sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Day of the Ninja!
Created by Ninja Burger, a parody website that claims to be a sect of ninjas that can deliver fast food meals in under a half-hour to any place at any time, Day of the Ninja is a day when people dress like ninjas, do things that ninjas would do, and share information about ninjas online. The creators of the day have said the day should be used to "plague your co-workers with ninja-ness and wear a ninja mask to work," but said those who don't have to work today should "run wild in the streets, or dress like a ninja at the mall." They encourage everyone to make posts about ninjas all over the internet, such as by making posts on YouTube, putting links about ninjas on websites, and sharing photos of yourself wearing ninja outfits. They say the most important thing that can be done is to tell others about the day so that they can celebrate as well. They aren't too picky about how people celebrate, saying, "Just show the world that YOU ARE NINJA!"
SU News
Media Scoop of the Year: Syracuse Headed to Gator Bowl? (orangefizz.net; Amendolara)
Since Syracuse’s thrilling comeback against Miami, Central New York’s favorite parlor game is guessing which bowl they end up in. One intrepid student reporter and his brother may have gotten the scoop directly from Kyle McCord. It’ll be… the Gator Bowl.
Luke Radel is a member of the student media at Syracuse and tweeted about his meeting with McCord.
Radel says his younger brother (“who’s becoming an intrepid sports reporter”) asked when the bowl game will be and McCord answered, “It’s looking like December 27th or January 2nd, but we’ll see on Sunday.”
The ACC bowls on those dates: Birmingham Bowl on 12/27. The Gator Bowl is 1/2.
There are three reputable college football outlets/personalities that also place SU in the Gator Bowl. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and the Action Network.
247Sports projects Duke to the Gator Bowl, but says “potentially Syracuse” could land there. USA Today has Louisville in the Gator. SI puts Miami in the Gator and Syracuse in the Fenway Bowl, which is played on 12/28.
The latest CFB Playoff rankings have Syracuse cracking into the top 25, and suddenly the Orange have become a hot item. In fact, ACC supporters are citing SU as the reason Miami’s strength of schedule should earn them a place in the playoff. My, how things have changed.
Perhaps the coaching staff merely told the players to keep an eye on those two dates. But it’s also possible there’s some inside knowledge coming from Gator Bowl reps to the SU athletic department. If Clemson upsets SMU and the ACC gets two schools into the playoff, SU could very well be headed to Jacksonville. And maybe the scoop was made by two future media stars. This could be one of the coolest stories of the year. Radel’s twitter also says he’s Bills Mafia, so we know he’s good people.
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Syracuse Football: Latest bowl projections after 'Cuse upsets Miami and moves to 9-3 (itlh; Adler)
We already knew that Syracuse football, at the end of the 2024 season, would go bowling for a third straight year.
Now, we just have to wait and find out which bowl the Orange will reside in, and what team the 'Cuse will face.
In week 14, this past Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse football mounted the largest comeback in program history to topple then-No. 6 Miami, 42-38. That pushed the Orange, under first-year head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff, to 9-3 during the 2024 regular season, a tremendously successful campaign for the 'Cuse.
Appropriately, last Sunday, Syracuse football entered the Associated Press and Coaches top-25 polls. This week, when the College Football Playoff top-25 rankings are updated, the Orange should move into those ratings, too.
The latest bowl projections for Syracuse football after its stunning triumph over Miami.
Brad Crawford, an analyst with 247Sports, predicts that the Orange will face Big Ten Conference school Minnesota (7-5) at the Duke's Mayo Bowl on January 3 in Charlotte, N.C.
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Fran Brown pictured with his youngest son, Brayden, as he and Syracuse’s players sing the university’s alma mater following the Orange’s Week 1 win over Ohio on Aug. 31, 2024. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer
‘Don’t give ammo to me’: Inside Fran Brown’s road to rejuvenating SU football (DO; Andrews)
If Fran Brown starts talking about his 12-year-old son Brayden’s pee-wee football games, he doesn’t want to stop. The length of Brown’s grin multiplies at each point of pride he spills about Brayden — especially his ability to play every position on the field, Brown said, joking the versatility could lead to Brayden’s Syracuse commitment one day.
He only saw Brayden play three times this year. But when Brown wasn’t there, he’d watch his youngest son’s film like he was scouting an opponent. Why? It suppresses the ups and downs of the season. Brown’s at peace when his mind is on family.
Brown cherishes when he can incorporate family into his coaching lifestyle. Brayden hangs with SU’s team all the time. Even Brown’s eldest son, Fran Jr., works out with Syracuse players when he returns home for the summer from Saint Francis University.
“They raise my son, too,” Brown said of his players. “That’s how you know you have a good team. When I bring my son around, I don’t blink an eye, I know they’re gonna take care of him. They’re doing the right thing, showing him how to be a little man.”
It’s emblematic of Brown’s culture — a nurturing but demanding environment that’s been a stark difference from SU’s previous brain trusts. Brown, a 42-year-old from Camden, New Jersey, has used that to spark a historic program turnaround since Syracuse hired him as its 31st head football coach last November.
Brown helmed SU’s third season with over nine victories since 2000, caused by a dynamic culture change and a top-25 transfer portal haul, per 247Sports. He won four November games, which the Orange hadn’t accomplished since 1997. He also notched the most wins for a first-year SU head coach since Paul Pasqualoni in 1991.
His journey included bumps like coaching mishaps and self-admitted embarrassing losses. But Brown’s rejuvenating season brought Syracuse out from the abyss of mediocrity into a program that oozes potential.
