sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Just Because Day!
Just Because Day exists and should be celebrated, just because! It is a day when people do things without thinking and reasoning why they are doing them. It is a day to do random things, and not follow the usual logic that causes us to do them. It is a day to do things just because.
SU News
Dino Babers: Liberty a ‘test’ for Syracuse in Week 1 matchup (DO; Graham)
In Dino Babers mind, No. 22 Syracuse football is taking a test on Saturday when it opens its season at Liberty. In Babers’ analogy, he’s both administering the test and helping his pupils pass it at the same time.
“Now the really cool thing is unlike a professor,” Babers said. “I can actually give them some answers during the test to make sure they have an opportunity to be successful. They miss one question, I want them to get 99. They miss two, I want them to get a 98.”
But Babers spent a good amount of his first Monday press conference of the 2019 season lauding Liberty and new head coach Hugh Freeze as “the real deal” ahead of the Orange’s season opener against the Flames this weekend. The added challenge of assessing LU’s personnel capabilities and mixing that with study of Freeze’s offense at past stops has only fed into a “nervous” feeling. A “frustrating” camp riddled with injuries mixed in and Babers isn’t so sure his team is ready to ace Saturday’s test, he said.
“It’s a big challenge,” Babers said, “Hugh Freeze versus our defense and we don’t have a clue what they’re going to do.”
The Orange’s biggest weakness heading into Saturday is the offensive line. It returns starters in redshirt junior Airon Servais and redshirt senior Evan Adams at left tackle and left guard, respectively. SU also brings back redshirt junior Sam Heckel, who played in 25 games in two seasons, to play center. Redshirt sophomore Dakota Davis beat out competition to secure the right guard spot and most surprising, redshirt freshman Carlos Vettorello is starting at right tackle instead of graduate transfer Ryan Alexander, who is listed as Servais’ backup.
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https://sujuiceonline.com/2019/08/27/marona-syracuse-football-should-be-in-9-or-10-win-range-again/ (the juice; podcast; Cheng)
Former Syracuse defensive end and host of the TradeMark Podcast on Syracuse football Tyler Marona calls in to preview the 2019 Orange football season with host Wes Cheng on The Juice on the Cuse podcast hosted by SNY.tv. TJO senior columnist Jim Stechschulte then calls in to chat about the week 1 depth chart against Liberty.
Here are the highlights from the show:
Wesley Cheng: How do you see this year playing out? Give me a win/loss prediction on the 2019 Syracuse football season.
Tyler Marona: I think this team is finally in the position to use last year as a springboard into what should be the new norm of winning nine, 10 games. I see us right in there. There’s no way they lose more than two conference games and I don’t think they lose any non-conference games, which leads me at a 10-2 record. However, if I were to hedge a little bit, I’d say 9-3. But I think anywhere from 9-3 to 10-2, doing a duplicate of last year, hopefully improving a little bit. But to me, that’s where I see us being for a long time.
SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review IN ITUNES
To subscribe, click the link above and then click VIEW IN iTunes, You will then see a button asking you to subscribe to the podcast.
Rundown:
1. Former Syracuse defensive end Tyler Marona calls in
2. The TradeMark Podcast on Syracuse football
3. Thoughts on Alton Robinson, Kendall Coleman
4. How will Syracuse do in 2019?
5. Senior columnist Jim Stechschulte calls in
6. Surprises on the offensive line depth chart
7. Cordy, Bradshaw not starting
8. Closing thoughts and wrap up
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http://orangefizz.net/2019/08/three-week-one-syracuse-goals/ (ornagefizz.net; Hoppe)
Well, here we are! It’s the Orange’s first game week of 2019. Syracuse travels south this weekend for a 6 p.m. matchup with the Liberty Flames. Currently, SU is favored to win the game by 17.5 points. A loss in week one for Dino Babers’ team would be a serious gut check.
Outside of winning the game, there are a number of things the Orange should look to accomplish this Saturday in Virginia. We examine the top three:
- Get Tommy DeVito off to a good start: This is going to be crucial. Early in the game, Babers needs to find a way to make DeVito comfortable. With all the weapons around him this fall, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Look for SU to work in some quick routes screen plays to loosen up the redshirt-sophomore quarterback. After that, DeVito can showcase his strong arm and pinpoint accuracy.
- Pressure Buckshot Calvert early: New head coach Hugh Freeze inherits Calvert, a senior quarterback who will make his 31st consecutive start on Saturday. He’s shown flashes in his first three years, but has struggled with consistency: Calvert through 21 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 2018. Freeze has urged Calvert to embrace his craft and spend more time in the film room. If Liberty’s signal caller is anxious to prove his worth to Freeze, a little pressure from guys like Kendall Coleman and Alton Robinson could spell trouble for a sometimes wild-throwing Calvert. Not to mention, causing chaos in the backfield is crucial for the long-term success of this team.
- Find swagger: From the pre-season camp series “La Familia,” to random posts on social media before and after practice, this year’s team appears ready for action. A key early on will be establishing swagger that will be needed for an Orange Bowl run. Many have predicted, including myself, a ten-win season. That’s only going to happen if the Orange play with confidence. A bad break here or there could hold Syracuse back from its full potential and translate to a 6-8 win season.
