sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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SU News
Syracuse football vs. North Carolina: See our picks, make your predictions (PS; Staff)
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BRENT AXE
Syracuse 30, North Carolina 13
Syracuse storms out of the bye week and puts its foot on the proverbial throat of a team it should beat. The Tar Heels were starting to find themselves last week against Virginia Tech, but I think they will struggle against the Orange pass rush with their quarterback situation a bit in flux.
STEPHEN BAILEY
Syracuse 41, North Carolina 31
This game will be telling for the Orange. Coming off a well-timed bye week, SU is relatively healthy and will be back in the Carrier Dome against an opponent it should beat. Players believe focus intensified last week and that the group can channel the frustration of consecutive heartbreaking losses. A win against the Tar Heels would give SU a chance to become bowl eligible against No. 15 North Carolina State next Saturday.
On the flip side, a loss would indicate to me, particularly if the run defense is gashed again, that there are issues here that cannot be fixed. But I'm inclined to believe at least some of those holes can be plugged.
NATE MINK
Syracuse 41, North Carolina 24
Syracuse gets a lift from the return of tight end Ravian Pierce and wide receiver Devin Butler to help the passing game pick up more first downs and scoring chances.
This is also a spot where SU's special teams will make a big impact on the outcome, limiting Anthony Ratliff-Williams in the return game.
JASON MURRAY
Syracuse 38, North Carolina 27
While Syracuse's rush defense (180.2 yards allowed per game) has been bad, North Carolina's has been worse (198.2 yards allowed).
The Orange should run up and down the field and I wouldn't be surprised to see over 250 yards on the ground for SU by the end of the day.
DENNIS NETT
Syracuse 35, North Carolina 20
The Orange took the bye week to heal some bumps and bruises and to clear its head after two losses in a row. SU should come out sharp in a much-needed win.
UNC Football: Jones Angell and Coach Fedora preview Syracuse
UNC Football: Jones Angell and Coach Fedora preview Syracuse
Syracuse’s struggles in the defensive backfield lead to big plays for opponents (DO; Graham)
In six games, the Syracuse defense has given up touchdown runs of 75, 69 and 64 yards.
Those explosive runs are indicative of run-defense issues that reach beyond the front seven players. After breaking through the line of scrimmage, ball carriers have consistently beaten out of position safeties and slipped out of weak tackles.
“When the ball breaks to the secondary,” head coach Dino Babers said after SU’s loss to Pittsburgh, “we need DBs and we need safeties to make tackles. Just get ‘em down. Just get ‘em down.”
Syracuse’s (4-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) defensive backs, the last line of resistance on the field, have struggled against the run, similar to the rest of its 91st-ranked rushing defense. Cornerbacks have been eliminated from plays by good blocking, and bad angles to the football often hinder safeties.
When North Carolina (1-4, 1-2) comes to the Carrier Dome on Saturday, it brings the No. 49 rushing offense in the country, in terms of yards per game. Two weeks ago, SU gave up 265 yards to Pitt, the No. 48 rushing offense, in a loss. SU needs to defend the run better than it has, and part of that recipe includes defensive backs saving touchdowns.
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College football: Syracuse’s Whitner provides leadership on, off field (watertowndailytimes.; St.Croix)
Kielan Whitner has emerged as a leader for the Syracuse University football defense this season, much as he has in the community throughout his four years with the Orange.
The senior linebacker has led SU in tackles for four straight games — registering a team-high 52 tackles through his first six starts this year. He is also actively involved with nearly a half-dozen charitable organizations in the Syracuse area.
He will lead the Orange (4-2 overall, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) out of its bye week into Saturday’s matchup against North Carolina (1-4, 1-2) at 12:20 p.m. Saturday at the Carrier Dome.
Whitner said that he learned the importance of giving back while growing up in a faith-based household in Lawrenceville, Ga., and that his parents emphasized “the golden rule,” that he and his sister treat others as they would want to be treated.
“It goes back to how my parents raised me to be willing to put those things first in life,” Whitner said. “Football is very important and I put a lot of time and effort, and stress myself out a lot over football, but in the grand scheme of things what’s most important is how you treat other people and the impact you have on the world as a whole, so I want to be known as a great football player but I feel what’s most important is the person I am and the impact I can have on the people around me.”
