sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Christmas Card Day!
Christmas cards, and the man who is credited with coming up with the concept for a commercial Christmas card, Sir Henry Cole, are celebrated today. Because he didn't have time to write all his family and friends at Christmas time, Cole, a worker at the Public Records Office in London, commissioned artist John Calcott Horsley to design a card for him, which Horsley did while living at Orestone Manor, near Torquay, in the United Kingdom. This first card, created in 1843, had a picture of a family celebrating Christmas together while drinking, flanked by images of people giving food and clothing to the needy. Below, the phrase "A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU" was inscribed. As the cards worked well for Cole, he had a thousand of them printed, which were sold for a shilling each, making them the first mass produced Christmas cards. In 2001, one of the original cards, which was signed by Cole himself, fetched over $30,000 at auction. It is believed that about a dozen of the original cards survive today. One of them can be viewed at the National Art Library inside of the Victoria and Albert Museum, a museum where Henry Cole was the first director.
SU News
Notre Dame Football Analytics Recap: Syracuse Orange (onefootdown.com; podcast; Klaus & Concannon)
Notre Dame completed their second undefeated regular season in three years, winning a sloppy but decisive win over Syracuse 45-21. The Irish showed some weaknesses on both sides of the ball, but did more than enough to win the game and will have two weeks to work out the kinks before taking on Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers.
Before diving into these stats we need to re-explain some statistics. First, we count scrambles as passing plays because we want to learn which play calls are working. A successful or unsuccessful scramble from Ian Book is the result of a passing play call, and should be classified as such. Second, we only count non-garbage time statistics in these recaps. Garbage time is when a game is non-competitive, and is classified as when a team is up by 43 in the first quarter, 37 in the second quarter, 27 in the third quarter, and 22 in the fourth. This is Bill Connelly’s definition, ESPN’s College Football Analytics guru. As a result, you will not see Chris Tyree’s garbage time touchdown run as well as other plays included in these stats since we are only focused on what Notre Dame and its opponent do when the game is competitive. For even more definitions and context on our statistics, please follow this link to our analytics primer.
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Who’s in, who’s out? Tracking SU football's 2020 offseason (DO; Staff)
Graduating seniors have the unprecedented option of returning for an extra year after the NCAA made this season a free year of eligibility due to the pandemic. Along with the typical transfer portal activity of any offseason, the extra year could make for an especially volatile offseason for a Syracuse team reeling from a 1-10 season.
Here’s everything you need to know about who’s transferring and who’s returning for Syracuse football next season:
Returning
Tommy DeVito, Quarterback
DeVito’s father told Syracuse.com that the quarterback intends to return to SU, quieting speculation that the he’d transfer. Currently a redshirt junior, DeVito has two years of eligibility left. A foot injury sidelined him for the second half of the 2020 season.
Joshua Black, Defensive Lineman
Black, a key member of SU’s defensive line, announced Tuesday he’ll be returning to Syracuse in 2021. “It is MY duty to help lead and get Syracuse back on track,” he wrote in a statement. 2021 will be Black’s sixth year at SU.
Transferring
Aaron Hackett, Tight End
Hackett caught 10 passes for 63 yards and two touchdowns this season, significantly less than 2019. Even as he and fellow tight end Luke Benson’s volume decreased, the two were among SU’s most efficient options. Hackett announced Monday that he’ll transfer from Syracuse, and multiple schools have been in contact with him.
Markenzy Pierre, Running Back
Pierre, a redshirt junior, has reportedly entered the transfer portal. He was thrust into a prominent role in the backfield early in the season after Abdul Adams and Jarveon Howard opted out, but freshman Sean Tucker and redshirt sophomore Cooper Lutz eventually overtook him on the running back depth chart. He finished the season with 48 yards on 21 carries, fifth-best on the team.
Tyler Cook, Linebacker
Cook, a freshman walk-on, did not play a snap in 2020. 247 Sports reported he’s entered the transfer portal.