That sentiment was sealed when Brown’s Orange shocked Miami, then-ranked No. 6 in the nation by the College Football Playoff Committee, on Nov. 30 to close the 2024 regular season. SU clawed back from a 21-point deficit, its largest comeback ever, to spoil the Hurricanes’ ACC title hopes in a 42-38 win — the Orange’s first AP Top-10 victory since 2017.
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Recruits reflect on attending Syracuse's win over Miami (DO; Wilcox)
Syracuse earned its third top-25 victory of the season with a 42-38 win over then-No. 8 Miami on Saturday. While the Orange completed a 21-0 comeback, high school recruits watched from the stands of the JMA Wireless Dome.
The scenes in the Dome — as SU rallied to shock the Hurricanes and fans stormed the turf — struck a chord with the recruits.
“You don’t experience that every day,” Ben Congdon, a 2026 recruit, said.
Congdon was one of 100 recruits invited to SU’s final regular-season game. The visit served as an opportunity for Syracuse prospects from the classes of 2025-28 to learn what it takes to compete at the Division I level and develop relationships with SU’s coaching staff.
Here are some of the recruits’ takeaways from the Miami game and where their recruiting process stands following Syracuse’s comeback win:
Emulating current SU players
Despite trailing big early in the second quarter, Syracuse’s offense clawed back to tie the game just a minute into the second half.As 2026 quarterback recruit Lamar Best watched SU signal caller Kyle McCord lead the Orange’s offense, Best observed what it takes to succeed under center in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“Kyle was able to do what he wanted with the ball, and there was a lot of open stuff that he was able to get to,” Best said.
On the first drive of the third quarter, McCord found Trebor Peña on consecutive plays for a quick score. 2027 recruit Sebastian Lora tracked Peña due to their similar “twitchy” playstyles and size.
Steven Pickard Jr., a 2026 offensive guard, was attracted to SU’s pro-style schemes. Pickard and Congdon each took note of the Orange’s offensive line movement and communication.
With the game tied at 28-28, defensive back Devin Grant converted a 56-yard scoop and score to give SU its first lead of the game. That play stood out to 2025 recruit Gavin Magorien.
“It could have been one of the best defensive plays I’ve ever seen,” Magorien said.
Pushing for New Jersey control
New Jersey became one of head coach Fran Brown’s most targeted areas for recruiting when he took the SU coaching position in 2023. The Orange signed 13 recruits from New Jersey in their 2024 class. Meanwhile, SU brought in transfers McCord, Duce Chestnut and Fadil Diggs, all New Jersey natives.New Jersey natives Best, Gabe Palaganas and Roseby Lubintus each attended the Miami game. Palaganas observed how the undersized SU edge rushers were effective against a taller Miami offensive line, something the 6-foot-1 recruit aims to emulate.
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Kyle McCord’s victory lap adds salt to Ohio State football’s wound after Michigan loss -- Jimmy Watkins (cleveland.com; Watkins)
Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord’s new teammates are laughing at his old ones. Not only did Ohio State lose 13-10 to Michigan on Saturday, but McCord threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns in a win over No. 6 Miami the same day. Connect the dots between his transfer from Columbus and the Buckeyes’ sad, familiar result against their rival, and you’ll get the joke.
But just in case, here’s a punchline to prove his point.
“Everything comes full circle,” McCord said Saturday when asked about OSU’s loss. His teammates couldn’t help but snicker.
The former Buckeye’s standup comedy debut came with the perfect setup from his former school. One year after Ohio State told McCord it couldn’t guarantee him a starting role in 2024 — which he took to mean, “hit the portal” — the Buckeyes lost a fourth straight game to Michigan with their third different starting quarterback during this losing streak and their lowest point total in The Game since 1996 (six years before McCord was born).
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Greg Walker (left), Rodney “Tex” Johnson (second left), EJ Dowdell (middle), Earl Lumpkin (second from right) and Marcus Lee (right) pose in front of the Miyako Hotel. The Orange stayed in Tokyo for a week to prepare for their game. Photo Courtesy of EJ Dowdell
‘The best 6 days of my life’: Reliving Syracuse football’s Tokyo trip 35 years later (DO; Stepansky)
Syracuse’s longest-ever road trip began with a 4 a.m. wake-up, as it set out for a nearly 11,000-mile ride. The Orange flew to Chicago before boarding a Japan Airlines 747, making a pitstop in Anchorage, Alaska, and then reaching Tokyo, Japan.
“You see things on TV, but to be there, to get a chance to talk to people over there. It was an experience of a lifetime,” offensive lineman Turnell Sims said.
On Dec. 3, 1989, Syracuse’s centennial football team faced Louisville in the Coca-Cola Bowl. Hosted in the world-renowned Tokyo Dome, the Orange and Cardinals met in the 1989 regular-season finale with a trip to the Peach Bowl on the line. SU’s 24-13 win was anchored by third-string quarterback Wendal Lowrey, wide receiver Rob Carpenter and a standout defensive performance.
Thirty-five years later, however, members of Syracuse’s squad reminisce far beyond what occurred on the Tokyo Dome turf. What ensued was a week full of cultural revelations and outlandish stories that have lasted decades later.
“I tried to look at it and just enjoy the best of both worlds on that trip. I will forever tell everybody that it was one of the best six days of my life,” Carpenter said.
