sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Alascattalo Day!
Once upon a time, a mild-mannered moose named Morris met a wickedly witty walrus named Wanabelle.
Morris thought right off that Wannabelle had a wonderful way with words and that her whiskers, while wacky and wiry, were wistfully welcoming as well. Wannabelle was moved by Morris' manners and his marvelous, magnetic charm, not to mention the massive mantlepiece he masqueraded upon his head.
It was love at first sight, and soon the mild-mannered moose and the witty walrus named Wannabelle were wed in the church down the way. Within sixty weeks, Morris and Wannabelle welcomed into the world a wee little weeble who made their love complete, and hence ~ the first Alascattalo was born.
~
Alascattalo Day is celebrated on November 21st every year. It is a day to honor humor in general and Alaskan humor in particular. The day is named after it's mascot, the Alascattalo, a genetic cross between a walrus and a moose.
SU News
Pitt football notebook: Senior leaders getting their due (triblive.com; DiPaola)
Brian O'Neill was a high school sophomore in Delaware when the first of Pitt's 19 seniors, defensive end Ejuan Price, joined the team.
Yet, O'Neill has heard the stories some players would like to forget, and he has been witness — and a big contributor — to how this season has taken an unexpectedly positive turn.
That's why O'Neill, a third-year sophomore offensive tackle, will prepare for the regular-season finale Saturday against Syracuse at Heinz Field with an eye toward sending the senior class out with a victory.
“Everybody wants to do it for these seniors,” said O'Neill, a two-year starter. “These seniors have been though a lot in four or five years here.”
Senior quarterback Nathan Peterman has been on the team only two years, but he said the large number of seniors has helped build team chemistry.
“Great leaders, great presences in the huddle,” he said.
If Pitt beats Syracuse and a bowl opponent next month, the Panthers will have won nine games for the first time since the 2009 team was 10-3.
Of more immediate concern, Pitt (7-4, 4-3) will win eight games in the regular season for the second consecutive year by beating Syracuse (4-7, 2-5). The Orange are last in the ACC in points allowed (387) and will come out of their Carrier Dome on a three-game losing streak.
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SU receivers made mark on record book this year (TNIAAM; Cassillo)
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Etta-Tawo’s the focus of this year’s receiving corps. breakout, yes. But he’s also not the only player catching a ton of passes for the Orange, or assaulting the record books. A look at SU’s starting four and where they stack up in terms of single-season and career numbers:
Amba Etta-Tawo
Receptions: 81 (first, single-season)
Yards: 1,304 (first, single-season)
Touchdowns: 9 (tie-fourth, single season)
We went through Etta-Tawo above, but it bears repeating: what he’s done in a single season has never been done before at Syracuse. Not only has he played his way into being an NFL Draft prospect this season, but he’s also a very solid advertisement for any player in a similar grad transfer situation. “Didn’t get playing time at your old school? One year in Dino Babers’s offense turns you into a pro prospect.” I’d almost expect another grad transfer receiver to come this offseason at this point.
Ervin Philips
Single-season receptions: 79 (second)
Career receptions: 123 (eighth)
Single-season touchdowns: 6 (tie-15th)
Career touchdowns: 11 (tie-11th)
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Syracuse Football: I never was, am always to be (TNIAAM; Keeley)
The 2016 Syracuse Orange football season isn’t unlike that riddle. Before the season started we were pretty sure we’d be looking at a losing record (and probably inflated our expectations just slightly) with the understanding that the 12 games played this year would lay the foundation for success to come. Along the way we downgraded those expectations (blowout losses to Louisville & Notre Dame), elevated those expectations (beating Virginia Tech, getting to 4-4), and dropped those expectations right back down (blowout losses to Clemson and FSU).
Now, with one game left in the season, we’re right about where we started.
Even with all of that, I still think Dino Babers has provided what was needed for Syracuse fans to have belief without evidence. The Virginia Tech win and the blistering offensive pace give us hope that, just like with Doug Marrone, year two will sow the seeds planted this time.
2016 never stood a chance from the beginning. Then you pepper in the injuries (it needs to be said this team is severely decimated) and the youth (huge numbers of freshman playing significant minutes). Sure you can look at Wake Forest and perhaps see a potential win there, but in some ways it’s a minor miracle to be at 4-7 right now.
It’s easy to look at the empty seats in the Carrier Dome on Saturday and cast aspersions. You can certainly track Orange fans as they raced out the tunnels midway through the third quarter because the rest of the game was a formality and get riled up. But the truth is I don’t blame them. FSU vs. Syracuse was always a formality. The Orange just aren’t on that level yet, even at full strength.
