sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Pumpkin Day!
National Pumpkin Day celebrates pumpkins, a cultivar of the squash plant that is native to North America. Its name is derived from the Greek word "pepon", which means large melon. Pumpkins have long since been associated with the harvest season, and both Halloweenand Thanksgiving. During Halloween many people pick or buy pumpkins—most often the Connecticut Field pumpkin—and carve them into jack-o'-lanterns. Vegetables such as turnips have long been carved in Ireland and Britain, and the practice of carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns stemmed from the story of Stingy Jack. Pumpkins were one of the squashes long eaten by Native Americans, which they introduced to Europeans shortly after the settlers arrived in the Americas. In fact, pumpkin pie was served at one of the Pilgrim's first Thanksgivings in the early 1620's, and is now a staple of Thanksgiving meals. A smaller strain of the Connecticut Field pumpkin, the Small Sugar pumpkin, is often used for pumpkin pie, but most Americans buy pie filling or puree in cans instead of getting it from fresh pumpkins. Although most Americans only use fresh pumpkins for carving, there has been a growing interest in pumpkin flavored foods in recent years, which can be attributed to Starbucks' introduction of pumpkin spice latte in 2003.
SU News
Who’s going to be the quarterback? NC State preps for both Syracuse options. (newsobserver.com; Giglio)
Freshman quarterback Tommy DeVito rallied Syracuse to a comeback win over North Carolina last week.
Senior quarterback Eric Dungey has started every game this season and leads the Orange (5-2, 2-2 ACC) in rushing and has accounted for an ACC-best 18 touchdowns.
No. 22 N.C. State (5-1, 2-1) expects to face both quarterbacks on Saturday night (7 p.m., ESPN2) in an Atlantic Division matchup.
“They’ve got two quarterbacks that are playing well,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said.
It had been mostly Dungey’s show, when healthy, up until the fourth quarter of last week’s home game with UNC. The 6-4, 226-pound senior has run for a team-best 477 yards and eight touchdowns and has completed 119 of 203 passes for 1,433 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.
DeVito, a 6-2, 211-pound redshirt freshman, has completed 28 of 53 passes for 399 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. The Orange trailed UNC 27-20 with 5:07 left in the fourth quarter when Syracuse coach Dino Babers decided to turn to DeVito. The redshirt freshman had played well (11 of 16, 144 yards, one touchdown) in relief of an injured Dungey in a 30-7 win over Florida State on Sept. 15 but did not play in subsequent ACC losses to Clemson or Pittsburgh.
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Here’s the latest on NC State’s kicking game, also known as the search for touchbacks (newsoberver.com; Giglio)
N.C. State has had two kickoffs go for a touchback in three ACC games. Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren would like to see that number go up.
“I’d love to have touchbacks,” Doeren said.
On the season, senior Kyle Bambard has kicked off 31 times, nine have gone into the end zone for a touchback (five came in the 41-7 home win over Georgia State on Sept. 8). By touchback percent (29.03), N.C. State ranks No. 99 in the Bowl Subdivision (according to cfbstats.com). The nine touchbacks rank tied for No. 104.
Bambard, who had 22 touchbacks in 13 games last year, handles the kickoff duties while freshman Chris Dunn kicks the field goals and PATs.
“I can’t just go give (Bambard) a 5-yard stronger leg,” Doeren said. “He’s doing the best he can do with what he’s got. So we’re covering kicks, the best that we can.”
Clemson specialist B.T. Potter had seven touchbacks (on eight kickoffs) in last Saturday’s 41-7 Clemson win. The Tigers lead the ACC, and rank No. 4 in the FBS, with 44 touchbacks.
Bambard had one deep kickoff against Clemson (the only other kickoff an onside attempt), the Tigers returned it 40 yards to set the early tone for the lopsided game. Derion Kendrick caught Bambard’s kick at the 4-yard line and then got a few blocks at the 20. He was able to get to the outside and set the Tigers’ offense up at their own 43 to start their first drive.
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Meet the Syracuse all-anagram team (backingthepack.com; Muma)
I’m getting back the important pregame scouting analysis this week after a bit of a hiatus. I didn’t do it last week and it’s fair to blame NC State’s lack of preparedness on me. I am truly sorry, but at the end of the day you can’t change the past but I’m putting that behind me and just trying to go 1-0 this week.
Eric Dungey — Iced Gurney
Since you can’t spell his name without the word gurney, I suppose we should have seen his injury-plagued career coming, huh.