Syracuse Football Top 25 Players of All-Time: No. 18 Gary Anderson (itlh; Peelman)
Syracuse Football has had a long history of success. We look back at some of the best players to play at Syracuse University. Up next, No. 18: Gary Anderson.
Syracuse Football‘s Gary Anderson may not have played a high-profile position while at Syracuse, serving as a kicker for them from 1978-1981, but he definitely left his mark. At Syracuse and later on in the NFL, Anderson made himself invaluable kicking game-winning field goals, hitting clutch PAT’s, and pinning teams deep in their own territory on kickoffs.
Most kickers are overlooked as just special teams players who are occasionally needed. Whether that be at the end of the game to kick a field goal/PAT (to put the team ahead or tie) or to kick in spot duty just to get points on the board so the offense does not have an empty possession. Every once in a while there are kickers that are just so good at what they do that they are relied upon consistently by their coaches to make sure their team gets points no matter how far away the goal is. Anderson was that kind of player, and one coaches in today’s age of football wished were more prevalent.
Anderson’s first stop after high school was to play for Syracuse Football. In his three years on the Hill, he made 42/56 field goals, good for 75%, and a perfect 72/72 PAT’s, according to Sports-Reference.com.
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Throwback Wednesday
(BR)
Greg Paulus, Mike Williams, and Arthur Jones are the three Orange Men that everyone already knows. They are the stars of a team that has been in short supply of big-time talent in recent years.
And yet, there’s one more guy that football fans outside of Syracuse may not know as well, despite being as important to his team’s success as anyone else on the field.
That man is middle linebacker Derrell Smith.
Smith has been Syracuse’s key antagonist to opposing running games, piling up a Big East best with 16 solo tackles and 26 total take downs; ranking second in the conference.
In the Orange victory over Northwestern, Smith had one of his best games as part of the Syracuse football team. In addition to recording 10 tackles and forcing two fumbles, he also terrorized Wildcat quarterback Mike Kafka all day, sacking him twice.
Smith made his presence felt immediately, blindsiding Kafka on Northwestern’s first drive of the game with a hit so hard, the sound could be heard clearly all around the Dome over the sound of 40,000 screaming fans.
The monster hit made Kafka cough up the ball deep in Northwestern territory, which set up Syracuse’s first touchdown of the day and put the Orange up 10-0 early.
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Lea Named Broyles Award Nominee
Notre Dame Bob Hinton Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers coach Clark Lea has been named a nominee for the 2020 Broyles Award, honoring college football’s top assistant coach. Lea is one of 56 nominees for the award.
und.com
Clark Lea has played a large hand in helping lead Notre Dame to an undefeated 10-0 mark and a number two ranking in the College Football Playoff standings, molding the Irish defense into one of the most balanced units in the country. Not only do his position groups fit together to form a formidable foe, they excel at playing complimentary football with the Notre Dame offense.
Under Clark Lea’s guidance, the Notre Dame defense ranks in the top 15 in the FBS in third down defense (2), rushing defense (7), total defense (13) and scoring defense (13). The second-ranked Irish top the ACC in third down defense and scoring defense, ranking second in rushing defense. Notre Dame has held its opponents to less than 100 yards rushing in all but three games in 2020. Of the Top 10 rushers in the ACC, the Irish have faced five–limiting those five running backs to an average of 55.4 yards (277 yards total on 76 carries).
At North Carolina, UNC entered the game averaging 563 yards per game. Notre Dame held Carolina to 298 yards of total offense, the first time they have been limited to 400 yards or less this season. Additionally, the Irish shutout the Tar Heels in the second half, the first time North Carolina has been shut out in any half this season.
While facing then-top-ranked Clemson, the Tigers finished with 34 yards rushing on 33 carries. The last time Clemson was held to less than 34 yards of rushing was January 1, 2009 vs. Nebraska.
