sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Sock Day!
National Sock Day was started by Pair of Thieves, an apparel company that sells socks, in order "to warm our toes with the commemoration of two toe-tapping historical events" that happened on today's date. First, the holiday commemorates the closing of the first revival of the Broadway musical On Your Toes, on December 4, 1954. A Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers production, On Your Toes first debuted in 1936 and was known for its incorporation of ballet. Following its 1950s revival, it was brought back again in the 1980s. The second "toe-tapping historical event" that the holiday commemorates is the final concert by the mother-daughter singing duo of Naomi and Wynonna Judd—the Judds—at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on November 4, 1991. Wynonna went on to a solo career, and the duo sometimes reunited, most notably for a tour in 2010, but the 1991 concert is still considered to be their final bow.
SU News
Former Syracuse football player David Holmes speaks during Markus Paul's memorial service on Thursday morning in Texas.Screenshot of service hosted by North Colony Church of Christ
At Paul’s memorial service, a message to carry with us: Let’s all be like Markus (PS; Mink)
The same theme carried throughout a 90-minute memorial service for Markus Paul on Thursday morning inside a Dallas-area church.
David Holmes touched on it, at first holding back tears to remember a man connected at his hip since the fall of 1984, when the two became roommates in Shaw Hall at Syracuse University.
Daryl Johnston got there too, echoing what he said in the aftermath of Paul’s death last week at the age of 54: Let’s all be like Markus.
We know Paul as the former All-American safety who snared a school-record 19 interceptions during a four-year college career that coincided with the rebirth of an Eastern football power in Upstate New York. Holmes and Johnston witnessed all that, but they also knew Paul for his immeasurable acts of service that far exceeded anything he did on a football field.
There are, of course, the hundreds of pro football players he pushed, counseled and gardened in the weight room during a coaching career that touched four different decades and yielded five Super Bowl rings.
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Will Syracuse's QB shuffle continue at Notre Dame? (10 things) (247sports.com; Shults)
Syracuse football's season was already lost going into its final two games of the 2020 season last weekend. The Orange was 1-8 with its only win coming against Georgia Tech on Sept. 26. But after playing one of its better games for 59 minutes against North Carolina State, quarterback Rex Culpepper made the worst mistake of the season.
After taking a sack on third down in the red zone, the clock continued to tick. Then on a fan-less senior day, the redshirt senior snapped the ball on fourth down and spiked it.
"I think you guys saw it," SU head coach Dino Babers said after the game. "Obviously, you want to throw that ball. The third-down call, you have to throw it away and then you play the fourth-down snap. And if you're going to go on fourth down, you have to throw the ball. Nobody wants to spike it on fourth down."
Now Syracuse will close out its season against No. 2 Notre Dame. The Orange opened this week as a 33-point underdog as Fighting Irish are undefeated this season at 9-0, including a win against then-No. 1 Clemson. Quarterback Ian Book has thrown for over 2,000 yards, with only one of his over-250 passes being intercepted.
Last week, Notre Dame defeated North Carolina 31-17, which was the lowest point total the Tar Heels have put up all season. Only the Tigers and Louisville have played the Fighting Irish within one score this year.
Here are 10 things to watch when Syracuse (1-9, 1-8 Atlantic Coast) travels to South Bend to face Notre Dame (9-0, 8-0). Kickoff is set for 2:30 pm.
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Syracuse's Chris Elmore is one of a kind (apnews.com; Kekis)
Syracuse coach Dino Babers won’t ever forget this most unusual season, even though he’d certainly like to with only one win and one game to play. And he most assuredly won’t forget the contributions of senior Chris Elmore, who has taken the meaning of the word selflessness to a rare level.
“ Chris Elmore is so unselfish,” Babers said. “We would not have been able to finish the season without him. It would have been 11 no-contests without Chris. I can’t thank him enough for the unselfish act he did in keeping us afloat and keeping us running through these games.”
