sutomcat
2024 Iggy Award (ACC Tournament Record)
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Welcome to The Start of Sukkot!
Sukkot, a Jewish autumn festival lasting seven days in Israel and eight days in the diaspora, starts on the fifteenth day of Tishri, five days after Yom Kippur. Literally interpreted as "Feast of Booths," the holiday is significant for both agricultural and religious reasons. In the book of Exodus, it marks the end of harvest time and of the agricultural year. In the book of Leviticus, it has religious and historical significance, commemorating the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt and subsequent forty years of wandering in the desert.
It is one of three Pilgrimage Festivals in the Hebrew Bible, along with Passover and Shavuot. During the time of the Temple, a pilgrimage was made to it every seven years on the holiday. The pilgrimage was stopped after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, but it was revived again in the 1950s. Today, many people visit Jerusalem during the holiday, and Sukkot is a public holiday in Israel.
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The reference Pat McAfee made during the Syracuse-NC State broadcast should be enough to earn him the MNF job - Golf Digest (golfdigest.com; Powers)
The revolving door that is the Monday Night Football color commentator job appears destined to revolve again at the conclusion of this NFL season. The Jason Witten experiment was short-lived, to say the least, and the Booger McFarland experiment might last the same amount of time. If we could, we'd like to offer a very simple solution for ESPN, one that's easy for all parties involved: just give it to Pat McAfee.
McAfee, who spent eight seasons as the punter for the Indianapolis Colts, has become quite the media personality since retiring from the league in 2016. He started at Barstool Sports where he showed enough to earn a look from FOX Sports to be a color commentator on a few games. His broadcasting debut was a college game between Baylor and Texas Tech, and he immediately moved up to the big time a month later, calling an NFL game between the the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. That's when he truly shined:
Obviously, McAfee's style is not for everyone, but judging by his social media following, the younger crowd loves it. ESPN took notice, even allowing McAfee to audition for the MNF job, but the network decided to stick with Booger, who continues to get shredded every Monday night on Twitter.
ESPN did end up hiring McAfee for another job in July, the color analyst job for Thursday Night College Football. McAfee was teamed up with another former Indianapolis Colt, Matt Hasselbeck, and play-by-play man Adam Amin, who is one of the more underrated broadcasters there is. So far the trio has been dynamite, but with the NFL hijacking Thursday night, their strong chemistry has gone somewhat unnoticed.
McAfee tries to change that each week with his unique style of calling games, and we couldn't help but tip our caps to one of his best lines of the season from Thursday night's matchup between Syracuse and NC State. Late in the third quarter, with Syracuse trailing 13-0, NC State was trying to put the game out of reach when the 'Cuse defense appeared to make a huge stop near the end zone on third down. But the defensive stand was spoiled by cornerback Antwan Cordy, who got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for jawing with the receiver he had just tightly covered. This provided McAfee with an opportunity to make one of the more hilarious and topical references you'll ever hear from a color analyst:
For those who don't get it (have you been living under a rock?), the Bagel Boss is that tiny dude who flipped out in a Long Island bagel store and immediately went viral thanks to whoever was filming. His rant was about how people seem to, um, look down on short people. The video, posted to facebook, wound up garnering nearly 1.5 million views.
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Syracuse football opens as home underdog against Pittsburgh (PS; Burrows)
Syracuse football is a home underdog against Pittsburgh on Friday night.
The Orange opened as a 2.5-point underdog against the Panthers at the Carrier Dome, according to VegasInsider.
Syracuse (3-3, 0-2) is coming off an ugly 16-10 loss to NC State on Thursday that saw the Orange rack up 12 penalties while struggling to move the ball at all on offense.
Orange QB Tommy DeVito completed 29 of 39 passes for 300 yards and a touchdown, but appeared hampered by an upper-body injury for most of the game.
Pittsburgh (4-2, 1-1) blew a 23-point lead to Duke on Saturday, but completed the late comeback to win 33-30.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Ben Burrows is a sports reporter for syracuse.com/The Post-Standard. He can be reached @BenMBurrows and via email.
Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Jaylen Twyman
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Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Jaylen Twyman
Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Jake Kradel
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Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Jake Kradel
Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Kylan Johnson
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Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Kylan Johnson
Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Charlie Partridge
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Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Charlie Partridge
Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Chris Beatty
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Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Chris Beatty
Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Taysir Mack
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Pitt Football | 2019 Syracuse Week Interviews | Taysir Mack
Breaking down Pitt's remaining ACC schedule after its off week (post-gazette.com; McGonigal)
The ACC Coastal is an enigma.
