sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Festival of Sleep Day!
Festival of Sleep Day celebrates all types of sleep. It is a day for sleeping in, taking naps, or not even getting out of bed in the first place. After all, it is a festival, so it should be celebrated to the fullest. It likely happens when it does because the holidays have just ended, and people never seem to get enough sleep during them. This makes it an ideal time for catching up on sleep, especially because some students aren't even back in school yet, and some workers are still on vacation.
Sleep is just as important as diet and exercise for maintaining health. Among its many benefits, it allows the body to rest, recharge, and heal, and it helps with memory function. It should take a person about ten to fifteen minutes to fall asleep; those who take less than five minutes to snooze may be sleep deprived. Exercising can help those who have a hard time falling asleep, and it will improve their sleep quality as well.
SU News
GSA Football Signs All American Syracuse Punter Sterling Hofrichter
Syracuse Football: Paul Pasqualoni finally hangs up his whistle for good (itlh; Esden Jr)
Former Syracuse football head coach Paul Pasqualoni is finally calling it quits after 48 years. Here are all the details and what it all means.
It’s been a long run for former Syracuse football head coach Paul Pasqualoni but he’s finally hanging up his whistle for good.
Most recently Pasqualoni served as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions over the last two years.
In a statement released by Lions’ head coach Matt Patricia, he cited Pasqualoni’s desire to be closer to his family as the reason for his departure:
“Coach Pasqualoni notified me this week that he will be stepping away from the Lions to be closer to his family. Coach P is one of the best men I’ve ever been around on both a personal and professional level. I owe him so much and I’m grateful for the impact he had on our players, coaches and support staff. He will continue to be a great sounding board for me as a coach, father, and leader. I wish him and his family well as they begin the new year together.”
Paul has been coaching football non-stop since 1972 here’s a fascinating look back at his amazing coaching career:
- Cheshire High School as an assistant (1972–1975)
- South Connecticut State as an assistant (1976–1979)
- South Connecticut State as a defensive coordinator (1980–1981)
- West Connecticut State as a head coach (1982–1986)
- Syracuse as an assistant (1987–1990)
- Syracuse as a head coach (1991–2004)
- Dallas Cowboys as a tight ends coach (2005)
- Dallas Cowboys as a linebackers coach (2006–2007)
- Miami Dolphins as a defensive coordinator (2008–2009)
- Dallas Cowboys as a defensive line coach (2010)
- Connecticut as a head coach (2011–2013)
- Chicago Bears as a defensive line coach (2014)
- Houston Texans as a defensive line coach (2015)
- Boston College as a defensive line coach (2016–2017)
- Detroit Lions as a defensive coordinator (2018– 2020)
Despite a rough 2019, NC State football is in a better place than it was 10 years ago (backingthepack.com; Muma)
While we are all feeling a little bummed about the football program after 2019’s disappointment, there’s no denying that NC State had a pretty good decade. Bill Connelly had a look recently at how things have changed in college football over the last 10 years, using five-year SP+ rolling averages.
NC State had an average SP+ rank of 58 from 2005-09, and that average improved to 40 from 2015-19. Not too bad! And probably about what we should expect given the Wolfpack’s resources and spending relative to other power-conference programs.
Within the ACC Atlantic, NC State at 40 is behind Clemson (3rd from 2015-19), Florida State (15), and Louisville (33) and ahead of Wake Forest (64), Boston College (69), and Syracuse (72). Clemson really took off in the last decade, alas, and FSU was a good bit better as well. BC fell off a cliff and Louisville was consistent. Wake dropped off a bit, while Syracuse improved 18 spots (the Orange were REALLY bad for a while there).
In my ongoing desperate quest to find positive signs, I’m hopeful that NC State’s rank over the last five years indicates that a turnaround can happen quickly and make 2019 feel like an exception. The talent in the program didn’t just disappear, it was mostly just out with injuries. Avoid another ridiculous run of attrition, find an above-average quarterback in the transfer market, and State can get back on track.
