sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Cocoa Day!
National Cocoa Day celebrates hot cocoa. The day fittingly takes place in December, as the drink is often associated with cold weather. Although the names "hot chocolate" and "hot cocoa" are often used interchangeably, there technically is a difference between the two. This difference is not legal, however, and the two are often mislabeled at stores, most often with hot cocoa being labeled as hot chocolate. The difference lies in that hot chocolate contains cocoa butter, and hot cocoa does not. Hot cocoa uses cocoa powder that is made by removing cocoa butter from ground cocoa beans. Hot chocolate is made from bar chocolate, which has cocoa powder, sugar, and cocoa butter in it. These differences give both their distinct flavor and texture. Hot cocoa is thinner and more chocolatey, but is less rich. The richness in hot chocolate comes from the higher fat content, which comes from the cocoa butter.
SU News
Syracuse’s offensive line allowed sacks on 9.7% of pass plays, which was sixth-worst nationally in 2021.
Data Dive: Here are the numbers that defined Syracuse's 2021 season (DO; Vasudevan)
Syracuse football failed to earn bowl eligibility on each of its three chances after its bye week. The Orange’s offense and defense — which had shown drastic improvements from the 2020 season — returned to their prior form, and faltered against Louisville, NC State and Pittsburgh.
Still, Syracuse finished with four more wins than last year. Head coach Dino Babers will be back next season, though offensive coordinator and play caller Sterlin Gilbert will not be. The Orange also established two offensive weapons for the future in Garrett Shrader and Sean Tucker while the 3-3-5 defense finished as the country’s 22nd-best overall defensive unit in its second year at SU.
With another year in the books, here are the stats breaking down Syracuse’s 5-7 finish:
How important was Sean Tucker? Answer: Extremely
Syracuse’s offensive scheme was simple this season: Tucker, Tucker and more Tucker. For most of the year it worked. Tucker led the nation in all-purpose yards (1,505) and all-purpose yards per game (167.22) heading into the bye week.
But Pittsburgh and Louisville’s defenses showed they could stop Tucker, holding him to 29 and 95 rushing yards, respectively. He was also a nonfactor in the receiving game, finishing with -2 yards against NC State and only 1 yard against Louisville. By the end of the season, he lost his bid to be the best running back in college football.
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Denis Jaquez
Syracuse Recruiting Roundup: Tapuvae Amaama, Avery Powell, Denis Jaquez - The Juice Online (the juice; Auger)
As we approach early signing day on Wednesday, we’ve got plenty to talk about in this week’s roundup.
Syracuse hosted a pair of uncommitted prospects in the 2022 class this past weekend. The first is 2022 offensive lineman Tapuvae Amaama from Lehi (UT). The three star prospect holds offers from Virginia, BYU, Syracuse and Miami, among others.
He was joined by three-star defensive back Avery Powell. The Jersey (NJ) City native holds an offer from Syracuse, as well as high-majors Nebraska, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Penn State and Wisconsin.
Syracuse extended an offer to 2022 defensive lineman Cameron Cooper. Rated three stars by 247 Sports, the Dayton (TX) prospect also holds offers from Colorado State, Louisiana Tech and Hawaii, among others.
Staying in Texas, the Orange also extended an offer to Kedrick Reescano from New (TX) Caney. The c/o 2023 running back is rated four stars by 247 Sports and has an offer list that includes Oklahoma State, Kansas, Michigan State and Houston.
Syracuse assistant coach Nick Monroe was active in New Jersey this week, extending an offer to a pair of West (NJ) Orange prospects from the 2023 class. The first was defensive lineman Gensley Auguste and the second was defensive back Saboor Karriem. Both already hold offers from Maryland and are not ranked by 247 Sports at the moment.
Syracuse seems to be in position to flip a prospect ahead of signing day. 2022 defensive lineman Denis Jaquez Jr. from Saint (NJ) Augustine Prep announced his decommitment from Northwestern over the weekend, and said he will be signing on Wednesday. The Orange has picked up a prediction from 247 National Analyst Brian Dohn.