Originally sponsored by Japanese motor company Mitsubishi, NCAA teams started traveling to Japan for a regular-season contest in 1977. Coca-Cola took over sponsorship in 1986, and the Tokyo Dome opened in 1988, hosting Barry Sanders and then-No. 12 Oklahoma State. A year later, it was SU’s turn.
While most NCAA trips include only travel squads, the Orange made an exception. Due to the needed week of preparation in the country and unique experience, head coach Dick MacPherson decided to bring the entire roster. He told the team his plan early in the season.
“When he announced it, I’m like, ‘Ah, I guess I’m not going, that’s the travel team,’” EJ Dowdell, a redshirt freshman at the time, said. “And then it was like, ‘Well no, everybody’s going.’ That’s when everybody went crazy.”
The Orange’s equipment crew made an inch-thick manifest of all necessary items, which equipment manager Kyle Fetterly said went down to extra shoelaces. The crew began packing a month in advance and drove a tractor-trailer full of equipment to Chicago before the flight.
SU’s flight to Tokyo was unprecedented. Multiple underclassmen had never even been on a flight. Wide receiver Qadry Ismail estimates 90% of the roster had never left the country.
The process of securing birth certificates to acquire passports was rigorous. Defensive lineman George Rooks said the coaching staff and administration met with the team months in advance to sort paperwork, take passport pictures and collect medical information.
At O’Hare International Airport, Syracuse joined the Cardinals, their cheerleading and dance teams and the Grambling State marching band. All parties then piled into a double-decker plane headed west toward Tokyo.
Players took different approaches to managing the flight, which some remember as 16 hours while others saw closer to 20. Linebacker Dan Bucey, who recorded the game-sealing interception, recalls the coaching staff advising players to stay on their normal schedules and sleep on the latter portion of the ride. Against their judgment, Bucey and his crew stayed out all night, expecting to be tired once they got the plane. He struggled to sleep.
Carpenter remembers sleeping the first five hours, settling in before a lengthy backend of the trip. Meanwhile, Bucey said Louisville players enjoyed their time a little more.
“They were ordering alcohol and partying in the back of that plane, carrying on something unbelievable,” Bucey said of the Cardinals. “The stewardess was walking by with the mini bottles to the back of that plane constantly.”
As the flight continued, players from both squads convened to play card games. To refuel midway through the flight, they stopped in Anchorage. Alaska’s largest city was just a pitstop, but Bucey recalls seeing famous musician Barry Manilow donning his signature full-length fur coat in the airport. The short experience didn’t offer much else, though.
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Syracuse Football 2024 National Signing Day Press Conference 12-4-24 (soundcloud.com; radio; Cuse Sports Talk)
Brian Higgins leads you in and out of Syracuse football general manager Nate McNeal and the Orange's scouting department discussing the incoming recruiting class and more on National Signing Day.
Pro Football Focus' Max Chadwick Talks Syracuse Football Draft Stocks, CFP Rankings Controversy (youtube; radio; Cuse Sports Talk)
Max Chadwick, college football analyst for Pro Football Focus, joins Mario Sacco and Jordan Capozzi to discuss the NFL Draft outlooks for several Syracuse football players, and discuss the newest College Football Playoff Rankings.
Syracuse Football BIG WINNERS of 2025 College Football Signing Day + Dominate New York Recruiting (youtube; podcast; Locked on Syracuse)
Syracuse Orange Football had another excellent recruiting class under Head Coach Fran Brown. Syracuse got four-star safety Demetres Samuel Jr. to sign, and held off the Michigan Wolverines for Quante Gillians, the highest rated player from New York on 247sports. Syracuse dominated the state of New York, landing six of the 10 best recruits from the state. The Orange missed on blue-chip prospects: Javion Hilson, Winston Watkins, and Dawayne Galloway. Overall, Syracuse's class ranks 36th in the country and 7th best in the ACC on 247sports.
Jackson Holzer reacts to Syracuse's signing day on this edition of the Locked On Syracuse Podcast.
Don McPherson Discusses The Syracuse's Big Win Over Miami (youtube; podcast; Cuse Sports Talk)
Former Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson joins Gomez and Company to discuss how the Orange finished strong against Miami, breaks down the CFB playoff rankings, and more.
William Fleming’s Malachi Coleman signs NLI to play football at Syracuse (youtube; video; WFXR)
William Fleming senior running back Malachi Coleman signed his national letter of intent to play football at Syracuse University.
Where does Syracuse football’s Class of 2025 rank after Early National Signing Day? (PS; $; Carlson)
The Syracuse football team’s 2025 recruiting class was ranked No. 36 in the country and seventh in the ACC at the end of Early National Signing Day, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
Those results were a slight improvement from Syracuse’s first recruiting class under Fran Brown, when the Orange’s class was ranked No. 37 in the country and eighth in the ACC.
Miami has the highest-ranked recruiting class in the ACC this season at No. 15 nationally. The Hurricanes are followed by Georgia Tech (18th), Clemson (25th), Florida State (27th), SMU (31st) and Duke (33rd).
The other major recruiting websites also judge Syracuse’s recruiting class this season to be in the same ballpark as last season.
Syracuse’s recruiting class was ranked No. 44 by On3.com, down from No. 37 last season. Syracuse matched its Rivals ranking from last year at No. 36.
This year’s ranking was boosted by an abnormally large number of prospects. Syracuse signed 34 players on Early National Signing Day, four more than any school in the country.
It is the largest high school recruiting class that 247Sports has on record (dating back to 2009). Georgia also brought in 34 players in 2012, but a number came from junior colleges.