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Virginia Tech Hokies Belk Bowl Good, Bad, and Ugly (gobblercountry.com; Fahvaag)
Now that we’ve all had a little bit of time to cool off and think about the effort and results in the Belk Bowl, the first question to ask is “has the disappointment ablated any?”
There are going to be more than a few; “absolutely not’s”. In general, though it’s pretty obvious that most of Hokie Nation is sort of tired of football and glad the season is over. They are generally predisposed to have accepted the proposition that 2019 was a sort of “recovery” year, and anything over a .500 record is more than we expected before and early in the season.
The firebirds will never be content, so addressing their “issues” seems fairly pointless; other than to say that it’s not happening. And then add who, “better”, out there is going to perform your demanded miracle? Name the price. Name the period of time that you are going to be accepting of this cheap miracle. When you have something, maybe we’ll listen. There are always Fan Posts, and if it’s not profane or abusive will even give you a link to the main page.
The Event Horizon
So, let us set the stage for the Belk Bumble... I mean Bowl. The slightly over one month break did not help the Hokies, at all. Since when has the team ever been helped much with a bye week? Well, now a bye four weeks and a few days... After that we find out that there have been decisions taken on the personnel side of things that have some serious implications. Both of the Hokie starting Cornerbacks (who were going to be critical to dealing with limited coverage duties) were sidelined. Jermaine Waller was spotted over the holidays in a walking boot, and Caleb Farley is now headed to surgery for something going on related to the back spasms he developed in the latter stages of the season. That left Armani Chatman to lead the pass defense. Armani is a wonderful talent and will end up being a great contributor, but he’s not experienced enough to be the main shutdown Cornerback. So the defense started the game crippled, and ended it that way, too. (We will discuss how this sort of loss can cause serious problems with other parts of a particular squad, later in the year.)
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Louisville Football Way too Early Outlook - Fifth Quarter (fifthquarter.net)
The Cardinals completed one of the greatest one-season turnarounds in college football history in 2019. They swung 6 games to the positive side, going from 2-10 to 8-5. The Cards put the cherry on top with a comfortable Music City bowl victory over Mississippi State. The future looks bright under head coach Satterfield, and since we here at Fifth Quarter eat, sleep, and live college football, what better way to spend a winter’s day than to look towards next season?
2020 ROSTER PREDICTION:
Louisville loses some key members in 2020. Gone is offensive linemen Mekhi Becton, Tyler Heycraft, and T.J. McCoy. Gone are receivers Seth Dawkins and other depth pieces, as well as two tight ends. The defense loses multiple linemen, secondary, and linebackers to graduation. The special teams for the Cards takes the biggest hit of all, losing both kicker Blanton Creque and punter Mason King.
Louisville does keep many key players, and has brought in more young talent to contribute. Coming back are Cunningham, Hawkins, Atwell, and most of the offensive line. The defense boasts Ethridge, Yeast, Montgomery, Goldwire, and brings in contributors like Peterson, Boykin, and Diaby. So after taking into account all the information present before the new year, and before the last 4 scholarships in the 2020 class are spoken for, here is the starting lineup I believe we will see come the season opener:
OFFENSE:
DEFENSE:
2020 WIN/LOSS PREDICTION:
Louisville football will play two of college football’s preeminent programs in 2020, as they travel to Clemson and Notre Dame. They will also travel to Boston College, Syracuse, and Virginia. Louisville’s home schedule is headlined by Florida State and Virginia Tech. They will also host NC State, and Wake Forest, as well as non-conference opponents Western Kentucky, Murray State, and Kentucky.
With the ACC projected to be better overall, I see Louisville going somewhere between 10-2 and 9-3. Clemson loses a lot from their offensive line, but Clemson restocks instead of rebuilds. Notre Dame still will be led by quarterback Ian Book, and the South Bend home atmosphere will be an Irish advantage. Along with what should be improved VT and FSU teams coming to town, it’s possible Louisville drops a conference game at home.
