Empire Challenge | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

Empire Challenge

24-0 norton missed xp

Stacey Bedell is going to be MVP. NYC got stuffed on 4th and goal. Then Bedell took a handoff 92 yards on next series.

Another Cornelius drop. Won't be surprised if this is a shut out.
 
31-0.4th Q. Morgan gave his man about a 10 yd cushion from the 10 yd line and his guy caught a wide open pass for a td. Not his best work these past 2 all star games.

Norton finally got an xp.


----
31-7

Cornellius with 2 catches including the TD on the last drive. 3 min left I've had enough. Tip your waitresses.
 
31-0.4th Q. Morgan gave his man about a 10 yd cushion from the 10 yd line and his guy caught a wide open pass for a td. Not his best work these past 2 all star games.

Norton finally got an xp.


----
31-7

Cornellius with 2 catches including the TD on the last drive. 3 min left I've had enough. Tip your waitresses.

Thanks for the updates!
 
BK, why was Norton unable to reach the end zone most of the time even though he was kicking off closer than he will in college? Was he hurt or something?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
 
BK, why was Norton unable to reach the end zone most of the time even though he was kicking off closer than he will in college? Was he hurt or something?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

I'm not sure what the deal with Norton was, he had a weird day. He was punting the ball 50+ consistently in warmups, then had two really mediocre punts in the game. Two of his kickoffs were awesome (one went out of the endzone, one five yards deep), the other two went to the 5 and 10 yardlines. The XPs were more on the team than him though. He got bumrushed on the first, the holder fumbled the second, not sure why he shanked the third but I have to imagine it was a holder/snapper issue.

The interviews went well. I didn't talk to Devante or Norton because I was short on time and it was sort of hectic.

I talked to Palmer first. He was incredibly happy about the win and seemed like a great kid- really well spoken and intelligent-sounding. I talked about some general game stuff, then was going to ask how he feels about the move to the ACC, specifically how he feels about a team that has New York athletes at its core going up against schools like Florida State, Clemson and Miami. I think I said "A-C" and he really excitedly cut me off and went on a rant about how excited he was to play all of the teams down there.

I went to Cornelius second, who already had a few people interviewing him. He was really bummed out about the loss, and seemed to take it pretty hard. I asked what he expected his role to be on the team next season. He expects to play (as I'm sure all freshmen do) and he said the coaches told him he'll play both wide-out and in the slot. He was excited about the direction of the program. When I asked him about playing USC at Metlife he did his best Dr. Gross impression and told me that "Syracuse really is New York City's College".

I talked to Morgan last. I mentioned how he's spent most of his career to this point going up against Alvin, and asked him to describe him as a player. He didn't give me too much, but he wasn't too happy with the offense's failure to get AC the ball and assured me that the touchdown catch at the end is more of what we'll see. I asked Wayne what the Empire Challenge meant to downstate NY football and what the impact of having it broadcast on live TV was. He said that it really is a big deal, and that he had been looking forward to playing in the game since he "was a little kid" and that he was upset about the team's loss but proud of the team. He said that people usually see New York and think about basketball but he and the other players in the city want to make it a football state. He said that two or three times.

I only got a few minutes with each player as it was sort of a mob scene on the field, but I was definitely impressed by all of them, especially Palmer. He was probably the best player on the field. When I was a sophomore in high school I played with current NY Jet Vlad Ducasse, who was a dominant all-state HS lineman in Connecticut. From what I've seen from Omari, he's ahead of where Vlad was after his senior year, although he's had a lot more time around the game. If any of the guys who played in the game make a lasting impact on the program, I think it'll be Palmer.
 
Thanks, BK. Good stuff, and glad you were able to be there.
 
Thanks Dan.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
 
I'm not sure what the deal with Norton was, he had a weird day. He was punting the ball 50+ consistently in warmups, then had two really mediocre punts in the game. Two of his kickoffs were awesome (one went out of the endzone, one five yards deep), the other two went to the 5 and 10 yardlines. The XPs were more on the team than him though. He got bumrushed on the first, the holder fumbled the second, not sure why he shanked the third but I have to imagine it was a holder/snapper issue.

The interviews went well. I didn't talk to Devante or Norton because I was short on time and it was sort of hectic.

I talked to Palmer first. He was incredibly happy about the win and seemed like a great kid- really well spoken and intelligent-sounding. I talked about some general game stuff, then was going to ask how he feels about the move to the ACC, specifically how he feels about a team that has New York athletes at its core going up against schools like Florida State, Clemson and Miami. I think I said "A-C" and he really excitedly cut me off and went on a rant about how excited he was to play all of the teams down there.

I went to Cornelius second, who already had a few people interviewing him. He was really bummed out about the loss, and seemed to take it pretty hard. I asked what he expected his role to be on the team next season. He expects to play (as I'm sure all freshmen do) and he said the coaches told him he'll play both wide-out and in the slot. He was excited about the direction of the program. When I asked him about playing USC at Metlife he did his best Dr. Gross impression and told me that "Syracuse really is New York City's College".

I talked to Morgan last. I mentioned how he's spent most of his career to this point going up against Alvin, and asked him to describe him as a player. He didn't give me too much, but he wasn't too happy with the offense's failure to get AC the ball and assured me that the touchdown catch at the end is more of what we'll see. I asked Wayne what the Empire Challenge meant to downstate NY football and what the impact of having it broadcast on live TV was. He said that it really is a big deal, and that he had been looking forward to playing in the game since he "was a little kid" and that he was upset about the team's loss but proud of the team. He said that people usually see New York and think about basketball but he and the other players in the city want to make it a football state. He said that two or three times.

I only got a few minutes with each player as it was sort of a mob scene on the field, but I was definitely impressed by all of them, especially Palmer. He was probably the best player on the field. When I was a sophomore in high school I played with current NY Jet Vlad Ducasse, who was a dominant all-state HS lineman in Connecticut. From what I've seen from Omari, he's ahead of where Vlad was after his senior year, although he's had a lot more time around the game. If any of the guys who played in the game make a lasting impact on the program, I think it'll be Palmer.
Good report. Palmer looked dominant in both all star games. I was impressed with the attendance at this game...they got over 12K, while there were maybe 250 at the Dome for a better game with better players. Hope CNY eventually shows the same level of support for the state all star game down the road. Boomer has been doing his game a lot longer, which helps.
 
That's a bold statement about a kid who some (HS coaches on LI) claimed was a 1-AA talent when he committed.
But that's why they're high school coaches instead of college coaches
 
But that's why they're high school coaches instead of college coaches

Didn't he blow up after he committed to Syracuse? It sounded like Palmer started to take football much more seriously this past year.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
167,703
Messages
4,721,617
Members
5,917
Latest member
FbBarbie

Online statistics

Members online
295
Guests online
1,821
Total visitors
2,116


Top Bottom