That's the simplest way to describe college football's most volatile Power 5 division, where all but one team totes a 4-2 or 3-3 record after Week 7. Sorry, Georgia Tech.
Pitt is on the 4-2 side of things and spent its off week watching a light yet intriguing Coastal slate. Virginia Tech needed the fourth quarter to hold off Rhode Island at home. Duke — technically the division leader — ousted the Yellow Jackets. And Miami topped Virginia in an ugly Friday night affair.
How might the Hurricanes' 17-9 win over Bronco Mendenhall's Cavaliers affect who represents the Coastal in the conference title game? It's too early to say. It's definitely too early to look into three-way tiebreakers.
In December, this past weekend might be reflected on as a pivotal point in the ACC season. But for the time being, with so much clutter and chaos pending, the Coastal needs to be handled with caution, one week at a time. That's Pitt's mentality, at least.
"You're not happy when you're not undefeated. But at this point, you can't live in the past," quarterback Kenny Pickett said last weekend in Durham, after the Panthers edged Duke in a game that epitomized the Coastal. "You have to take it game-by-game."
So, let's do that. Let's put hypotheticals aside and take a look at what Pitt has left on its ACC slate — with the Panthers' odds to win each contest.
(Notes: Rankings are Bill Connelly's S&P-plus ratings, an advanced statistic that uses tools like third-down success rate and garbage time adjustments to determine the most efficient teams in college football. Odds to win are based on ESPN's Football Power Index.)
Syracuse
Record: 3-3, 0-2 ACC
S&P-plus: 66th overall (O: 80th, D: 50th, ST: 9th)
Pitt's odds to win: 48.9%
A word: Syracuse's offense isn't what it was with quarterback Eric Dungey. First-year starter Tommy DeVito completed 29 of 39 attempts for 300 yards on Thursday night, but Syracuse managed 10 points against NC State (34th defense in S&P-plus). The Orange's offensive line is shoddy, too, allowing the fourth-most sacks among FBS teams (26). Only one team in the country, Ohio State, has more sacks than Pitt. DeVito will likely get to know Jaylen Twyman, Patrick Jones and company on Friday night.
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Pitt's defensive line has morphed into one of college football's best (post-gazettte.com; Meyer)
For all the sacks it has accrued and the offensive lines and opposing quarterbacks it has tormented, the most notable thing about the Pitt defensive line may be that it forced Charlie Partridge to change his nightly routine.
The Panthers’ defensive line coach is, like many of his counterparts, a tireless worker, something that’s especially true for perhaps the best recruiter on Pitt’s staff. Though he would come in to the team’s South Side facility early, he would often be greeted by as many as seven of his defensive linemen every day, all of whom had been in there since 6 a.m.
“In your career, you run across a couple of people that make you better as a coach, that challenge you as a coach, that bring up things that make you really investigate portions of what you’re teaching,” Partridge said. “I’ve got a couple of guys in the room that are that.”
Changes, therefore, had to be made to ensure he could be there the entire time for his players to help with whatever they may need. Partridge was more than happy to do so — and given what that position group has been able to do, it’s hard to fault him for his willingness.
Despite being down arguably its two best players — Rashad Weaver and Keyshon Camp, both of whom are nursing season-ending knee injuries — Pitt’s defensive line has been a force through six games this season, possibly even exceeding the expectations it had two months ago when it was at full health.
The Panthers are fourth among all Football Bowl Subdivision teams in sacks per game, with 4.5, and are tied for 16th in tackles for loss per game, with 8.2. Within the ACC, three of the top 10 and five of the top 21 players in sacks play for Pitt. Five of the top 105 FBS players in sacks per game are under Partridge and Pat Narduzzi’s tutelage.