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Beat writer Q&A: Jack Frederick of The Daily Tar Heel talks North Carolina (DO; Staff)
Syracuse (4-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) stays at home this weekend following a bye week to face North Carolina (1-4, 1-2) in the Carrier Dome.
To learn more about the Tar Heels, The Daily Orange spoke with The Daily Tar Heel’s assistant sports editor Jack Frederick about UNC’s suspensions, its quarterback rotation, running back and more.
Read the full conversation, lightly edited for content and clarity, below.
The Daily Orange: Is everyone going to be back from suspension this week except for Tomon Fox?
J..: Everyone should be back this week. I think Malik Carney might have one more game to sit out. But because of injuries to the defensive line, the NCAA has OK’d for that to be whatever week UNC decides. As far as the shoe suspensions now, they’re behind the team at this point.
D.O.: What’s been the biggest difficulty for the team this season, coming into this game, with just one win?
J..: One of the struggles, even going back to last year, has been inconsistency at the quarterback position. Before 2017 it was very much up in the air. There were three different quarterbacks playing and that has continued into much of this season, where we’ve seen three quarterbacks share some snaps. Nathan Elliott obviously started the season, but he’s been a bit inconsistent, so they’ve thrown Chazz Surratt in there at times, and most recently against Virginia Tech, Cade Fortin also started. The quarterback position is just very much inconsistent. That’s where a lot of the struggles start.
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Syracuse football is still looking for Michael Jordan says Dino Babers (itlh.com; Esden Jr)
Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers is desperately searching for Michael Jordan. I think we may know how to help Dino in his quest.
Before this season started, Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers made some bold claims. One of those stated that the 2018 Orange would be even better than last year’s squad.
That seemed hard to believe with all the historic talent that was walking out the door to the NFL: Steve Ishmael (all-time yardage leader in SU history), Erv Philips (all-time reception leader in SU history), Zaire Franklin (one of the most decorated linebackers in SU history), and Parris Bennett (quietly had a phenomenal Orange career).
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Meet freshman quarterback Jace Ruder, UNC’s backup if injured Cade Fortin can’t go (newsobserver.com; Alexander)
On Tuesday night during his radio show, North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora had no update on the status of freshman quarterback Cade Fortin, who started last Saturday against Virginia Tech but was injured.
Fortin was hit hard as he tried to scramble for a touchdown in the first half. He was taken back to the locker room and when he returned to the sidelines he was wearing street clothes.
Fedora doesn’t talk about injuries, but as the days go on, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Fortin could miss an extended period of time. Junior quarterback Nathan Elliott, who played in relief of Fortin, will likely start on Saturday against Syracuse if Fortin can’t play.
Elliott, who was 11-15 for 147 yards and one touchdown last week, said he’s trying to get better in practice every day.
“At the end of the day that’s all I can do,” he said. “Yeah, I’m starting, I’m assuming, and I’m just going to be the best version of me I can be.”
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Doughty College Notebook: UNC QB Fortin a different kind of transfer (roanoke.com; Doughty)
Although he doesn’t qualify to be included among a host of transfer quarterbacks populating ACC football , North Carolina’s Cade Fortin is cut from a similar cloth.
Fortin originally committed to Texas A&M in the fall of 2017, only to decommit from the Aggies and commit to the Tar Heels in December. He had been hand-picked by Noel Mazzone, the Aggies’ offensive coordinator until Mazzone accepted an offer from Arizona.
“It happened real quick,” Tar Heels’ coach Larry Fedora said early this week. “His semester was coming to an end and so was ours, so it had to get done quickly,
“The communication didn’t ever stop. It’s not like he had to reach out to us because we were reaching out to him.”
A fibula injury had caused Fortin to miss most of his senior season at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia.
Fortin was named the starter for last week’s game with Virginia Tech. He was knocked out of the game in the first half due to a leg injury and could miss an extended amount of time, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. Before that game, which the Hokies won 22-19, Fortin’s lone appearance had come in relief against East Carolina, where he was 3-for-6 for 15 yards in a 41-19 loss.