Kyle Strickland — Dirk Clankstyle
Dirk Clankstyle is a way better name than Kyle Strickland. Does anyone really want to be a Kyle these days? I feel like Kyles are out right now. The Kyle brand is on the decline. On the other hand, many people are saying that Dirks have big-time panache.
Cameron Jordan — Major Ordnance
This would be a great football nickname, but probably only for defensive tackles or linebackers. Jordan’s a wide receiver, but if he lives in the weight room long enough, perhaps the dream can come true.
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Five things you don’t need to know about Syracuse (backingthepack.com; Lower)
This week’s episode of five things focuses on newly minted Atlantic Division rivals and dome aficionados the Syracuse Orange.
- 14 years ago, Syracuse officially changed its name from the Orangemen to Orange. Then Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel delivered the following quote during his press conference. “We are the only school in the country that has orange as its primary color.” Now I can’t really blame Syracuse for wanting to pretend that Clemson doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t excuse Tennessee, Texas, Oregon State, Oklahoma State, or Cain’s Barber College.
- Syracuse’s campus holds a tree known as the “Tree of 40 Fruits,” which, as the name implies, is an individual tree that has been genetically engineered to produce as many as 40 different fruits throughout the year. There’s nothing funny or amusing about this. It’s just really awesome.
- Syracuse assistant strength and conditioning coach Dave Chirco can be easily identified on the Syracuse sideline as the guy wearing a kilt. Why is he wearing a kilt? Absolutely no reason. It’s just a thing that Dino Babers’ staff at Bowling Green, a school with a primary color of orange, started and decided to continue at Syracuse. Chirco isn’t Irish, and the guy at Bowling Green wasn’t either. It’s the most random tradition ever, but Syracuse seems to love it, so more power to them.
- Syracuse’s 1915 team earned an invitation to the Rose Bowl, but turned it down because it had already played a game on the west coast that season. Early 1900s college football in the context of today is pretty weird.
No. 22 NC State visits Syracuse in key ACC matchup (virginianpilotonline.com; AP)
No. 22 North Carolina State (5-1, 2-1 ACC) at Syracuse (5-2, 2-2), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2).
Line: Syracuse by 2½.
Series record: North Carolina State leads 10-1.
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
North Carolina State will try to rebound after suffering its first loss of the season at No. 2 Clemson as the Tigers turned back their biggest challenge in the ACC's Atlantic Division. Syracuse, which is unbeaten at home, can tie the Wolfpack in the division with a win. The winner becomes eligible for a bowl game.
KEY MATCHUP
The Syracuse defense against North Carolina State's offense. The Orange rank fifth nationally in third-down conversion defense, are tied for 27th in red-zone defense, but are 94th in total defense (416.4) and 70th in scoring defense (26.9), having allowed 108 points in the last three games. Wolfpack QB Ryan Finley has gone over the 300-yard mark passing four times this season and running backs Reggie Gallaspy Jr. and Ricky Person Jr. have combined to rush for 464 yards over the last three games.
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Syracuse Football: Inside look at the numbers for NC State matchup (itlh.com; Edsen Sr)
Paul A. Esden Sr gets you ready for the eighth game on the schedule for the Syracuse football squad. Here’s all you need to know about the Wolfpack.
The eighth game of the 2018 Syracuse Orange Campaign is against the North Carolina State Wolf Pack. I have a confession to make before beginning. I am a closet member of the Wolf Pack.
Going back to my youth, my father and I watched a lot of college basketball back in the day mainly around tournament time. Each year we would pick an underdog before the tournament started and root for them throughout the tournament.
The year that stands out for me was 1982 and we picked Coach V and the Wolfpack, as most of you know the rest is history. The classic David versus Goliath matchup in the Championship game and the Wolfpack turned into Cinderella and the shoe fit.
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Former Brockton lineman changes field of practice - The Boston Globe (bostonglobe.com; Pave)
His years as a standout lineman at Brockton High and Syracuse University, along with being a three-time training camp invitee with the New England Patriots, have put Brent Warren’s law practice into perspective.
“When I’m under a time crunch and feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders,’’ said Warren, “I say ‘Hey, I’ve been on the field in 100-degree heat with coaches yelling at you,’ so I’ve experienced something a lot tougher.’’
A former Globe All-Scholastic at Brockton who starred on Division 1 Super Bowl-winning teams in 1991 and 1992, the 6-foot-5-inch, 338-pound Warren nearly made the Patriots’ roster out of training camp in 2000. That summer, he was snapping the football to a rookie named Tom Brady.