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Wolfpack rewind: State 16, Syracuse 10 (SI; Friedlander)
Here's a look back at the good, the bad and the offbeat from Thursday's win against ACC Atlantic rival Syracuse
THE GOOD
NC State's defense recorded eight more sacks against Syracuse quarterback Tommy DeVito on Thursday, giving it 16 in its last two games. That's the most sacks in consecutive games in school history, surpassing the 14 the Wolfpack had in games against Virginia and North Carolina in 1982. The most impressive part of that stat is that eightD different players contributed to it (Larrell Murchison 5, Louis Acceus 4, Xavier Lyas 2, Alim McNeill 1.5, Brock Miller 1, C.J. Hart 1, Deonte Holden .5, Isaiah Moore ..5). The combined 52 yards in losses helped State limit Syracuse to 41 rushing yards. It's the third straight game and the fifth time in six games that the Wolfpack rushing defense -- which came into the game ranked sixth nationally -- has allowed less than 100 yards on the ground.
THE BAD
The Wolfpack debuted a new quarterback against the Orange, but even though Bailey Hockman did manage to introduce something resembling a vertical passing game for the first time this season by completing four passes of 20 or more yards, he wasn't able to cure the offense of two other recurring problems. The first is an inability to finish drives with touchdowns instead of field goals. State had to settle for three Christopher Dunn kicks in the game, one that was preceded by a pass interference call gave the offense three (unsuccessful) tries from the 2-yard line. That final field goal was the only points the Wolfpack scored in the second half, which gets us to the other problem coach Dave Doeren and his staff have yet to solve. In its three games against Power 5 opponents this season, the Wolfpack has been outscored 47-16 after halftime.
THE OFFBEAT
Hockman became the first left-handed quarterback to start a game for State since Cam Young against Virginia on Nov. 8, 1986. The redshirt sophomore went 16 of 27 for 205 yards and an interception. It should also be noted that the "N" in his name was printed backwards on his "Stealth Wolf" white uniform.
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Thoughts from Alec’s Brain: Syracuse (backingthepack.com; Lower)
Bailey Hockman’s first career pass as a college starting quarterback was a 27-yard completion to redshirt freshman Devin Carter. Plays like that were at the top of the list of benefits the Pack was hoping to realize from its quarterback change, and it took one snap to get one. It was a well designed play to get Carter wide open, giving Hockman a great opportunity to make a statement on his very first pass. The execution was poor as the ball was noticeably underthrown, and the play was actually pretty close to being completely botched. Somehow, Carter found a way to make the catch and escape with a positive result. The entire game would then follow the exact same storyline all the way to the final second.
That final second was never even played because of a 10-second runoff that was the last course of a smorgasbord of offensive errors, mistakes, and comical disasters from both teams. It was truly a hideous football game, but it was a hideous football game that NC State won, and that is the only thing that actually matters.
The Offense would spark but never catch fire.
You wouldn’t know it from the score, but NC State’s offense actually did take a step forward on Thursday night. It was a baby step, but first gear is still better than neutral. Hockman hit a handful of explosive pass plays, something that had been completely absent all season, and it helped State put five (nearly six) drives together that pushed deep into Syracuse territory. It just couldn’t string together enough positive plays without some crippling error to finish drives, a lot of which was the result of a snowball effect from the lack of any consistent rushing attack. Fixing that starts at the offensive line.
The O-Line has to improve
State could not run the football, averaging barely over 3 yards per carry and getting behind the chains in the redzone because of it. State could not afford to get behind the chains in this game because it was down its starting tackle and Syracuse presented a challenging pass rush.
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Sunshine and Rainbows with Omega: Syracuse edition (backiungthepack.com; Wolf)
You might not know it by perusing the negativity in the comment sections on our fine clownblogging outfit, but NC State won a football game against formerly-ranked Syracuse Thursday night, covering the spread in the process. Here are three reasons why you should be happy about it:
1) The defense is good. State continues to hold all of its opponents (not named West Virginia) to well under their average yards per play. Cuse came in averaging 5.1 yards per play but managed just 4.5 yards per snap against the Pack. On the season, the Pack are allowing 4.6 yards per play, a mark good for 20th in the country (a mere two hundredths of a yard behind some scrub team called Alabama). Let’s look at the numbers: State is 4th nationally in yards per rush allowed (2.3), 5th in sacks per game (4.33), 6th in rushing yards allowed per game (66.7), 21st in tackles for loss per game (7.83), 25th in points allowed per game (19.0), and 25th in opponents’ third-down conversion rate (31.9%). Louis Acceus had 10 tackles, including three sacks, and Larrell Murchison added two more to help State record eight sacks for the second straight week. Fourteen was the previous high for the program in back-to-back games. Murchison is third in the FBS individually with seven sacks on the season.