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Three NC State weaknesses Clemson can exploit (shakinthesouthland.com; Kulkis)
Before the season began not many believed that the game against NC State in October would decide the division for the 2nd straight season. Despite how much some Clemson fans loathe NC State, and particularly Dave Doeren, NC State is building a quality program that seems to be making consistent strides. They have come painfully close to knocking off the Tigers in back-to-back meetings, and now a veteran Wolfpack team will be starving for a Win. However, there are areas on the field where the Tigers hold a significant advantage. That edge might be in experience, or talent, but these 3 areas will go a long way in determining how successful Clemson’s Saturday afternoon will be in a battle of unbeaten teams.
The ACC is the only P5 conference with more than one undefeated team (Clemson and NC State) and they're playing on Saturday. Biggest game of the week.
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) October 15, 2018
NC State LBs vs. Clemson’s Run Game
The first matchup Clemson should be able to exploit is in it’s own run game. NC State was very thin at LB heading into the season, and suffered another blow when talented Freshman Payton Wilson went down for the year in the pre-season. Germaine Pratt, a Redshirt Senior leads the ACC in Total Tackles, and is easily the most experienced member of the group. After Pratt, the starter at MIKE is Redshirt Freshman Isaiah Moore, and to mitigate the issue of depth at the position, at Nickel is true Freshman Tanner Ingle.
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Welcome to the U, Cornelius Nunn (stateoftheu.com; Underwood)
The Miami Hurricanes got some good recruiting news on Wednesday night when Miami (FL) Palmetto 3-star DB Cornelius Nunn committed to the Canes
Truly blessed to say I am committed to University of Miami #Surge19pic.twitter.com/pkbVuoTu5V
— Cornelius Nunn Jr (@NeilNunnJr5) October 18, 2018
Nunn, who was formerly committed to Syracuse, has good size at 6’0” 170lbs. But he doesn’t just look the part, he plays it, too. Nunn was an attendee who had a strong night at Paradise Camp, and has been a dominant force during the first half of his senior year at Palmetto. Couple those things with Miami’s need for talented DBs, and you have the recipe for today’s commitment.
As stated above, Nunn was formerly committed to Syracuse. He, however, was open about his desire to part ways from the northern school in favor of the hometown Hurricanes, and that has finally come to fruition.
Along with Syracuse and Miami, Nunn claims offers from many other schools, including Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, NC State, Nebraska, and Tennessee.
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247Sports Midseason True Freshman All-American Team (247sports.com; Staff)
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DB - Andre Cisco, Syracuse (931)
DB - Patrick Surtain, Alabama (6)
DB - Caden Sterns, Texas (19)
DB - Jevon Holland, Oregon (165)
10COMMENTS
Simmons: "We loved Jevon Holland on film as a senior and he was good in camp the previous offseason. I knew Oregon had something special though when the reports starting coming back from the All-Poly Bowl in Hawaii. While a lot of guys were out there for a vacation, Holland was there to compete and was practicing harder than anybody. As talented as he is, I’m sure it’s that mentality that has allowed him to make such a big impact so early at Oregon."
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College Football Picks: ACC showcase could be first and last :: WRALSportsFan.com (wralsportsfan.com; Russo; AP)
The Atlantic Coast Conference has yet to have a big game this season and might not have another one after Saturday until its conference championship game.
No. 16 North Carolina State visits No. 3 Clemson in a matchup of the only remaining unbeaten teams in the ACC. It seems early to declare the winner of this game the ACC Atlantic champion, but it's not so far-fetched.
The only other team in the division with less than two losses is Boston College, which has already lost to N.C. State and plays Clemson in mid-November. Over in the ACC Coastal, Virginia Tech is the lone undefeated team in conference play, but six of the seven members of the division have lost at least two games overall.
Duke (5-1) is the lone exception, but the Blue Devils' lone loss was to Virginia Tech. This week is the first since Oct. 4, 2015, that the ACC has only two ranked teams. There is plenty of time for teams such as Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Duke, all of which were ranked at some point in the first half of the season, to work their way back into the Top 25 and set up a few more marquee games.
But for now, N.C. State-Clemson is as good as it gets in the ACC and as good as it likely will get for at least a few weeks — if not longer.