“That year, the coaches told me I was in,’’ recalled Warren, who had played guard and tackle at Syracuse.
“But the next day, they signed Joe Andruzzi — and I was out. You better have good self-esteem and a thick skin to get past it.’’
He later co-owned the family business in Brockton — Joseph Warren & Son General Contractors — while earning his law degree evenings at the New England School of Law.
Warren resides in West Bridgewater with his wife, Ashley, whom he met at Syracuse University and is an associate librarian in town. Their two children, Jack and Brooke, have been coached by their dad in youth sports.
“At that level, I believe in development and having fun,’’ said Warren.
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Clemson Football: Scouting Report vs. Florida State Seminoles (rubbingtherock.com; Spencer)
#18 Iowa at #17 Penn State
Current Spread: Penn State -6.5
Spread Prediction:
Honestly, I just don’t think either of these teams are very good.
Both are prototypical Big Ten teams that are not going to score a lot of points and aren’t going to make a lot of mistakes. I’m taking Iowa to keep this game within the touchdown spread. Perhaps something along the lines of 20-14 or 23-17.
#22 NC State at Syracuse
Current Spread: Syracuse +2.5
Spread Prediction:
Syracuse is a 2.5-point underdog at home in this game. I think NC State has the more physical defense, but the Orange have the better offense.
Give me Syracuse to win the game outright and, basically, leave but one team in the AP top-25 in the ACC.
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5 things to watch in ACC football: State's response, Coastal Chaos and the Clemson offense (greensboro.com; Wilkerson-New)
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How will N.C. State (5-1, 2-1 ACC) respond after a terrible performance in last week’s blowout loss at Clemson?
In 2016, the Wolfpack let a Death Valley letdown beat it twice, following up with an embarrassing performance at Louisville.
Will State show just how far the program has come in the two years since on Saturday night at Syracuse (5-2, 2-2), when it meets a team that put a scare into Clemson earlier this month?
There’s plenty left for the Wolfpack to play for, including a shot at the program’s best record since 2002, when it won a school-record 11 games — the only time State has ever won 10 or more games.
The program’s progress was tough to measure until last season’s 9-4 mark. Things are headed in the right direction in Raleigh, and there’s no better way to show it than avoiding a repeat of what the “old” State might have done.
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ACC Football Rx: Duke-GT-VT, 2014-18 (accfootballrx.com; HM)
ACC Football Rx: Some Encouraging Numbers, 2013-18 (accfootballrx.com; HM)
Here are "some tangible and encouraging numbers from the last five seasons for ACC faithful" (from David Teel):
NCAA men's basketball tournament record:
ACC 65-35
SEC 40-24
Big Ten 47-31
Men's basketball national championships:
ACC 2
SEC 0
Big Ten 0
Football bowl record:
SEC 34-23
Big Ten 23-23
ACC 26-28
Record in BCS, CFP and New Year's Six games:
ACC 7-5
Big Ten 8-6
SEC 8-9
Football national championships:
SEC 2
ACC 2
Big Ten 1
Top 25 teams in this year's penultimate Directors' Cup all-sports standings:
SEC 7
ACC 6
Big Ten 5
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A look behind Clemson's rise, Florida State's fall in the ACC (247sports.com; Hummer)
Florida State’s recent toils are strange on the surface. The Seminoles slot fifth nationally in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite rankings ahead of Clemson. Even with a head coach switch last season and a shortened recruiting cycle, Taggart signed the nation’s No. 11 overall class.
Yet Florida State is 11-9 over its last 20 games with an 0-5 record against ranked opponents.
“It’s been a mysterious puzzle the last two or three years why they’ve not performed that well,” Bowden said. “It’s hard to put a finger on.”
Offensive line woes are a popular point of criticism from the outside as an explanation for the Seminoles’ many losses. There’s some truth to that. A number of four-star linemen haven’t panned out, and injures forced many to play out position. As a result, Florida State ranks 127th nationally in tackles per loss allowed per game and 128th in rushing yards per carry despite a backfield that includes star recruits like Cam Akersand Jacques Patrick.
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Potential fireworks as Kutztown hosts West Chester in game with national ramifications (mcall.com; Huebner)
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Long—whose career began at Pius X in Bangor and diverted to Tennessee, where he won a prep state title, to Syracuse, where he threw to cousin Jarrod West, to Wagner College, and finally West Chester—knows the key to winning.
