sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Look at the Leaves Day!
As we get deeper into fall, more leaves are changing color and starting to fall off of trees. In many areas the leaves are beautiful this time of year, making it fitting that today is Look at the Leaves Day. Leaves provide energy for trees and plants by converting sunlight into sugars and starches with a process called photosynthesis. During the spring and summer, leaves appear green because of a chemical called chlorophyll that allows them to photosynthesize. As it begins to get cooler and the sun is out less as days shorten, trees start to store up energy for the winter, and the chlorophyll breaks down. Energy begins to be stored inside of trees instead of inside their leaves. Then colors such as orange, yellow, brown, red, and purple appear, some of which the chlorophyll had hid from being seen before. Chemicals create these pigments as well: carotenoids make leaves orange, yellow, and brown and are always present in leaves, and anthocyanins are in some leaves and bring out red and purple hues. Anthocyanins are created when sugars get trapped in leaves after chlorophyll is gone. A seal is created between branches and leaves, which protects the tree during the winter months and causes the leaves to fall to the ground.
SU News
Director of athletic bands brings new energy to the SU Marching Band (DO; Bolan)
The rhythms of the drumline reverberate against the walls of the Carrier Dome as students trickle in, ready for another marching band rehearsal. Musicians collect along the edges of the turf, grouped according to instrument section. The shriek of a whistle cuts through the air and drum major Catherine Canete alerts the band to the beginning of practice.
“Two minutes.” New reeds are fitted into place and color guard flags unfurl.
Timothy Diem, the new director of Athletic Bands, darts between different sections of musicians, a clipboard in each hand and a Syracuse baseball cap pushed back on his head. He stops to chat with different groups and check in with the drum majors.
Diem arrived in Syracuse in mid-August after spending 16 years at the University of Minnesota. After more than 20 years of teaching at different institutions across the country, Diem has the familiarity and understanding to take on the complexities of student ensembles.
“Marching band students are the same all over, they just wear different colors,” Diem said.
There’s been plenty of adaptation and collaboration between the director and students as he gets acclimated to the program. When teaching in the Midwest, many of his players were resistant to change, Diem said, but in Syracuse he notices the players are easier to teach.
Most band members have performed under the former director Justin Mertz for the entirety of their college careers. The change in leadership has been little more difficult for the senior musicians than the freshmen, but everyone is willing to step up, said Joshua McCleary, percussion section leader.
“He’s trying to show us the future. He wants us to expand, become a lot bigger, a more respected marching band in the ACC, which I can appreciate,” McCleary said. “He’s just pretty intense about implementing a lot of changes this year.”
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Syracuse football's Chris Fredrick grades out as 3rd-best FBS CB in Week 5 (PFF) (PS; Bailey)
Syracuse football receiver Erv Philips broke a couple records, but it was cornerback Chris Fredrick who earned the team's top grade from Pro Football Focus this weekend.
The redshirt sophomore was thrown at five times during the Orange's 33-25 loss at North Carolina State and allowed zero catches. He was credited with two pass break-ups by SU Athletics, including an especially impressive recovery down the middle of the field.
Fredrick, whose only slip-up was a missed tackle in the run game, finished with an overall grade of 90.4 -- third-best among cornerbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision this week.
Here's a look at other notable performers, snap counts and interesting data provided by PFF.
Other top performers
Erv Philips (88.0, 6th among FBS WRs): Philips earned one of the highest individual grades an SU player has logged this season, catching an ACC-record 17 passes (on 20 targets) and logging a career-high 188 receiving yards. He was named the conference's receiver of the week on Monday. Only his run-blocking grade (61.6) fell in PFF's "below average" performance range.
Eric Dungey (84.3, 9th among FBS QBs): SU's junior quarterback continues to play at a consistently high level. He turned in a balanced performance on Saturday, logging an 82.0 grade in passing and 81.9 in running. The interception he threw in the first quarter was one of only a couple bad balls he threw against the Wolfpack en route to finishing with 385 passing yards and a touchdown.
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Syracuse Football: Is it time to kick in different direction with Cole Murphy? (itlh.com; Esden Jr)
The Syracuse football team has a ton of issues, but perhaps none greater than their kicking situation. Is it time to pull the plug? ITLH breaks it down.
Syracuse Football: Is it time to kick in a different direction with Cole Murphy?
No. Not literally kick in a different direction.
It was a metaphor. But perhaps the Orange should seriously consider going in a different direction. It’s not like they can just sign a free agent to come in, but they do have an option B on the roster. We saw it in the last game against NC State with Murphy struggling, SU went to Sterling Hofrichter and he doinked it in.
Although here’s the thing. It’s not that just Murphy’s 70% career clip is awful. It’s not that Murphy continues to miss chip shots to spoil long offensive drives from Eric Dungey and company. Nay, the most egregious error is something Murphy continues to struggle with KICKING THE DAMN BALL WITHIN THE FIELD OF PLAY.
Maybe I’m being too rough on the guy, like how wide could the field possibly be? Oh it’s 53.5 yards wide. Well can’t defend that.
Head coach Dino Babers shared his thoughts on his struggling kicker in his weekly presser:
“I’m not okay with the ball going out of bounds in the field of play, that’s not good. But he has kicked a lot of balls in bounds. His aiming point is down the hash.”
