sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to USMC Day!
USMC Day celebrates the birth of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps were created during the Revolutionary War.
The Continental Congress of the newly created United States of America, authorized the creation of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775. It was later renamed the U.S. Marine Corps. It is often abbreviated as USMC.
The Marine Corps has proudly participated in every war that has involved the United States.
If you see a Marine today, thank them for their contributions to protecting our country. Active or retired, they deserve our thanks and appreciation.
SU News
Syracuse football 2016: The wrong way, but faster! (backingthepack.com; Muma)
Syracuse heads into this weekend at 4-5 and needing to win two of its final three games in order to reach bowl eligibility, just like NC State. This is essentially an elimination game for both, as the Cuse still have FSU and Pitt, while State has Miami and UNC.
But while the records are the same, the programs are in much different places. The Orange are in their first year under head coach Dino Babers, who has already delivered one upset top-25 victory (31-17 over Virginia Tech) and has matched the school’s win total from 2015.
The Orange have had a decent year while going through the inevitable issues that plague a change in coaching staffs and systems. A bowl game appearance would merely be a bonus.
Syracuse S&P+ national rank Yds/Play
(national rank) Yds/Rush
(national rank) Yds/Pass Att.
(national rank)
2015 Offense 61 5.1 (102) 4.4 (65) 6.1 (107)
2016 Offense 62 5.6 (73) 3.4 (117) 7.6 (49)
True to his word, Babers has upped the pace of play in Syracuse; the Orange have averaged over 80 snaps from scrimmage per game, an increase of about 20 from last season. They’ve run 740 plays in nine games after running 751 plays all of 2015.
Naturally, Syracuse’s yardage output this season is way up. You get 20 more snaps per game, your total yardage average is gonna go up, even if your offense isn’t as good. Though this Syracuse offense is no worse than it was a year ago, and in some raw per-play categories, quite a bit better.
Now they’re more of a team of extremes, for better or worse. Syracuse averages about 44 pass attempts per game, and behind the maturation of sophomore quarterback Eric Dungey—not to mention the emergence of Maryland grad transfer wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo—they’ve established a tough passing attack.
On the other hand, they’re really struggling to run the ball behind a group of offensive line starters with limited experience. Up front, the Orange go sophomore, sophomore, freshman, freshman, junior from left to right. Without any exceptional talent to speak of at running back, the results there have been predictable.
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SU vs. NC State: Q&A with Backing the Pack (TNIAAM; Cassillo and Thrillis4)
Obviously this season hasn't gone as NC State fans would've liked. What's happened, especially in light of the four consecutive losses since beating Notre Dame?
Recently a lot of it has to do with the fact that the Pack has just been abysmal in the red zone the last several weeks. My colleague at BackingThePack, Akulawolf wrote that over the last four games, NC State is scoring on just 50% of its redzone trips, and to make matters worse, only 20% of those red zone trips culminated in touchdowns. Not exactly a recipe for success.
The Pack has been able to move the ball pretty well, but they just for whatever reason can't score right now. They had over 400 yards of offense against Florida State and still only managed 20 points. It's frustrating as hell, because there are a lot of talented players on this team, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
Despite the recent rough patch, Matt Dayes is still pretty good. What differentiates him as one of the conference's better running backs?
Simply put, Dayes is one of the strongest backs in the conference. He takes a lot of pressure off of Ryan Finley in that when he is running well, there are very few defenses that can contain him. His performance in the loss at Clemson was particularly dominant in the second half, when he was picking up a lot of huge first downs.
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Week 11 ACC football power poll (dailyprogress.com; Ratcliffe)
1. Clemson, 9-0/6-0 (1). Tigers can clinch Atlantic Division title this weekend at home as they march toward the College Football Playoff. Can they avoid a hiccup along the way?
2. Louisville, 8-1/6-1 (2). How much does Bobby Petrino wish he could get a mulligan on that first half against Clemson? Cardinals should win out but it likely won’t be enough for CFP unless others stumble.
3. Virginia Tech, 7-2/5-1 (4). Hokies are focused on winning the Coastal Division and getting a shot at Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. QB Jerrod Evans is underrated. Bud Foster’s defense is not.
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7. Pittsburgh, 5-4/2-3 (6). Didn’t think the Panthers would lose back-to-back and find adversity in November. Making their first trip to Death Valley to find themselves is not highly recommended.
8. N.C. State, 4-5/1-4 (8). The Wolfpack was impressive last week in making Florida State sweat. The issue is, can the Wolfies get it done on the road where they are 0-5 this season headed into Syracuse.
9. Georgia Tech, 5-4/2-4 (7). The Yellow Jackets need one more win to become bowl eligible for the 19th time in the last 20 years. It won’t happen in Blacksburg. They’ll have to wait until UVa comes to Atlanta.
10. Wake Forest, 6-3/3-2 (10). Some say the Deacs are winning ugly with defense and a bullish running game. They’ll take it. Bowl eligible for the first time since 2011.
