sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Thomas Paine Day!
Freethinkers Day, also known as Thomas Paine Day, celebrates the life and work of Thomas Paine, who was born on today's date in 1737. The day not only educates the public about Paine's work but also about freethinking, a concept that his work was often imbued with, which rejects arbitrary authority and puts reason and logic before faith. The holiday began being observed in the 1990s, when The Truth Seeker magazine started holding the day on Paine's birthday, in an effort to educate the public of his importance to the history of freedom and liberty. They said the day could be celebrated by giving and displaying a white rose with thorns, which symbolizes beauty, purity, and fragility, but also danger, on account of the thorn. The Thomas Paine Foundation also began celebrating Paine's birthday in the 1990s, although they proclaimed a separate holiday, Thomas Paine Day, to take place on June 8, the anniversary of his death.
Thomas Paine was a freethinker whose works inspired people to fight for social, political, and economic advancement. He was an early proponent for universal human rights and for the end of slavery. Writing during the Age of Enlightenment, some of his books, pamphlets, and essays helped establish a philosophical foundation for the American Revolution. His most widely known works include Common Sense, Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason.
SU News
McKinney North QB Dillon Markiewicz commits to Syracuse (dallasnews.com; Staff)
A Dallas-area quarterback is heading for the Big Apple.
McKinney North quarterback Dillon Markiewicz announced via Twitter that he has committed to play collegiate football with Syracuse.
In his senior season, Markiewicz was second among 6A Dallas-area quarterbacks with 4,187 passing yards and 45 touchdowns while leading McKinney North to the area round, where it lost to Lancaster.
Markiewicz made The Dallas Morning News’ list of 10 Dallas-area seniors who out-performed their recruiting ranking in 2019.
STERLIN GILBERT (cnyjb; Staff)
STERLIN GILBERT has been appointed as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the Syracuse University football team. He brings 17 years of experience to the Orange. Gilbert has run offenses and coached quarterbacks at the FBS, FCS, and high-school levels, and was most recently the head coach McNeese State University in 2019. Gilbert previously worked with Syracuse head coach Dino Babers for three seasons, serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Babers at Eastern Illinois (2012-13) and Bowling Green (2014). While at Eastern Illinois, Gilbert was selected as the FootballScoop.com FCS Coordinator of the Year in his second season. The Panthers led the nation in total offense and scoring, while ranking second in passing. Gilbert tutored current San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who won the 2013 Walter Payton Award (the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) as the nation’s best player. After Bowling Green, Gilbert headed to Tulsa where he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the 2015 season, and then Texas, where he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the 2016 season. In 2017 and 2018, Gilbert worked as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at South Florida. Gilbert’s success as a coordinator earned him the head-coaching job at McNeese State in 2019. He brought the up-tempo spread offense to the FCS school and the team posted a 7-5 season. A former standout Texas high-school quarterback, Gilbert also enjoyed a successful career as a high-school coach in that state. Gilbert was three-year starter and two-year captain at quarterback for Angelo State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in kinesiology with a minor in history.
Orange Watch: Longtime rivals bookend ACC schedule for 2020 Syracuse football - The Juice Online (the juice; Bierman)
Item: The ACC released the 2020 conference football schedule last week, and as expected Syracuse opens with a conference game. What was not widely known, however, is the behind-the-scenes maneuvering orchestrated by the ACC to ensure its opening week TV lineup was just to its liking.
Year No. 2 of the ACC Network football season will open up with a Thursday night conference doubleheader on Sept. 3, allowing ESPN to select between Clemson at Georgia Tech or N.C. State at Louisville as either (or both) of its ESPN or ACC Network telecasts.
The next evening, Friday Sept. 4, the ACC Network will have Syracuse at Boston College, while the other two conference teams playing, North Carolina (Central Florida) and Wake Forest (Old Dominion) are on the road, not eligible for the ACC Network, but undoubtedly will be broadcast somewhere in the ESPN family.
Originally, Boston College was scheduled to open with FCS member Holy Cross, a Syracuse victim last season 41-3 in the Dome.
However, the new order of opening new seasons with conference games in football and basketball to help increase the sorely needed number of eyeballs tuning into ACC Network programming, dictates the end of warming up to a regular season schedule with games against teams with inferior talent.
The result; B.C., with some backroom help, had its game against Holy Cross moved to an open date for both schools on Oct. 31, freeing up the first week of play for ACC Network programming.
