrats good sir!
 
On to my favorite section, INDIVIDUAL DEFENSE.

Total Tackles: Marlowe Wax 110 (over 70. Individual)

OttoinGrotto , cuse62 and orangeinohio … a motley crew all guessed Wax for 108. Say what you will - but Marlowe held up impressively well and had a consistently good year. For the amount of time our defense was on the field, Wax toughed it out and showed up each game. The owwies in the trenches and in the secondary really dampened any hopes our strong LB core had to dominate. Marlowe showed out for the Mob and looks forward to a career year in 2024.

That said - we don’t do ties.

Tiebreak goes to cuse62 for being the closest to margin of victory again. Congratulations and good job making a splash in this years Cali Competition!

______________________________________

Tackles for loss: Marlowe Wax 11.5

BOOM UGHV on the nose!! Our real man of genius for this year’s games. Guessing 11.5 on the dot. It’s truly an honor to be in the presence of such intellect. His brain has its own gravitational pull and weather system.

Congrats!

____________________________________

Sacks: Kevon Darton 5


No love for the walk on?? Kevon has became a board and fan favorite over the years. He’s carved out his role as an undersized, but never outworked gritty lineman. He fights every damn play, even when he’s struggled to get up off the ground following the whistle. Our pass rush was inconsistent at best this year. Opposing rb’s wore us down and the pace of blown possessions by our offense didn’t help. This is a position group that needs size, experience and depth.

No Cali!!

____________________________________

Interceptions: Jason Simmons 2

Before I even look at predictions, this would be the most shocking Cali earned in my 6 years of doing this. Lets take a looksy.


Guy Fawkes , OttoinGrotto and FasterCuse FROM THE TOP ROPES. Each contributor guessing Simmons for 3.

Am I just way lower on Simmons than anyone else? I’ve got mixed feelings. He’s made a few big plays for us, going back to 2022 vs Clemson, but theres been a little ugly too. A lot of absolutely blown coverages and missed tackles. This is a position group we need to build more talent in.

No ties!

This Cali goes to FasterCuse for being closest to margin of victory. If nothing else positive can be taken from this year, at least we made Narduzzi look freakin clueless and man handled Pitt over the ground.

Congrats!!
 
Just a tough year for OttoinGrotto lol

The man was absolutely decimated by the tie breaker. Too much faith in Pitt to make it a close game got his wrist slapped.

Pitt ruins everything!
 
Because I enjoy his posts, I would like to share one of my Calis with with the “grotto”.

Thanks again for doing this.
 
Terrible showing from GeauxSU this season, much like the New England Patriots we were not good enough in all three phases of the game, predictions that is.
 
Okay, I have updated everyone their well earned new titles. Congrats to the winners, wait until next season for the losers.

If I screwed something up, please let me know. This is like the Nobel Prize. We can't have mistakes.
 
Passing Yards: Shrader 1686

Congratulations to Stevenson once again. My man saw all of us dead eyed optimists drawing smiley faces on fogged up windows and said, not today! Our passing game collapsed into itself like a dying star upon Oronde’s injury. Nobody was able to step in as a clear number 1 option. Oronde’s foot wasn’t the only thing that buckled, so did our staff’s ability to trust itself and run an aggressive pass attack. One positive though - Villari proved he’s an absolute weapon when we have a QB that can get a forward pass to him.

Congrats!
______________________________________

Passing Touchdowns: Shrader 13

*throws up in the 2020 Cali boot bucket*

Congratulations to suorange08 for guessing 12. Good god it was a freaking ugly season. I know everyone had a good time watching us beat Pitt but I’ll be ecstatic if I never have to see that offensive scheme again. But alas - frantastic news is McCord has come to deliver us from evil.

Congrats on the Cali!

_______________________________________

Rushing Yards: Allen 1064

HOLD THE PHONE COTTON.

Ladies and Gentleman, football only’s and off topic board malcontents

This diamond bedazzled, pay side expensed Cali goes to yours truly Trueblue25 . Bow down. At 1075 I left room for the rest of you to try, but alas I was destined for this one. I dedicate this win to Cowtown , br801 and the rest of the OT board crew. See? I can be close to right in at least one of my takes.

_______________________________________

Rushing Tuddies: Allen 9

Folks, we have a three way tie between Cali regulars storange , OttoinGrotto and orangeinohio . But this is the Cali Awards. Ties are for Auburn and Hoyas. So we go to the tie breaker!

Tie breaker: Score of this years Pitt Game? Cuse 28 Pitt 13

The tie breaker goes to….. storange for predicting a 14 point Cuse win. He was closest to margin of victory so I give him the nod. Congratulations on the Cali and Booo Pitt!!

To be continued
[/QUOTE
Finally have my Cali, I’ve reached the peak. I may now rest !!!
 

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