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GWINNETT GRADS: In Front of the Cameras (gwinnettdailypost.com; Staff)
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Noon — Miami (Ohio) at Army, CBS Sports Network
Grayson’s Cedric Asseh (No. 1) is a defensive back, Central Gwinnett’s Nigel Adams (No. 39) is a linebacker and Parkview’s Tyler Fleetwood (No. 85) is a wide receiver for Miami. South Gwinnett’s Chris Skyers (No. 13) is a defensive back, Shiloh’s Julian McDuffie (No. 22) is a defensive back, Peachtree Ridge’s Wilson Catoe (No. 48) is a linebacker, Grayson’s Jake Killian (No. 49) is a linebacker, Buford’s Dean Powell (No. 67) is an offensive lineman, Loganville resident J.D. Mote(No. 80) is a punter and South Gwinnett’s Mackay Phillips (No. 96) is a defensive lineman for Army.
12:20 p.m. — North Carolina at Syracuse, WUPA
North Gwinnett’s Cade Fortin (No. 6) is a quarterback, Buford’s Bryson Richardson(No. 6) is a defensive back, Collins Hill’s Tomon Fox (No. 12) is a defensive end, South Gwinnett’s Malik Robinson (No. 24) is a linebacker, Greater Atlanta Christian’s Trey Morrison (No. 27) is a defensive back, Buford’s Nick Polino (No. 58) is an offensive guard and Archer’s Joshua Ezeudu (No. 75) is an offensive lineman for UNC. Mountain View’s Kielan Whitner (No. 25) is a linebacker for Syracuse.
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Wake Forest’s plan to revamp defense stalls in off week – but Deacons still able to focus on changes (journalnow.com; O'Neill)
The plan was as follows for Wake Forest’s defense after the firing of coordinator Jay Sawvel: Simplify the schemes for games against Rice and Clemson, and then use the off week to really dig into the unit’s core problems.
Indeed, simplified game plans were in place for those two games. But the other part of that plan didn’t play out as expected.
“I can’t tell you it went exactly as we wanted just because we’re down so many players. We really wanted to take that bye week and kind of retool things a little bit and then we got out there and we really didn’t have — everybody was hurt,” Coach Dave Clawson of Wake Forest said. “We were still able to do some walk-throughs, some meetings. We have tweaked some things that I think will help us, but you need to get reps.
“We did a little, but we probably didn’t do everything that we wanted to do just because — we didn’t have the players to do it with.”
The linebacker and safety positions for the Deacons were hit particularly hard by injuries in the first six games. By the end of the Clemson game and into last week, the Deacons didn’t have one healthy scholarship linebacker.
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Boston College Football 2018: Grades For Offense Through Bye Week (bcinterruption.com Black)
The Boston College Eagles sit at 5-2 as they head into their bye week, a number that can be evaluated and judged a myriad of different ways. Today, we are going to just break down the offense, look at the positions, some statistics and assign a grade up to this point. It’s kind of a Progress Report for the team at this point. Later in the week we will look at defense and coaching, so hold your thoughts on those two units until later.
Scoring offense: 39.6 ppg (18th in the country), against P5 programs they average 28.8 ppg
Quarterbacks
Going into this season there were a lot of questions about the health and progress of Anthony Brown. However, he started off the season with a bang lighting up UMass and Wake Forest, while throwing for 626 yards and nine touchdowns. He had great touch, was running the system effectively, and looked almost All ACC. Then Purdue happened, and he crashed down to earth, throwing for 4 interceptions while looking completely overwhelmed. It was just a terrible game. Since that time he hasn’t made the big mistakes, but he hasn’t done anything spectacular either, averaging 172 yards per game the past three weeks, but not throwing any picks. Would love to see him improve on going through his progressions, and not locking on a receiver. Currently he has thrown 1238 yards, 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
AJ’s Grade: B-
(Incomplete for EJ Perry IV and Matt MacDonald who have played, but not in anything meaningful making it impossible to assign a grade)
AJ Dillon has been everything that we expected him to be, except for being shut down against Purdue. In the 4 1⁄2 games Dillon has played (and he only had limited touches against UMass and Holy Cross), he has run for 652 yards and six touchdowns. However, Dillon has been sidelined after an apparent ankle injury against the Temple Owls. Since his injury Ben Glineshas stepped up admirable with some solid big runs, two fumbles (one was a horrible call by the refs), and three touchdowns. He has shown good speed and has found a role to compliment Dillon even after the All-ACC runner returns. David Bailey showed up big time against the Louisville Cardinals, and looked Dillon-esque in the physical way in which he runs.