Another prospect Syracuse could be pursuing as the early signing period approaches is 2022 Homestead (PA) running back Nijhay Burt. He currently holds offers from Buffalo, Duquesne and Slippery Rock, and recently welcomed Syracuse running backs coach Mike Lynch for an in-home visit. He is not ranked by 247 Sports.
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Syracuse Commit Joe Cruz Discusses 'Amazing' Official Visit (SI; McAllister)
Syracuse offensive line commit Joe Cruz, who stars at Sachem North High in New York, was on campus over the weekend for an official visit.
"The Syracuse visit was amazing," Cruz said. "It went very good. On Friday we got an in depth tour of the campus and what the academic side of Syracuse had to offer. Got to sit down with an academic advisor from my major and talk a lot about that. For dinner, we went to Destiny USA mall and ate at a Brazilian steakhouse. We went bowling after which was a lot of fun. On Saturday we got a tour of the football facilities and presentations from the athletic trainer and strength coach.
"For dinner we ate at the faculty center on campus. I think my favorite part of the visit was when we got to do a photoshoot with game day uniforms. It was cool to take pics and wear the gear that the players wear every week. Also, I got to meet a lot of the players on the team and they were really welcoming and cool to be around."
Cruz was impressed by the academic opportunities that Syracuse provides.
"I'm not 100% sure on what I want to major in but for the tour I put in for the school of education for history," Cruz said. "It was interesting to hear from an academic advisor on what I would be studying and how I would go about taking the right classes. Steps to become a teacher maybe one day in New York State. It's cool that at Syracuse I would be able to finish my major in three and a half years, then start working on my masters right away after that."
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Auburn football transfer portal: Tigers offer UAlbany EDGE Jared Verse (flywareagle.com; Hughes)
Auburn football got in on the hot transfer portal market for FCS transfer Jared Verse of UAlbany football.
The line for the services of the CAA all-conference EDGE is a long one. Per Pig Tail Nation, the list includes Missouri, Tennessee, Syracuse, Florida State, Iowa, Connecticut, Nebraska, West Virginia, Bowling Green, Houston, Utah, San Diego State, Purdue, Kent State, Colorado, James Madison, Utah State, Buffalo, Kansas, and Western Kentucky.
That’s a list that spans several different levels of college football. From the current FCS juggernaut James Madison, set to join the Sun Belt in 2022, to a number of SEC teams that includes Mizzou, Tennessee, and now Auburn football, Verse is a wanted man.
Verse felt the love from Tiger fans for his offer announcement:
UAlbany had a rough 2021 fall season, highlighted by several multi-touchdown losses to relative Goliath’s to their David. North Dakota State took down the Great Danes during the fall opener 28-6, while Syracuse put 62 on them at the Carrier Dome.
Their 2021 spring season barely got off the ground, with their final two games of a six game schedule being canceled. They were able to beat New Hampshire twice in 2021 though, marking three straight victories.
Without indulging too much further into CAA football trends, Fly War Eagle could tell you first-hand that Verse could cause havoc and bring big-play ability to the Tigers after leading the conference in tackles for loss.
The Bloomsburg, PA product would be more than welcomed on the Plains after several years in New York’s Capital Region.
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Avery Powell Has Syracuse 'Very High' After Official Visit (SI; $; McAllister)
Class of 2022 defensive back Avery Powell out of St. Peter's Prep in New Jersey spent the weekend on the Syracuse campus for an official visit. All Syracuse caught up with Powell to see how it went and get the latest in his recruitment.
Subscribe for full article
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Coaching Carousel: Grading the Four Coaching Hires in the ACC Coastal - Sports Illustrated Virginia Cavaliers News, Analysis and More (SI; Newton)
“Coastal Chaos” has officially been extended to the offseason. Four of the seven teams in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coastal Conference have hired new head coaches in the last few weeks. Let’s take a look at the new head coaches at Duke, Miami, Virginia, and Virginia Tech and hand out some hiring grades.