Despite the high number of recruits, Syracuse’s average grade per recruit ranked 50th in the country, according to 247Sports.
According to the recruiting rankings, the jewel of the Class of 2025 is likely four-star safety Demetres Samuel, ranked the No. 208 player in the country in the 247Sports composite rankings. That’s the second-best ranking for any Syracuse player since 2009.
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A top football recruit in New York turns down Michigan to play at Syracuse (PS; $; Pignatello)
When Rochester native and Class of 2025 defensive end Quante Gillians started his recruitment process, he wanted to leave the Northeast and explore a different part of the country.
“I was always like, ‘Oh, I want to get out,’ ” Gillians said in August.
But once Fran Brown took the head-coaching job at Syracuse, and once edge coach Nick Williams offered him a scholarship and the two built a relationship, Gillians became more intrigued with SU.
The Orange pursued him hard, and after a breakfast with several of his future teammates at Brown’s house on his official visit over the summer, Gillians canceled his upcoming visit to Michigan State and committed to Syracuse.
Then, in September, Michigan came calling.
The defending national champions pursued the edge rusher, ranked the No. 1 player in New York by 247Sports, so hard that Gillians made a pros and cons list with his family to decide his next step.
He also took a visit to Ann Arbor for the Wolverines’ game against Michigan State in October.
“It was pretty serious,” Gillians said on Wednesday before signing with Syracuse and his high school ceremony at Aquinas Institute. “It boiled down to my top two. It actually ended up being Syracuse and Michigan.”
Ultimately, Gillians said his relationship with Williams and Syracuse’s proximity to his hometown kept him in Syracuse. Gillians said Syracuse told him he was its No. 1 defensive lineman prospect and he feels as though the Orange is best suited to help him reach his goal of playing in the NFL.
Defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson and Williams will both be in attendance for Gillians’ signing day ceremony Wednesday afternoon in Rochester, Gillians said.
“It means that they really believe in me and I’m really their guy,” Gillians said. “Shows nothing but love.”
Gillians’ head coach at Aquinas, Moe Jackson, is also a Rochester native and played four years of wide receiver at Syracuse from 1997-2001. Would he let Gillians flip away from his alma mater?
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Expert has Syracuse football a team to watch for Texas A&M QB, former 5-star prospect (itlh; Adler)
A top expert says Syracuse football is among the programs to watch for Texas A&M redshirt sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman once he enters the transfer portal.
According to a post on X, On3 college sports business and transfer portal reporter Pete Nakos says five teams to watch for the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Weigman include the Orange, Missouri, Iowa, Louisville and Wisconsin.
x.com
twitter.com
Per ESPN statistics, to date in the 2024 season, Weigman has completed 56.1 percent of his passes for 819 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions. Southeastern Conference member Texas A&M is 8-4 overall and will play in a bowl game this post-season.
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ACC News
College Football Playoff Committee is clearly biased towards SEC, Big Ten (youtube; podcast; 99.9 The Fan)
Tim Donnelly & Dennis Cox discuss the CFP Rankings and how the College Football Playoff Committee does not give ACC football any credit compared to SEC football and Big Ten football, most notably between Alabama football and Miami football.
https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...backlash-for-potential-acc-championship-drama (athlonsports.com; Sullivan)
There was a lot to unpack Tuesday night when the updated College Football Playoff field was released, and with the rankings now set, intense drama could potentially unfold over the weekend, particularly in the ACC Championship.
Following the reveal, College Football Playoff committee chairman Warde Manuel stated that if No. 8 SMU loses to No. 17 Clemson in the ACC title game, SMU could potentially fall below No. 11 Alabama, who isn't playing this weekend.
This comment, along with several clear flaws in the system, sparked significant backlash against the committee for a number of reasons.
Manuel's remarks suggest that, despite finishing the regular season 11-1 and making the championship, SMU could be punished and eliminated from playoff contention with a loss on Saturday.
If Clemson, ranked outside the top 12, were to steal an automatic bid, it could leave either SMU or Alabama as the odd team out, especially with the winner of the Arizona State vs. Iowa State game also securing an automatic bid into the postseason.
Now, if SMU wins, much of the drama would be avoided, as both SMU and Alabama would likely secure spots in the playoffs, with the Crimson Tide slotting in as the 12th and final seeded team.
Many, including ESPN's Mike Greenberg and Paul Finebaum, have pointed out the flaw in the system: in this scenario, SMU might be better off not playing this weekend and avoiding the risk of a loss to Clemson entirely. While that won't happen, it points out a clear flaw in the format.
The potential drama from the ACC Championship has already caused significant backlash from a range of perspectives, shining a spotlight on the flaws within the current playoff format.
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College Football Playoff conundrum: What if Clemson wins ACC championship? (yahoo.com; Busbee)
Back in 2016 — an eon ago in college football terms — Alabama and Clemson squared off in the title game of the second College Football Playoff. That national championship game in Arizona was one of those classic big-on-big battles, a heavyweight title fight that was tied at 24-24 early in the fourth quarter. Then Alabama did the unexpected, exploiting a hole in Clemson’s special teams by kicking a surprise onside kick. The Tide recovered the kick, scored, and never trailed again.
Nearly nine years later, Clemson has an opportunity to pull a similar reversal on Alabama this weekend, and just like that night in 2016, nobody saw it coming.