West Chester quarterback A.J. Long formerly played at Pius X and Syracuse. (Scott Rowan/West Chester Athletics)
“Don’t turn the ball over,” he said. “Whoever turns it over the least and makes the least amount of mistakes is the team that wins the game.”
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Passaic Valley's Matt Jaeger is the quintessential football player (northjersey.com; Lamberti)
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Jaeger has aspirations to play college football. He's also an excellent student, with a 3.2 GPA and an SAT score nearing 1400.
"Forget, for a minute, what a great player Matt is," said Parlavecchio. "Take a look at his grades and SAT scores. This guy can play in the Ivy League. He's that good, all-around."
Parlavecchio has coached some tremendous high school tight ends. He's also seen players sometimes go unnoticed on the collegiate level.
"When I coached at Elizabeth (from 2006-09), we played Linden, and they had a guy named Muhammad Wilkerson," recalled Parlavecchio. "And not many schools noticed Mo. He ended up playing at Temple University, and became a first-round draft pick of the (New York) Jets (in 2011). Matt reminds me of that, in that he's a kid with his best football still ahead of him. He's got the size and body type to play this game at a high level in college. And sometimes, guys slip under the radar.
"I'd like to think I have a pretty good background when it comes to coaching talented kids, both in college and the NFL, and I'll tell you this, Matt Jaeger has the best hands of any tight end, I've ever coached. And believe me, I've coached some good ones, including Al Singleton, Freddy Valese, Len Cusumano and Joe Hathaway. So, I think I know what I'm talking about."
Singleton played for Parlavecchio at Irvington and went on to a stellar career, in the NFL. Valese, who played for Chet at Bloomfield, went on to Penn State; Cusumano, who played for Parlavecchio at PV, had an excellent career at Syracuse University and is now the coach at Pascack Valley; and Hathaway, a star at Clifton for Parlavecchio, later played at Yale University.
Jaeger's conditioning has made him a stalwart two-way player.
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Notre Dame braces for a wild final month of travel (si.com; Staples)
Notre Dame will do something unusual Saturday after the final whistle of its matchup Saturday against Navy in San Diego. The Fighting Irish will load their buses at SDCCU Stadium and go back to their hotel, where the players will go to sleep. Their game will end about 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Their wake-up call will be 7:30 a.m., and they’ll arrive back in South Bend on Sunday afternoon.
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Football coaches would always prefer as many home games as possible, but Notre Dame works differently than most places. In Laken Litman’s story on the Fighting Irish in last week’s issue of SI, Fighting Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick relayed the advice Knute Rockne got from Jesse Harper almost a century ago: “Take the team to the largest venues in the country because you want the world to know who Notre Dame is.”
That’s a big reason why the Irish are playing Syracuse—which is 5–2 and may wind up being Notre Dame’s toughest remaining opponent—in The House That Jeter Built instead of at Notre Dame Stadium. Aside from following historical advice that has served Notre Dame (the football program and the university) well for decades, the Shamrock Series game is a solid bit of fan service in a place with one of Notre Dame’s largest alumni clusters. So Notre Dame wasn’t going to back out or change anything just because a playoff berth might be at stake.
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Remembering Hank Greenwald, the gentleman humorist (sfchronicle.com; Jenkins)
Tracking Hank Greenwald’s broadcasting career is a bit like trying to identify every song ever performed by Bob Dylan. There’s a new discovery around every corner.
Greenwald, who died at 83 on Monday, covered Syracuse football during the heyday of Ernie Davis, Floyd Little and Larry Csonka. He was the voice of USF basketball for a spell in the 1970s. He once hosted a weekly 49ers television show, appearing one night in a helmet so comically large, it came down over his shoulders. “And that was Hank,” Jon Miller fondly recalled. “Anything for a laugh.”
Then there was that visit to Portland in 1965. It was a Western Hockey League trip, covering the San Francisco Seals against the Portland Buckaroos, and during a quick stop in Seattle, Greenwald happened to meet a woman named Carla Reiter. They had a very innocent date, and when Greenwald returned to Seattle three years later on a San Francisco Warriors trip, they launched a relationship.
“He was such a gentleman,” Carla recalled this week. “I think we went out three times before he kissed me. I said to myself, ‘My god, what’s with this guy?’”
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Georgia Tech vs. Virginia Tech: Yellow Jackets quarterback Tobias Oliver started in place of TaQuon Marshall and had a massive night, rushing 40 times for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 49-28 win over the Hokies Thursday night in Blacksburg. Jordan Mason added 82 yards and 3 rushing scores as well for Georgia Tech. Virginia Tech quarterback Ryan Willis threw for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Hokies in the loss.
