sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to The Start of Sukkot
Sukkot, a Jewish autumn festival lasting seven days in Israel and eight days in the diaspora, starts on the fifteenth day of Tishri, five days after Yom Kippur. Literally interpreted as "Feast of Booths," the holiday is significant for both agricultural and religious reasons. In the book of Exodus, it marks the end of harvest time and of the agricultural year. In the book of Leviticus, it has religious and historical significance, commemorating the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt and subsequent forty years of wandering in the desert.
SU News
https://nypost.com/2018/09/24/two-basketball-schools-are-taking-college-football-by-storm/ (nypost.com; Braziller)
When the weather cools down, the anticipation rises. Hopes soar. Excitement fills the air.
At Kentucky and Syracuse, it usually means Midnight Madness and the start of the college basketball season is near. That remains true. But a different kind of madness is enveloping those schools this month.
Football, for the time being at least, is king. The two basketball schools are a combined 8-0, two of the sport’s biggest surprises.
Kentucky is ranked in the Associated Press for the first time in 11 years, coming in at No. 17. It just pulled off a stifling 28-7 victory over highly regarded Mississippi State, sending the program to its first 2-0 start in SEC play since 1977, the last time the Wildcats won double-digit games in a single season. Kentucky recently won at Florida in commanding fashion, its first win in Gainesville since 1986, and is one of four undefeated teams in the SEC, joined by last year’s national championship finalists Alabama and Georgia, along with surprising LSU.
Junior Benny Snell Jr. has looked like one of the best running backs in the country, amassing 540 yards and seven touchdowns, and the defense is ranked 11th in total defense, allowing 279.5 yards per game. It handcuffed dynamic Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, limiting the dual threat to 165 total yards.
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Syracuse puts 'another deposit in the piggy bank' with fourth win - The Juice Online (the juice; Salamone)
Joe Morris, Syracuse’s all-time leading rusher, whose jersey number 47 was retired on Saturday, played his last NFL season with the Cleveland Browns in 1991.
BIG EAST Football kicked off its inaugural season in 1991.
And, former SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni was beginning his first year at the helm in 1991. His Orangemen (that’s what they were called back in the day) reeled off four straight victories, including an upset of No. 5 Florida at the Carrier Dome, to begin the season with a 4-0 record. It was only the fourth time in Syracuse football history that a team began the season with a 4-0 record since the program’s only National Championship in 1959.
Fast-forward 27 years. And we mean fast. In the blink of an eye, Syracuse scored 21 points in the first 5:19 of the game, racking up a combined 184 yards and never looked back, as they coasted to a 51-21 victory against the University of Connecticut Huskies in front of an announced crowd of 36,662 at the Carrier Dome. The Orange is 4-0 for the first time…you guessed it, since 1991.
“We are excited for that,” third-year head coach Dino Babers said about the 4-0 start. “It helps us with the goals that we’re trying to achieve this season. But just like I told the football team, we’re going to take that 4-0 check, and we’re not going to cash it. We’re going to put it in the bank, and we’ve got to start again. If we keep having that attitude, when it’s all said and done, maybe we’ll have enough saved up in the piggy bank to buy something at the end of the season that we’d like.”
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Scouting Clemson’s next opponent: Syracuse (thestate.com; Connolly)
Three storylines
1. Dabo Swinney was already bringing up the fact Syracuse “embarrassed” Clemson last year during his postgame press conference after the Georgia Tech game on Saturday. It’s safe to say Swinney will use last year’s loss to the Orangeas motivation throughout the week.
2. Clemson struggled defensively against the only non-option team it faced this year as Texas A&M passed for 430 yards against the Tigers. Syracuse also has an impressive passing attack, led by quarterback Eric Dungey.
3. Swinney must continue to handle the quarterback situation well after Trevor Lawrence outplayed Kelly Bryant against the Yellow Jackets. There will be plenty of talk this week about who should get the start against Syracuse.
Syracuse players to watch
1. Orange quarterback Eric Dungey is dangerous as a passer and runner. He leads Syracuse with 354 rushing yards and four scores and has passed for 763 yards and nine touchdowns, with one interception.
2. Senior receiver Jamal Custis has been Dungey’s favorite target through four games with 17 catches for 287 yards and three scores. Custis is a big target at 6-foot-5.
3. Linebacker Kielan Whitner leads Syracuse with 32 tackles. He has added two tackles for loss, a sack, an interception and a forced fumble.
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Clemson QB decision on hold, plus an update on an injured linebacker (thestate.com; Connolly)
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney isn’t ready to name a starting quarterback for Saturday’s ACC showdown with Syracuse.
Swinney brought up the quarterback competition unprompted before he could be asked about it during his Sunday teleconference after Trevor Lawrence threw for four touchdowns in Clemson’s 49-21 win at Georgia Tech this past Saturday.