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https://cnycentral.com/sports/orange-zone/niko-and-matts-three-things-to-watch-for-when-syracuse-visits-liberty-in-week-1 (cnycentral.com; Tamurian & Hauswirth)
At last, it's game week in Syracuse and the buzz surrounding Orange football is as real as its ever been.
Entering his fourth year with the Orange, coach Dino Babers has built a foundation for success and is now witnessing the benefits of a town and region starving for winning football.
Not only has the University sold the most season tickets (9,000+) since the early 1990's, but the program is ranked in the [preseason] AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll for the first time since Donovan McNabb's senior season.
With that said, Syracuse will strap up its helmets for real this weekend when the Orange hit the road to meet Liberty University in the season opener.
Babers addressed the media Monday morning for his week one press conference, previewing the Liberty Flames and the concerns they present this weekend.
It's a mid-major opponent, but it's not your typical mid-major opponent. That's the best way to describe the Liberty Flames.
Babers emphasized his concern for this weekend's road contest with the Flames, not just because they're a program most power five schools would overlook, but also because they have coaches and players who are good enough to coach and play power five conference football.
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https://open.spotify.com/episode/2exfUFpvgFCj67hEcEA4EE (spotify.com; podcast; Axe)
The Syracuse Sports Podcast is back! On the reboot episode (Episode 50 overall), syracuse.com's Brent Axe previews the 2019 Syracuse University football season with beat reporters Stephen Bailey and Nate Mink.
Brent also has "3 pointers" about Tim Tebow's failed attempt to succeed in Triple-A Baseball with the Syracuse Mets, sports gambling in New York State and the hype surrounding Syracuse Football.
https://insidetheloudhouse.com/2019/08/26/syracuse-football-run-game-heading-week-1/ (itlh; Queripel)
Syracuse football will reach its 2019 goals if and only if their rushing attack delivers this season. Here are all the details.
It’s opening week for Syracuse football as they head down to Lynchburg, Virginia to take on the Liberty Flames in their first showing on Saturday.
The offense this season hopes to start off firing on all cylinders. This can only happen if they can get all of the pieces in their run game to gel together smoothly.
This game will provide the first look at Syracuse’s weapons for 2019. Especially, SU will look to showcase their weapons in the run game.
The Orange have new personnel in key positions across the offense. Most notably perhaps would be quarterback, Tommy DeVito, taking over the reins under center.
DeVito not only changes the passing game but he changes the run game significantly from a season ago. DeVito has the ability to use his legs to get out of the pocket and make throws on the run with ease. However, he simply can’t match the run production numbers of Eric Dungey from last season.
In 2018, Dungey totaled 754 rushing yards and tallied 15 touchdowns while using his legs. This leaves a major hole for this year’s team to fill. The big question without Dungey is who is going to get all of the goal line carries this season?
Another key loss in the run game is that of Dontae Strickland. Last season, he essentially split carries with Moe Neal and added 588 rushing yards and six touchdowns to the Cuse offense.
Syracuse recently released their Week 1 depth chart for the game against Liberty:
- This headlines Moe Neal, the Doak Walker watch list candidate, atop the depth chart. Following him is Abdul Adams, the transfer from Oklahoma. Not listed on the depth chart but sure to follow them will be Jarveon Howard who was featured in goal-line carry situations last season.
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https://collegefootball.ap.org/article/no-22-syracuse-coach-babers-edge-opener-road (ap.org; Kekis)
Coach Dino Babers is set to begin his fourth season at Syracuse, and he's a little on edge as the No. 22 Orange prepare for their season opener on the road against Liberty.
"We just came off a difficult camp, it really was, a little frustrating on my part," Babers said Monday. "We had some injuries that we need to overcome. We've lost some players, but we came out OK. If you don't push them that hard, then what you have is a healthy team that's not ready. I'd rather be a little banged-up and ready than a healthy team that's not ready.
"For the most part the team is fresh, but I'm nervous about this one. We really don't know what these guys are going to do."
Syracuse, coming off a 10-3 season, faces the Flames and first-year coach Hugh Freeze on Saturday night. The Orange haven't opened a season with a true road game since 2010 against Akron, though they did play a neutral-site game against Penn State at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to begin the 2013 season, a 23-17 loss.
Since Paul Pasqualoni was fired as coach after the 2004 season, the Orange had had only three winning seasons — two 8-5 showings under Doug Marrone and a 7-6 one under his successor, Scott Shafer, and attendance dwindled. Last year's breakthrough came after three straight 4-8 finishes and with dual-threat quarterback Eric Dungey leading an offense that averaged just over 40 points.
A record number of season tickets — more than 9,000 — has since been sold in anticipation of another stellar year, this time with redshirt sophomore quarterback Tommy DeVito at the helm instead of Dungey, who exhausted his eligibility.
There's no looking back.
"This team has nothing to do with last year's team and last year's team has nothing to do with this year's team," Babers said. "So much of the expectation is based on people who are no longer in the room. They have to shape, form their own identity. It's a work in progress. Come Saturday night ... we'll have an idea."
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Syracuse Football: Dino Babers sets expectations for transfers (itlh; Esden Jr)
Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers set the expectations for his transfers at his weekly presser. Here are all the details.
The bar has obviously been set extremely high for the Syracuse football team in 2019.
That is to be expected following a record-setting 10-3 campaign. A small contributor to that on the field last season was the two transfers:
- Trishton Jackson, wide receiver, Michigan State.
- Abdul Adams, running back, Oklahoma.