Sure, an injury-decimated cornerback position has occasionally been victimized by the big play or pass interference penalties, but that’s a product of a scheme designed to stuff the run and pressure the quarterback. The result of leaving the CBs on an island has been a lot of negative plays that get offenses off schedule, and right now the gambling aggression is paying off more times than not.
2) We have a kicking game. And I’m not even talking about Christopher Dunn. Trenton Gill is ninth in the nation with an average of 47.5 yards per punt. To put that in perspective, A.J. Cole made the Raiders after averaging 42.4 yards per kick a season ago. Gill, who is also in the top 25 in average kickoff distance, is killing it. Of course, Dunn has been just fine, nailing 13 of 16 field goals with all of his misses being from beyond 40 yards. He’s 36 of 42 (85.7%) in his young career and will be State’s all-time leading scorer by his career’s end. Both these dudes are just sophomores.
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https://accsports.com/acc-news/clemson-acc-lone-team-ap-top-25/ (accsports.com; Geisinger)
And then there was only one — for now, at least. After defeats this weekend, Wake Forest and Virginia — ranked 19th and 20th, respectively, a week ago — have fallen from the AP Top 25. Currently, there’s just one ACC team in this week’s poll: Clemson. And the Tigers, even after a blowout win over Florida State, dropped a spot — down to No. 3.
LSU, following its best Saturday night win over a(n) (overrated) Florida, moved up to No. 2. Alabama, of course, remains on top.
POLL ALERT: LSU jumps three spots to No. 2 behind Alabama in Top 25 poll presented by @askRegions; Clemson, Ohio St, Oklahoma round out top five. No. 24 Appalachian St among four teams in.
Full poll: AP Top 25 Poll
More AP college football: College Football
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) October 13, 2019
On the outskirts of the poll, though, Wake Forest and UVA at least received some votes.
- Wake Forest, 25
- Virginia, 8
Even in victory, Clemson’s offense looked a little disjointed at times, too. Dabo Swinney was frustrated; the Tigers turned the ball twice, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence missed on see key throws. Lawrence’s completion rate on third down has dropped to 45 percent.
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Football Round-Up: Noles Vow To Learn, Then Look Toward Wake (seminoles.com; Linafelt)
Ready as they were to move on from everything that happened at Clemson on Saturday night, the Seminoles were also well aware that they couldn’t simply forget their 45-14 defeat without first learning from it.
Yes, it was an afternoon full of frustration for Florida State. But the No. 2 Tigers are likely the best team that FSU will face this season, and if the deficiencies and shortcomings that came to light in Memorial Stadium can be corrected or improved upon as a result, then that frustration won’t have been for nothing.
Making the most of their experience in Death Valley was tops on the Seminoles’ priority list as they returned to the practice fields on Sunday.
“We feel like we can bounce back,” running back Khalan Laborn said. “One hundred percent, we can.”
If Laborn is right, then the Seminoles (3-3, 2-2 ACC) have an opportunity for a potentially memorable second half of the season.
Their next game, at Wake Forest, will be a challenge. But the Demon Deacons (5-1, 2-1), who entered last week ranked No. 19, surrendered 62 points in a loss to Louisville on Saturday night and flirted with a loss to Boston College a week ago.
Beyond that, the Seminoles have home games against Syracuse (3-3, with zero wins over “Power Five” opponents) and Miami (3-3, one win over Power Five), a road trip to Boston College (3-3, two) and then a home date with FCS Alabama State.
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College football bowl projections: Ohio State steps into College Football Playoff with Georgia loss (cbssports.com; Palm & Silverstein)
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Louisville football: Unlikely hero leads Cards to milestone victory (BRL; Reddington)
Louisville football picked up arguably their biggest win in three seasons as they knock off no. 19 ranked Wake Forest on the road.
FINAL
WAKE FORESTDEMON DEACONS
59
LOUISVILLECARDINALS
62
Wow, what a wild, four-hour ride that was. The Louisville football program found a way to go into Winston-Salem, North Carolina and leave no. 19 ranked Wake Forest with a huge win. A win that Scott Satterfield was brought in to get.
Just one year after winning just two games total, the Cardinals now find themselves with four wins with six games to go. This one was earned not given and took a little bit of everything from everyone on the Cardinal team to come out on top.
