sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Iwo Jima Day!
Iwo Jima Day marks the anniversary of the date in February 1945 when the Battle of Iwo Jima began, with the invasion of Iwo Jima island by the United States Armed Forces. The day is officially observed in Massachusetts and unofficially marked across the United States. Some of the bloodiest fighting of the Pacific Theater of World War II took place at Iwo Jima.
The Battle of Iwo Jima lasted five weeks, with the United States capturing the island at its conclusion. Although it was believed from the start that the United States would win, it was thought that the battle would last days, or maybe a week, but not five weeks. The United States had larger numbers of people and arms, as well as air supremacy, and Japan couldn't retreat or be reinforced. About 70,000 Marines fought in the battle, compared to 21,000 Japanese forces. What was not known by the United States at first was the extent that Japan had built up their defenses, consisting of fortifications in the mountains, camouflaged artillery, and underground tunnels.
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Dino Babers Football Camp | ACTIVEkids (activekids.com)
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JUN 13 2020
June 13th HS One Day Camp (Session 1 - QB/RB/WR/TE/LB/DB)
Dino Babers Football Camp • Syracuse, NY
Football
JUN 13 2020
June 13th HS One Day Camp (Session 2 - OL/DL)
Dino Babers Football Camp • Syracuse, NY
Football
JUL 25 2020
July 25th Last Chance Camp (Session 1 - QB/RB/WR/TE/LB/DB - Class of 2021 & 2022 ONLY)
Dino Babers Football Camp • Syracuse, NY
Football
JUL 25 2020
July 25th Last Chance Camp (Session 2 - OL/DL - Class of 2021 & 2022 ONLY)
Dino Babers Football Camp • Syracuse, NY
Why Notre Dame FB in the ACC makes Sense (RX; HM)
Why Notre Dame FB in the ACC makes Sense
A Notre Dame fan's perspective.
From "Notre Dame Should Join the ACC for Football, with West Virginia" by Sean O'Leary
Why?
But isn't independence an advantage?
But the Irish play for national - not conference - championships!
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Top 10 players returning in the ACC in 2020 | College Football and NFL Draft | PFF (pff.com; Treash)
Believe it or not, Clemson isn’t the only standout team in the ACC. In PFF’s way-too-early 2020 top 25 rankings, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Louisville all joined the second-ranked Clemson Tigers in the top-20, and Miami is among the teams that could sneak on in at some point considering their transfer talent. A majority of the ACC’s top talent is returning in 2020, forming a top-10 returners list that could be considered the best among all conferences:
1. QB TREVOR LAWRENCE, CLEMSON
Of course, Trevor Lawrence is the top returning player in the ACC next year and in all of college football, for that matter — we all know it. There really isn’t a thing he doesn’t do well. In fact, he’s looking like he’ll end up as the best prospect PFF has ever seen when it’s all said in done about a year from now and is definitely worth tanking for. PFF has never seen a true freshman season like what we saw from Trevor Lawrence in 2018. His WAA that year was nearly triple the amount we have seen from first-year quarterbacks in the prior seasons in the PFF College era and was second to only first-overall pick Kyler Murray that season.
Perhaps the best quality of Lawrence’s is how great he is in unfavorable situations. He has superb pocket presence by converting pressure to sacks on just 15% of his career dropbacks, which is a mark that most seniors with NFL aspirations wish they were at. He can create outside of structure, stay poised and throw in a pressured pocket with bodies flying at him and can extend plays with his legs. In fact, he’s averaged nearly 10 yards per carry on scrambles. With that, Clemson went on to use that athleticism of his in the designed rushing attack in 2019, and he ended up with the fourth-highest rushing grade at his position this past year. Remember that game-changing 67-yard touchdown of Lawrence’s against Ohio State on a designed rush? Just a little teaser of what’s to come with his usage.
Lawrence’s decision making is already up to the expectations for a No. 1 overall pick, as he has posted a career turnover-worthy play rate that ranks seventh-best over the past two years — and a third of those turnover-worthy plays came in an uncharacteristic three-game stretch to start the 2019 season. Not to mention, he was also one of two quarterbacks to also rank in the top-10 in big-time throw rate in addition to limiting those negative plays.
2. QB SAM HOWELL, NORTH CAROLINA
As said, Trevor Lawrence produced the best true freshman season PFF has ever seen back in 2018, but the person right behind him is North Carolina’s Sam Howell. The cannon he displayed for the Tar Heels last season was quite absurd. There were times he threw it over 40 yards downfield with ease — in fact, he had an FBS-leading six such touchdowns. Yes, even more than Joe Burrow, who had the second most with five.