3 BOLD PREDICTIONS FOR 2020:
- Louisville will make the Orange Bowl. Yes, bowl selection is a whole year away. Yes, it is extremely early to guess. But what other teams are head and shoulders better than Louisville in the ACC besides Clemson? The Tigers will likely be playoff contenders, so the second-best ACC team will be selected to spend their New Year in Miami. With Louisville bringing back much of its experience and talent, who’s to say they couldn’t be the team to go? They already finished second in their division and beat the ACC team who earned that berth this year.
- Louisville will have a first-round draft pick. Who? Tutu Atwell. His impressive speed has been head-turning the past few seasons. With his growth into the most targeted Cardinal receiver, many teams could show interest in the speedster next draft class.
- Louisville will have several first team all-conference players. With the emergence of stars such as Javian Hawkins, Tutu Atwell, Micale Cunningham, and multiple players on the defense, I expect the Cards to have at least 4 players on the 1st-Team All-ACC team. This doesn’t include Cunningham, who I project to be 2nd-Team. You just can’t beat out Trevor Lawrence, and I believe Wake’s Jamie Newman will seek a transfer.
2019-20 Conference bowl records: Scores, updates through title game | NCAA.com (ncaa.com; Pekale)
With 40 college football games scheduled over 24 days in the FBS, buckle up for another exciting bowl season. Last year, the ACC and SEC led the way with six postseason wins each, including Clemson's win over Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
We're once again tracking the results of each conference this bowl season. Here's where each conference stands:
Note: All times Eastern and subject to change. Parentheses indicate the number of teams participating in bowl games by conference.
American Athletic Conference (7)
Record: 3-3
- SMU: L, 52-28 to Florida Atlantic in the Boca Raton Bowl
- UCF: W, 48-25 vs. Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl
- Temple: L, 55-13 vs. North Carolina in the Military Bowl
- No. 17 Memphis: L 53-39 vs. No. 10 Penn State in the Cotton Bowl
- No. 23 Navy: W, 20-17 vs. Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl
- No. 22 Cincinnati: W, 38-6 vs. Boston College
- Tulane — Armed Forces Bowl vs. Southern Mississippi | Jan. 4 at 11:30 am
Record: 4-6
- Miami (Fla.): L, 14-0 to Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl
- Pittsburgh: W, 34-30 vs. Eastern Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl
- North Carolina: W, 55-13 vs. Temple in the Military Bowl
- Wake Forest: L, 27-21 to Michigan State in the Pinstripe Bowl
- No. 3 Clemson: W, 29-23 vs. No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl (College Football Playoff)
- Louisville: W, 38-28 vs. Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl
- No. 24 Virginia: L, 36-28 to No. 9 Florida in the Orange Bowl
- Virginia Tech: L, 37-30 to Kentucky in the Belk Bowl
- Florida State: L, 20-14 to Arizona State in the Sun Bowl
- Boston College: L, 38-6 vs. No. 22 Cincinnati
- No. 3 Clemson — CFP National Championship Game vs. No. 1 LSU | Jan. 13 at 8 p.m.
Record: 4-5
- Michigan State: W, 27-21 vs. Wake Forest in the Pinstripe Bowl
- No. 16 Iowa: W, 49-24 vs. No. 22 Southern California in the Holiday Bowl
- No. 10 Penn State: W, 53-39 vs. No. 17 Memphis in the Cotton Bowl
- No. 2 Ohio State: L, 29-23 to No. 3 Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl (College Football Playoff)
- Illinois: L, 35-20 to California in the Redbox Bowl
- No. 14 Michigan: L, 35-16 to No. 13 Alabama in the Citrus Bowl
- No. 18 Minnesota: W, 31-24 vs. No. 12 Auburn in the Outback Bowl
- No. 8 Wisconsin: L, 28-27 to No. 6 Oregon in the Rose Bowl Game
- Indiana: L 23-22 to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl
Clemson's Trevor Lawrence Rides 25-0 Record Into National Championsip - The Runner Sports (therunnersports.com; Thomas)
for gbo
Clemson Tigers’ QB Trevor Lawrence will leverage his 25-0 record as a starter when he leads his team into the national championship game against #1 LSU Tigers.