Now the Orange initially prepare for the Eagles and new coach Jeff Hafley coming after one season at Ohio State and seven in the NFL before that, then face Power 5 foe Rutgers on the road (Sept. 12) with new (old) coach Greg Schiano, who’s last college position was also at Ohio State for three seasons after a two year stint in the NFL.
It won’t be until week three (Sept. 19), under the new permanent Dome roof, that the ‘Cuse will finally play what should be its opener, the FCS game against Colgate, but then it’s right back out on the road again at Western Michigan (Sept. 26) in the third game of a four-game home-and-home series (ends in 2023 in the Dome) against former Orange assistant Tim Lester’s program.
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Early Breakdown of Second Half of Syracuse Football Schedule – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Shults)
Today we’ll continue breaking down Syracuse football’s 2020 football schedule. You can find analysis of the first half of the schedule here.
Clemson
Syracuse has the misfortune of starting the second half of its season against the juggernaut that is Clemson. Hopefully this will be the last time the Orange tee off against Trevor Lawrence before he goes on to likely being the first pick in the NFL Draft. He’ll be joined by running back Travis Etienne, who spurned the NFL to return for his senior season. Outside of Tee Higgins, the Tigers return their top playmakers at wide receiver, and always have a plethora of talent from outstanding recruiting classes. Speaking of outstanding recruiting classes, the Tigers’ 2020 class is ranked as the best class in the country by 247sports. So Clemson will be just as good as year’s past, if not even better.
Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets have a wide open competition at quarterback, as second-year head coach Geoff Collins continues the transition away from the long-run triple option. Georgia Tech has plenty of questions at quarterback, and that could be a position battle that lasts long into the season. A year after finishing 3-9, GT will still staunchly be in the rebuilding phase.
Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons must replace star quarterback Jamie Newman who transferred to Georgia after leading Wake Forest to an 8-5 record last season. In his career at Winston Salem, Newman threw for almost 4,000 yards and ran for almost 900. He threw and ran for a combined 45 touchdowns. While Wake Forest may be thought of as a cupcake of the ACC, head coach Dave Clawson has turned the program around. Since 2016, Wake Forest has won at least seven games every season.
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ESPN just had it wrong with the 11 greatest CFB players of all time (ugawire.usatoday.com; Vitale)
I waited two weeks to vent a bit after the release of ESPN’s greatest eleven college football players of all time. I get it…that was an incredibly tough assignment for ESPN to choose the final eleven. Selecting from a pool of over 500,000 athletes from more than 200 schools during a 150-year period was a herculean task and they certainly weren’t going to please everyone.
For the most part, the ESPN panel did an outstanding job of selecting players from the different eras. Although skewed heavily towards running backs, most positions were well represented.
As we all know, the panel of 150 media members, administrators and former coaches and players selected Syracuse running back Jim Brown as the greatest college player and Georgia running back Herschel Walker as the runnerup.
Brown indeed was a magnificent college player. Born on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, he arrived on the Syracuse campus from Manhasset High (Long Island, NY) without a scholarship and left as the the school’s greatest athlete of all time. As a sophomore at Syracuse (1954), Brown was the second-leading rusher for the 4-4 Orangemen. As a junior, he rushed for 666 yards (5.2 per carry) as Syracuse went 5-3 and reached a high of No. 18 in the country. In 1956 during his senior year, Brown was a consensus first-team All-American and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He finished third in the country in rushing with 986 yards, scored 14 touchdowns and led the Orangemen to the Cotton Bowl as Syracuse finished 7-2 and reached No. 8 in the country during the season.
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How scheduling contributed to Clemson’s meteoric rise (fbschedules.com; Daughters)
for gbo
Six games into the 2008 season Tommy Bowden resigned as the head coach at Clemson, prompting the program to name then offensive coordinator Dabo Swinney interim. In December of that same year, Swinney – who had been an assistant since his coaching career began in 1993 – was introduced as the Tigers’ new head coach.
Swinney went 9-5 in his first season at the helm, dropped to 6-7 in 2010 and then never looked back, posting double-digit wins consecutively from 2011 through 2019. Included in the epic 111-16 run are six ACC titles and two national championships.
While the coaching change led directly to the emergence of the Tigers as a national powerhouse, another, much more subtle shift, put Clemson in position to be a national contender.
In 2006, the FBS level of college football went from playing 11 regular season games to 12. For ACC members that meant continuing to play eight conference games and adding a fourth non-conference opponent. It also set the scene for Clemson to eventually adopt a scheduling practice that would serve it well as its program began to rise.