Adams contributed eight carries for 19 yards and two touchdowns. While Jackson also found the endzone finishing with three catches and 27 yards.
Just a small taste of what these two players could provide on a full-time basis in 2019.
Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers spoke at his weekly press conference and revealed what he’s most excited about regarding these two transfers and what expectations should be:
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Brindisi: Spectrum’s ACC Network fee rips off public, may break deal with NY (PS; Weiner)
Rep. Anthony Brindisi says he wants to know if Spectrum cable violated a consumer fraud settlement with New York with its move to block some customers from receiving the new ACC Network.
Brindisi, D-Utica, reacted to a report by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that found Spectrum won’t provide legacy Time Warner Cable customers with the ACC Network unless they switch to a Spectrum cable package.
The move affects about 18 percent of Spectrum customers in Central New York who are still on old Time Warner Cable pricing plans that typically cost less than comparable Spectrum bundles.
Brindisi said in an interview that it’s clear to him the company is trying to take advantage of consumers who want to watch Syracuse University and ACC sports events.
“All Central New Yorkers want to do is see Orange, however, as usual the only color Spectrum sees is green,” Brindisi said. “It’s another example of Spectrum fleecing the customers of Upstate New York and trying to squeeze every penny out of them.”
Brindisi said he will ask Spectrum and parent company Charter Communications to provide a justification for excluding legacy customers of Time Warner Cable from the new network.
“I want an explanation as to why they’re doing this and if they think it’s consistent with their settlement with New York state,” Brindisi said.
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https://www.esf.edu/communications/view2.asp?newsID=8538 (esf.edu)
Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) Interim President David Amberg today, Aug. 26, jointly announced a renewed agreement that enhances academic, co-curricular and research-based offerings for both institutions' students, faculty and staff.
Both leaders emphasized their commitment to extending and elevating the longstanding agreement between Syracuse University and ESF and maintaining an equitable and mutually beneficial partnership. Pending state approval, the renewed partnership provides students with access to academic and student life-related activities at one institution that may not be available at the other.
"For more than a century, our two institutions have worked together to benefit our students, faculty and staff and the residents of the Central New York community," said Chancellor Syverud. "This continuing partnership allows us to leverage our individual areas of strength and expertise to further advance our collective research and academic goals. It also enables us to further attract talented students, faculty and staff, while guaranteeing both communities access to world-class research, academic and co-curricular opportunities."
"Our partnership with Syracuse University is built on a foundation of shared values to provide the highest quality education to our students and that through exposure to inquiry develops lifelong learners," said Amberg. "Our collaborative research efforts develop solutions to today's pressing environmental challenges and inform sound, reasoned policy. Working together, we are able to amplify the impacts of our tripartite missions of education, research and service."
As part of the agreement, Syracuse University students can enroll in ESF courses in subject areas not offered at Syracuse University. In turn, ESF students will have similar access to Syracuse University courses. Additionally, ESF students will be able to use the new Barnes Center at The Arch, enhancing their access to holistic health, wellness, recreational and student life resources, services and activities.
The newly signed agreement remains in effect through 2024, at which time the leaders of both institutions will review new opportunities for continued partnership.
https://www.aseaofred.com/mccaw-were-looking-forward-to-a-record-crowd/ (aseaofred.com; Manson)
With Liberty set to kick off the Hugh Freeze era on Saturday night against #22 Syracuse, the athletic department is preparing for a record-setting crowd.
“We’re looking forward to a record crowd,” Liberty athletic director Ian McCaw said Monday. “Because of the large crowd we’re expecting, we do encourage people to arrive early. Gates open two hours before the game. I think we will be into record territory in terms of our final attendance.”
With the addition to Williams Stadium prior to the 2018 football season, the capacity rose from 19,200 to 25,000. Only 6 games in Williams Stadium history have ever exceeded 20,000 with only two ever going over 21,000. The all-time record for attendance at Williams Stadium is 22,551 which was set September 19, 2015 against Montana.
When the Orange come to town, it will be Liberty’s first ever home game against a Power 5 opponent and the first time the Flames have ever hosted a nationally ranked team.
“We’re looking forward to a great atmosphere,” McCaw continued. “We think it will be an electric type environment for the Syracuse game and a record crowd. We are very excited about that.”
For the first time ever, to help with the expected crowd, Liberty students will need a bracelet coupled with a student ID to get into the game. There are 7,000 seats set aside for students, and over 5,000 bracelets have already been claimed. Once the 7,000 student seats are gone, they will get free standing room only tickets. Liberty officials expect to exceed the 7,000 student seats before the week is over.
https://wset.com/sports/college-sports/liberty-set-to-host-power-5-opponent-syracuse (wset.com; Carter)
It's Game Week for college football, including the Liberty Flames!
The Flames HOST their first Power 5 opponent Saturday night, 22nd-ranked Syracuse comes to town.
Coach Hugh Freeze, recovering from back surgery, HOPES to get the OK to coach from the field, that's still being discussed.
Hugh Freeze, LIBERTY FLAMES HEAD COACH, said "It'll certainly be different if I can't see 'em eye-to-eye, particularly when adversity comes and I want to have a word with them about it and talk to them about not blinking and play the next play."
https://fbschedules.com/liberty-announces-secondary-bowl-agreements-through-2025/ (fbschedules.com)
The Liberty Flames have announced their secondary bowl agreements through the 2025 season, in conjunction with ESPN Events.
