SWC75
Bored Historian
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I’m basing this on what I’ve read in three different pre-season magazines: The Sporting News, (previously Street and Smith’s), Athlon and Lindy’s, as well as things I could find on the internet.
Saturday, 8/31/13 3:30EST at East Rutherford , NJ vs. PENN STATE TV: ABC or ESPN2
Penn State rebounded from the Sandusky scandal to have a pretty good year at 8-4 under Coach Bill O’Brien, their first new coach since 1966. O’Brien has been praised as “a fine motivator and outstanding tactician”. They lost their first two then went 8-2, losing only to undefeated Ohio State and Nebraska, who played for the Big Ten title. They may be in for a decline because of NCAA sanctions but they are still a potent team at this point. Depth could be an issue, but not likely in the first game of the season.
They have a quality running back in Zach Zwinak, who gained and even 1000 yards and a great receiver, Allen Robinson who had 77 catches for 1013 yards. They are missing their excellent quarterback from last year, Matt McGloin, who graduated but recruited one of the top prospects coming out of high school, Christian Hackenberg. Three offensive line starter return, including all Big Ten guard John Urschel and massive tackle Donovan Smith, (6-5, 327).
Their defense, which performed well last year and has several “rising stars”, including DE Deion Barnes, (Big Ten freshman of the year) and LB Mike Hull. But they did lose three NFL draft picks. Their kicking game is mediocre. But this is still Penn State, at least for now.
Yards and National Rankings last year:
Rushing 144-128 yards 83rd-23rd
Passing: 274-225 yards 35th-50th
Total: 418-353 yards 53rd-29th
Scoring: 29-19 points 62nd-16th
Turnover Margin: +9
Saturday, 9/7/13 6:00EST at NORTHWESTERN Big Ten Network
The time to get Northwestern was last year, when we had them in the Dome and marched up and down the field against them, outgaining them 596-337 but giving up four touchdowns that were either scored or set up by turnovers and kick returns in a 41-42 loss. The Wildcats went on to one of their best ever seasons, 10-3, including their first bowl victory in 64 years. Now they are aiming for a Big Ten championship and they have us at home.
They are led by two dynamic athletes: Venric Mark who ran for 1,366 yards and was second in the country in punt returns at 18.7 yards per return, including an 82 yard scoring jaunt against us. He also scored on a 21 yard pass and set up a third score with a 54 yard punt return. Quarterback Cain Colter ran for more yards than he threw, (894 vs. 872) and had a higher completion rate than their “passing” quarterback Trevor Sieman, who threw for 1312.
They also have seven starters back on defense, which improved substantially after the SU game. Like us, the experience is mostly in the back seven. They also have the Big Ten’s top place-kicker in Jeff Budzien, who made 19 of 20 field goals. The Wildcats might be the best team we face all year.
Yards and National Rankings last year:
Rushing 226-128 yards 19th-21st
Passing: 169-251 yards 106th-84th
Total: 395-378 yards 64th-47th
Scoring: 32-23 points 42nd-29th
Turnover Margin: +14
Saturday, 9/14/13 4:00EST vs. WAGNER at the Carrier Dome ESPN3
When my brother went to Hamilton College back in the 60’s we visited the campus and saw Hamilton playing Wagner. It’s hard to believe Syracuse will now be playing the Seahawks, who, as recently as 1987 they were the Division 3 champions. They are now FCS and good enough to have made the playoffs last year, going 9-4. I’d rather be playing Colgate, who we have a history with but Wagner beat Colgate last year, 31-20, so I guess they are better. But it will still seem weird.
Because they are FCS, there’s less information available about them this year. They lost 27 lettermen and have most of their experience on defense. But they do have a good running back, Dominique Williams, who ran for 1,238 yards. Last year’s FCS team, Stony Brook, led us at halftime, 14-17 on a couple of long plays, before we shut them down in the second half and won 28-17. Hopefully we can shut Wagner down from the outset.
