McFarlane's 86-yard run | Syracusefan.com

McFarlane's 86-yard run

Crusty

Crusty

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Devante Mcfarlane had a spectacular 86 yard run aided by great blocking by Jason Emerich (see thread below). I heard some comments in the stands that Devante should not have been caught and/or that he should have taken an ankle to the end zone. Pure nonsense. He was run down by Merrill Noel a speedy RS senior CB who is a legitimate NFL prospect. I checked with the SU Athletic department and they confirmed that Devante does not have eyes in the back of his head and that even if he did NCAA rules would not permit holes to be cut in the back of his helmet.

As you can see from the photo below, Noel used his head this time to trip up Devante, which is why his helmet came off.
McFarlane_2.png

McFarlane shows great balance as he almost recovers and manages to get to the 5 yard line.
So may I politely request that we have no more dumb comments on this kid's great run?
Great job #29.
Mcfarlane_3.png
 
This begs the question - is that the longest non-TD run in SU history?
 
Eric15 said:
This begs the question - is that the longest non-TD run in SU history?
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think i saw that it was the 3rd longest on twitter.

edit: here it is

Oct 18
Davante McFarlane's 86-yard rush ties for the third-longest in school history.
 
Whitey23 said:
think i saw that it was the 3rd longest on twitter.

edit: here it is

Oct 18
Davante McFarlane's 86-yard rush ties for the third-longest in school history.
Expand...

I can tell you that the 96 yarder to Marvin Harrison went for a TD... but was he talking run or play?
 
IthacaBarrel said:
Hogue went 90+ versus Rutgers a few years back...
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Yep, 2008 at Rutgers in the rain. I wore a hoodie instead of a rain coat like an idiot. Most interesting part of the game was an SU fan shouting things like "fire GRob!" and Robinson's son walking over to him and telling him to shut the or he was going to beat him up. And on the way back to DC we stopped at Geno's Cheesesteaks in Philly and were randomly in line behind Steve Levy.
 
Yeah, I thought the kid for Wake just made a great all or nothing play. You see it all the time. What would be more concerning is if McFarlane was caught at the 30.

It's just fate at SU that he wasn't going to score. And that a new interpretation of offensive pass interference would be discovered just one play later.
 
Now I am NOT saying he is as good as, not even close. I am just comparing running styles. Also, him wearing the number 29 doesn't hurt but on his long run he reminded me of Eric Dickerson. Straight up and down. I also remember Dickerson getting caught from behind a time or two and he wasn't slow. (I actually liked the Rams when they were in LA)

Nice picture of the old helmet tackle. ;)
 
I made the comment at the game that if Devante had been running to the end-zone with the big replay board above it he ideally would have been able to see the guy catching up and cut to the side for the TD. Oh well. Great run.
 
he should have taken an angle when he started feeling heat down around 20 yd line. That's instinct.
 
Crusty said:
Devante Mcfarlane had a spectacular 86 yard run aided by great blocking by Jason Emerich (see thread below). I heard some comments in the stands that Devante should not have been caught and/or that he should have taken an ankle to the end zone. Pure nonsense. He was run down by Merrill Noel a speedy RS senior CB who is a legitimate NFL prospect. I checked with the SU Athletic department and they confirmed that Devante does not have eyes in the back of his head and that even if he did NCAA rules would not permit holes to be cut in the back of his helmet.

As you can see from the photo below, Noel used his head this time to trip up Devante, which is why his helmet came off.
View attachment 28551
McFarlane shows great balance as he almost recovers and manages to get to the 5 yard line.
So may I politely request that we have no more dumb comments on this kid's great run?
Great job #29.
View attachment 28553
Expand...
Love the helmet off pic. Daddy, my hat came off! "I hope your goddam head was in it!"
 
Crusty said:
Which angle - he had guys on all sides? I think that is just second guessing.
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I was going to say the same thing. About the only thing he could have done was a perfectly timed high-step, but like you said, he would need eyes in the back of his head to know when to do that.
 
I would certainly expect that no one is as disappointed as Mcfarlane. Scoring a TD in that moment would have made a memory for life. It's still a great run, but just not the same.

As for being run down... let's get real. This happens a lot with running backs because usually, they aren't the fastest player on the field. Who would that tend to be? Go ask Noel... a CB. Nothing to be ashamed about there especially when it took the kid's helmet to do the tackling. Great effort and play by both players.
 
PhatOrange said:
he should have taken an angle when he started feeling heat down around 20 yd line. That's instinct.
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When the gazelle goes right, so does the cheetah. The cheetah almost always wins.

It may have worked, but I think a lot of times when guys start cutting like that late, they also start looking back at the footsteps. He might have been caught quicker. It took a perfect diving play to get him.
 
Crusty said:
Which angle - he had guys on all sides? I think that is just second guessing.
Expand...

no it's not second guessing. at the time i was watching it i was waiting for him to change direction and he never did. i couldnt believe it. if you feel people are catching up to you you should change directions. and only 1 kid was gaining on him, the kid on his back left. if he broke off to the right he scores easily. it's instinctual, some people have it some people don't.
 
does he have eyes in the back of his head no. should he have glanced back ? maybe. most in similar situations change angles and/or glance back. i think a good back feels the pressure and instinctualy knows. He should have broke it off.

after watching the video just now for the first time it's exactly how i remember it. around the 20 yd line and the guy on the back left. he was leaving the other two in the dust.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:11721146
 
PhatOrange said:
no it's not second guessing. at the time i was watching it i was waiting for him to change direction and he never did. i couldnt believe it. if you feel people are catching up to you you should change directions. and only 1 kid was gaining on him, the kid on his back left. if he broke off to the right he scores easily. it's instinctual, some people have it some people don't.
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Disagree. Look at the replay and you will see that two guys are on his tail and Noel basically comes out of nowhere. If he broke to his right he would have cut into the path of one of the other guys shortening the pursuit angle. What geometry is as work here that I don't know about?
 
Crusty said:
Disagree. Look at the replay and you will see that two guys are on his tail and Noel basically comes out of nowhere. If he broke to his right he would have cut into the path of one of the other guys shortening the pursuit angle. What geometry is as work here that I don't know about?
Expand...

he's out running the other two. cutting down their angle would've made no difference. does he know this at the time? not really but it's instinctual, you have to sense and 'hear' you'r being caught. its something you know and feel, i speak from experience. but whatever.
 
44doubledees said:
I know when I play Techmo SuperBowl that a 90 degree turn always slows the defender down, just saying that Devante is no Bo Jackson!
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90 degrees is a right angle.
 
PhatOrange said:
he's out running the other two. cutting down their angle would've made no difference. does he know this at the time? not really but it's instinctual, you have to sense and 'hear' you'r being caught. its something you know and feel, i speak from experience. but whatever.
Expand...
Like ghost busters?
 
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