AJ’s Grade: A
Incomplete for Travis Levy, who certainly earned an A in Special Teams which we will talk about later.
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Tech wants to keep Johnson. That might not be an option (myajc.com; Bradley)
The belief is that Todd Stansbury, Georgia Tech’s athletic director, doesn’t want to fire his football coach. Events, however, aren’t cooperating. The Yellow Jackets are 3-4. The only Power 5 team they’ve beaten is Louisville, which might be the worst Power 5 team.
It’s still possible, at least mathematically, that Tech could win its division, though it has three ACC losses. (No other Coastal team has that many.) If we go by ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Jackets are projected to finish 5-7.They were 5-6 last year, 3-9 in 2015. They were 9-4 in 2016 with wins over Virginia Tech and Georgia, but still: A coach at a Power 5 school cannot have three losing seasons in four and expect any reservoir of job security.
The belief is that 5-7 would leave Stansbury hanging. A 4-8 season might be enough to force his hand; a 6-6 year, while nothing to celebrate unless the sixth victory is over Georgia, would surely mean that Paul Johnson returns for 2019. (Assuming he wants to be back.) But there could be a bigger issue than W’s, or the lack thereof.
Tech lost Saturday to Duke for the fourth time in five seasons. Note that David Cutcliffe, who’d been fired at Ole Miss, was hired by the Blue Devils just after Johnson was tapped to replace Chan Gailey at the Flats. (Note also that Cutcliffe had keen interest in the Tech job but was never interviewed; Dan Radakovich, then Tech’s AD, had settled on Johnson after thinking hard about Rick Neuheisel.)
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Findings from Maryland football culture investigation to be revealed within next two weeks (nbcsports.com; McGuire)
The University of Maryland’s Board of Regents will review the information gathered from an investigation into the football culture of the Maryland football program on Friday behind a closed session. The information from that report will then be made public within the next two weeks, according to a statement from the University System of Maryland on Wednesday.
The Board of Regents is scheduled for a regularly scheduled meeting on Friday, October 19. Part of the agenda for that meeting will be the closed session to review the independent investigation’s report on the state of the football culture allegations made against the Maryland football program under head coach D.J. Durkin.
Durkin remains on an administrative leave with the program despite the football season continuing on under interim head coach Matt Canada. The board will meet again on Tuesday, October 23 in a special session to discuss the investigation and its findings. At that time, the board will begin making decisions on how to address the report, which may include determining the fate of Durkin as head coach of the Terrapins. However, no media availability or statements will be made following the special session on Tuesday.
However, according to the released statement with the updated timeline from the board of regents, the findings of the investigation are expected to be released to the public within one week of the special session scheduled for Oct. 23.
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Notre Dame Football: Ranking the Difficulty of the Remaining Games (slapthesign.com; Scott)
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4. Oct. 27 vs. Navy (in San Diego)
Navy always brings its best effort against the Irish. They are always disciplined and are a difficult team to prepare for due to their unique offensive scheme. The neutral site doesn’t help matters, but keep in mind that Navy will actually travel farther to play in this one. From a talent standpoint, Notre Dame should be able to dominate. But as we’ve seen in the past, this game isn’t about talent.
3. Nov. 17 vs. Syracuse (at Yankee Stadium)
I don’t know many Irish fans who feel good about this one. From the neutral site, the layout of the field, the questionable alternative uniforms and the proximity of the opposing school (a four hour drive), there’s plenty not to like about this matchup. And that’s before you take into account that the Irish are facing one of the top offensive minds in the game in Syracuse head coach Dino Babers and one of the most dangerous players in the country in quarterback Eric Dungey.