As the defending national champions, Clemson entered the season under question whether they could make it to the mountaintop again. Lawrence shook off a rough start to the season and now has his team in position to play for yet another national title.
Unrelenting Success
As the #1 ranked quarterback prospect, Lawrence (6’6, 215 lbs) came to Clemson as a five-star prospect. He had 23 scholarship offers following a four-year stint as the starter of Cartersville High School, where he set the career passing yards record in Georgia (13,902); even surpassing the record set by former Clemson QB Deshaun Watson.
That success parlayed quickly into factoring in at Clemson, where he played all 15 games in 2018 but was named starter in Week 5 against Syracuse, eventually ushering Kelly Bryant out of the program entirely.
He would throw for 3,280 yards and 30 touchdowns and only four interceptions, completing 65% of his passes. He featured plenty of unseen highlights for a true freshman quarterback:
- Three games with three touchdown passes.
- Two games with four touchdown passes.
- Five 300-yard passing games.
- Four games of 70% or better completion percentage.
- Zero interceptions over his last five games.
In the national semifinal game against Notre Dame, Lawrence was 27-of-39 for 327 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Clemson held the Irish to a single field goal in a 30-3 win.
Lawrence then followed the act up with 347 yards and on 20-of-32 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions on the way to a 44-16 victory.
The 2019 Stumble
Things meanwhile, didn’t get off to such a flawless start in 2019. Lawrence had a rough start to his sophomore season, throwing five interceptions in his first five games. But he has thrown only eight interceptions all season, all coming in the first seven weeks of the season.
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Miami football category 20 loses out on nation’s top tight end (caneswarning.com; Rubenstein)
As expected five-star tight end Darnell Washington the top player in the Class of 2020 at his position chose Georgia over the Miami football program and several other schools. The Hurricanes are still strong at tight end.
Darnell Washington is considered the most imposing player in the Class of 2020 as a 6’8, 261-pound tight end who can play multiple positions. Washington was a long shot to sign with the Miami football program but developed a clear rapport with 2020 Miami quarterback signee Tyler VanDyke at Paraside Camp in June 2019.
The addition of Washington would have been significant for the Miami football program but since he was not expected to sign with the Hurricanes his decision to attend Georgia is not a huge loss. Miami is not expected to lose anyone at TE following the 2019 season. Starter Brevin Jordan returns for his junior season.
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2020 Birmingham Bowl Results (RX; HM)
2020 Birmingham Bowl Results
Who knew that missing your #1 offensive threat AND your head coach would affect the offense? Just about everyone knew...
| Boston College | 6 |
| #21 Cincinnati | 38 |
Boston College vs. Cincinnati
Birmingham Bowl Highlights (2019)
Boston College vs. Cincinnati Birmingham Bowl Highlights (2019)
Boston College vs. Cincinnati: The Boston College Eagles suffered a tough loss to Cincinnati in the Birmingham Bowl, 38-6. Bringing up memories of last seas...
youtu.be
Boston College vs. Cincinnati: The Boston College Eagles suffered a tough loss to Cincinnati in the Birmingham Bowl, 38-6. Bringing up memories of last season's canceled game, the game was delayed over an hour due to weather. Once resumed, the Eagles had trouble stopping the Bearcats offense as Desmond Ridder racked up 200 total yards and 4 total touchdowns in the win. With star running back AJ Dillon sitting out the BC offense struggled as well, putting up only 164 total yards in the game.
JFann of AllSportsDiscussion has an excellent write up here.