Somehow, 9-3 Clemson, ranked 17th in the CFP bracket and 18th in the AP Top 25, is playing for a conference championship and the right to a guaranteed playoff berth. The Tigers are roughly 2.5-point underdogs to SMU, but that’s irrelevant; as we’ve seen the last few weeks, lines don’t matter a bit after kickoff.
You’re going to hear the words “brand bias” a lot over the next few days, and that’s because the CFP selection committee opted to jump three-loss Alabama over two-loss Miami for, effectively, the final spot in the CFP bracket. Alabama has a history of favorable treatment from the college football elite, most recently last year when the one-loss Tide leaped undefeated Florida State for the final spot in the final four-team playoff. (FSU hasn’t been the same team since, the poor broken 'Noles.)
Perhaps it’s a long-standing makeup call for denying Alabama deserved acclaim back in the 1960s. (The college football establishment effectively punished the state of Alabama for having a good football team in a racist society.) Or perhaps it’s just that houndstooth-and-Process crimson mist that’s clouding everyone’s vision, regardless of how good this particular lost-to-Vanderbilt squad is.
But it’s not just Alabama who will be eyeing the ACC championship Saturday night. At stake here is the ACC’s entire reputation and the CFP selection committee’s validity. Is a three-loss conference champion the best the ACC can do? Does a three-loss conference champion deserve to leap into the playoff over half a dozen better teams? Does a three-loss SEC team deserve to be in the field over one, and possibly two, two-loss ACC teams?
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Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin blasts ACC, selection committee over CFP rankings (clarionledger.com; Hutchens)
Like many others, Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin is taking to social media to voice his displeasure with the College Football Playoff rankings.
Ole Miss (9-3, 5-3 SEC) was No. 13 in the CFP rankings released Tuesday. Because the Rebels are not playing in the SEC championship game, they are out of chances to improve their resume. With Alabama (9-3, 5-3, No. 11 CFP) and Miami (10-2, 6-2 ACC, No. 12 CFP) ahead of the Rebels on the bubble, Ole Miss is likely to be left out of the final rankings on Sunday.
Miami and the ACC were the latest target of a pointed message from Kiffin.
"You guys actually meet for days and come up with these rankings? Do you actually watch the quality of players, teams, and road environments (we played in one of yours this year) or just try and make the ACC feel relevant? Kiffin wrote in a message directed to the College Football Playoff X account.
The scathing message was in reply to statistics that outlined the case for why Ole Miss should be ranked over Miami. The Rebels' top two wins are against Georgia (No. 5 in the CFP) and at South Carolina (No. 14). Miami's best wins are over at Louisville and against Duke, neither of which are ranked in the CFP.
Kiffin's message also nodded at Ole Miss' road win against an ACC opponent earlier this season. Ole Miss beat Wake Forest 40-6 in Week 3. Kiffin included the "ZZZ" emoji in his post, implying the Wake Forest road environment was easy to deal with.
Wake Forest backed out of a previously scheduled return trip for a game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium that was supposed to happen in 2025.
"(By the way) one of your teams paid us not to play again next year," Kiffin wrote.
Miami’s Ward and BC’s Ezeiruaku Garner ACC Player of the Year Honors (theacc.com)
Miami quarterback Cam Ward has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year while Boston College defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku was tabbed the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, it was announced on Wednesday, December 4.
Voting for the awards was conducted by a 71-member voting panel consisting of 54 selected media and the conference’s 17 head coaches.
A finalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Davey O’Brien and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards, in addition to being a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, Ward has led a Miami offense that has ranked among the nation’s best in scoring offense, total offense and passing offense all season long.
The West Columbia, Texas, native set the Miami program single-season record for passing yards and touchdowns this season. An All-ACC First-Team selection, Ward leads the nation in passing touchdowns (36) and Total QBR (88.0), and ranks second in all of FBS in passing yards (4,123), passing yards per game (343.6), total offense per game (359.9), points responsible for (254), and points responsible for per game (21.2). He also ranks fourth in the nation in passing efficiency (171.1) and yards per pass attempt (9.48), all of which rank in the top two in the ACC.
Ward, who has passed for over 300 yards in 10 games this season, has thrown for 17,999 yards over his collegiate career which ranks in the top five in NCAA history. He also has recorded 155 career touchdown passes, which is tied for the NCAA Division I career record with Case Keenum (Houston).
Tabbed the ACC Quarterback of the Week six times this season, Ward was also named a two-time Maxwell Award Player of the Week (September 4 and October 22) and three-time Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Player of the Week (September 25, October 9, and October 23). He was also named the Davey O’Brien Award National Quarterback of the Week on September 4, the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award National Player of the Week on September 24, and the Associated Press National Player of the Week on October 7.
Ward is the first player from Miami to be named the ACC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year.
A semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Bednarik and Lombardi awards, Ezeiruaku has been a force on the defensive side of the ball for Boston College all season long. The Williamstown, New Jersey, native leads the nation in sacks (16.5) and sacks per game (1.38), and ranks second in all of FBS in total tackles-for-loss (20.5) and tackles-for-loss per game (1.7). His 16.5 sacks this season are tied for the third-most in ACC’s single-season history.
An All-ACC First-Team selection, Ezeiruaku was named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week three times, including in each of the last two weeks to end the season. An AFCA Good Works Team nominee, he was also named the Walter Camp Award National Defensive Player of the Week on October 1 and the Bednarik Award Player of the Week on December 3.
Ezeiruaku becomes the third Eagle player to be named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, joining Mark Herzlich in 2008 and Luke Kuechly in 2011.
