sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to Halloween!
Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.
SU News
ACC Week 9 Power Rankings: Clemson, Louisville (barely) hold firm at top (espn; Fortuna)
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1. Clemson. The Tigers cleared seemingly their final regular-season hurdle, remaining undefeated with a fourth-quarter comeback in a 37-34 win at FSU. With their perfect season still intact, it’s worth acknowledging the impressive wins they have this season: at Auburn, Louisville and at FSU.
2. Louisville. That was a little close for comfort, no? Lamar Jackson saved the day in a 32-25 win despite UVa’s best efforts to ruin his Heisman plans -- and his team’s long-shot playoff plans. But chaos continues to take place across the nation, and few one-loss teams would benefit from chaos better than Louisville.
3. Florida State. Dalvin Cook may be playing his way to New York for the Heisman ceremony, although another close home loss puts the Seminoles in the unfamiliar position of being a three-loss team with plenty of the season still to be played.
4. Virginia Tech. The Hokies control their destiny in the Coastal after escaping Pitt victorious 39-36 on Thursday night, and they have a very manageable ACC slate remaining: at Duke, Georgia Tech and Virginia. Of course, these guys lost at Syracuse, so expect the unexpected with all things related to the Coastal division.
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10. Syracuse. Speaking of bowling, the 4-4 Orange have a shot at postseason play, but they exit their bye week facing a tough slate that includes tilts against Florida State and at Clemson. They will visit Death Valley next week.
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14. NC State.It is amazing how consistent the Wolfpack have been year in and year out at nearly winning big games only to later collapse against inferior opponents. The latest example was Saturday’s home loss to BC, which came after a 41-point loss at Louisville, which came, amazingly, after an overtime loss at Clemson in a winnable game. FSU is next.
ACC Football Rankings – Week 10 (campusinsiders.com)
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8. Syracuse (10)
The Orange certainly earned their bye week, coming off two consecutive victories for the first time all season. Hopefully Syracuse rested up, because two of the next three games are against the ACC’s premier programs: Clemson on Nov. 5 and FSU on No. 19.
7. Miami (6)
Do we drop the hammer on Miami for falling into an early 20-0 pit against Notre Dame, or do we laud them for storming back and nearly winning the game? Probably somewhere in the middle. Notre Dame is not a good football team – as evidenced in the second half – but Miami sure propped them up. Mark Walton and Joseph Yearby were ineffective and nonexistent, in that order. Ten penalties for 86 yards is very concerning, as this team isn’t yet good enough to overcome self-inflicted mistakes.
6. Pittsburgh (7)
Pittsburgh went blow-for-blow with Virginia Tech in a stellar Thursday night game. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they were, again, unable to guard agains the pass (now giving up 312 passing yards per game), as Jerod Evans carved them up for 406 yards. Ultimately, two late 3-and-outs and some penalties on offense stifled any hope for a comeback.
5. Virginia Tech (5)
The Hokies received a major victory at Heinz Field on Thursday. Outside of dominating UNC in the middle of Hurricane Matthew, this was Virginia Tech’s biggest road victory of the season. Jerod Evans was fantastic while gutting out an ankle injury, and the running game was balanced. Pitt running back James Conner exploited a normally stout run defense, but when it mattered the Hokies clamped down and ground out the win.
4. North Carolina (4)
Having an extra week to prepare for Georgia Tech’s quirky triple option is a benefit. And then beyond that, games against Duke, the Citadel and NC State all make for a manageable closing slate. It’ll be a shock if the Heels don’t end the regular season at 10-2. Judging by the below tweet, the Tar Heels kept it loose during their bye week.
3. FSU (3)
This isn’t what Seminoles fans or Jimbo Fisher wants to hear, but FSU was not expected to beat Clemson. The ‘Noles were without their second leading receiver, and star defensive back Derwin James was still out with an injury. That the energy and emotion under the lights of Doak carried them within an eyelash of an upset should be lauded. Let’s all also take a moment and appreciate Dalvin Cook, who will go down as the best running back in program history. He lives for the big game, and put the team on his back in this one – rushing for 169 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries.
2. Louisville (2)
Louisville was very underwhelming for the first 45 minutes against Virginia before finally showing up in the fourth quarter. Todd Grantham’s defense forced a turnover early in the fourth, the Cardinals scored a touchdown off it, the defense forced a three-and-out, the Cards scored a field goal and it was off to the races. It wasn’t the prettiest of performances, but Louisville went on the road, battled and won. Not every game can be a blowout.
1. Clemson (1)
If “bring your own guts” was the theme for last year’s Notre Dame game, it must be the mantra for this whole season. It feels like every game has a BYOG component to it. In this one, it was giving up a long touchdown run to Dalvin Cook to close the third quarter, opening the final period down eight points, and then scoring 17 while trading leads to eke out a victory – Dabo Swinney’s first at Doak. When you’re undefeated and in a Power Five conference it doesn’t matter how you look doing it, just win, baby. Clemson is mastering the gut-check game right now. Up next is a dangerous Syracuse offense, followed by a physical Pitt team.
Markenzy Pierre commits to Syracuse, then runs for nearly 400 yards (orlandosentinel.com; Hays)
To his credit, however, Pierre has remained humble and patient. He committed to Western Kentucky in July, picking the Hilltoppers over East Carolina, FIU and a few other offers at the time, but there was always hope that perhaps another bigger opportunity might come along.
That opportunity came Wednesday when Syracuse running backs coach Mike Hart, the former Michigan running back, offered Pierre a scholarship. After two days of consideration, Pierre decided to commit to the Orangemen on Friday, accepting a chance to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"I just thought about it and thought this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," Pierre said Saturday. "They had been in contact with me since the spring season, and they were keeping their eye out.