Liberty currently competes as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Independent. Without a conference, the Flames have no guaranteed bowl games bids and have to navigate bowl partnerships on their own.
For the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Liberty has a secondary agreement with the Cure Bowl. Liberty can secure an invitation to the Cure Bowl this season if either primary conference, The American and Sun Belt, does not have enough deserving teams (six-win teams). The Flames could be considered over five-win teams.
Today’s announcement covers bowl games for the 2020 through 2025 seasons. The secondary agreement means that ESPN Events could place the Flames into one of the following bowls during the 2020-25 cycle:
- Boca Raton Bowl – Boca Raton, Fla.
- Camellia Bowl – Montgomery, Ala.
- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Boise, Idaho
- Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl – Frisco, Texas
- Myrtle Beach Bowl – Conway, S.C.
- New Mexico Bowl – Albuquerque, N.M.
Last year, Liberty signed a multi-year agreement with ESPN for their football media rights. All six Liberty home football games will be streamed via ESPN+ this season, including their season-opener on Saturday, August 31 at home in Lynchburg, Va., against the 22nd-ranked Syracuse Orange.
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/article234382807.html (charlotteobserver.com; Connolly)
Paul Finebaum is the most popular and controversial analyst on the SEC Network, and he made headlines several times over the summer for comments he made criticizing Clemson.
Finebaum said in July that “Clemson just doesn’t know how to win yet,” and after Tigers offensive lineman John Simpson said Notre Dame was better than Alabama, Finebaum responded by calling Simpson’s statement “easily one of the stupidest comments I have ever heard.”
Tigers fans took to social media to fire back at Finebaum — and even players — including star quarterback Trevor Lawrence, reacted, with Lawrence calling Finebaum “unprofessional.”
While Finebaum irked several people in the Upstate this summer, Dabo Swinney wasn’t one of them. The Clemson coach
said he wasn’t bothered by what Finebaum said, or by any comments made about Clemson or the ACC on the SEC Network.
“They sit around and talk about the SEC all the time. Everybody gets mad because sometimes I guess certain people out there say bad things about the ACC,” Swinney said Monday during his first weekly press conference of the season. “I’m like, ‘Look, it’s like they work for the Yankees. They’re not going to talk great about the Red Sox. And vice versa. It doesn’t work that way.’ ”
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https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-games-week-1-questions-for-the-acc-and-pac-12-early-upset-alerts/ (cbssports.com; Dodd)
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3. Conference of little resistance: How to put this delicately … The ACC, aside from No. 1 Clemson, has seldom been as mediocre as it is this season. Clemson being defending national champions and favored to win every game has something to do with it. But so does little intransigence from the rest of the conference.
Florida State is down. North Carolina (2-9 in 2018) is rebuilding under Mack Brown. Pittsburgh (7-7) was the sixth team in the last six years to win the ACC Coastal. Eleven of the league's 14 teams lost at least five games in 2018.
Not surprisingly, then, Georgia Tech is a 36-point underdog in Thursday's opener at Death Valley. To put that in perspective: The Yellow Jackets haven't scored at least 36 points in a regular-season meeting with the Tigers since 2001.
Nothing against Clemson, but if it doesn't run the table again this year, it might open itself up to College Football Playoff scrutiny at 12-1 because the ACC has been lagging.
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https://www.streakingthelawn.com/2019/8/26/20833030/streaking-the-lawns-preseason-acc-football-power-rankings-clemson-dumb (streakingthelawn.com; Campbell)
That’s right. The season is finally upon us. It’s no longer 152 degrees in the southeast. There is a crispness in the air. Pumpkin spice lattes as far as the white girls can see. And Clemson remains at the top of the Power Rankings.
Whatever.
Let’s get into it.
1. Clemson Tigers (0-0, 0-0).
Next Game: vs. GT
At this point, nothing matters in the world anyways.
2. Miami-Florida Hurricanes (0-1, 0-0).
Last game: Loss 24-20 vs. Florida Gators. Next Game: at UNC
To say that game was “ugly” is a disservice to the word ugly. The American public came away not sure if Miami is really bad, if Florida is bad, or if neither team knows how to tackle literally anyone. Miami’s QB, Jarren Williams, had a respectable first half and then struggled mightily in the second, but that is to be expected of a Freshman making his first start on the big stage.
3. Syracuse Orange (0-0, 0-0).
Next Game: at Liberty
I personally hope Cuse gets 8 home games against Liberty for this one trip to the Holy Land, where they employee disgraced coaches and Athletic Directors that certainly embody the Christian spirit. More to come when UVa plays them in November.
4. Florida State Seminoles (0-0, 0-0).
Next Game: vs. Boise State (in Jacksonville)
If Boise upsets FSU Willie Taggert might start packing his office as soon as the bus gets back to Tallahassee. Not that that’s fair, but it is what it is. This No. 4 ranking is probably based more off of name recognition than actual expectations since nobody knows what FSU is going to do this year. 7-5? Sure. 10-2? Who knows.
5. Virginia Cavaliers (0-0, 0-0).
Next Game: at Pittsburgh
We’ve never been more excited about a football season during my time with STL. That means a 4-8 season is coming. Gird your loins accordingly.