Howell was a gunslinger, which caused him to produce some turnover-worthy throws, but it also resulted in him posting the eighth highest big-time throw rate among FBS quarterbacks. His play under duress killed him, but we must consider the stability of performance under pressure opposed to being in a clean pocket. A quarterback’s performance when free from pressure is the most telling of future performance, and that is an area where Howell thrived, posting the fourth-highest passing grade and taking advantage of the situation with deep passes (most 20-plus yard completions when clean this past season with 32 — Justin Fields and Joe Burrow were tied for second with 30).
3. EDGE QUINCY ROCHE, MIAMI (FL.)
Miami had a down year in 2019 — there’s no doubt about that. However, they got a couple added boosts from the transfer pool this offseason, and one of them lands among the three best players in the conference in edge defender Quincy Roche. Previously with the Temple Owls, Roche was an above-average pass-rusher in his first two seasons of collegiate action in 2017-18, ranking 28th in two-year pass-rush grade in that stretch and finishing as a fringe top 25 player in win rate and pressure rate. In 2019, though, he took his play to new heights and was one of the biggest breakouts.
Roche produced a pass-rush grade this past season that ranked behind only Chase Young, who is a virtual lock to be taken in the top three of the 2020 NFL Draft. His WAA was right there with Young, as well, and was the fifth-best ever recorded in a single season by an edge defender. Pressure rate is more important than the sack numbers, but Roche killed both categories. He generated pressure on 18.4% of his reps, which was among the five highest rates at the position. It’ll be interesting to see Roche go up against ACC tackles in 2020, but based off what we saw in 2019 in games against Power-5 competition, he should be more than okay.
4. RB TRAVIS ETIENNE, CLEMSON
It was a bit of a shock to see running back Travis Etienne not declare for the 2020 NFL Draft, but Clemson has to be jumping for joy with him returning to their squad in 2020. Running backs generally don’t matter at the college level and always don’t in the NFL, but Etienne is in the rare group that actually has generated significant value. In 2019, Etienne had the second most WAA at his position, barely trailing LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire, but still was the seventh most WAA by a running back in the PFF College era and his 2018 was the 16th most. Overall, he’s been the fourth most valuable college running back we have seen behind Christian McCaffrey, Kareem Hunt and Jonathan Taylor.
Etienne’s elusiveness is almost hard to believe — he broke 90 tackles on 207 carries. That formed a rate that was the highest in college football and led to him earning the highest rushing grade. The big reason why Etienne generated value in 2019 was his vast improvement receiving. He bettered his yards per route run from 2018 to 2019 by a yard and a half and dropped fewer balls on more catchable targets.
5. WR JUSTYN ROSS, CLEMSON
He wasn’t able to exactly replicate his true freshman season from 2018 this past year, in which he was the second highest-graded receiver in the country, but Ross was still able to comprise a solid year and add up his two-year WAA to be among the 10 best in the country at his position. The 6-foot-4 Ross has been one of the best deep threats in college football, ranking second in two-year receiving grade on targets of 20-plus yards. His size comes in clutch on these targets, as he just flat out bodies defensive backs in contested situations, hauling in nine of 13 such deep targets in his career. The vertical route tree is his clearly his specialty — he’s generated the third most explosive plays on vertical routes in his career. Tee Higgins may be gone for Trevor Lawrence, but he’ll still have one of the best in the country at the position in Justyn Ross.
6. WR TUTU ATWELL, LOUISVILLE
Standing at 5-foot-9 and weighing in just over 150 pounds, Louisville’s Tutu Atwell is one of college football’s most underrated receivers. Atwell reportedly ran a 4.33 40-yard dash a couple of years ago and is lethal after the catch as a result. He was used extensively in the screen game, where he’d record the highest PFF receiving grade at 93.8 (only receiver above 90.0) and an impressive 16.3 yards after the catch per reception. Most of those were jet motion plays, and on those specifically, Atwell averaged 13.2 yards per “reception” (if you even want to call it that, but still very impressive, regardless). Not all of his production has come on these types of plays, though — he can still separate downfield at a very high level. He had 21 targets coming 10 or more yards downfield in which he was deemed open (more than a couple of steps of separation) — among the 20 most in college football.