2. Nov. 10 vs. Florida State
No, these are not your father’s Seminoles, but they are arguably the most athletically comparable team the Irish will face from here on out. The game will be played in primetime, with Florida State having nothing to lose and a huge win toward bowl eligibility to gain. The Seminoles have yet to lose to a “bad” football team, and nearly knocked off the Miami Hurricanes a couple of weeks ago. They’d love to play the role of “spoiler” on a national stage.
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ACC Football: Week 7 Staff Predictions (tarheelblog.com; Anderson)
Last week was, to put it bluntly, exactly what we expected it to be with one exception — Virginia found a way to take down Miami, which gave each member of our staff at least one loss going into this week. UVA’s victory was shocking to say the least, but it by far and away wasn’t the most shocking win in college football this past weekend. You can read more about that in our AP Top 25 piece here.
This coming week is going to be an interesting one. There are only four games on the ACC schedule this weekend, and when it comes to the Tar Heels specifically, there is a lot of divide amongst our staff as to whether or not they found something this past weekend that might carry over into the Carrier Dome when they take on Syracuse. The bad news is that Cade Fortin, the redshirt freshman that sparked a lot of what happened this past weekend, will be out for the game. The good news, however, is that Michael Carter was finally given the chance to produce in a way that UNC has so desperately needed. We’ll see how things play out.
Let’s take a look at this week’s predictions from our staff:
College Football Previews: Important games across the board for NC schools – The North State Journal (nsonline.com; Friedlander and Krest)
North Carolina at Syracuse
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y. | Saturday, 12:20 p.m. | Raycom
Preview: The Tar Heels (1-4, 1-2) played one of their best games in two years only to lose in the final minute against Virginia Tech. Syracuse (4-2, 1-2 ACC) is coming off a bye week.
Players to watch: Syracuse QB Eric Dungey has averaged 292.3 yards of total offense per game over his career, fourth-best among active players. True freshman QB Cade Fortin gave UNC back the threat of the deep ball, but his status is unsure after suffering an injury late in the first half.
Fast fact: Syracuse and UNC have never played an ACC game against each other, but they’re not the last two ACC teams to play. Pitt and Wake will face off for the first time in the conference on Nov. 17, and Louisville will play Virginia Tech next season.
What to expect: Carolina hasn’t shown consistency since Mitch Trubisky was throwing passes for them. If the Heels can put together back-to-back good games, it will be a major step forward.
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Dabo Swinney, Ryan Finley among ACC's first-half winners (journalnow.com; Odum; AP)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Dabo Swinney, Clemson
The Tigers are winning as expected, but Swinney has earned his pay. He has managed to keep Clemson players focused through the drama of quarterback Kelly Bryant’s transfer before facing Syracuse and the switch to Lawrence. The ability to win during that transition shows Swinney’s program is built on a solid foundation.
Also receiving votes: Dino Babers, Syracuse.
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FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Quarterback Sam Hartman, Wake Forest
Hartman was supposed to fill in while starter Kendall Hinton served a three-game suspension. Hartman has played well enough, ranking fourth in the league with his average of 209.8 yards passing, to keep the job as Hinton has been used at receiver.
Also receiving votes: Lawrence; S Andre Cisco, Syracuse.
MOST SURPRISING PLAYER
Quarterback Bryce Perkins, Virginia
Perkins is tied for second in the ACC with 11 touchdown passes. The dual-threat quarterback has passed for 1,217 yards and rushed for 402 yards and three scores.
“He’s an X-factor,” said Duke coach David Cutcliffe. “I’ve seen him leap players while running the ball. Literally over their heads. A guy from Louisville tried to tackle him and he literally hurdles his head and keeps running. He may be the fastest player on his team. He’s big. He’s strong.”
Also receiving votes: Hartman; Etienne; QB Daniel Jones, Duke; WR Jeff Thomas, Miami; QB Deondre Francois, Florida State.
MOST SURPRISING TEAM
Syracuse.
Syracuse (4-2, 1-2 ACC) has played beyond expectations and with a little luck could be undefeated. It followed a 27-23 loss at Clemson with an overtime loss to Pittsburgh.
Also receiving votes: Duke, N.C. State.