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2019-20 ACC Bowl Results (RX; HM)
2019-20 ACC Bowl Results
Here are the results of the 2019-20 ACC-related bowl games (and CFP semi-final game):
| Date | Bowl | Winner | Loser |
| Dec. 26 | Independence | Louisiana Tech 14 | Miami 0 |
| Quick Lane | Pitt 34 | E Michigan 30 | |
| Dec. 27 | Military | N Carolina 55 | Temple 13 |
| Pinstripe | Michigan St 27 | Wake Forest 21 | |
| Dec. 28 | Camping World | Notre Dame 33 | Iowa State 9 |
| Fiesta | #3 Clemson 29 | #2 Ohio State 23 | |
| Dec. 30 | Music City | Louisville 38 | Mississippi St 28 |
| Orange | #9 Florida 36 | #24 Virginia 28 | |
| Dec. 31 | Belk | Kentucky 37* | Virginia Tech 30 |
| Sun | Arizona State 20 | Florida State 14 | |
| Jan. 2 | Birmingham | Cincinnati 38 | Boston College 6 |
2019-20 ACC bowl record: 4-6 (5-6 if you count Notre Dame... although I don't in this case).
After a very promising start to bowl season, the ACC finished on a 4-game losing streak.
Total points: ACC 255, opponents 266 (again, with Notre Dame: ACC 288, opponents 275)
The final game - the Birmingham Bowl, in which BC lost by 32 to Cincinnati - was enough to push the point total in favor of the opposition.
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Michigan Football: Chris Partridge to Ole Miss is big loss for Wolverines (gbmwolverine.com; Peterson)
Michigan football suffered a big loss Thursday as Ole Miss announced Chris Partridge as its new defensive coordinator. Here’s the fallout.
It seemed inevitable that Chris Partridge was going to leave Michigan football once it was reported that Ole Miss wanted him as its defensive coordinator and Thursday, it became official.
Lane Kiffin and the Rebels announced a number of staff moves and among them was the hiring of Partridge as co-defensive coordinator, which is a huge blow to the Wolverines.
For one, many were holding out hope that Partridge could be an option to replace Don Brown. However, according to some inside info from Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider ($), that was never a possibility. Webb says that Partridge would not have gone for that.
It’s unclear if Michigan football made a serious attempt to keep him, either with a raise or any sort of promotion, but ultimately, you can’t blame Partridge for jumping at the chance to be a DC in college football’s premier conference.
Ole Miss announces coach Lane Kiffin has hired Chris Partridge, safeties coach from Michigan, Joe Jon Finley, tight end coach from from Texas A&M, and DJ Durkin, former Maryland head coach.
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Other
Onondaga County votes to increase hotel room tax to 7%, highest in state (PS; Knauss)
Onondaga County lawmakers today supported increasing the local hotel room tax from 5% to 7%, the highest in New York state, to raise more money to promote local tourism. The measure now goes to state lawmakers, whose approval is required before the county legislature can make the increase official.
Hotel owners and officials from Visit Syracuse, the county’s tourism marketing agency, told legislators the increase was necessary to promote the area as a travel destination. Occupancy rates are languishing at local hotels, and the region is competing for travelers against better-funded efforts in other communities, they said
.
"I see what other areas are doing, and we are at a disadvantage right now,'' said Ed Riley, owner of the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. "We don’t have as many resources being applied'' to attract visitors, he said.
By a 15-2 vote, the county legislature approved a resolution asking the state to authorize an increase in the bed tax. Legislators Bill Kinne and Mary Kuhn, both newly elected Democrats, voted against the measure saying they wanted more time to study it.
The 7% rate would be slightly higher than the 6% that some competing Upstate cities charge, but it’s an insignificant difference that would go unnoticed by travelers, said Danny Liedka, president and CEO of Visit Syracuse. On the other hand, extra money generated by the higher tax would help Visit Syracuse promote the region, he said.
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