Saturday, 9/21/13 TBA (“to be announced”) vs. TULANE at the Carrier Dome TBA
Tulane, usually one of college football’s “have-nots”, occasionally rise up like those movie zombies to start beating people. They might be on the verge of that again. We played them in the Super Dome two years ago and barely scraped by on a last second field goal, 37-34, sandwiched in between Green Wave defeats to Army, (6-45) and UTEP, 7-43), both of whom are also generally terrible. It was pretty embarrassing. They have a history of giving SU trouble. We kicked a field goal in the mud to beat them 3-0 in 1976, got upset by them in the Dome, 24-26 in 1990 and we needed a last play interception by Tebucky Jones to beat them in 1997.
Last year the Green Wave petered out to a 2-10 record. Senior safety Devon Walker suffered a spinal cord injury and that punched a hole in the team, physically and emotionally. First year coach Curtis Johnson, who had spent six year as receivers coach for the Saints, held the team together while trying to install the Saint’s offense. They lost their first five games by a combined 45-212, then went 2-5 and were only outscored 212-249. They are getting better.
They have a quarterback with a good pedigree, Nick Montana, the son of you-know-who, who transferred in from junior college in time for spring practice. He’ll be throwing to Ryan Grant, who caught 76 passes last year for 1,149 yards. They had basically no rushing attack at all, gaining less than 40 yards a game. But star running back Orleans Darkwa was injured most of the season and he is back. He gained over 900 yards and had double figures in touchdowns his first two years. They have four started back on the offensive line, so they could be potent.
Unfortunately their defense was awful the whole season. Whatever strength they have is in the secondary where CB Lorenzo Doss was a freshman All-American . An LSU transfer, Chris Davenport, could improve things in the line.
Yards and National Rankings last year:
Rushing 40-223 yards 119th-114th
Passing: 280-260 yards 33rd-95th
Total: 320-483 yards 109th-114th
Scoring: 21-38 points 97th-115th
Turnover Margin: -9
We need to be at least 2-2 after these games and we’ll probably do it. If we can go 3-1, we’ve got a shot at a strong season.
Saturday, 8/31/13 3:30EST at East Rutherford , NJ vs. PENN STATE TV: ABC or ESPN2
Penn State rebounded from the Sandusky scandal to have a pretty good year at 8-4 under Coach Bill O’Brien, their first new coach since 1966. O’Brien has been praised as “a fine motivator and outstanding tactician”. They lost their first two then went 8-2, losing only to undefeated Ohio State and Nebraska, who played for the Big Ten title. They may be in for a decline because of NCAA sanctions but they are still a potent team at this point. Depth could be an issue, but not likely in the first game of the season.
They have a quality running back in Zach Zwinak, who gained and even 1000 yards and a great receiver, Allen Robinson who had 77 catches for 1013 yards. They are missing their excellent quarterback from last year, Matt McGloin, who graduated but recruited one of the top prospects coming out of high school, Christian Hackenberg. Three offensive line starter return, including all Big Ten guard John Urschel and massive tackle Donovan Smith, (6-5, 327).
Their defense, which performed well last year and has several “rising stars”, including DE Deion Barnes, (Big Ten freshman of the year) and LB Mike Hull. But they did lose three NFL draft picks. Their kicking game is mediocre. But this is still Penn State, at least for now.
Yards and National Rankings last year:
Rushing 144-128 yards 83rd-23rd
Passing: 274-225 yards 35th-50th
Total: 418-353 yards 53rd-29th
Scoring: 29-19 points 62nd-16th
Turnover Margin: +9
Saturday, 9/7/13 6:00EST at NORTHWESTERN Big Ten Network
The time to get Northwestern was last year, when we had them in the Dome and marched up and down the field against them, outgaining them 596-337 but giving up four touchdowns that were either scored or set up by turnovers and kick returns in a 41-42 loss. The Wildcats went on to one of their best ever seasons, 10-3, including their first bowl victory in 64 years. Now they are aiming for a Big Ten championship and they have us at home.