6. Virginia Tech Hokies (0-0, 0-0).
Next Game: at Boston College
Some think VT could be a top 20 team. Some think the Hokies could go 6-6 and scratch into a bowl. Point is, this is Justin Fuente’s 4th season at the helm and nobody knows what to expect.
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https://fansided.com/2019/08/26/acc-power-rankings-week-1-clemson-threat/ (fansided.com; Lee)
ACC power rankings for Week 1 sees no surprise with Clemson at the top, but who is the biggest threat to the reigning national champions in the ACC?
Miami had an opportunity to earn some respect on the national landscape and in the ACC during its game against Florida. Instead, the Hurricanes fell short.
The first ACC team to play a game in 2019 looked foolish against the No. 8 Florida Gators. That game was horrendous and full of mistakes, but it was still, technically, a college football game. And it was against a top-10-ranked in-state rival.
And Miami lost in gut-wrenching, heartbreaking fashion.
Still, even if the Hurricanes had found a way to win that game, there’s no way that they’d be at the top of these power rankings at this point. Right now, the throne in this conference belongs to the team that absolutely eviscerated Alabama in the national championship game, the Clemson Tigers.
Clemson is the clear No. 1 right now. They’re the best program in the country at the moment and they’re definitely the best team in the ACC.
But how does the rest of the conference stack up?
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6 PITT
In 2018, Pitt was technically the runner-up in the ACC. However, that does not mean that Pitt was the second-best team in the ACC. Pitt, through the magic of tiebreakers, made it to the ACC Title Game, where the Panthers were pummeled by Clemson in a game that actually could have ended in a much more lopsided manner. All that said, Pat Narduzzi and the panthers could see themselves finishing with seven-eight wins if they get some breaks.
5 VIRGINIA
The Virginia Cavaliers ended 2018 with eight wins. They’re hoping to do that, or better, and beat Virginia Tech this season. With Bryce Perkins leading the Cavaliers’ offense and a stout defense on the other side of the ball, year four of the Bronco Mendenhall era has the potential to be a special one.
4 VIRGINIA TECH
The Virginia Tech Hokies have seemingly stalled out. Year three of the Justin Fuente era was, well, pitiful. The Hokies had their worst season since 1992, which was actually long before all of the players on Virginia Tech’s roster were born. But the Hokies have some experience coming into this season, and that could solve many of the issues this team faced last season. Quarterback Ryan Willis was solid as a junior and could conceivably be even better as a senior. Plus, an uncharacteristically shaky Virginia Tech defense should improve this year due to the amount of youth that played on it last year.
3 MIAMI
Miami: the only ACC team to actually play a game in 2019. It was technically a game, even though it was a really, really ugly game. And despite Miami’s multitude of errors, the Hurricanes actually came close to upsetting the Florida Gators. That’s worthy of a decent amount of respect, even though the game still resulted in a loss. Miami and Manny Diaz need to do some reflecting on their errors, but the Hurricanes have plenty of potential and promise this season. If this team can limit its mistakes, it can easily find itself in the ACC Title Game at the end of the year.
2 SYRACUSE
The Syracuse Orange shocked many by winning 10 games last season. Now, with a new quarterback, the trick is to find a way to repeat that accomplishment this season. Dino Babers has the unenviable task of replacing a prominent starter in Eric Dungey. He wasn’t always the best quarterback in the conference, but he was a key reason Syracuse shocked Clemson in 2017 and was a big reason for all of the success that Babers’ team saw last season. After all, it wasn’t Syracuse’s defense that carried them through many games last year. Syracuse starts the season with plenty of potential, but there’s also plenty of potential for the Orange to take a notable step back this season.
1 CLEMSON
Clemson is the king of this conference. Clemson very well might be the king of all of college football at the end of the season yet again. There’s a very real chance that the Tigers take home yet another national title this year. And given how most of the rest of the ACC is deeply flawed in some way, it’s a safe bet to pick the Tigers to run through the conference again this season. Trevor Lawrence should be able to put up Heisman caliber stats yet again and the Tigers recruit at such a high level that any voids left by departing stars are relatively easy to fill.
https://chopchat.com/2019/08/27/acc-football-preview-predictions-2019-season/ (chopchat.com; Parker)
The ACC football season gets underway in just a matter of days – so can the conference with the defending national champ do it all again in 2019?
For the third time in the last six seasons, the ACC football world includes the defending national champs as the Clemson Tigers won their second crown in the last three seasons in a convincing way – by destroying the Alabama Crimson Tide enough that the Tigers are a big time preseason top ranked team to start off 2019.
While the Tigers have been a dominating force in the college football world – essentially taking over from the three seasons of dominance that FSU football had right before – the conference has been seen of late to be Clemson…and no other real team that can hold a candle to them.
It’s a fact that the ACC football brass sees both as a good and bad thing – so can 2019 be the time where a team from Tallahassee, Coral Gables or even the state of Virginia give the Tigers a run for the conference crown? Here’s our look at how we think the conference will play out this season and who will meet for the title in Charlotte come this December.
Atlantic Division Preview and Predictions
No. 1 – Clemson Tigers (12-0, 8-0 ACC): For the fifth straight season, the men from the Palmetto state don’t just win the ACC football division but pretty much will have this thing wrapped up after beating the Seminoles in October.
No. 2 – Florida State Seminoles (9-3, 5-3 ACC): If God came down and said this is the way things will play out after last season, I will take it with no questions asked.
