sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Five Things About Syracuse Spring Football (LSU Perspective; andthevalleyshook.com; Gomila)
1. Sum up Syracuse's 2014 season for LSU fans that may have never watched them play?
Boatloads of injuries and a terrible offensive scheme (implemented by former offensive coordinator George McDonald) derailed the 2014 season very early on, and it never really got back on track. TheOrange limped through the last half of the year with a rotating cast of characters at QB (four different players took snaps under center in 2014) and a dinged-up group of receivers and offensive linemen. It was very difficult to watch. So if you "may have never watched them play," consider yourself very lucky last season (especially coming from someone that watched every game... twice).
2. With the Orange coming off of such a rough record, what was the mood and the vibe around the team through the spring?
The mood's all about proving people wrong now, which I guess is a plus. The decisions in terms of scheme, plus injuries, soured a lot of people on the program -- one that looked to be on the rebound for a half-decade. So this year will be all about proving the doubters wrong and putting a much more watchable, smart product on the field. The coaching staff is also very much on the hot seat, which could either have a very positive or very negative effect on how this season goes down.
3. Any surprises or disappointments?
Fans were a bit surprised to find out that Terrel Hunt -- who started last year before getting injured -- would be named the first-string QB so early, and some of his struggles in last Saturday's spring game are unlikely to change that surprise, or the calls to give someone else a shot at winning the job. So that may be a disappointment as well. Admittedly, since the team decided that the spring game was more of a "spring scrimmage" this year, despite a real need to show this fan base something that looked like real football, there's not a whole lot for us to base opinions on right now.
4. LSU and Syracuse are not typical football opponents -- what's the thought process on this potential matchup?
Well, neither I nor anyone that follows this team is really sure of the thought process here. As I mentioned when the teams were initially discussing the move, this is both exciting and terrifying. Admittedly, I'm pretty psyched to make the trip down to Baton Rouge in 2017 (have never been, myself), but on the flip side, this is yet another case of the Syracuse football program scheduling itself into a hole. LSU is an excellent, incredibly well-run SEC program at the moment. We're a struggling, middling ACC program. So this doesn't benefit us a ton, especially when we don't try to recruit Louisiana kids at all and won't as a result of these two games, either.
As far as the game this fall, it's unlikely that it's all that close. The Tigers may take a quarter or so to get used to the Carrier Dome's oddities, and maybe Syracuse's defense makes a few stops early. But all of that will shift at some point. The Tigers' team of future NFL stars will take over, and the Orange will lose. It's a bummer from our standpoint, but it's also the most likely result.
...
Other
Jacoby Brissett Now 'More Seasoned' for Wolfpack (journalnow.com; AP)
Jacoby Brissett is getting pretty comfortable at quarterback for N.C State.
His first spring practice sessions in 2013 came shortly after transferring from Florida and getting familiar with Dave Doeren, the Wolfpack’s new-at-the-time coach.
Last year came with the pressure of knowing he would take over as the Wolfpack's top quarterback.
Brissett said Thursday that he's "seeing things a lot faster" and that "the game's slowing down more" than perhaps it did during his first two springs here.
Brissett, a redshirt senior, will wrap up his final set of spring practices Saturday in the Wolfpack's annual Kay Yow Spring Game.
Doeren says he sees a "more seasoned" quarterback than the one who arrived after the 2012 season.
Brissett sat out in 2013, working with the scout team, before taking over last year. He threw for 2,606 yards and 23 touchdowns with only five interceptions and rushed for 529 more yards and three scores.
...
Speed-Up Clock Suffers Glitches, Ticks Off Buffalo Manager in Minor Leage Season Opener (PS; AP)
It was opening day for the new pace of play rules in minor league baseball, and the only problem was caused by the clocks: In Buffalo, they broke.
Instead of a malfunction, a combined six pitching changes, 16 hits, 14 walks and a heavy rain that fell over the final two innings had more to do with the nearly three hours it took for the Rochester Red Wings to beat the Triple-A Bisons 6-3 on Thursday.
"Every game's not going to be two hours and five minutes," Rochester manager Mike Quade said. "If we would've had a bunch of problems, I would have said, 'What?' I think the kids understand. We all understand. And it was a non-issue."
At Coca-Cola Field, where the International League teams of the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays met, the main trouble had nothing to do with pitching mechanics. Rather, it was mechanical.
The clock in center field that counts down the time between pitches and innings blinked out at the top of the third inning, then came back in the fourth. In the top of the sixth, that same clock and two more behind the plate went dark before lighting up in the bottom half of the inning.
International League President Randy Mobley told The Associated Press there was a problem with the clocks' communication system.