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Syracuse Football looks to get back on track against Pitt (cnycentral.com; Tamurian)
Syracuse Football isn't one for moral victories, but it's easy to see the progress in the last few weeks.
Starting with a second half surge against Central Michigan, the Orange has put up valiant fights against top-25 teams in LSU and NC State.
That sets the stage for Syracuse to actually be a 5-point favorite for its showdown with Pittsburgh on homecoming Saturday at the Carrier Dome.
"They understand that when Pittsburgh and Syracuse get together that there are a lot of people watching and that there is a lot of history behind the game. It's going to be a good contest as they are a really good football team" Babers said.
Indeed, the Orange has played Pittsburgh more than any other school in history, the Panthers lead the series 38-31 thanks to winning every game in the series from 2005-2011 and 2013-2016.
"They got us last year so we are looking forward to a rematch. It's homecoming weekend so we are going to have a lot of alumni back in town and hopefully we will do a lot better" Babers added.
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Pitt hopes to carry momentum forward against Syracuse (espn; AP)
Yes, it was just four quarters. And yes, it was against a team that has struggled against Power Five conference teams this season.
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi doesn't care. Neither does his team. Considering how bumpy things looked during a three-game losing streak, Narduzzi is confident Pitt's 42-10 victory over Rice on Saturday is a step in the right direction and not just a case of talent winning out over execution.
"It was a convincing win," Narduzzi said Monday. "It wasn't a 28-0 halftime and then we stopped playing in the second half."
Not this time. The Panthers (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) posted season highs in points, yards (479) and passing yards (410) behind four touchdown passes from senior quarterback Max Browne. For now, the seesaw at quarterback between Browne and sophomore Ben DiNucci appears to have stopped heading into next weekend's game at Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 ACC), though Narduzzi isn't suggesting Browne can get comfortable.
"(Someone) asked the crazy question: `You think you found your quarterback?" Narduzzi said. "For a week we did. And Max has got to continue to play well or Ben will jump back in there, and I trust Max will do that. I love what I saw."
For the first time all year, there was plenty to like. Pitt entered the game ranking in the bottom third of the country in every major statistical category and hadn't put together a pass play to a wide receiver over 23 yards. That changed in the first quarter when Browne hit Jester Weahdown the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown.
In nearly the same breath Narduzzi that called it unwise to count out DiNucci, he downplayed the idea that Browne will get a quick hook if the struggles that surfaced during losses to Penn State, Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech return.
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Pitt football | 'Max is back': Browne recaptures starting QB spot for Syracuse game (tribdem.com; Dopirak)
Fifth-year senior Max Browne settled the controversy – at least for the time being – on Saturday, completing 28 of 32 passes for 410 yards and four touchdowns in the Panthers’ 42-10 win over Rice. The victory snapped a three-game losing skid.
Redshirt sophomore Ben DiNucci threw just two passes when the game was all but decided, and didn’t complete either one of them.
Head coach Pat Narduzzi said he wasn’t declaring Browne the starter in perpetuity, and that a non-conference win isn’t enough for him to maintain the position throughout the rest of the fall. But for now, it is Browne's job.
“For a week (we found our quarterback,)” Narduzzi said. “Max has to continue to play well or Ben will jump back in there. I trust that Max will do that.
"I loved what I saw. To me, I saw a more calm, composed guy who will make quicker decisions and that’s what we have to keep. He has to know how he got where he is, what he did to get there, and do it again.”
Narduzzi was asked if that meant Browne would have a longer “leash” in Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. game at Syracuse.
“There’s no leash,” Narduzzi said. “We don’t put leashes on any of our guys. We want him to go out and play football the way it’s supposed to be played and we have a lot of faith and trust in him that he can do that.”
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30 Minutes in Orange Nation (espnsyracuse.com; podcast)
Steve and Seth break down what went wrong for the Orange last Saturday at NC State. They talk about what can be fixed and what to expect for the upcoming Pittsburgh game.
Other
Onondaga County pushes plan to dredge Syracuse Inner Harbor, bring back boats (PS; Knauss)
In hopes of bringing boats back to the Syracuse Inner Harbor, where the water depth is as little as two feet in places, the Onondaga County Industrial Development Authority today voted to let state canal officials dump mud dredged from the harbor on property owned by the county agency.
Onondaga County officials said the planned dredging operation will help spur continued economic development of the harbor, a once-vacant tract where hotels, apartments and office buildings are being built.
Ryan McMahon, county legislature chairman, said the dredging would deepen the harbor to at least eight feet.
"This is really a necessary part of the redevelopment,'' McMahon said. "It gives access via water to that neighborhood and everything there.''
The dredged material will be dumped at the former Roth Steel site near the Onondaga Lake shore, which the county IDA bought in 2015 to prevent its use as a scrapyard.
The Inner Harbor is two-to-four feet deep in many areas, thanks to sediment from Onondaga Creek fed by the Tully mud boils, county officials said. It is impassable for most water craft, County Executive Joanie Mahoney said.
"The harbor's boat docks sit vacant,'' she said in a letter urging the IDA to support the dredging project.
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