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ACC football weekend preview: UNC vs. Miami in battle of top-20 teams (fayobserver.com; Smith)
GAME OF THE WEEK
NO. 20 NORTH CAROLINA (7-3, 6-3) AT NO. 9 MIAMI (8-1, 7-1)
When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday
Where: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.
TV: ABC
KEYS FOR NORTH CAROLINA
Show up on both sides: The Tar Heels’ last two ACC games encapsulate the unevenness coach Mack Brown has wanted to remedy and the completeness he has sought since the start of the season.
Sam Howell threw for school records of 550 yards and six touchdowns as North Carolina wiped out a 21-point deficit in the second half to rally past Wake Forest 59-53, a shootout during which the team’s offense rescued its defense. Then, the defense delivered its best showing against Notre Dame, a game that was tied 17-17 midway through the third quarter. But Howell and Co. were suffocated on offense, registering season lows in rushing yards, passing yards and total offense while failing to score during the second half of the 31-17 loss.
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Clemson football: ACC title lies in the middle of the field (rubbingtherock.com; Benedict)
for gbo
The ACC Championship Game will be decided in one area between Clemson and Notre Dame.
There is a lot of hype around the ACC Championship game between Clemson and Notre Dame with kick-off 11 days away. Irish quarterback Ian Book is making the media rounds adding fuel to fire – first he was on the ABC telecast Saturday night and today he was on Dan Patrick.
He is trying to downplay the Trevor Lawrence aspect saying he “doesn’t play defense” and Book is correct Trevor doesn’t play defense. However, neither does Book himself.
There is one part of the field that the Tigers will either win or lose the game on – the middle of the field.
It seems like Clemson football offensive coordinator Tony Elliott has become allergic to the middle of the field. Even going back to the LSU game last year, whether it was Amari Rodgers or Braden Galloway, the LSU Tigers were unable to defend it.
The same goes for every other team on the 2020 Clemson football schedule. However, Elliott seems to purposely stay away from the largest part of the field. His game every week is to attack the edges and the sidelines.
While the Tigers have had a fair amount of success, why not open on the 40 yards between the numbers and allow Trevor Lawrence and all the weapons on offense to force Notre Dame to cover every inch of the field?
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CFP Poll Analysis - 12/8/20 (RX; HM)
CFP Poll Analysis - 12/8/20
Here's the latest College Football Playoff Top 25 Ranking:
| CFP Top 25 Rankings | |
| RK | TEAM |
| 1 | Alabama |
| 2 | Notre Dame |
| 3 | Clemson |
| 4 | Ohio State |
| 5 | Texas A&M |
| 6 | Florida |
| 7 | Iowa State |
| 8 | Cincinnati |
| 9 | Georgia |
| 10 | Miami |
| 11 | Oklahoma |
| 12 | Indiana |
| 13 | Coastal Carolina |
| 14 | Northwestern |
| 15 | USC |
| 16 | Iowa |
| 17 | North Carolina |
| 18 | BYU |
| 19 | Louisiana |
| 20 | Texas |
| 21 | Colorado |
| 22 | Oklahoma State |
| 23 | NC State |
| 24 | Tulsa |
| 25 | Missouri |
Other
Syracuse University sued for millions over Covid response: ‘They’re making out like bandits’ (PS; $; Dowty)
A multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Syracuse University is demanding a refund on behalf of all spring semester students forced to pay full tuition despite a switch to virtual learning during the coronavirus pandemic.
The lawsuit taps into a frustration shared by college students and their families across Central New York and the nation. More than 70 similar lawsuits — including another one against Cornell University — have been filed across the country, according to one legal research firm.
It boils down to this: Did colleges create a legally binding contract with students to provide an in-person education, guaranteeing the use of a campus’s laboratories, libraries, classrooms and other physical facilities?
Or did SU — and other colleges — avoid making such rigid promises, instead simply guaranteeing to provide an education as the college best saw fit?
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