11. Syracuse, 4-5/2-3 (11). The Orange are still trying to find the license plate number of whatever ran over them in Death Valley last weekend. They’ll have to fling it all over the lot to beat visiting N.C. State.
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Syracuse vs. NC State Prediction, Game Preview (campusinsiders.com)
Syracuse vs. NC State prediction and game preview. Projecting who wins between the Orange and Wolfpack on Saturday in Syracuse, NY.
Syracuse vs. NC State Game Preview
When: Saturday, Nov. 12 – 12:30 p.m. ET
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
TV Broadcast: ACC Extra
The Orange (4-5, 2-3 ACC) were overwhelmed by Clemson last week, as the Tigers earned a 54-0 home shutout over Dino Babers and Co. in a game that saw ‘Cuse quarterback Eric Dungey get knocked out in the first quarter following a hard hit by linebacker Dorian O’Daniel. The ACC leader in passing yards and completions per game returned from the locker room to watch backups Austin Wilson and Zack Mahoney finish the game. As of this post, it is unknown whether or not Dungey will be available for this one.
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Betting Odds
Spread: NC State -5
Over/Under: No spread as of post
Syracuse vs. NC State Prediction
It’s tough to project how the Dungey situation plays out. Keep in mind that he suffered two concussions last year, so I’d expect him to miss this game. With a backup (or backups) running the ‘Cuse offense, the NC State defense catches a break. Meanwhile, a balanced Wolfpack offense will give the Orange defense fits, as Doeren’s squad gets closer to bowl eligibility.
Syracuse vs. NC State Score Prediction: NC State 34, Syracuse 24
http://www.espn.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/132755/week-11-in-the-acc-what-to-watch-for (espn; Shanker)
For a second straight week, it’s not the greatest slate of games in the ACC, but the conference is still marching toward the playoff with the goal of getting two teams in the final four.
But first the ACC will need some help
If No. 2 Clemson wins, it's in. It's not as simple for No. 6 Louisville, which is attempting to do something unprecedented and get an at-large bid over two Power 5 conference champions. Texas A&M helped the Cardinals' cause last week with a loss to Mississippi State, and this week another contender, Washington, could fall to surging USC. There’s not much for Cards fans to worry about in the way of an upset this Saturday against Wake Forest, so they might want to focus their attention on the Huskies and the Big Ten. An undefeated Alabama, Clemson and Michigan and a two-loss Pac-12 champion is Louisville's best path to the playoff, it would seem.
Bowl eligibility on the line
Wake Forest is 6-3 and bowl eligible. To put that in perspective, Miami, NC State, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech still are not. This weekend, the Hurricanes have the best chance of clinching bowl eligibility with a road trip to Virginia. Pitt and Georgia Tech are on the road at championship game front-runners Clemson and Virginia Tech. It's not a great look for the Wolfpack that they're not bowl eligible already in Dave Doeren's fourth season, and if they lose to Syracuse on Saturday, there is a good chance they miss the postseason.
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Bobby Petrino cashes in on bonus as Louisville makes APR standard (nbcsports.com; McGuire)
There is no arguing that Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino is having quite a year. Petrino has a one-loss team thinking about a possible berth in the College Football Playoff with a Heisman Trophy front-running quarterback leading the charge. Better yet, Louisville football players are achieving in the class room, which means Petrino will get a nice little bonus incentive attached to his earnings.
As reported by USA Today, Petrino will receive a bonus of $500,000 after Louisville single-season Academic Progress Rate will be at least a 935. This score, as calculated by Louisville, is five points above the NCAA minimum of 930 to qualify for postseason play. Teams scoring below 930 are banned from postseason play until they improve their APR. the exact APR score for Louisville may not be known until the NCAA releases its annual APR database in the spring.
“While the APR figure is not official, we have determined that it will surpass the threshold for the payment of the bonus,” Louisville spokesperson Kenny Klein said to USA Today.
Louisville’s single-season APR score last year was calculated at 964, and its four-year average was 982 according to the NCAA’s most recent annual report.
Other
Syracuse North Side neighbors: Don't let DOT's I-81 plans isolate our neighborhood (PS; Hannagan)
Fifty years ago, construction of Interstate 81 tore through a once-vibrant Syracuse neighborhood on Syracuse's South Side. Now neighbors on the city's North Side fear plans to modernize the highway threatens to cut off their bustling neighborhood too.
About 100 residents and business owners met with common councilors Wednesday at city hall to add their voices to those calling on the New York State Department of Transportation to rethink its plans to build new highway ramps, add lanes to I-81 and realign the Butternut Street bridge.
"We're in danger of committing the same 'classic blunder' that created I-81," said John King, who owns in Mission Landing and is a partner in a law firm also located there.
The changes that affect the North Side are part of DOT's plans to modernize I-81 in Syracuse. This summer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called building the highway through the city a "classic planning blunder."
The DOT is considering two plans to replace the aging highway. A $1.7 billion plan would build a taller, wider version of the highway keeping in place the same footprint that isolated a South Side neighborhood from the city.