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Blows to head remain major problem in college football (chicagotribune.com; Skrbina)
Shone Kizer slid. Officials let yet another helmet-to-helmet hit slide.
And another football player was back on the field mere minutes after suffering a blow to the head.
College football, you have a problem.
No flags flew Saturday night when Notre Dame's 6-foot-4, 230-pound quarterback absorbed an earful of Virginia Tech linebacker Terrell Edmunds' helmet during the third quarter of the Irish's 34-31 loss.
Brian Kelly said he was cleared by medical staff on the sideline in the time it took for Notre Dame to punt and Drue Tranquill to intercept a pass on the next play. Six, maybe seven minutes, if that.
"The guy hit the back of my head and it hurt for that second and I grabbed it and I got up and continued to play ball," Kizer said.
Maybe not coincidentally, he wasn't the same Kizer who completed 13 of 18 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. After the hit early in the third quarter, Kizer completed just 2 of 12 attempts for 28 yards, including 1 of 6 on a final drive he didn't finish because — you guessed it — he was hit in the head again.
That blow, with 17 seconds left, left Kizer destined for the sideline.
But should he have been out there after taking the first hit? Concussion symptoms often take more time to become apparent than the mere minutes that passed between the hit and Kizer's return to the field two plays later. Sometimes it takes days.
After the game, Kelly railed on — rightfully so — about the lack of clarity regarding college football's targeting rule and leading with the head. Torii Hunter Jr. missed some time this season after suffering a similar hit — also not called — in the opener against Texas. A Notre Dame player got away with one in the same game. Corey Robinson quit playing before the season because of concussions.
Daniel Cage missed his third straight game because one.
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Syracuse football stock watch: Who's rising and falling heading into Pittsburgh? (PS; photo gallery)
STOCK UP:
Brisly Estime
As many know by now, Estime is a threat on special teams. But he has hit a new high heading into the final weekend of the season. He leads the nation with an average of 19.4 yards on his 14 returns this season. But, I'm going to be that guy. Estime won't be the best return man on the field next week. Pitt's Quadree Henderson has returned four kicks (three kickoffs, one punt) for touchdowns this season.
STOCK UP:
Shirtless fan
To whoever you are: Your daring sprint down the Florida State sideline, your hop over the railing behind the end zone and your ability to vanish into the concourse of the Carrier Dome was a sight to behold. See you at the spring game...
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Stock watch: How Syracuse's bowl hopes and a shirtless fan fared in SU's 45-14 loss to Florida State (DO; Mettus)
Syracuse (4-7, 2-5 Atlantic Coast) was run over by No. 17 Florida State (8-3, 5-3) in a 45-14 loss to end its home campaign on Saturday. FSU’s Dalvin Cook ran for 225 yards — eight fewer than Syracuse had total offense — and four touchdowns. SU’s only scores came on a Hail Mary and a 22-yard drive started by a muffed punt.
Here’s a look at where SU’s players and units are trending heading into the final week of the season.
Stock Up
Sterling Hofrichter, punter
After a rough stretch earlier in the season that saw Hofrichter shanking a few punts, he’s been one of the Orange’s most consistent players. Hofrichter was called on nine times and hit five of those kicks more than 50 yards against FSU. One was tipped, three were fair caught and five landed inside the 20. The redshirt freshman has punted 72 times this year, which is tied for third most in the country. His best kick on Saturday came in the third quarter when he booted one 52 yards, past his coverage, that landed inside the 5 and bounced backward before being downed at the 7.
Chris Fredrick, cornerback
SU head coach Dino Babers said on Monday Fredrick has played “OK” in place of Cordell Hudson. Against the Seminoles, he stood out. At first it was because the redshirt freshman was burned on a route to give up FSU’s second touchdown. But then Fredrick got involved in three of SU’s four forced turnovers. He forced two punts, picked up six tackles and intercepted Deondre Francois attempt to throw the ball out of bounds.
Shirtless fan
In the middle of the third quarter, a shirtless fan (presumably an SU fan because of the Orange T-shirt he was swinging around) jumped onto the field and ran down the sideline past the FSU bench. He had more success than any of SU’s rushers, who managed just 37 yards. The fan sprinted past a police officers and security before jumping up into the Seminoles’ fan section in the west end zone and hurrying into the concourse.