No. 3 – Syracuse Orange (9-3, 5-3 ACC): Plenty of people are high on the men from New York, but getting thumped early on by the Tigers is going to bring them back down to Earth a little bit.
No. 4 – Boston College Eagles (8-4, 5-3 ACC): A late season upset of the Seminoles will be good for morale and maybe they can actually play their bowl game this season.
No. 5 – N.C. State Wolfpack (8-4, 5-3 ACC): Okay, for the record I did not plan an actual four way tie for second place in the division when it comes to records, but winning their final three games made it take place.
No. 6 – Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-6, 3-5 ACC): For those who don’t remember, there was a time when the men from Winston-Salem were the defending champs…crazy, huh?
No. 7 – Louisville Cardinals (3-9, 1-7 ACC): I mean, it’s better than 2-10 last season.
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https://wfnz.radio.com/blogs/clubhouse-kyle-bailey/roddy-jones-talks-acc-football-college-football-week-one (wfnz.com; radio; Bailey)
ACC Network analyst Roddy Jones joined Kyle Bailey in The Clubhouse to talk Week 1 of the College Football season.
https://www.shakinthesouthland.com/2019/8/26/20833408/georgia-tech-at-clemson-q-a-preview (shakinthesouthland.com; Kantor)
for gbo
We spoke with Joey Weaver, co-host of “Basketball Conference: ACC Football Podcast.” A Georgia Tech grad, he has given us some great insight on the Yellow Jackets and our season opening matchup. We recommend you check out his podcast which covers ACC football as a whole. There aren’t a ton of ACC football podcasts, and this is certainly one worth checking out. Just search “Basketball Conference” on your podcast app of choice, or if you’re reading this on your phone click here. You can also follow him on twitter: @FTRSJoey.
STS: Paul Johnson had an 11-year run at Georgia Tech. It included two appearances and one win in the ACCCG as well as two appearances and one win in the Orange Bowl. There were two 11-win seasons, two nine-win seasons, five-seasons of six to eight wins, and two seasons of fewer than six wins. Both of those down years came in the past four seasons and he left with the cupboard somewhat bare as Geoff Collins now faces a challenging rebuild. The ACC Championship was also stripped from the record books by the NCAA. How do you think Paul Johnson’s legacy will look from a GT fan’s perspective once we get a little distance from it and can judge with a clear view?
JW: Honestly, 10 years from now, I expect Georgia Tech fans to look back on the CPJ era with a relative fondness, and more fondly than many do now. Johnson arrived at Georgia Tech late in the 2000’s, right at a time when the sport was starting to change quickly and drastically due to a major increase in money being poured into football programs by a number of schools around the country. That continued over Johnson’s tenure everywhere around him, but was not the case at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets’ AD who hired Johnson (some guy named Radakovich) was not particularly proactive about making sure his program would have access to resources comparable to others, and then the following AD Mike Bobinski effectively tried to actively limit the program’s resources as a way to push Johnson out so that he could make his own hire in football. Johnson couldn’t hire the DC he wanted to hire at multiple points under either AD (due to GTAA stinginess), his program was one of the last in the Power-5 to get any additional personnel to support in recruiting, and he couldn’t renovate the locker room even though he himself had gone out and gotten enough commitment from boosters to do so. Put simply: Johnson spent a lot of his tenure fighting with both hands tied behind his back. Insiders would tell you that he was fed up, and incredibly close to straight-up quitting at multiple points, and probably would have if not for Bobinski being hired away by Purdue.
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https://www.wralsportsfan.com/young-ncsu-football-team-preps-for-ecu/18594121/ (wralsportsfan.com; Dunleavy)
After weeks of begging the NC State football coaching staff and players for an answer, it's official.
Former Wakefield quarterback, Matt McKay, is NC State's starting quarterback.
Dave Doeren, NC State's head coach, said, "Matt's accuracy. His leadership and ability to really protect the team with his decision making and his consistent play really is what prevailed."
McKay beat out Bailey Hockman and Devin Leary for the starting job.
Still, this year's team has a totally different look.
A much younger look.
Doeren says 45 percent of the team are freshmen or redshirt freshmen.
Nine of NC State's starters will be starting for the first time in their career.
"It's just a different team," Doeren said. "They are very hungry. That's made practice from a coaching standpoint very enjoyable. There's a lot of guys trying to earn a right on the field."
The pack is facing in-state foe, ECU, for their season opener.
The Pirates have a new make-up as well.
ECU hired former JMU head coach, Mike Houston, this off-season.
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https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2019/08/transcript-of-acc-network-media-conference-call-with-jon-beason-and-tim-hasselbeck/ (espnpressroom.com)
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Q. We’re really excited about Syracuse football. Last year was a very successful season. And we were just wondering out here what are y’all’s expectations for this Syracuse team in this new iteration of the ACC season.