“I’ll just say tonight, I know the first question everybody wants to know is has anything changed at quarterback and all that stuff. And I’m not going to address any of that tonight,” Swinney said. “Our players are off today. If anything changes you guys will certainly know about it. But I’m not going to get into any rotation or depth chart issues or any of that type of stuff.”
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UConn football: Five takeaways from loss to Syracuse (newmilfordspectrum.com; Fuller)
Here are some thoughts on UConn’s 51-21 loss to Syracuse:
Swing and miss: Unofficially, UConn had seven missed tackles in the first quarter giving Syracuse an additional 64 yards. The good news is that UConn only had had four missed tackles the rest of the way as the Huskies made a few alignment changes but it was too little, too late.
Missed opportunities: UConn started the game with an impressive drive only to give the ball away on an unforced error for the second time this season. Quarterback David Pindell lost the ball as he attempted a pump fake giving the Orange a gift sack and fumble recovery and their own 32. UConn has committed 10 turnovers this season and seven have come in the opponents’ territory including four in the red zone. With the defensive struggles, the UConn offense knows it needs to score on almost every drive to have a chance to win and squandering opportunities is a losing proposition.
Not living up to hype: UConn’s offensive line was engulfed by the Syracuse front four for much of the game. The Orange had 10 tackles for loss and six sacks, but it felt like the numbers should have been much higher. One of the sacks came on the aforementioned dropped ball by Pindell and another time right tackle Matt Peart blocked an inside linemen leaving either tight end Tyler Davis or running back Kevin Mensah to pick up the relentless Alton Robinson. Neither one picked him up as Robinson had no resistance on his way to picking up the easiest of his three sacks. It should be noted that center Ryan Crozier and guards Nino Leone and Cam DeGeorge worked in unison perfectly to provide seal blocks on Pindell’s 75-yard scoring run as the UConn quarterback became the only FBS player with a touchdown pass and rushing TD of at least 70 yards this season.
Opportunity knocks: Shamel Lazarus became the ninth true freshman to start on defense for UConn and drew plenty of praise from safety Tyler Coyle for his play. He had plenty of company as eight other true freshman played on defense. Unofficially, that class accounted for 48 percent of the defensive snaps while juniors and seniors accounted for only 8 percent of the snaps on defense.
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Takeaways From UConn Football’s Loss At Syracuse (theuconnblog.com; Staff)
The UConn Huskies lost to Syracuse on Saturday in a game that didn’t resemble these teams’ Big East battles at all. The Huskies’ historically solid defense allowed 55 points while the historically modest offense did alright and even left some points on the board finishing with 21.
Despite quickly falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter, the Huskies battled and had chances to get closer, but the defense failed to prevent big plays and even without them the Orange were moving the ball quite easily.
So what have we learned about the Huskies (1-3, 0-1 the American) after they wrapped up the first quarter of the season?
Signs of Defensive Life?
Dan Madigan: After getting steamrolled in the first quarter, the defense did look a little better than it has in the past season, but still gave up 636 yards of total offense. That total was the lowest they’ve given up to an FBS opponent this year. So yes, I guess that technically is progress, but it’s going to take a lot more games and experience for this young unit before they can help UConn remain competitive in a football game.
To me, the most encouraging play of the game was Ian Swenson’s forced fumble at the 2-yard line. It’s good to see these young players hustling and not giving up regardless of the result on the scoreboard.
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ACC Football Rx: Apology on Behalf of Hokie Nation (accfootballrx.com; HM)
On behalf of Virginia Tech Hokies fans everywhere, I'd like to apologize to the rest of the ACC. You guys deserve better than what VT provided on Saturday in the loss to then winless Old Dominion. Yes, it was played on the road, but still in state. The Hokies were undefeated and ranked in the top 15 (at #13). Favored by FOUR touchdowns, it should've been a cakewalk. Instead...
ESPN Stats & Info
@ESPNStatsInfo
Old Dominion's win over Virginia Tech is the largest upset against an ACC opponent in the last 40 seasons.
Other
Richard Gere spotted at North Syracuse diner (PS; Moriarty)
Actor and North Syracuse High School graduate Richard Gere dropped into a North Syracuse diner on Saturday.
Gere, 69, stopped into Julie's Diner on Route 11 for breakfast at 11 a.m. with his pregnant wife, Alejandra Silva, his father, Homer Gere, and another woman.
Diner owner Kristen Macko said Gere was very gracious, chatting with patrons who quickly recognized the actor and posing for a picture with members of the diner's staff.
"He wasn't trying to hide and pretend he was someone else," she said. "He was just so nice to everyone. He was talking to everyone on the way out, so that's why we didn't feel too bad asking him if we could take a photo with him."
She said she asked him if he was going to the Syracuse University-UConn football game at the Carrier Dome later in the day.
"He said, 'No, we're going to watch it on TV," she said.
Gere grew up in North Syracuse, not far from the diner, and graduated from North Syracuse High School in 1967. His father still lives in North Syracuse.
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