Duke - Mike Elko
2021 record: (3-9, 0-8 ACC)Previous coach: David Cutcliffe (77-97)
New coach: Mike Elko (defensive coordinator, Texas A&M)
Duke and David Cutcliffe agreed to mutually part ways after 14 seasons of Cutcliffe leading the Blue Devils football program. Cutcliffe won back-to-back ACC Coach of the Year Awards in 2012 and 2013 and Duke won the ACC Coastal in 2013 and finished with a 10-4 record. But, that would be the first and only 10-win season in the history of the Duke football program. Football will likely never be the first priority at Duke, but Mike Elko is tasked with helping rebuild the program after three consecutive losing seasons.
Elko, who spent the last four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, has also coached at Notre Dame and Wake Forest. Elko has a lot of experience coaching in the ACC, having spent 12 seasons on Dave Clawson’s coaching staff as he climbed the coaching ladder from Fordham to Richmond to Bowling Green, and then finally to Wake Forest. At Texas A&M, Elko’s defense ranked in the top 20 in total defense in both 2020 and 2021. There will certainly be a significant amount of challenges for Elko, especially in his first few years at Duke, but the Blue Devils were able to secure one of the top names in the coaching market, as Elko has been a candidate for a number of head coaching positions at major conference programs over the past few years.
Hiring Grade: B+
Miami - Mario Cristobal
2021 record: (7-5, 5-3 ACC)Previous coach: Manny Diaz (21-15)
New coach: Mario Cristobal (head coach, Oregon)
There has been a bit of controversy over Miami’s handling of the coaching change as it was widely reported that Mario Cristobal would be taking over as head coach at Miami while Manny Diaz was still head coach of the Hurricanes and while Cristobal was still head coach at Oregon. Beyond the circumstances of the hiring, it is hard not to like the hiring of Cristobal as Miami’s head coach if you are a Hurricanes fan. Cristobal has dominated the recruiting scene on the West Coast in recent years which is a very impressive feat at a school not named Southern California.
Now, Cristobal returns to his alma mater Miami, where he played offensive tackle from 1988 to 1992 and won two national championships. Florida is a hotbed for some of the best talent available in high school football, so Cristobal should have a high level of success on the recruiting trail right away. The only question is whether Cristobal will be able to translate recruiting success to success on the field. Miami has always had a surplus of talent, but the Hurricanes have struggled to win in a relatively weak ACC Coastal Division in recent years . Similarly, Cristobal recruited a great deal of top-tier talent at Oregon, but was unable to get the Ducks to come out of a fairly weak Pac-12 with a College Football Playoff-worthy resume in any of the last four seasons. Still, this is somewhat of a no-brainer hiring for Miami, bringing home a well-respected Hurricane alum who is an extremely talented recruiter with head coaching experience at one of the top programs in college football.
Hiring Grade: A-
Virginia - Tony Elliott
2021 record: (6-6, 4-4 ACC)Previous coach: Bronco Mendenhall (36-38)
New coach: Tony Elliott (offensive coordinator, Clemson)
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Tony Elliott Goes to Virginia, Mike Elko to Duke & What These Hires Mean for ACC Football
Virginia & Duke fill their head coaching vacancies with Tony Elliott & Mike Elko. Hear from Locked On Wolfpack Host Kenton Gibbs as he and Candace Cooper dis...
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Virginia & Duke fill their head coaching vacancies with Tony Elliott & Mike Elko. Hear from Locked On Wolfpack Host Kenton Gibbs as he and Candace Cooper discuss how these hires move, or don't move, the needle for the ACC. The two also talk Women's Basketball with the big Georgia Tech win & what went wrong for NC State as they fell short to #1 Purdue.
Fans and boosters seem to have their own ideas about where the new-look Miami Hurricanes should play.
Rx: ACC Football Brand 2021-22 (RX; HM)
Rx: ACC Football Brand 2021-22
ACC Football went from dead last among the six BCS-era "AQ" conferences to the very top of the "P5" in 2016. That was glorious - but it only lasted one season. Since then the ACC has slipped back to 4th place, and the Pac-12 has been threatening to pass them as well this year. What can be done?The article "Will the ACC ever reach its Potential?" posted on Fifth Quarter lists some of the things the author believes the ACC needs to happen to elevate the brand, such as...