"[Coach Hart] let me know that I'd be a valuable asset to their offense and that he could see me being their key feature and that I was a bigger back with size and speed and he really liked that."
The lack of attention for Pierre, a 6-foot, 218-pounder, has been a bit baffling. Despite playing for a team that has won only 12 games during his four years, Pierre has managed to rush for 4,686 yards and 51 touchdowns at Liberty.
"I was really excited to see that my senior season is finally impressing people and that I'm doing the right thing," said Pierre, whose nickname is Debo. "I'm extremely fortunate and blessed because a lot of people dream about having this opportunity and I was lucky enough to get it senior year. It just shows all of the hard work wasn't wasted."
Syracuse-Clemson gets afternoon kickoff; Tigers still third-ranked (postandcourier.com; Brenner)
Not too early, not too late, but finally just right.
For the first time this season, third-ranked Clemson has been assigned a kickoff at 3:30 p.m., the middle window of television viewing on college football Saturdays. The Tigers (8-0, 5-0 ACC) will host Syracuse (4-4, 2-2) Saturday at 3:30 p.m., televised nationwide either on ABC or ESPN2 based on the region.
Clemson has played five night games this season – only one at Memorial Stadium – and its other three home games kicked off at noon or 12:30 p.m.
Syracuse is coming off a bye following two straight wins over Virginia Tech and Boston College, but the Tigers are coming off a major 37-34 win at Florida State to tighten their grip on the ACC Atlantic Division title.
Still No. 3
The Tigers held firm on their No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press poll, the coaches poll and the FWAA Super 16.
Alabama and Michigan remained 1-2 in each of those rankings releases Sunday.
Washington and Louisville round out the top five in the AP poll, where FSU tumbled to No. 19 after losing to the Tigers. Auburn, which lost 19-13 in the opener to Clemson, is now No. 11 in the AP rankings with a 6-2 record.
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Sullivan: Football Proved It Can Win, Now It Must Finish the Job - The Heights (bcheights.com; Sullivan)
Let me take this opportunity to apologize.
In a way, this curse was partially my fault. You see, I am a mush. My fandom has always been me as a mush. Everything I touch—the Mets, Giants, Knicks, and Islanders—turns to trash. By trash, I mean losses. Losses and sadness. And so when I took over the sports editor job onThe Heights in January 2015, that meant touching Boston College football, too.
Prior to Saturday, I had personally covered and been in attendance for 16 of BC’s 19 games in the 2015 and 2016 season, plus the Pinstripe Bowl in 2014. My record in those games is 6-11. I suppose that could be worse, in hindsight. But nine of those losses come as part of The StreakTM. Yes, The Streak, the stretch of Atlantic Coast Conference games that BC participated in without a victory. Since Nov. 29, 2014, the Eagles had not won an ACC game in football. Some of the defeats were embarrassing blowouts. Others were punches to the gut, face, and throat all at once. The long string of losses made not just the athletic department, but the University, a national laughingstock.
As is custom on The Heights, the three sports editors chose our road trips prior to the season. I took Wake Forest over Thanksgiving in an effort to not see my family, and Florida State under the Friday night lights, because honestly, when else will I go to Tallahassee? Riley Overend took Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium, the site of great BC memories and, from what I hear, a Chipotle that delivers via drone. That left Annabel Steele with the North Carolina State game on Halloweekend, the one no one wants to take. NC State isn’t a flashy opponent, Raleigh isn’t a typical college town, and God forbid an 18- to 22-year-old misses one of the treasured nights of dress up (or for me, little packets of candy).
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As Losses Mount, UConn Drifts Farther From Early Season Optimism (courant.com; Anthony)
Last week, coach Bob Diaco said the UConn football team was operating "in a spaghetti bowl of frustration." His description for the season after an embarrassing 41-3 loss Saturday at East Carolina was "a Molotov cocktail of ugliness."
It's hard to imagine the situation getting much worse for the Huskies(3-6, 1-5 AAC), who have lost three games in a row and five of six. There is, though, a difficult task ahead in Friday's game against first-place Temple (6-3, 4-1).
It's as if UConn has been dying a slow death, the soul and breath being sucked out of the team week by week, the disintegration of a season that began with such optimism. In the days following most games, Diaco has spoken enthusiastically about positives, how UConn operated exactly how it wanted for long stretches of losses. It has been, he has said, about finishing and executing and putting it all together for four quarters.
That is an incredibly optimistic stance. The bottom line is that UConn loses the moment, almost always, and those moments have added up.
Week 2 brought failure from the 1-yard line as time ran out in a four-point loss to Navy. The Huskies couldn't score the tying touchdown from the 2 late against Syracuse. Diaco talked about the defense's ability to stop Houston for two-thirds of that game, but the Cougars scored touchdowns on six consecutive possessions, a blowout built in the blink of an eye.
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Other
Cicero police escort winning C-NS marching band home after NYS championships (PS; O'Toole)
The Cicero-North Syracuse High School marching band received a police escort Sunday night when it returned home from winning a state field band competition at the Carrier Dome.
Cicero police turned on their emergency lights and led the champions back home.
C-NS took first place among seven bands in the large school, class 2 competition at the 43rd annual New York State Field Band Conference Championships Sunday.
After their win, the "Cicero Police Your Police Department" Facebook page congratulated the marching band on their win. Cicero police then posted five photos showing officers escorting the marching band, along with this message: "CNS Marching Band was given a CPD escort following them winning the State Championship at the Carrier Dome tonight. Congrats CNS!!!!"
More than 720 people have liked the Facebook post and more than 120 people have shared it. Dozens also have added comments, congratulating the band on their win.
More than 4,000 high school students competed at the state field band competition Sunday at the Carrier Dome.
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