The Tigers’ non-conference slate is anchored by the fact that they play South Carolina every season, which they’ve done consecutively since 1909. It means that since 2006 they’ve had three slots to fill in non-ACC play each year.
In 2006 and 2007, Clemson filled those places with a variety of non-Power 5 opponents – two from the Sun Belt and one apiece from the ranks of the WAC, MAC, Independents (Temple), and the FCS level.
In 2008 (Bowden’s final season at the helm and Swinney’s seven-games as the interim), the schedulers at Clemson made a significant move by adding an opening date with Alabama in Atlanta to its annual clash with South Carolina. The non-ACC slate was balanced by games against a pair of FCS opponents.
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Five Things I don't like about the 2020 ACC Football Schedule (scacchoops.com; JFann)
Recently we wrote about what we did like about the 2020 ACC Football schedule. Now we look at what don’t like.
Georgia Tech’s over-scheduling
Georgia and Notre Dame were always going to be on Georgia Tech’s schedule, but what’s the point of having UCF there too? Georgia Tech is the new Virginia, over-scheduling themselves out of the post-season. This made no-sense as the Jackets have a crossover opponent with Clemson. Alabama would have trouble going better than 2-2 with those four, and Georgia Tech may well go 0-4 in those four games.
The Week before SEC Rivalry Games
I thought the ACC had largely figured this out -schedule light before your SEC rivalry. This year was a huge flop before those rivalry games. Before South Carolina, Clemson plays at Wake Forest. Before Kentucky, Louisville is at Notre Dame – Ouch! Before Florida, Florida State plays at Syracuse. Before Georgia, Georgia Tech plays Miami. That’s going to make it that much more difficult to win those games. Wofford and New Mexico State are South Carolina and Florida’s opponents the week before their rivalry games to give you an idea.
Florida State at Boise State September 19, 2020
I didn’t like this series when it announced, and last year’s loss to Boise State set the wheels in motion for Willie Taggart’s dismissal. Boise State is that kind of opponent that gives you no credit for beating, but is a game that you can absolutely lose. This is an extremely dangerous game and series that should have never been scheduled.
UNC’s opening two weeks
Like Boise State, what’s the point of scheduling UCF? I’ve already questioned Georgia Tech doing it, and now UNC opens the season with UCF then Auburn. You can put one on the schedule, but why both? UNC is in position to be a top 25 team next year, and could easily start the season 0-2.
Conference Games not starting until October
Why are Florida State, Wake Forest, Duke, Pitt and Virginia not playing their first conference game until October? That’s not a great way to build interest in divisional races when FIVE teams, don’t play a conference game until week 5. Couldn’t the schedule have spread out a bit better than that?
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ACC Football: 10 Toughest Players to Replace in 2020 (athlonsports.com; Kinne)
Outside of Clemson, it wasn’t a stellar football season in the ACC. But the good news is that attrition will not hit the conference as hard as it will other leagues. Stars like Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Gregory Rousseau, and Jaylen Twyman will be back at their respective schools.
It's college football, so ACC programs will naturally have to deal with personnel losses. Here are the 10 ACC players whose departures will hurt the most.
Isaiah Simmons, LB, Clemson
We all know that Clemson recruits freakish athletes every year. But Simmons's level of freakdom is on a different level. No one player can replicate what he brought to the table, as this season's ACC Defensive Player of the Year and Butkus Award recipient developed into one of the most versatile defensive players college football has seen in several years.
Bryce Perkins, QB, Virginia
The senior quarterback was the driving force behind Virginia’s run to the ACC Coastal title and the resulting Orange Bowl appearance. Brennan Armstrong will be given the first chance to claim the job during spring drills, and while he is a dual-threat option, it’s unlikely that he will be as electric as Perkins.
Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville
Louisville will return much of its skill position talent next fall, but the Cardinals are losing a huge portion of their offense with Becton heading to the NFL. The massive left tackle has top-five overall pick ability and the Cards will also need a replacement for right tackle Tyler Haycraft.
Cam Akers, RB, Florida State
Despite serious issues along the offensive line over the past three years, Akers still ran for over 1,000 yards twice and had 18 total touchdowns in 2019. Plus, running back is not a position where FSU has knocked it out of the park on the recruiting trail, so they will now be relying on unheralded prospects and incoming freshman Lawrance Toafili.