This was the first win in the history of the Louisville program against a ranked ACC team on the road. It wasn’t exactly easy, but here’s how they got it done:
The Louisville offense didn’t miss a beat from their historic performance against Boston College last week. Micale Cunningham started the game at QB and led the Cardinals to 21 first-quarter points, with a little help from Hassan Hall and the special teams unit.
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Around the ACC: Week 7 Recap (fromtherumbleseat.com; Tankersley)
Syracuse - 10 | NC State - 16
Man, remember when these teams were supposed to be good? Well that idea is pretty much down the drain now, as both teams have had pretty disappointing seasons thus far. This game featured as little a running game as you could imagine with a combined 71 carries for 145 yards (which I presume includes sacks; ESPN doesn’t specify in their box score). That’s just over two yards a carry. Tommy DeVito actually had a pretty solid day at quarterback, passing for 300 yards and a touchdown, but it was really the defenses that showed up today. DeVito was sacked a whopping EIGHT times in this game, and with neither team having a good running game, it was just a slow, sloppy fight.
Syracuse plays again Friday night against Pittsburgh. NC State plays again Saturday at Boston College.
Virginia - 9 | Miami - 17
N’Kosi Perry returned as the starting quarterback for the Hurricanes, and it seemed to have been a smart move, passing for 182 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for another 18 yards and a touchdown. Like the other weeknight game, it was the defense that really played well in this game. As Virginia’s offense runs almost entirely through Bryce Perkins, the Miami defense did a good job of putting pressure on him all day, sacking him five times.
Virginia plays again Saturday against Duke. Miami plays again Saturday against Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech - 23 | Duke - 41
Le sigh.
Georgia Tech plays again Saturday at Miami. Duke plays again Saturday at Virginia.
Florida State - 14 | Clemson - 45
Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdowns. Travis Etienne ran for 127 yards and caught a touchdown. Nothing much to see here. Clemson’s defense shut down FSU’s offense in every facet of the game, holding them to just 63 total yards of offense in the first half.
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Polls: #SECBiaS 10/13/19 (RX; HM)
Polls: #SECBiaS 10/13/19
This week I'm only showing the top 11 for each poll because (1) there's only one ACC team ranked anyway, (2) the polls are almost identical anyway, and (3) to make a point about #SECBiaS.
| Rank | AP Top 11 | Coaches Top 11 |
| 1 | Alabama (30) | Alabama (44) |
| 2 | LSU (12) | Clemson (14) |
| 3 | Clemson (11) | LSU (3) |
| 4 | Ohio State (9) | Ohio State (4) |
| 5 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
| 6 | Wisconsin | Wisconsin |
| 7 | Penn State | Penn State |
| 8 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame |
| 9 | Florida | Florida |
| 10 | Georgia | Georgia |
| 11 | Auburn | Auburn |
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Unbeaten - 10/14/19 (RX; HM)
Unbeaten - 10/14/19
Not that many teams are still undefeated. Argue over best one-loss teams if you wish, but here are the ones that haven't lost yet:
American: SMU
ACC: Clemson
Big XII: Baylor, Oklahoma
Big Ten: Ohio State, Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Mtn West: Boise State
SEC: Alabama, LSU
Sun Belt: Appalachian State
Just 12 teams without a loss through 7 weeks...
Other
Onondaga Regatta 2019: Pumpkins race for first time on Onondaga Lake in Liverpool; who fell in, who won? (PS; O'Toole)
When Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon hopped into a supersized pumpkin Sunday on Onondaga Lake, he set out to win the race.
But to his surprise, the pumpkin quickly tipped back onto him -- sending him into the cold, clear lake -- during Head of the Onondaga, formerly Onondaga Cup and Lakefest.
“I was disappointed because I wanted to win the race and the reality set in, I may not be able to participate,” said McMahon, who is up for re-election next month. “I thought I had picked the right pumpkin.”
McMahon got back in the pumpkin and fell out a second time.
“The stark reality was, I wasn’t going anywhere,” he said.
Syracuse Crunch Vice President of Ticket Operations Todd Cross also capsized and sat on the sidelines with McMahon as Assemblyman Al Stirpe, D-Cicero, and Onondaga County Comptroller Matt Beadnell raced their pumpkins in the lake.
Beadnell won the pumpkin race.
But McMahon said the county also won, as thousands came out to the event: “It’s a great way to promote our parks system, our clean lake and it generates sales tax revenue,” he said.
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