anyone catch the Billy Scharr reference? | Syracusefan.com

anyone catch the Billy Scharr reference?

STEVEHOLT

There are FIVE letters in the name BLAIN.
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It was on Bill Simmons Podcast interview with Matt Damon a few weeks back. Apparently Scharr was involved in the production of the movie School Ties...he was there to help them with the football scenes I guess. i almost choked when i heard the name...forgot about this guy. i guess he threw the ball so hard Damon was afraid of it
 
It was on Bill Simmons Podcast interview with Matt Damon a few weeks back. Apparently Scharr was involved in the production of the movie School Ties...he was there to help them with the football scenes I guess. i almost choked when i heard the name...forgot about this guy. i guess he threw the ball so hard Damon was afraid of it

That name is a real blast from the past. There was a lot of hype about Scharr, following Don McPherson's departure. In high school, he won NY player of the year and honorable mention All-America or something. I recall reading an article or scouting report saying he might be the "best pure passer" in SU history.

Scharr had a strong, accurate arm but was a pocket passer who seemed a bad fit for running the option. Many people thought he would start in '88 but was beat out by senior Todd Philcox. He did start in '89 and had nice passing stats but the team underachieved. Mark McDonald played QB in the Peach Bowl win but I can not remember why. Then Scharr disappeared. Not sure why he left or why he never played elsewhere. Anyone know?
 
It was fun seeing him on the Time-Warner SU broadcasts and midweek shows in recent years. (A pox on you, Spectrum!)
 
Whereas I thought of him every time people expressed their dissatisfaction with TD. A player with a wonderful arm in an underachieving offense on whom was placed a huge part of the blame.
 
That name is a real blast from the past. There was a lot of hype about Scharr, following Don McPherson's departure. In high school, he won NY player of the year and honorable mention All-America or something. I recall reading an article or scouting report saying he might be the "best pure passer" in SU history.

Scharr had a strong, accurate arm but was a pocket passer who seemed a bad fit for running the option. Many people thought he would start in '88 but was beat out by senior Todd Philcox. He did start in '89 and had nice passing stats but the team underachieved. Mark McDonald played QB in the Peach Bowl win but I can not remember why. Then Scharr disappeared. Not sure why he left or why he never played elsewhere. Anyone know?
And then Philcox ended up in the NFL for a spell
 
He was "fast" as a snail in tall grass. Had to check his cleats for molasses every time he went on the field. Like in a dream you try to run but you just can't move, but he had an above average accurate arm.
 
Whereas I thought of him every time people expressed their dissatisfaction with TD. A player with a wonderful arm in an underachieving offense on whom was placed a huge part of the blame.

Indeed. That '89 offense was loaded with talent...1000-yd rasher Michael Owens, the Robs Moore & Carpenter, and a good offensive line led by future All-American John Flannery. TE Gedney was a freshman, along with Ismail on kick returns. Then they struggled mightily to score against teams like Army and East Carolina.

Again, I think the option offense was a bad fit for Scharr. He did not seem much more natural running than Philcox. But Todd did a better job executing plays. SU also had a tough schedule that year, including ranked Pitt, PSU, FSU, and Major Harris-led WVU. As I remember, the defense had DT Rooks and a solid linebacking corps but was weak against the pass. I thought that team would be better but 8-4 was no disgrace.

My theory about Scharr is that Coach Mac had Marvin Graves coming in (who figured tailor-made for that offense) and Billy saw signs he was not gonna play. With one season eligibility left, he might not have seen any point in transferring, although many programs probably would have been happy to get him for a year.
 
That name is a real blast from the past. There was a lot of hype about Scharr, following Don McPherson's departure. In high school, he won NY player of the year and honorable mention All-America or something. I recall reading an article or scouting report saying he might be the "best pure passer" in SU history.

Scharr had a strong, accurate arm but was a pocket passer who seemed a bad fit for running the option. Many people thought he would start in '88 but was beat out by senior Todd Philcox. He did start in '89 and had nice passing stats but the team underachieved. Mark McDonald played QB in the Peach Bowl win but I can not remember why. Then Scharr disappeared. Not sure why he left or why he never played elsewhere. Anyone know?
Bill Scharr was pulled by coach Mac in the Peach Bowl game because the team wasn't responding and needed a spark. Mc Donald did that and we won the game.