- Mario Cristobal to be Miami’s savior and bring that program back to what it was before it joined the ACC.
- Brent Pry to be the guy at Virginia Tech to bring consistency.
- Mike Norvell to keep rising at Florida State.
- Dabo Swinney and Clemson to keep pushing forward with assistant coaches getting poached.
- Pittsburgh and Narduzzi to keep the momentum.
- A middle-of-the-road program like North Carolina or NC State to rise up and start challenging consistently on a national stage.
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Fans of some schools (VT included) have publicly wished to switch conferences (usually to the SEC) in the hopes that others would solve their football problems. Miami is the latest fan base to pine for greener pastures...
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Clemson 2021 Futbol National Champions (RX; HM)
for gbo. It isn't all doom and gloom...
Clemson 2021 Futbol National Champions
From the official ACC release of Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021...Clemson Wins 2021 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship
CARY, N.C. (theACC.com) – Clemson won the NCAA men's soccer national championship Sunday with a 2-0 triumph over Washington in the title match of the NCAA Men's College Cup in front of 7,238 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.ACC teams have won 18 NCAA men’s soccer championships. The ACC has had at least one conference team in the NCAA Men’s College Cup in 20 of the last 21 seasons.
This also marks the 11th time the ACC has won both the women’s and men’s soccer national championships in the same year. Florida State claimed the women's crown on Monday night. The ACC has won three team national championships this fall - men's soccer (Clemson), women's soccer (Florida State) and women's cross country (NC State) - with an opportunity to win another this weekend in women's volleyball (Louisville and Pitt).
The tournament's No. 8 seed, Clemson (16-5-2) notched the third national championship in program history, second most of any current ACC program (Virginia, 7). The Tigers also won national championships in 1984 and 1987. Clemson eliminated three of the tournament's top four seeds en route to the title. In addition to defeating No. 2 Washington (18-3-2) on Sunday, the Tigers knocked out top-seeded Oregon State and No. 4 seed Notre Dame in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Isaiah Reid scored both of Clemson's goals, recording a brace in the first 15 minutes of the first half. He scored just 27 seconds into the game to give the Tigers an early advantage and then added a beautiful header in the 15th minute for some added cushion.
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Weekend Links: 2021-12-11 (RX; HM)
Weekend Links: 2021-12-11
Clemson's Tony Elliot named Virginia head football coachGREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) – Former Clemson offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Tony Elliot has officially taken the head coaching job at the University of Virginia...
Should set up some classic offense (Elliot) vs. defense (Pry) Commonwealth Cup Games.
We got our guy! Welcome to Charlottesville, Coach Tony Elliott!
A proven champion
An offensive mastermind
A developer of NFL talent
#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/yi82ISlDZj
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) December 10, 2021
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Duke hires Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko as new head football coach
Duke landed its next football coach... Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko... Duke and [former Head Coach David] Cutcliffe agreed to part ways on Nov. 28, one day after the Blue Devils lost 47-10 to Miami to finish 3-9 and 0-8 in ACC play. It was the school’s first winless ACC campaign since 2007.
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Other
The Syracuse Technology Garden, a business incubator for tech startups, would expand as part of a larger plan to turn Central New York and the Mohawk Valley into a global tech hub. Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com
Schumer: Central New York picked to advance in US competition for economic development money (PS; $; Weiner)
Central New York and the Mohawk Valley beat out hundreds of communities from across the nation to advance in a $1 billion federal competition for economic development aid, the U.S. Commerce Department plans to announce today.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said the region will be among 60 finalists chosen from 529 applicants in the Build Back Better Challenge, a federal initiative aimed at helping speed the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Central New York and the Mohawk Valley teamed up on an application to develop a “smart systems cluster” in the region that would focus on transforming the local economy into a global technology hub.
The hub would focus on semiconductor chip manufacturing, quantum computing and drone technology.
CenterState CEO, a Syracuse-based economic development organization, led a coalition of more than a dozen municipalities and public institutions in the region that teamed up on the federal application.
If successful, Central New York and the Mohawk Valley would receive up to $100 million in federal grants to jump start eight technology projects that could bring more than 5,000 jobs to the region.
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