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Question of the Week: Which college football mascot is scariest? (usetoday.com; Staff)
Eddie Timanus
Scary is, of course, somewhat in the eye of the beholder. Colorado’s Ralphie the Buffalo would be quite dangerous if you got in its way. But I’ve even heard some commentators describe Syracuse’s mostly harmless Otto the Orange as creepy. Then again, you’d probably think the Air Force falcon is pretty frightening if you were, say, a small rodent. Speaking of rodents, Minnesota’s Goldy the Gopher is just too dang cute to be scary. Badgers and Wolverines are a bit more fierce.
But for true scariness, it’s hard to top LSU’s Mike. I mean, he’s a live tiger for goodness sakes! Make sure you keep that nice kitty fed.
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Harford County Council President Slutzky to be honored by Syracuse University (baltimoresun./cmo; McRoberts)
It was more than 50 years ago that Richard “Dick” Slutzky attended, competed for and earned degrees from Syracuse University in New York.
Now, on Nov. 13, the former teacher, longtime wrestling coach, Harford County Council member and currently its president, will be honored as one of the university’s LetterWinners of Distinction along with four other distinguished SU graduates. The five will be recognized at Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center at Syracuse.
“I’m just so thrilled that they began this award and somebody nominated me, they wouldn’t tell me who, so I’ll probably never know that,” Slutzky said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
LetterWinner of Distinction is the highest honor awarded by the Syracuse University Athletics Department to a former student-athlete letter winner. The award is bestowed upon a few candidates annually who completed their education at the university at least 20 years ago, earned at least one varsity letter, “gained distinction in their respective careers and communities; and brought honor to themselves and SU through their contributions and activities,” according to the university.
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The young student-athlete really had no plans of going to Syracuse.
“Syracuse was very late in the game. They came in early spring, late winter and most kids have already filled out their applications for college. I thought I was going to Hofstra and Syracuse called, and about half of the top-notch coaches on Long Island went to Syracuse,” Slutzky said. “Syracuse was the hotbed recruiting area for Long Island wrestling, which was at the time, arguably one of the two or three hotbeds of wrestling in the United States. We probably had 10 national champions that lived within 20 miles of my house.”
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“My dad said I needed to go to Syracuse and take a look. I said ‘no, they just won a national championship in football, that’s a big time athletic program and I’ll never make it there,’” Slutzky said. “I was just 17 and I started to cry. I’m not going there. He said, ‘I’ll let you drive the new DeSoto convertible on the thruway’ for the visit; and I said, ‘You’ll let me drive the new car?’ He said ‘yeah.’ So, I said ‘OK!’”
A week and a half later, a Syracuse coach called and offered Slutzky a scholarship.
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Other
Another fast-growing startup makes downtown Syracuse its home (photos) (PS; Moriarty)
Plowz & Mowz, an Uber for on-demand lawn care and snow plowing, is the latest startup to call downtown Syracuse home.
The company, which matches homeowners with landscapers and snowplow drivers via a mobile app, recently moved from the village of Manlius to a larger office on the 10th floor of Tower 2 at Axa Towers on Madison Street.
Co-founder Wills Mahoney said the company is occupying 8,000 square feet of space in the tower and, having recently raised $5 million in equity funding this summer, expects to expand that to 14,000 as its workforce grows.
Plowz & Mowz employs 38 people in the tower and plans to hire 22 more, bringing its total to 60, by April.
Founded in 2013 by Mahoney and fellow Syracuse University grad Andrew Englander, the company operates in 20 cities and expects to add 10 more over the next year, driving its need for more employees.
The new jobs include digital marketing, customer service, finance and operations positions.
"If you can think of a role, we're hiring it," said Mahoney.
Downtown is becoming a magnet for startup companies like Plowz & Mowz:
- TCGplayer, an online trading card company, is consolidating its growing workforce in the Galleries of Syracuse (complete with a giant dragon, a pirate ship and castle-like entrance).
- Sidearm Sports, which provides the digital backbone for college and university athletic department websites, is moving into the newly renovated State Tower Building.
- SpinCar, whose software allows auto dealers to display 360-degree images of their cars online, moved into Icon Tower last year.
- Eaton's Ephesus Sports Lighting makes its home at Barclay Damon Tower.
- Digital Hyve, a digital marketing agency, has established its headquarters at 126 N. Salina St.
"We need to be able to attract more talent," he said. "We've seen a jump in applications since our move."
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