Shaquille Quarterman, LB, Miami
And Michael Pinckney. The duo started for the Canes for all four years and combined for 623 tackles, 88.5 of which resulted in lost yardage, and 26.5 sacks. Quarterman had over 80 tackles in each of his four seasons, topping out at 107 this past fall. Zach McCloud, who entered Miami with Quarterman and Pinckney, redshirted this year due to injury and therefore has one more season of eligibility.
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ACC Alumni in Super Bowl LIV (RX; HM)
ACC Alumni in Super Bowl LIV
From CBS Sports: Super Bowl 2020 rosters by college teams, conferences
Here's a table breaking down number of players by conference.
| Conference | #Alumni |
| SEC | 24 |
| Big Ten | 19 |
| ACC | 15 |
| Pac-12 | 14 |
| Big 12 | 12 |
| C-USA | 9 |
| Mtn West | 7 |
| MAC | 6 |
| American | 5 |
| Independents | 5 |
| Sun Belt | 3 |
| FCS or lower | 16 |
Early look at Penn St vs. Va Tech (RX; HM)
Early look at Penn St vs. Va Tech
Yesterday we published an excerpt from PFF's Way Too Early Top 25 in which Virginia Tech was ranked 15th and Penn State was 16th, based on some advanced metrics and roster analysis. In this post, we're going to take a look at blue chip players (4- and 5-star recruits) on each team's last known 2019 roster. We'll start with the Hokies...
| Virginia Tech blue chips | ||||
| Player | Jersey | Pos | Yr | Rating |
| Devon Hunter | 7 | DB | SO | 0.9799 |
| J.R. Walker | 19 | DB | FR | 0.9033 |
| Jeremy Webb | 2 | DB | JR | 0.8979 |
| Chamarri Conner | 22 | DB | SO | 0.8975 |
| TyJuan Garbutt | 45 | DL | SO | 0.9035 |
| Dax Hollifield | 4 | LB | SO | 0.9376 |
| Dylan Rivers | 44 | LB | JR | 0.9045 |
| Alan Tisdale | 34 | LB | FR | 0.8917 |
| Doug Nester | 74 | OL | FR | 0.9519 |
| Bryan Hudson | 61 | OL | FR | 0.9189 |
| Quincy Patterson II | 4 | QB | FR | 0.9048 |
| Braxton Burmeister | 3 | QB | SO | 0.8941 |
| Hendon Hooker | 2 | QB | SO | 0.8903 |
| Keshawn King | 35 | RB | FR | 0.8925 |
| James Mitchell | 82 | TE | SO | 0.8904 |
| Jaden Payoute | 85 | WR | FR | 0.9326 |
| Tre Turner | 11 | WR | SO | 0.9273 |
| Tayvion Robinson | 83 | WR | FR | 0.8939 |
| Jacoby Pinckney | 87 | WR | FR | 0.891 |
Links, news and rumors - 1/28/20 (RX; HM)
Links, news and rumors - 1/28/20
ACCN Network graphics - then and now.
2011 ACC Network (Raycom) graphics package
2011 ACC Network Graphics Package from David Kay on Vimeo.
2019 ACC Network
Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics
I like the new ACCN graphics, but to be honest, I'm not so sure I didn't like the old graphics better.
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Here's some news I missed earlier: as expected, we have another Friday night ACC football game already...
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Other
Look inside: Genesee Grande gets a new name and a Syracuse orange touch (PS; Pucci)
The Genesee Grande is now the Scholar Hotel, and with the new name comes a modernized lobby, revamped guest rooms and a new restaurant.
The hotel on East Genesee Street officially relaunched as the Scholar Hotel earlier this month, a little more than 15 months after the Pennsylvania-based Scholar Hotel Group purchased the hotel from owner Norm Swanson for $16.6 million.
What was once a koi pond is now a coffee bar serving Starbucks coffee. The dark tile floor, mahogany woods and Greco-Roman columns that once filled the lobby have been replaced with lighter floors and an expanded seating/meeting area with large TVs, a fireplace, and tables with built-in power outlets and USB ports. The former 1060 Restaurant was cordoned off from the lobby by the floor-to-ceiling columns, but the new Salt Restaurant & Bar opens up to the lobby, where diners are free to bring their coffees or cocktails and sit on the couches or one of the many orange armchairs—one of several nods to nearby Syracuse University.
“The goal was to make this a community area," general manager Mahim Shorma said.
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