They are led by two dynamic athletes: Venric Mark who ran for 1,366 yards and was second in the country in punt returns at 18.7 yards per return, including an 82 yard scoring jaunt against us. He also scored on a 21 yard pass and set up a third score with a 54 yard punt return. Quarterback Cain Colter ran for more yards than he threw, (894 vs. 872) and had a higher completion rate than their “passing” quarterback Trevor Sieman, who threw for 1312.
They also have seven starters back on defense, which improved substantially after the SU game. Like us, the experience is mostly in the back seven. They also have the Big Ten’s top place-kicker in Jeff Budzien, who made 19 of 20 field goals. The Wildcats might be the best team we face all year.
Yards and National Rankings last year:
Rushing 226-128 yards 19th-21st
Passing: 169-251 yards 106th-84th
Total: 395-378 yards 64th-47th
Scoring: 32-23 points 42nd-29th
Turnover Margin: +14
Saturday, 9/14/13 4:00EST vs. WAGNER at the Carrier Dome ESPN3
When my brother went to Hamilton College back in the 60’s we visited the campus and saw Hamilton playing Wagner. It’s hard to believe Syracuse will now be playing the Seahawks, who, as recently as 1987 they were the Division 3 champions. They are now FCS and good enough to have made the playoffs last year, going 9-4. I’d rather be playing Colgate, who we have a history with but Wagner beat Colgate last year, 31-20, so I guess they are better. But it will still seem weird.
Because they are FCS, there’s less information available about them this year. They lost 27 lettermen and have most of their experience on defense. But they do have a good running back, Dominique Williams, who ran for 1,238 yards. Last year’s FCS team, Stony Brook, led us at halftime, 14-17 on a couple of long plays, before we shut them down in the second half and won 28-17. Hopefully we can shut Wagner down from the outset.
Saturday, 9/21/13 TBA (“to be announced”) vs. TULANE at the Carrier Dome TBA
Tulane, usually one of college football’s “have-nots”, occasionally rise up like those movie zombies to start beating people. They might be on the verge of that again. We played them in the Super Dome two years ago and barely scraped by on a last second field goal, 37-34, sandwiched in between Green Wave defeats to Army, (6-45) and UTEP, 7-43), both of whom are also generally terrible. It was pretty embarrassing. They have a history of giving SU trouble. We kicked a field goal in the mud to beat them 3-0 in 1976, got upset by them in the Dome, 24-26 in 1990 and we needed a last play interception by Tebucky Jones to beat them in 1997.
Last year the Green Wave petered out to a 2-10 record. Senior safety Devon Walker suffered a spinal cord injury and that punched a hole in the team, physically and emotionally. First year coach Curtis Johnson, who had spent six year as receivers coach for the Saints, held the team together while trying to install the Saint’s offense. They lost their first five games by a combined 45-212, then went 2-5 and were only outscored 212-249. They are getting better.
They have a quarterback with a good pedigree, Nick Montana, the son of you-know-who, who transferred in from junior college in time for spring practice. He’ll be throwing to Ryan Grant, who caught 76 passes last year for 1,149 yards. They had basically no rushing attack at all, gaining less than 40 yards a game. But star running back Orleans Darkwa was injured most of the season and he is back. He gained over 900 yards and had double figures in touchdowns his first two years. They have four started back on the offensive line, so they could be potent.
Unfortunately their defense was awful the whole season. Whatever strength they have is in the secondary where CB Lorenzo Doss was a freshman All-American . An LSU transfer, Chris Davenport, could improve things in the line.
Yards and National Rankings last year:
Rushing 40-223 yards 119th-114th
Passing: 280-260 yards 33rd-95th
Total: 320-483 yards 109th-114th
Scoring: 21-38 points 97th-115th
Turnover Margin: -9
We need to be at least 2-2 after these games and we’ll probably do it. If we can go 3-1, we’ve got a shot at a strong season.