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ACC Week 12 helmet stickers: James Conner, Dalvin Cook lead the way (ESPN; Adelson)
Running backs dominated Week 12 in the ACC. How about a few helmet stickers for a job well done?
James Conner, Pitt. Conner ran for 101 yards and two scores in a 56-14 victory over Duke, and he set two league records in the process. Conner now holds the ACC mark for career rushing touchdowns (50), breaking the record NC State's Ted Brown set between 1975-78. Conner also set the ACC record for total touchdowns (53), passing Wali Lundy of Virginia (2002-05). After overcoming cancer, every record Conner sets seems more remarkable.
Dalvin Cook, Florida State. Cook had 225 yards and four touchdown runs in a 45-14 win over Syracuse and became the career leading rusher at Florida State, breaking Warrick Dunn's 20-year-old record. Cook is over 4,000 yards in his career, the first player in ACC history to reach that mark in three years. It was also Cook's fourth 200-yard rushing game, tying Greg Allen for the most in school history.
Jerod Evans, Virginia Tech. Evans started out shaky against Notre Dame, and the Hokies trailed by 17 points twice. But Evans settled down and led the Virginia Tech comeback despite getting a cut on his throwing hand. Evans had 334 total yards and three touchdowns in the 34-31 victory over the Irish.
Wayne Gallman, Clemson. Gallman ran for a season-high 161 yards and two scores in a 35-13 win over Wake Forest. Gallman averaged 7.3 yards per carry and was instrumental in getting the Clemson offense going early in the game. For the Tigers to make a push for a national championship, they need more performances like this from Gallman and their ground game.
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Syracuse football finishes 2016 with 2nd-worst attendance in Carrier Dome history (DO; Gutirrez)
Despite a new head coach, hurry-up offense and a victory over a Top 25 team, Syracuse football attendance finished the 2016 season second-worst in Carrier Dome history.
Figures improved 2 percent over last season, the worst in Dome history, which dates to 1980. Through three games, the Carrier Dome average had been on track for a record low. But after SU beat then-No. 17 Virginia Tech, Syracuse saw its most-attended game of the year, 34,842, against North Carolina State. Attendance for SU’s last three games of 2016 checked in 4 percent higher than it did the same period last year.
National Division I FBS attendance has fallen in six of the last seven years after peaking in 2008.
Last year, when the Orange sprung to its first 3-0 start in more than 20 years — SU finished 4-8 — attendance dropped 21 percent, the largest decline among Power 5 schools over the year.
Schools calculate attendance different from one another. At Syracuse, it’s a paid number, including SU employees on site. Season ticket holders who do not attend are counted toward the total. What’s not counted are large groups that do not show up.
To increase attendance among students, SU Athletics plans to unveil a new student ticket model in the coming months. Other efforts to get fans through the Carrier Dome turnstiles include themed games, such as Medical Appreciation Night, Homecoming and Military Appreciation Day. SU has amped up promotions during timeouts and halftime to keep fans engaged, especially as games grow longer in length.
This summer, Syracuse upgraded Carrier Dome Wi-Fi speeds and ran its “No Huddle Tour” in Rochester, Buffalo and Binghamton, New York, for the first time since 2010, emphasizing “New York’s College Team.” Fans can meet players and coaches at the events. Still, Syracuse’s 2016 home football attendance finished second-worst over the last three and a half decades.
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Other
Good Morning America's Ginger Zee in Upstate NY today for lake effect snow storm (PS; Coin)
The blinding snowstorm in Upstate New York is likely to be featured today on Good Morning America.
ABC News meteorologist Ginger Zee is in the area, according to her social media accounts.
"We will be live from the Syracuse area on Good Morning America," said a post on her Facebook page. The show runs from 7 to 9 a.m. on ABC, where Zee is the chief meteorologist.
Some areas of Upstate New York have already received more than a foot of snow. Parts of the Syracuse area have gotten 8 inches, and blowing snow is making driving difficult.
Making our way through heavy band of lake effect snow! Road conditions worsened as soon as we crossed PA into NY pic.twitter.com/jbwc6I0rth
— Ginger Zee (@Ginger_Zee) November 21, 2016
And away we go! Heading north toward lake effect snow zone with @SamWnek Doug Kiesling on Twitter
— Ginger Zee (@Ginger_Zee) November 20, 2016
On our way up north toward Syracuse (still south of Binghamton) & saw a sign: interstate 81 shut down at exit 224 #Lakeeffectsnow
— Ginger Zee (@Ginger_Zee) November 21, 2016