Syracuse has played every game on its schedule without a disruption. It’s a testament to the athletic department’s aggressive approach in combating the novel coronavirus, but keeping the season intact hasn’t translated to success on the field. Syracuse (1-9, 1-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) has lost seven straight and is last in the conference with a date at No. 2 Notre Dame looming in Saturday’s season finale.
“From a team standpoint, we needed to play these games. We needed to grow,” Babers said. “We needed the knowledge that these games are going to bring to us in the future, and he’s one of the main reasons ... why we were able to pull this off.”
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College football: Syracuse’s season savior Elmore back in familiar fullback spot (nny360.com; St Croix)
The No. 63 jersey of Chris Elmore sat on a storage cart with a set of shoulder pads inserted for the duration of the Syracuse University football team’s final home game last Saturday in the Carrier Dome.
After switching to offensive line in training camp to help the depleted unit — a move that fifth-year coach Dino Babers believes saved the Orange’s season — the senior affectionately nicknamed: “Rhino,” has returned to his natural habitat.
Elmore lined up at fullback in his familiar No. 5 jersey last game and is likely to remain in the backfield as he helps lead Syracuse (1-9 overall, 1-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) into its season finale at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at second-ranked Notre Dame (9-0, 8-0). The game will be televised on NBC.
“Chris Elmore is so unselfish, we would not have been able to finish the season without him, there would have been 11 no-contests without Chris, and I can’t thank him enough for the unselfish act he did in keeping us afloat,” Babers said. “Even though the no-contests would have helped my win-loss record, from a team standpoint, we needed to play these games and needed the growth.”
Elmore was asked to play up front during preseason training camp when injuries and other circumstances started taking their toll on the line.
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Floundering Orange looking for positive takeaways from trip to South Bend // The Observer (ndsmcobserver.com; Geyer)
The juxtaposition between No. 2 Notre Dame and unranked Syracuse is fairly sharp. The former is a perfect 9-0 (8-0 ACC), while the latter a less-than-ideal 1-9 (1-8). The Orange haven’t won one on the road, and the Irish haven’t lost one at home. Notre Dame’s on a streak of nine wins this season (and an FBS-long 15 straight dating back to last season), while Syracuse is on a seven-game skid.
With the stakes low, then, head coach Dino Babers sees his team’s trip to South Bend this Saturday as nothing but an opportunity.
“It’s a big deal,” Babers said of playing Notre Dame. “This is one of the traditional programs in college football. They have an unbelievable history. They’re having a fantastic year and are leading the ACC right now. They’re at the top. We know where we’re at, and we get to lace up one more time. So, if you enjoy playing, this is what games are for — you get an opportunity to do something that a lot of people don’t think you can do.”
That optimism extends beyond Babers’ perspective on the Notre Dame game — it describes his attitude with respect to the entire season.
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Everything Kelly Said Thursday Before Notre Dame vs. Syracuse (247sports.com; Loy)
Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly spoke to the media on Thursday ahead of Saturday's matchup between the No. 2 Fighting Irish and the Syracuse Orange. Kelly discussed a variety of topics and as always, Irish Illustrated brings you everything Kelly had to say.
ON THE HEALTH OF CENTER ZEKE CORRELL
"I think the only guy that will be a game-time decision will be Zeke Correll. He's been limited in practice. He'll go again today and we'll see how that looks. We'll make a decision on whether it's Zeke or Josh at the center position.”
ON THE PLAN IF CORRELL CAN’T PLAY VS. SYRACUSE
"If Zeke can't go, Josh will play the center position. Dillan Gibbons will play at the right guard position. If Zeke can go, obviously, Zeke at center and Josh at the right guard position.
ON THE LATEST WITH COVID TESTING
"We tested on Sunday and no positive tests. We tested on Tuesday and that came back negative as well. We tested this morning. With the new ACC guidelines, we will not test again. This is our last test for the week. We'll get those tests back probably tomorrow sometime early tomorrow morning."