JON BEASON: I think they should be excited. They have great young talent. And you look at Tommy DeVito, you watch him on film, the ability to make the decision pre-snap because he gets the ball out extremely quick, he’s accurate, they should be fine. It looks like a version of West Coast offense. Young guys like Harris and Moe Neal, the running back, could really help him. And then, obviously, they’re going to lean on the defense, from two outstanding rushers in Robinson and Coleman, guys who both had 10 sacks a piece last year. It’s a dynamic tandem. We just talked about that with Florida. To me, the MVP’s were the two rushers of Greenard and Zuniga. So they won that football game for the University of Florida, outside of everything else, just dominating the game. And the sky’s the limit with Syracuse. I think that he does a great job of scheming it up, keeping his guys engaged. And the one thing that, as a football fan, you always want to see is you want to see a team that’s confident and fearless. Every time they play the vaunted Clemson Tigers they show up and everyone’s dialed, everyone’s locked in everyone has that belief. I think that’s the first thing you have to do if you’re going to be successful as an athlete in general but if you’re playing the game what people would consider to be the best. And that’s what I love about watching Syracuse play football. They’re going to have a great season for them because they’re going to be right there. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens in that game, I don’t know if they can pull it off, but at least it will be worth the watch.
TIM HASSELBECK: In terms of national expectations for Syracuse, I would agree with a lot of what Jon just said and, look, they’re ranked in the Top 25 preseason for a reason, obviously coming off what was a very productive year. You look at their schedule, I think right now Clemson is the only team on their schedule that is a ranked team. Obviously highly ranked team and certainly other teams that are on their schedule, especially in the conference, could end up finding their way into the Top 25. But when you consider all of that and then you consider how they have played Clemson in the past, I think that they should be viewed as a really dangerous team. I think in part some of the stuff Jon’s talking about in terms of the talent they have, especially kind of difference makers on defense and then exactly what you see on offense. There is obviously a change at quarterback, but I think the expectations are that while DeVito won’t be the same type of runner that Dungey was, that maybe he could be a little bit more of an efficient passer. I would look at Syracuse as a team that would be tough to go in there and play against. A really good group that I think has a real good opportunity to make some noise nationally throughout the season.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/colleges/2019/08/26/football-will-open-with-bang-against-virginia-tech/K5isqZP7sPNSU0unHZ2FrK/story.html (bostyonglobe.com; Benbow)
Opening the season with a historically intense matchup against an Atlantic Coast Conference rival with the added atmosphere of the lights (and mics and wires!) that come with the conference’s shiny new television network is something Boston College football coach Steve Addazio would have liked to put off for another few days.
He couldn’t. Not with BC padding up for its first game-week practice of the season with Virginia Tech coming into Alumni Stadium Saturday.
For the first time since Addazio took the reins of the program in 2012, the Eagles will open at home against an ACC opponent, and the magnitude is unavoidable.
“You’re ruining my Thursday,” Addazio joked.
Instead of starting the season with a nonconference cakewalk, the Eagles will be immediately tested. It’s the kind of game that can set the tone for a season. The last time BC opened a season with an ACC foe at home was 2012, when it lost to Miami, 41-32. The Eagles started that season 1-6 and never looked like a team that had a chance. They finished 2-10, and following their final game, coach Frank Spaziani was fired. Addazio was hired about a month later.
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But playing for real stakes early has its benefits, Addazio said.
“It’s real, but it’s fun,” said Addazio, whose Eagles have been picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic Division in the ACC preseason poll. “Sometimes when you play an opener that you’re supposed to be really heavily favored to win in, it can be equally frustrating. You can get sloppy.
“This has our full attention, and there is an energy level that comes with this. We are very fortunate we’re home. I think traveling on the road adds another element to that whole thing.”
The opener presents a delicate balancing act between trying to be midseason sharp but also anticipating early-season hiccups.
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https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2019/08/revised-est-things-which-could-adjust.html (RX; HM)
REVISED EST: things which could adjust $ACCN down
Yesterday I learned that the ACCN was getting "around $1" per subscriber in the ACC footprint, so I quickly ran the numbers for a first-cut estimate of revenue and came up with $8.1 million per school per year.
After a good night's sleep, I'm thinking there are some factors which are likely to revise that number down a bit... so here's my second draft, if you will:
SUBSCRIBERS
We're told that the ACCN is currently available to about 36 million customers. We're also told that about half of the US population lives in the ACC footprint (if we include Indiana). Half of 36M is 18M. We're also told that ESPN expects about 80% of cable customers actually subscribe to their sports network, and we'll assume the same for ACCN in-footprint - but let's assume only about 20% out of footprint. That means...
MONTHLY RATE
According to an article posted by Multichannel.com:
The ACC Network -- which industry sources say costs around $1 for distributors within the ACC Conference footprint and around half that outside the footprint
I'm going to question that $0.50 per sub out of footprint and go with $0.25 instead. Using the above numbers, we get...
GROSS REVENUE
The ACCN didn't launch until September 22nd, and the ACC's fiscal calendar runs from July 1st through June 30th - so year one is really just 85.5% of a full year. That gives us a gross year one revenue stream of
That's still a pretty big number, but I haven't subtracted any operating costs associated with the ESPN side (it's not really 100% profit!) Unfortunately, I can only guess here - let's say it costs $2M/month to operate? So let's subtract another $24M, leaving us with $133 million.
REVENUE SPLITS
Finally, let's assume that ESPN and the ACC split that money 50/50. I've seen arguments that maybe the ACC would not get half because it lacked contract leverage, but that is offset by the huge up front investment that the ACC schools have made (something SEC schools, for example, did not do), so I'm sticking with 50/50 for now:
Of course, ESPN keeps their half, but the ACC must split its half between the conference and the schools. If we make another conservative assumption - that the ACC keeps an equal share (it won't be more than that) - then we must split it 16 ways:
We've seen "conservative" estimates of $1M to $3M per school for the first year, so it looks like the ACCN should beat that. It also beats the $3M per year each school was getting for not having a network. Of course, each school must recover whatever they had to invest in their on-site production studio, etc. - but that varies greatly from school to school.