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Best college football fight song: The 5 schools leading Fan Index voting (usatoday.com; Schwartz)
This week in College Football Fan Index, we’re asking voters to choose the school with the best college football fight song in the nation. With one day of voting remaining, here are the leading candidates.
Michigan – “The Victors”
Ohio State – “Buckeye Battle Cry” and “Across The Field”
Texas A&M – “Aggie War Hymn”
Notre Dame – “Victory March”
USC – “Fight On”
4 really simple reasons Notre Dame can make the Playoff as an indy (sbnation.com; Kirshner)
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This leads some people every year to argue about whether the Irish should be allowed to make the Playoff without ever satisfying one of the only stated criteria.
The answer is that they can, whether you agree or not.
Here’s the basic guide to why Notre Dame can still make the field — certainly if the Irish are undefeated, but conceivably even with one loss, in some years.
1. Everyone in the world considers the Irish to be like a power conference team, even though they’re not in a conference.
The BCS essentially considered Notre Dame a power, guaranteeing the Irish a berth whenever they ranked in the top 8 and a couple times including them when they didn’t.
In the Playoff era, the committee tries to avoid labels like “Power 5,” but the Irish are still practically included. I’d say that’s because the Irish play a Power 5 schedule, but that wouldn’t give them credit for playing more Power 5 games (often 10 of them — plus Navy, a typically challenging non-power) than a lot of teams in those conferences play.
The Irish also don’t play FCS teams, meaning they play at least as many FBS teams before Selection Sunday as almost any Power 5 champion does.
Maybe just as importantly, the humans who decide these things view Notre Dame as a power program. Put more simply: Notre Dame won’t get UCF’d.
2. Yes, the Playoff cares a lot about conference titles. But the committee put in non-champs two years in a row.
Fourteen of 16 teams to make the Playoff in its first four years had titles. The first two years of the event were exclusively reserved for conference champions. But then the Playoff admitted both of these teams:
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Meet the musicians who perform the soundtrack of SU games (DO; Emerman and Gutierrez)
SU’s fight song “Down the Field,” written in 1914, echoes through the Carrier Dome in big moments: former SU guard John Gillon’s buzzer-beater to beat Duke in 2017, senior running back Dontae Strickland’s 13 yard touchdown run to cap off a 30-7 win over Florida State on Sept. 15, and when SU fans flooded the field after beating then-No. 2 Clemson last fall.
The Syracuse marching band and pep band have become fixtures at Orange sporting events — the marching band plays at football games, and the pep band at men’s basketball. The marching band formed in 1901 and is one of the oldest bands in the country. It’s among the largest student organizations on campus. Syracuse’s marching band, a staple of the fan experience at the Carrier Dome, features 155 students across more than 85 majors from SU, SUNY-ESF, Onondaga Community College and Le Moyne College. There are 12 instruments in the ensemble, which each spend up to 12 hours per week in rehearsal sessions. They performed before the 2014 Super Bowl and aim to create an electric atmosphere during SU games.
“They’ve always been really good and supportive of us,” said Syracuse’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim, who is now coaching his 43rd-year at SU. “It makes it a lot easier for us to be successful on the court.”
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Other
Syracuse police to enforce parking rules during SU football games (DO; Ferguson)
City police officers are tightening enforcement of parking regulations around Thornden Park after an uptick in illegal parking during Syracuse University football games, Mayor Ben Walsh’s office said Tuesday.
Game attendees have increasingly been parking illegally in neighborhoods near SU and in Thornden Park, per a news release. Syracuse Police Department officers in charge of traffic management before and after games will be sent out to ticket illegally parked cars during games for the remainder of the season.
Syracuse Common Councilors, including Susan Boyle and President Helen Hudson, voiced concerns about illegal parking at a Sept. 24 Common Council meeting. Greg Loh, director of city initiatives, said at the meeting that he would bring up the issue in his regular meetings with university and city police officials.
Parking violations on University Hill include not following alternate side parking, using handicap spaces without authorization, blocking driveways, parking within 10 feet of a fire hydrant, parking in a way that prevents passage of public safety equipment and parking in areas marked as off-limits with traffic barrels. Fines for illegal parking range from $30 to $105.
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