A complete breakdown of the 2024 ACC Football Player of the Year voting:
Player of the Year
Cam Ward – Miami (59)
Kevin Jennings – SMU (4)
Omarion Hampton – North Carolina (4)
Kyle McCord – Syracuse (2)
Brashard Smith – SMU (1)
Antwaun Powell-Ryland – Virginia Tech (1)
Offensive Player of the Year
Cam Ward – Miami (59)
Omarion Hampton – North Carolina (7)
Kyle McCord – Syracuse (3)
Kevin Jennings – SMU (1)
Brashard Smith – SMU (1)
Defensive Player of the Year
Donovan Ezeiruaku – Boston College (29)
Antwaun Powell-Ryland – Virginia Tech (14)
Kyle Louis – Pitt (12)
Nohl Williams – California (7)
Barrett Carter – Clemson (4)
Kobe Wilson – SMU (1)
T.J. Parker – Clemson (1)
Isaiah Nwokobia – SMU (1)
David Bailey – Stanford (1)
Jonas Sanker – Virginia (1)
Miami scores big on signing day with the ACC's top recruiting class (apnews.com; Iacobelli)
Miami’s poor finish may have cost it a chance at the Atlantic Coast Conference title. It did not, however, cost the Hurricanes with college prospects as they finished atop the league Wednesday at the start of the early signing period.
Miami lost to Georgia Tech and Syracuse over its last three games to fall from contention for a league crown. It did much better with its latest signing class, its group of 19 finishing 14th nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Georgia Tech was second (18th overall), Florida State third (22nd) with ACC title game participants Clemson (26th) and SMU (30th) fourth and fifth in the league.
Leader of the pack
Miami landed edge rusher Hayden Lowe from Los Angeles. He was pledged to Southern Cal before signing with the Hurricanes. The 6-foot-4, 242-pound Lowe had offers from across the country, including Alabama, Notre Dame, Oregon and Texas.They also bought in Elite 11 passer Luke Nickel from Alpharetta, Georgia, considered one of the nation’s top passers. He was ranked 22nd overall at the position by 247Sports.
Best of the rest
Georgia Tech was next in line behind Miami as Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key continues building his young program. Key landed four-star cornerback Tae Harris, who was committed to Georgia and then Clemson before flipping to join the Yellow Jackets in recent weeks.SMU was the only undefeated team in league play this season, the Mustangs’ first in the ACC, and capitalized on that. The Mustangs signed quarterback Ty Hawkins, the 17th-best passer in the nation, according to 247Sports.
Andrew Ivins 247Sports’ director of scouting said it will be the first time since the organization began that Clemson won’t have a top-25 class. Ivins said the Tigers’ 15-member class has some potential NFL players in it, but the team’s depth will take a hit.
Clemson’s group included offensive lineman Brayden Jacobs, son of former NFL running back Brandon Jacobs. The younger Jacobs is ranked as the eighth-best offensive lineman in the country by 247Sports.
Under the radar
Florida State, which went from defending ACC champion to last place in the league at 1-7 and 2-10 overall, began its climb back up with a class ranked 31st overall by 247Sports. The group included highly rated kicker/punter Brunno Reus from Sarasota, Florida. ... Duke, after its third straight season with eight or more wins, added a strong class that includes linebacker Bradley Gompers, its highest ever 247Sports signee at 104th in the country. ... Louisville, despite eight wins, was ranked 15th out of 17 ACC teams. ... North Carolina, seeking a new coach with Mack Brown not returning, was ranked last in league recruiting.Star of the class
Despite losing a handful of commitments, Clemson was able to land one of the country’s best in defensive lineman Amare Adams of Florence, South Carolina. Adams, at 6-3, 290 pounds, is a five-star prospect ranked as the 23rd-best player nationally by 247Sports. Adams had offers from Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee before picking the Tigers.Biggest surprise
Cal, which went 6-6 overall and 2-6 in its first year in the ACC, had hoped to land highly regarded quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele from Hawaii after he had been committed to the Golden Bears since July. But Sagapolutele, Hawaii’s top player, decided to sign with Oregon. Sagapolutele is rated as the No. 8 quarterback, according to 247Sports. He finished with 10,653 career passing yards, most in Hawaii state history and surpassing the mark held by Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (9,848).Brett Friedlander & Luke Neer on ACC Football, ACC Basketball - Cville Right Now (cville.com; podcast; Best Seat in the House)
Brett Friedlander & Luke Neer on ACC Football, ACC Basketball
ACC Power Rankings updated after Week 14 of college football (on3.com; Kosko)
LOL...
The latest ACC Power Rankings are here following Week 14 of college football and a full slate of action, courtesy of the On3 Massey Ratings. The regular season is now in the books!
The On3 Massey Ratings – which were officially used during the BCS era and have generated high school sports team rankings since 1995 – rank sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule, and margin of victory.
Let’s dive into the ACC Power Rankings following Week 14 of the college football season.
1. SMU (+1)
SMU dominated Cal 38-6 to conclude the season, finishing 11-1 in the regular season. They already clinched an ACC Championship slot, but now they know their opponent: Clemson.In the win over Cal, Kevin Jennings threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Brashard Smith added 68 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
2. Miami (-1)
Miami fell to Syracuse to end the regular season and won’t play for an ACC title. The Hurricanes only dropped one spot in the rankings with their second loss.At this point, following the shootout loss, Miami has to await their College Football Playoff fate. Although it could get quite dicey depending upon Tuesday night’s rankings.