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A Look at 2020 FPI Preseason Rankings (RX; HM)
A Look at 2020 FPI Preseason Rankings
ESPN's FPI Preseason rankings for 2020 are out (and not to be confused with preseason SP+ rankings which we've already discussed here), and we see 4 ACC teams in the top 25 - Clemson, UNC, FSU and VT. Here are highlights from the FPI ranking:
Preseason FPI Rankings
| RANK | TEAM | CONF. |
| 1 | Clemson | ACC |
| 2 | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| 3 | Oklahoma | Big 12 |
| 4 | Alabama | SEC |
| 5 | Penn State | Big Ten |
| 6 | Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| 7 | Texas | Big 12 |
| 8 | Texas A&M | SEC |
| 9 | Notre Dame | Indep |
| 10 | Georgia | SEC |
| 11 | Florida | SEC |
| 12 | LSU | SEC |
| 13 | USC | Pac-12 |
| 14 | Oregon | Pac-12 |
| 15 | Auburn | SEC |
| 16 | Michigan | Big Ten |
| 17 | Oklahoma State | Big 12 |
| 18 | North Carolina | ACC |
| 19 | Tennessee | SEC |
| 20 | Minnesota | Big Ten |
| 21 | UCF | American |
| 22 | Nebraska | Big Ten |
| 23 | Florida State | ACC |
| 24 | Utah | Pac-12 |
| 25 | Virginia Tech | ACC |
| . . . | ||
| 35 | Louisville | ACC |
| 37 | Miami (FL) | ACC |
| 43 | Pittsburgh | ACC |
| 47 | Virginia | ACC |
| . . . | ||
| 55 | Georgia Tech | ACC |
| 59 | NC State | ACC |
| 64 | Duke | ACC |
| 69 | Wake Forest | ACC |
| 72 | Syracuse | ACC |
| 78 | Boston College | ACC |
| 81 | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| 83 | Rutgers | Big Ten |
Clemson vs. Georgia: Old football rivals to kick off 2021 season in Charlotte (P&C; Needelman)
Clemson has added a big name and old rival to its 2021 football schedule.
The Tigers will kick off the 2021 season against Georgia on Sept. 4 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The teams have played 64 times with Georgia leading the series, 42-18-4. The last time they played was in 2014, a 45-21 Georgia victory in Athens.
“Thank you to Georgia and the Charlotte Sports Foundation for helping make this game a reality,” Clemson director of athletics Dan Radakovich said. “Kicking off the 2021 season with this matchup will be a tremendous showcase for both universities and our fans. UGA is a great football program and we know that Charlotte will provide a first-class experience for everyone involved.”
The game will be Clemson’s second non-conference contest against a Power 5 program that season. Clemson’s originally scheduled opponents for 2021 included S.C State (Sept. 11), Wyoming (Sept. 25), UConn (Nov. 13) and South Carolina (Nov. 27), the latter being the lone member of a Power 5 conference. The Wyoming game has been canceled.
The Gamecocks are the Tigers’ lone Power 5 non-conference opponent in 2020, though Clemson on Nov. 7 will play at Notre Dame, an independent school that plays four to six games against ACC teams annually.
Clemson faced criticism last season for its strength of schedule. The game against Georgia, which went 12-2 and beat Baylor in the Sugar Bowl last season, could go a long way toward quieting those critics in 2021. The game will be played as part of a 2021 rivalry series hosted by the Charlotte Sports Foundation.
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Other
These portals at Syracuse Hancock International Airport allow travelers to exit gate areas without allowing anyone who has not passed through a security checkpoint to enter.
Syracuse airport’s oft-criticized ‘exit portals’ may soon be history (PS; Moriarty)
Syracuse airport’s futuristic “exit portals” that some travelers have found puzzling since their installation eight years ago may soon get the boot.
Officials at Syracuse Hancock International Airport are looking at replacing the round glass tubes with a system of sensors that allow passengers to exit the airport’s two gate areas without allowing people who have not passed through a security checkpoint to enter.
Travelers who have just stepped off planes must pass through the tubes to exit the airport. (Though up to three people are allowed in a portal, rarely does more than one enter at a time. They’re a tight fit for more than one person with luggage.)
As a passenger approaches them, a door opens, allowing the person to step in. The door closes behind them. After a few seconds, a green light comes on and a door on the opposite side of the tube opens, allowing the person to step out.
The airport installed four of the portals at each of its two gate areas in 2012 after its two security checkpoints were merged into a single checkpoint in the center of the terminal. They cost $750,000 to install but save the airport about $580,000 a year in staffing because it does not need to post a guard at the exits, airport officials said at the time.
The portals allow people to leave the airport’s two concourses while preventing anyone else from entering through the exits.
Hancock is one of only two airports in the country that have the portals. The other is Atlantic City International Airport in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
While the portals’ operation is fairly simple, some travelers have found them a bit puzzling at first. Even more have complained about the logjams they create as passengers wait to get through the tubes during busy times.
The portals even drew national attention when NBC Nightly News broadcast a story about them in 2013, quoting critics saying they represented “the official arrival of the police state.”
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