ON SATURDAY’S MATCHUP AND IF THINGS CHANGE SINCE THEY ARE ALREADY IN THE ACC TITLE GAME
"The announcement as to being part of the championship game doesn't really change how we prepare for our performance on Saturday. It's still important for our football team because there's so many things going on, right? No. 1, the chance to win all of your games at home for a third consecutive season. To send our seniors out on a winning note has always been important here at Notre Dame, regardless of the season. Solidifying your resume going into the College Football Playoffs. A lot of things to play for, but it's never really been about that for us. It's much more about this consistency of performance and how you prepare for it. That really didn't change much for us. It's really about preparing and putting together the kind of performance that needs to be consistent if you really entertain any thoughts of being a championship football team."
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Syracuse football at Notre Dame predictions: See our picks (PS; $; Staff)
The Syracuse football team will face Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
It’s time for our predictions. The panel includes Brent Axe, sports columnist; Chris Carlson, sports reporter; Mike Curtis, sports reporter; and Nate Mink, SU football reporter.
BRENT AXE
Notre Dame 49, Syracuse 6
All things considered, this may be one of the biggest mismatches I’ve ever seen in my time covering Syracuse football. The only reason I don’t have the score higher is I think the Irish back off after gaining a big first-half lead to save the starters for bigger pursuits like the ACC Championship game and college football playoff.
CHRIS CARLSON
Notre Dame 41, Syracuse 6
Notre Dame has one of the country’s best defenses, while Syracuse has one of the worst offenses. It’s just hard to see the Orange accomplishing much with the ball. That will allow one of the country’s best offensive lines to wear down the Syracuse defense and eventually impose its will, sentencing this team to the Syracuse record books with Greg Robinson’s 2005 team as the only one-win teams at Syracuse since World War II.
MIKE CURTIS
Notre Dame 42, Syracuse 17
Syracuse’s final game of the year is against one of the best teams in the country. How fitting. The Orange might as well treat this last outing like a bowl game and play like it has nothing to lose, because it doesn’t.
NATE MINK
Notre Dame 36, Syracuse 3
Notre Dame has a boatload of seniors. Syracuse has a ton of freshmen. The Irish’s fronts should be overwhelming Saturday afternoon, when one team’s nightmarish season comes to an end and the other’s dream season, with a second College Football Playoff berth in three years, continues uninterrupted.
Point spread: Notre Dame by 33.5
Over/under: 52.5
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Irish VS Orange: Weather Report (onefootdown.com; Vowles)
It’s Senior Day for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday, and they welcome the comically terrible Syracuse Orange football team to South Bend for the festivities. The question of “what’s the weather going to be like” is at a season low on the give-a-crap meter — but it’s also the final game of the regular season.
Syracuse is, of course, a dome team, so maybe Dino Babers will be interested in these tidbits.
It will be a 2:30 PM EST game on NBC, so there may still be a little sun left at the end of regulation. It’s going to be a cold — yet the sun will be out enough to break the South Bend stereotype of pure dreariness in December.
So, yeah... it’s going to be cold. The lack of 80,000 people in attendance only makes it feel colder. The good news — if you’re a player that doesn’t love the midwest in December — is that thanks to the start time of the game, the temperatures will stay about the same throughout the contest.
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Syracuse.com’s Brent Axe and Nate Mink discuss the end of the 2020 Syracuse football season and preview SU’s last game against Notre Dame. Later in the show, Mike Waters joins Brent to discuss the start of the Syracuse basketball season. You’ll also hear from Syracuse head coach Dino Babers during Syracuse Soundbites.
Syracuse Football Top 25 Players of All-Time: No. 23 Keith Bulluck (itlh; Peelman)
Syracuse Football has had a long history of success. We look back at some of the best players to play at Syracuse University. Up next, No. 23: Keith Bulluck.
Syracuse Football has had multiple defensive stars in its’ long storied history. Though many Syracuse fans may not remember the name Keith Bulluck, a linebacker from the late 1990s, he played an integral role for the Orange defense at that time. Though never really a star per se, his consistency both in college as well as in the pros led him to be one of the most successful players ever to wear Orange.