3. Clemson
Clemson didn’t move in the ACC rankings despite a loss to rival South Carolina. Even with a third loss, the Tigers have a chance to make the College Football Playoff.If Clemson beats SMU for the ACC title, they’ll go into the 12-team bracket. Where they are seeded remains to be seen.
4. Louisville
The Cardinals capped off an 8-4 season with a 41-14 win over Kentucky, which finished 4-8. The offense ran through running back Isaac Brown.Brown finished the win with 26 carries for 178 yards and two touchdowns. As far as what’s next? A decent bowl game this postseason.
5. Duke (+1)
What a first year for Manny Diaz at Duke. The Blue Devils finished 9-3 with a 23-17 win over Wake Forest on the road.Put them in the playoff! Well, not quite. But it could’ve been close with another win. Maalik Murphy finished with 235 yards and a touchdown, which was the game winner at the buzzer.
6. Georgia Tech (-1)
The Yellow Jackets were so close to a massive upset against rival Georgia. It took eight overtimes for the Bulldogs to win in Athens though!With the loss, Georgia Tech fell a spot in the ACC rankings. A 7-5 record isn’t bad but it feels like there were at least one or two missed opportunities to make this an even better record in 2024.
7. Syracuse (+1)
The Orange moved up following a win over Miami, spoiling the latter’s ACC Championship hopes. Kyle McCord went off and ‘Cuse finished 9-3 this regular season....
Links, News and Rumors 2024 Dec 4th (RX; HM)
Links, News and Rumors 2024 Dec 4th
From The Athletic: Bama vs. the CFP bid-stealers
How Bama could still miss the CFP
| 9 Tennessee | |
| 8 Ohio State | 1 Oregon |
| 12 Arizona St | 4 Boise St |
| 5 Penn State | |
| 11 Alabama | |
| 6 Notre Dame | 3 SMU |
| 10 Indiana | 2 Texas |
| 7 Georgia |
OTOH, I don't think SMU feels comfortable enough to lose on purpose, so expect them to give Clemson all they've got this Saturday night!
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ACCN Coverage of 2024 ACC CG (RX; HM)
ACCN Coverage of 2024 ACC CG
Here are highlights from the official ESPN press release of December 3, 2024...
ACC Network to Offer Extensive Coverage of 2024 ACC Football Championship Game Presented by GEICO from Charlotte
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2024 ACC RoY Awards (RX; HM)
2024 ACC RoY Awards
From the official ACC release of Wednesday, December 4, 2024...
Clemson’s Brown, Louisville’s Brown Named ACC Football Rookies of the Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Louisville running back Isaac Brown has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Rookie of the Year and Offensive Rookie of the Year while Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown was tabbed the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, it was announced on Wednesday, December 4.
Voting for the awards was conducted by a 71-member voting panel consisting of 54 selected media and the conference’s 17 head coaches.
Isaac Brown is the first Louisville student-athlete to be named the ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year. Brown ranks first nationally among freshmen in yards per rush (7.31), while ranking second in all-purpose yards per game (119.00) and rushing yards (1,074). His 89.5 rushing yards per game rank third among FBS freshmen, while his 11 rushing touchdowns rank fourth. The Homestead, Florida, native’s 1,074 rushing yards rank second in Louisville history for a freshman while also being the only Cardinal freshman to ever eclipse 1,000 rushing yards and 10 or more rushing touchdowns in a season. Brown was named the ACC Rookie of the Week three times this season and the ACC Running Back of the Week on December 2, after rushing for 178 yards and two touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 41-14 win over Kentucky.
Sammy Brown is the fourth Tiger to be named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and first since Andrew Mukuba in 2021. Brown logged eight or more tackles in five games this season, including a season-high 11 against The Citadel. He became the first Clemson rookie to log 50 or more tackles and 10.0 or more tackles-for-loss in a season since Dexter Lawrence in 2016. The Commerce, Georgia, native was named the ACC Linebacker and Rookie of the Week on November 11 following his eight-tackle performance, including a sack and 2.5 tackles-for-loss, in the Tigers’ win at Virginia Tech.
A complete breakdown of the 2024 ACC Football Player of the Year voting:
Rookie of the Year
- Isaac Brown – Louisville (45)
- Eli Holstein – Pitt (17)
- CJ Bailey – NC State (3)
- Sammy Brown – Clemson (2)
- OJ Frederique – Miami (2)
- Bryant Wesco Jr. – Clemson (1)
- T.J. Moore – Clemson (1)
Offensive Rookie of the Year
- Isaac Brown – Louisville (45)
- Eli Holstein – Pitt (16)
- CJ Bailey – NC State (6)
- Bryant Wesco Jr. – Clemson (2)
- T.J. Moore – Clemson (2)
Defensive Rookie of the Year
- Sammy Brown – Clemson (42)
- OJ 'Smoke' Frederique – Miami (21)
- Quentin Reddish – Virginia Tech (4)
- Maraad Watson – Syracuse (2)
- Brandon Nicholson – Stanford (2)
2024 Broyles Award Semifinalists
From the ACC release of Tuesday, December 3, 2024...
Miami’s Dawson, SMU’s Symons Named Broyles Award Semifinalists
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and SMU defensive coordinator Scott Symons have been named as semifinalists for the 2024 Broyles Award, which honors college football’s top assistant coaches. Dawson and Symons are two of the 15 semifinalists throughout the country.
Serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Dawson has led Miami to the nation’s top offense this season. The Hurricanes lead the country in scoring offense (44.2), total offense (538.3), yards per play (7.60), first downs (327) and third-down conversion percentage (56.5).
Under Dawson’s mentorship, senior Cam Ward has cemented himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the FBS. Ward paces all signal callers in passing touchdowns (36) and total QBR (88.0). The Heisman Trophy hopeful also set new single-season Miami records in passing yards (4,123) and passing touchdowns.
In his third year as SMU’s defensive coordinator, Symons has turned the Mustangs into one of the best defenses in the country. In their first season in the ACC, the Mustangs will play in the ACC Championship Game and have allowed just 19.8 points per game this season. SMU boasts the fourth-best rushing defense while also averaging 3.08 sacks per game, which ranks 11th nationally. SMU has recorded 21 takeaways this season, including 15 interceptions, which has led to four defensive touchdowns.
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Other
The Grandma's Pizza from Mario & Salvo's, the 48th stop on our CNY Pizza Tour. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)(Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)
CNY Pizza Tour, stop #48: After 32 years, Mario & Salvo’s shows why customers keep lining up (PS; $; Miller)
Wasn’t it just the other day that we were at Mario & Salvo’s searching for Central New York’s best pizza?
Oh, right. That was 2012. (And yes, they won.)
Thankfully, not much has changed in the past 12 years. The crust still ranks among the crispiest in the area, the recipe used to build the sauce remains the same, and nothing but Grande mozzarella touches that sauce. That explains why lines to get a slice of such true handtossed New York-style pizza here are just as long.
“Why would we change anything?” said Mario Di Marco, giving me a side-eye as if I had just ordered a deep-dish pizza with pineapple and gummy bears. “We pay attention to detail. People know what they like, and they know to come here to get it.”
Mario has been here from Day 1. He and Salvo Barbarino opened this pizzeria in DeWitt Plaza on Aug. 15, 1992, after years of cooking for Pavone’s Pizza. Salvo retired 28 years later, just before the Covid pandemic hit. Mario’s brother Gus, who had been here since 2001, took Salvo’s place.
Business here is as brisk now as it was 32 years ago. Weekend nights remain the busiest, especially during the high school sports fall and winter seasons when families don’t have time to cook before or after games.
The lunch rush still keeps all 30 chairs in the dining room occupied. The menacingly narrow parking lot out front was so full on Monday, customers parked across the street just to stand in line for their meal.
Mario & Salvo’s has also taken on some large catering orders. They have a standing 30-pizza order for Holy Cross School every Monday. They also feed the Syracuse University football team a few times throughout the season, at 125 pizzas per dinner. Same goes for the SU men’s basketball team. Each player, coach, staff member and student manager gets a made-to-order pizza in the locker room after home games.
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‘Lake effect machine’ hits Central NY later today as snow squalls pick up and temperatures drop (PS; $; Weaver)
If you woke up to light snow or bare streets this morning, keep paying attention:
The storm system expected to hit Central New York this morning is still moving across the area, according to the National Weather Service.
It’s an odd situation, the service said in its morning briefing.
“This is a unique storm system in that there will be breaks or lulls in the steady snow at times, even in the winter storm warning counties,” the service said.
But at other times, the winds will pick up, bringing squalls this afternoon and cranking up lake effect snow during tonight’s commute and into the evening -- specifically from 4 to 7 p.m.
“The main story late this afternoon through tonight will be the lake effect snow machine kicking into high gear,” the service forecast.
Heavy and blowing snow is expected, with 4 to 9 inches of additional snow expected by early Friday across the region.
As the day goes on, winds will grow stronger, the service said.
Winds today are expected to gust as high as 45 mph, producing blowing and drifting snow that could make visibility difficult.
At the same time, temperatures are expected to drop into the high teens or low 20s, making it even easier for the snow to blow around and cause whiteouts.
Tonight’s low in Syracuse is forecast at 21 degrees, in Ithaca at 12 degrees.
The snow is expected to keep falling at times Friday into Saturday.
The total snowfall ranges for the next 48 hours remain wide, according to this morning’s forecast:
- Syracuse will likely could get 6 inches, but could get as much as 14 inches
- Oswego could get 5 inches, but as much as 13 inches
- Areas in Onondaga County north of the Thruway could get 1 foot up to more than 2 feet of snow
New York wants to build cheaper homes. They’ll test one on a vacant lot in Syracuse (PS; $; Boyer)
The state agency tasked with trying to help communities tackle the shortage of affordable housing has an idea to get more new homes built with the help of public money, and Syracuse is one of three places chosen to see how it works.
The Greater Syracuse Land Bank is working with a modular home manufacturer to build, deliver and assemble a new three-bedroom house on a vacant lot in the city’s Valley Neighborhood. The project would cost in the range of $260,000 to $280,000, and it would be marketed to a low- to moderate-income buyer for between $130,000 and $150,000.
The state Division of Housing and Community Renewal is funding the entire project as it looks for models to get the most return on investment. The agency has committed to spending $400 million over five years in affordable home construction subsidies.
For this experiment, the agency is paying for the installation of manufactured housing classified as Crossover Modern, or CrossMod, which look and feel like traditional stick-built housing but can be produced more cheaply through the efficiencies of off-site manufacturing.
“You should not be able to tell the difference between a CrossMod and a stick-built home once it’s up,” said Katelyn Wright, the Syracuse land bank’s executive director. “HCR’s hypothesis is that it’ll be much cheaper to construct these than the stick built homes that we’ve been putting up.”
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