Pretty sure He graduated from Canandaigua High School and was recruited by Pitt and Penn State. He chose SU over Penn State and was supposed to take over the offense when McPherson graduated.

I think he graduated from SU a year early. In my opinion, he was the second most over rated quarterback, next to Cecil Howard (I believe that was his name) to play at SU. Scharr had the tools, not sure why it didn't work out.
 
Bill Scharr was pulled by coach Mac in the Peach Bowl game because the team wasn't responding and needed a spark. Mc Donald did that and we won the game.

Pretty sure He graduated from Canandaigua High School and was recruited by Pitt and Penn State. He chose SU over Penn State and was supposed to take over the offense when McPherson graduated.

I think he graduated from SU a year early. In my opinion, he was the second most over rated quarterback, next to Cecil Howard (I believe that was his name) to play at SU. Scharr had the tools, not sure why it didn't work out.

his name was Cecil THE DIESEL Howard, thank you very much
 
his name was Cecil THE DIESEL Howard, thank you very much
Didn't he blow out his knee wrestling in the locker room and never came back to form? Or am I mixing him up. We'll never know if he was overrated or not.
 
Didn't he blow out his knee wrestling in the locker room and never came back to form? Or am I mixing him up. We'll never know if he was overrated or not.

That was an OL I believe. Maybe Chuck Bull or Matt Neenan?
 
Bill Scharr was pulled by coach Mac in the Peach Bowl game because the team wasn't responding and needed a spark. Mc Donald did that and we won the game.

Pretty sure He graduated from Canandaigua High School and was recruited by Pitt and Penn State. He chose SU over Penn State and was supposed to take over the offense when McPherson graduated.

I think he graduated from SU a year early. In my opinion, he was the second most over rated quarterback, next to Cecil Howard (I believe that was his name) to play at SU. Scharr had the tools, not sure why it didn't work out.
He was gonna go to Miami from what I heard. Story Ive heard was he was convinced by SU coaches they were gonna change the offense for him. Imagine Gino Toretta and Steve Walsh playing in Syracuse offense. They would have been called over rated too.
 
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Bill Scharr was pulled by coach Mac in the Peach Bowl game because the team wasn't responding and needed a spark. Mc Donald did that and we won the game.

Pretty sure He graduated from Canandaigua High School and was recruited by Pitt and Penn State. He chose SU over Penn State and was supposed to take over the offense when McPherson graduated.

I think he graduated from SU a year early. In my opinion, he was the second most over rated quarterback, next to Cecil Howard (I believe that was his name) to play at SU. Scharr had the tools, not sure why it didn't work out.
McDonald could run the option . Scharr couldn’t
 
He was gonna go to Miami from what I heard. Story Ive heard was he was convinced by SU coaches they were gonna change the offense for him. Imagine Gino Toretta and Steve Walsh playing in Syracuse offense. They would have been called over rated too.
Just the opposite. He wanted SU. He knew what he was getting into and would have to run the option. That was the story I got from a relative.
 
Just the opposite. He wanted SU. He knew what he was getting into and would have to run the option. That was the story I got from a relative.
Its funny because I’ve heard the same stories from multiple coaches and people in the know. They said he was persuaded to go there. Obviously he wanted to go there after the persuasion.
 
You could be right, but if every other quarterback there at the time (SU) were either option quarterbacks or at least able to run the option, why would you go there? Because it was close to home and that is where he wanted to be.
 
You could be right, but if every other quarterback there at the time (SU) were either option quarterbacks or at least able to run the option, why would you go there? Because it was close to home and that is where he wanted to be.
Did you read my post? I could be wrong too but thats what he told some people. Whether its true or not.
 
Philcox was about as mobile as a statue, but he did a really nice job for us in 1988, that was an unsung team that followed up 1987 quite nicely

He actually ran the option pretty well - he had a very good season in 1988.
 

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