Originally he played safety for the Orange as a freshman in 1995 as that was the position he wanted to play. However, Coach Pasqualoni and the coaching staff felt Bulluck would be better off playing linebacker and switched him there his sophomore year in 1996, according to the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame.
The switch immediately paid dividends as he totaled 104 tackles. He would become the starting linebacker that year, and would keep that role the rest of his time at Syracuse.
What’s more impressive is that during his three-year tenure as a starter for Syracuse he helped the program win three Big East Championships as well as led the Big East in tackles his senior year with 138 in 1998.
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ACC 100-yard Rushing Games (RX; HM)
ACC 100-yard Rushing Games
How many games this year has each ACC team had a running back (and/or QB) rush for more than 100 yards - and which backs broke the century mark? Here are the numbers from the weekly ACC press release:
| Number of 100-Yard Rushing Performances | ||
| Player | Team | Games |
| Javonte Williams | N Carolina | 5 |
| Michael Carter | N Carolina | 3 |
| Team total | N Carolina | 8 |
| Kyren Williams | Notre Dame | 5 |
| C'Bo Flemister | Notre Dame | 1 |
| Chris Tyree | Notre Dame | 1 |
| Team total | Notre Dame | 7 |
| Khalil Herbert | Virginia Tech | 5 |
| Hendon Hooker | Virginia Tech | 2 |
| Team total | Virginia Tech | 7 |
| Javian Hawkins | Louisville | 4 |
| Malik Cunningham | Louisville | 2 |
| Team total | Louisville | 6 |
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Why Greg Sankey is Full of It. (RX; HM)
Why Greg Sankey is Full of It.
From CBS Sports story "SEC has no plans to cancel Dec. 12 games as commish questions ACC's decision to aid playoff pushes", which has the tag line "SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was outspoken about the ACC's recent move when reached by CBS Sports", comes this snarky quote from Sankey:
Technically, it's true - the SEC can still, in theory, play 10 conference games per team this season - just not before the SEC Championship Game. So far no games have been officially canceled - although if Sankey would be honest for a moment, it's probably inevitable (the SEC is already facing the possibility of Texas A&M and Georgia both playing games on Championship Weekend).
SEC FB Games postponed
Week 7 - Oct. 17th
We discussed in this blog some practical reasons why the ACC was smart to cancel the last games for Notre Dame and Clemson (and, potentially, for Miami) in the post "Why the ACC decided 9 was enough", and I didn't even mention the fact that having the conference championship game participants play someone else the week before opens up the very real possibility of having to postpone or cancel the conference football championship itself!
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2020 Good vs Bad Teams - Red Zone (RX; HM)
2020 Good vs Bad Teams - Red Zone
What makes some ACC football teams good, others bad? We're going to take a look at some factors, starting with Red Zone performance.
Moving the ball up and down the field is great, but if you want to win, you better be able to score - and I mean touchdowns, not settle for field goals! Which ACC teams do that well, and which don't?
| RED ZONE OFFENSE | |||||||
| Team | G | Scores | Pct. | TDs | (R-P) | FGs | TO |
| 1. Wake Forest | 7 | 34-36 | 94.4 | 26 | 20-6 | 8-10 | 0 |
| 2. Miami | 8 | 29-32 | 90.6 | 18 | 11-7 | 11-12 | 0 |
| 3. Pitt | 10 | 37-41 | 90.2 | 26 | 18-8 | 11-12 | 2 |
| 4. Louisville | 10 | 35-39 | 89.7 | 25 | 14-11 | 10-10 | 3 |
| 5. Clemson | 9 | 43-49 | 87.8 | 36 | 22-14 | 7-10 | 1 |
| 6. N Carolina | 9 | 35-40 | 87.5 | 30 | 20-10 | 5-6 | 0 |
| 7. Boston Coll | 10 | 40-47 | 85.1 | 23 | 9-14 | 17-19 | 3 |
| 8. Va Tech | 9 | 32-38 | 84.2 | 24 | 17-7 | 8-10 | 2 |
| 9. NC State | 10 | 35-42 | 83.3 | 29 | 14-15 | 6-8 | 4 |
| 10. Virginia | 8 | 28-34 | 82.4 | 22 | 11-11 | 6-8 | 1 |
| 11. Duke | 9 | 26-32 | 81.2 | 16 | 12-4 | 10-11 | 4 |
| 12. Notre Dame | 9 | 42-53 | 79.2 | 32 | 22-10 | 10-12 | 3 |
| 13. Florida St | 8 | 19-26 | 73.1 | 15 | 10-5 | 4-6 | 2 |
| 14. Ga Tech | 8 | 16-24 | 66.7 | 15 | 10-5 | 1-5 | 3 |
| 15. Syracuse | 10 | 13-20 | 65.0 | 8 | 2-6 | 5-6 | 1 |
Why is Wake Forest able to punch above their weight class, so to speak? When they get into the Red Zone, they score! In fact, of their 36 trips into the Red Zone so far this year, the Deacs scored a touchdown on 26 of them.