...
Five Things About Syracuse Spring Football (LSU Perspective; andthevalleyshook.com; Gomila)
1. Sum up Syracuse's 2014 season for LSU fans that may have never watched them play?
Boatloads of injuries and a terrible offensive scheme (implemented by former offensive coordinator George McDonald) derailed the 2014 season very early on, and it never really got back on track. TheOrange limped through the last half of the year with a rotating cast of characters at QB (four different players took snaps under center in 2014) and a dinged-up group of receivers and offensive linemen. It was very difficult to watch. So if you "may have never watched them play," consider yourself very lucky last season (especially coming from someone that watched every game... twice).
2. With the Orange coming off of such a rough record, what was the mood and the vibe around the team through the spring?
The mood's all about proving people wrong now, which I guess is a plus. The decisions in terms of scheme, plus injuries, soured a lot of people on the program -- one that looked to be on the rebound for a half-decade. So this year will be all about proving the doubters wrong and putting a much more watchable, smart product on the field. The coaching staff is also very much on the hot seat, which could either have a very positive or very negative effect on how this season goes down.
3. Any surprises or disappointments?
Fans were a bit surprised to find out that Terrel Hunt -- who started last year before getting injured -- would be named the first-string QB so early, and some of his struggles in last Saturday's spring game are unlikely to change that surprise, or the calls to give someone else a shot at winning the job. So that may be a disappointment as well. Admittedly, since the team decided that the spring game was more of a "spring scrimmage" this year, despite a real need to show this fan base something that looked like real football, there's not a whole lot for us to base opinions on right now.
4. LSU and Syracuse are not typical football opponents -- what's the thought process on this potential matchup?
Well, neither I nor anyone that follows this team is really sure of the thought process here. As I mentioned when the teams were initially discussing the move, this is both exciting and terrifying. Admittedly, I'm pretty psyched to make the trip down to Baton Rouge in 2017 (have never been, myself), but on the flip side, this is yet another case of the Syracuse football program scheduling itself into a hole. LSU is an excellent, incredibly well-run SEC program at the moment. We're a struggling, middling ACC program. So this doesn't benefit us a ton, especially when we don't try to recruit Louisiana kids at all and won't as a result of these two games, either.
As far as the game this fall, it's unlikely that it's all that close. The Tigers may take a quarter or so to get used to the Carrier Dome's oddities, and maybe Syracuse's defense makes a few stops early. But all of that will shift at some point. The Tigers' team of future NFL stars will take over, and the Orange will lose. It's a bummer from our standpoint, but it's also the most likely result.
...
Other
Jacoby Brissett Now 'More Seasoned' for Wolfpack (journalnow.com; AP)
Jacoby Brissett is getting pretty comfortable at quarterback for N.C State.
His first spring practice sessions in 2013 came shortly after transferring from Florida and getting familiar with Dave Doeren, the Wolfpack’s new-at-the-time coach.
Last year came with the pressure of knowing he would take over as the Wolfpack's top quarterback.
Brissett said Thursday that he's "seeing things a lot faster" and that "the game's slowing down more" than perhaps it did during his first two springs here.
Brissett, a redshirt senior, will wrap up his final set of spring practices Saturday in the Wolfpack's annual Kay Yow Spring Game.
Doeren says he sees a "more seasoned" quarterback than the one who arrived after the 2012 season.
Brissett sat out in 2013, working with the scout team, before taking over last year. He threw for 2,606 yards and 23 touchdowns with only five interceptions and rushed for 529 more yards and three scores.
...
Speed-Up Clock Suffers Glitches, Ticks Off Buffalo Manager in Minor Leage Season Opener (PS; AP)
It was opening day for the new pace of play rules in minor league baseball, and the only problem was caused by the clocks: In Buffalo, they broke.
Instead of a malfunction, a combined six pitching changes, 16 hits, 14 walks and a heavy rain that fell over the final two innings had more to do with the nearly three hours it took for the Rochester Red Wings to beat the Triple-A Bisons 6-3 on Thursday.
"Every game's not going to be two hours and five minutes," Rochester manager Mike Quade said. "If we would've had a bunch of problems, I would have said, 'What?' I think the kids understand. We all understand. And it was a non-issue."
At Coca-Cola Field, where the International League teams of the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays met, the main trouble had nothing to do with pitching mechanics. Rather, it was mechanical.
The clock in center field that counts down the time between pitches and innings blinked out at the top of the third inning, then came back in the fourth. In the top of the sixth, that same clock and two more behind the plate went dark before lighting up in the bottom half of the inning.
International League President Randy Mobley told The Associated Press there was a problem with the clocks' communication system.
...