LOOKING AHEAD
The 2020-21 school year figures to be a full 365 days of ACCN revenues, and the number of subscribers is likely to keep going up (with the potential to nearly double the current number once the other TV providers sign up). That would bump the revenue up as high as $9.5 million per school per year.
2019 CFB "Stock Mkt" (RX; HM)
2019 CFB "Stock Mkt"
Phil Steele does an analysis which he calls "Stock Market Indicator". Basically, the idea is that if a team suddenly performs much better - or much worse - than in previous years, that unusual W-L record is assumed to be a fluke. Steele expects the team to snap back to form the following season, and he says that is usually the case. Given the force of history, here are the ACC's biggest snap-back teams for 2019...
| BULL Market teams for 2019: | ||
| Team | Change | Wins |
| Louisville | +6.5 | 8.5 |
| Florida State | +3.5 | 8.5 |
| N Carolina | +3.5 | 5.5 |
| Virginia Tech | +3.5 | 9.5 |
| BEAR Market teams for 2019 | ||
| Team | Change | Wins |
| Syracuse | -6.0 | 4 |
| Notre Dame | -5.0 | 7 |
By this theory, the Cardinals, Seminoles, Tar Heels and Hokies will all have BIG seasons, while Syracuse and Notre Dame fans will suffer through a disappointing 2019. If true, Louisville and FSU would both return to bowl-eligibility (UNC would just miss out), Notre Dame would remain bowl-eligible (but not a NY6 bowl), Syracuse would be home for the holidays and Virginia Tech would probably play for the ACC Championship vs. Clemson (yeah, I said "play", not "win").
That said, I'd be cautious about picking Louisville to go 9-3 or even 8-4; I think the Cards may have some rebuilding to do. Florida State, Virginia Tech, maybe even UNC are all plausible. I'm also skeptical about Syracuse and Notre Dame dropping back that much (maybe a little, but not THAT much).
https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2019/08/lessons-learned-from-rutgers-82619.html (RX; HM)
Lessons learned from Rutgers - 8/26/19
For those who think the ACC should add [__fill_in_the_blank___] team because "they're in a great location for recruiting", "they're in a big tv market", and "they're a sleeping giant who just needs to be in a power conference" - you need to learn a lesson from Rutgers.
Rutgers checks all the boxes. Football recruiting? New Jersey is probably the best northern state after Pennsylvania. TV market? It's a big state with pieces of the Philadelphia and New York City markets. Sleeping Giant? Yeah, about that...
It's pretty well documented that Rutgers has a history of losing in football. Since 1980 - a 38-year span - the Scarlet Knights have had just 12 seasons in which they finished above .500, versus 26 seasons at .500 or below. Most of those were under Head Coach Greg Schiano. Their all-time win percentage (.498) ranks the Scarlet Knights 90th among FBS teams. There are only 65 "power" teams, so...
But many will say just wait - now that they're in the Big Ten, things will get better, right? Well, I'm not sure how you define "better". Wins have certainly become rarer when compared to the Big East days. TV revenue is better, but what about ticket sales? Here's what has happened to Rutgers season ticket sales since joining the Big Ten:
| Year | season tix |
| 2015 | 31,168 |
| 2016 | 28,478 |
| 2017 | 23,812 |
| 2018 | 22,709 |
| 2019 | 16,585 |
Those numbers demonstrate something we've been saying for years on this blog - that attendance is more a function of how good the home team is, not how good the opponent is...
Actual fans in the stands have been even worse. For example, Rutgers announced over 44 thousand tickets were sold to the Penn State game - but actual tickets scanned at the stadium on the day of the game were less than 26 thousand.
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Other
NYS Fair 2019 attendance smashes record for Day 6 (PS; O'Toole)
Fairgoers smashed another attendance record on Monday.
Fair officials said 103,842 people came to the fair, marking the third time in six days an attendance record was broken, fair spokesman Dave Bullard said. The other three days finished with the second-best attendance, he said.
So far this year, attendance is currently at 590,633. That’s 14,030 more than last year, a record-setting year.
Monday was the first of three senior days, when anyone 60 years or older can enter the fair for free. Active and retired fire department or emergency services workers with a picture ID from that organization also can get into the fair for free on Tuesday. College students can enter the fair for $1 every day of the fair.
Fair officials say their goal is diversity and that’s what fairgoers will continue to see on Tuesday.
“We’ve never had a foreign language performer on Chevy Court,” Bullard said. “That ends Tuesday night when Puerto Rican singer Farruko takes the stage at 8 p.m. He’s versatile in a number of genres, including Reggaeton, Rap, Hip Hop, R&B and Trap, and has collaborated with Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee, among others.”
Also happening on Tuesday:
It’s Beef Day Tuesday. The Beef Barn will host activities starting at 9 a.m., including a scavenger hunt, a hay bale throwing contest and an interactive puzzle. Beef cooking demonstrations will take place in the Wegmans Demo Kitchen in the Art & Home Center.
The annual service of remembrance for fallen firefighters is scheduled for 11 a.m. in the memorials area outside the Horticulture Building. Six men who died in the line of duty will be remembered.
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