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2020 Week 13 TV Viewers (RX; HM)
2020 Week 13 TV Viewers
Here's a quick post just to show how ACC football compared to others in terms of top TV draws last weekend...
Week 13 Games with over 3 million viewers:
| Rank | Game | Viewership | Network |
| 1 | Auburn at Alabama | 6,656,000 | CBS |
| 2 | Notre Dame at UNC | 6,089,000 | ABC |
| 3 | LSU at Texas A&M | 4,154,000 | ESPN |
| 4 | Penn State at Michigan | 4,093,000 | ABC |
| 5 | Iowa State at Texas | 3,577,000 | ABC |
| 6 | Pittsburgh at Clemson | 3,084,000 | ABC/ESPNU |
Of course, the Notre Dame at UNC games was broadcast on Black Friday, in the middle of the day (not Prime Time; BTW, the Iowa State at Texas game kicked off at noon; there was no ABC Prime Time game that day).
Anyway, we'll do more analysis of TV viewers once the season is over - just wanted to post this.
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Other
After a million-year journey, a meteor explodes above Syracuse in 2020 (PS; $; Coin)
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“Anyone who got to see it should remember it forever, because it’s not something most people will ever get to witness,” said Zoe Learner Ponterio, manager of Cornell University’s Spacecraft Planetary Image Facility. “If you drew a 1-kilometer square in your yard, you’re only going to get a meteor to hit that space once every 50,000 years.”
Thanks to one of the cloudiest climates in the country, unfortunately, most Central New Yorkers didn’t get to witness the meteor. But it was captured on video in Western New York and Toronto, and people from Virginia to Ontario heard the deafening boom that sounded to some like gunshots or a falling tree. As one of the 181 observers who filed reports with the meteor society put it: “Scared the bejesus outta me.”
Based on those reports, the society calculated that the meteor hit the atmosphere above Lake Ontario and disintegrated just south of Rochester. NASA’s estimated trajectory shows a different path, with the meteor striking above Syracuse and diving southwest toward the Finger Lakes for 3 seconds before flaming out. It was only 22 miles high at that point, which is a long way for a meteor to penetrate the atmosphere.
NASA has three meteor-tracking cameras in Ohio and western Pennsylvania that would have given a precise path, but they were off at the time.
“Meteor cameras don’t turn on until night because they’re too sensitive to the sun,” explained Bill Cooke, who tracks meteors for NASA.
This meteor was so bright that it was captured by a NASA satellite that monitors lightning. The bits of debris scattered after the meteor exploded could likely be seen on National Weather Service radar. And the sonic boom was detected in Ontario by a seismograph, the instrument that records earthquakes.
When the meteor finally got hot enough to explode, Cooke said, it released as much energy as 66 tons of dynamite.
“When it broke apart it produced a shock wave that produced the sonic boom that people heard,” he said.
The meteor was just under 3 feet across and weighed about 1,800 pounds, NASA estimated. That’s hefty as meteors go: The shooting stars seen in annual meteor showers are not bigger than small pebbles or golf balls.
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