SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 34,373
- Like
- 66,717
SU’s most important stats and the national ranking last season, (for comparison with the numbers in the schedule section for our opposition):
Offense: 40.2 points (11th) 464.8 yards (19th) 200.1 rushing (36th) 264.7 passing (31st) per game
Defense: 27.0 points (64th) 426.5 yards (88th) 162.5 rushing (63rd) 264.1 passing (116th) per game
Turnovers: +13 (5th) Starting Field Position: 35.0-27.4 = +7.6 (I couldn’t find a ranking for this)
Saturday September 21st TBA vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN at the Dome
TV: TBA RADIO: TK 99/105
Last season began with a roller-coaster game that left us wondering what would follow. The Broncos, who had sent a 13-0 team to the Cotton Bowl two years before, were coached by Scott Shafer’s former offensive coordinator, Tim Lester and he very much wanted to beat us. Opening on the road against a good MAC team after four straight losing records was a risky thing for a program advertising itself as a coming power to do.. But we looked every bit the powerhouse in building a 34-7 halftime lead. It wasn’t a turnover-produced fluke. That half was like taking candy from a baby. The Broncos kept going three and out and SU would score no matter where the drive started, inexorably moving down the field. Big plays are exciting but it’s actually more impressive to win play after play and that’s what we were doing. Dino Babers got so confident he sent Tommy DeVito in to start the second half. We immediately turned the ball over. Suddenly we couldn’t move the ball when we had it and we couldn’t stop the Broncos, who scored three unanswered touchdowns to close to 34-28. It looked like we were going to open the season by blowing a 34-7 halftime lead! Eric Dungey came back in and we began scoring but we still couldn’t stop the Broncos, whom we finally outscored 55-42, losing the second half 24-35. This looked especially bad when Michigan waxed WMU 49-3 the next week. But the Broncos won their next six games. Then they lost their star quarterback, John Wassink to injury, (and he’s hurt again- see injury report, below), and also lost 4 of their last 5 games to finish 7-6.
Wassink is back and they expect to do a lot better than that. His three top receivers, Jayden Reed, (56/797/8tds), D’Wayne Eskridge (20.4 per catch) and 6-4 Jayden Hall are also back, as is running back LeVante Bellamy (1,228 yards) and most of the offensive line. Can we stop them now, a year later?
We should be able to pick up where we left off against their defense, (assuming that DeVito is now ready to do it). Like so many of the ‘other’, (non-Clemson) opponents their weakness is defense. The 116th best passing defense is just what the doctor ordered for Tommy. Athlon: “The 2018 defense was aggressive up front – the Broncos posted the 28th most tackles for a loss in the nation – but WMU also was gashed repeatedly, in part due to always being in attack mode.”
Gavin Peddie is a good placekicker, (10 of 13 FG) but Nick Mihalic is a mediocre punter (37.3). Jayden Reed and Tyron Arnett both returned kicks for touchdowns last year.
If there’s a “trap game” on the schedule this year, this is it. Yeah, we beat them in their place and now we’ve got them in our place but if we aren’t fully focused on beating this team we won’t. A lot will depend on the team’s attitude coming out of the Clemson game. We need to avoid flying too high or too low, like Daedalus advised Icarus but how can we avoid either after the biggest game of everyone’s lives? I guess we also need to listen to Dino Babers who preaches being consistently good, not occasionally great. (How about being both, coach?)
Western Michigan injury report:
www.usatoday.com
As of 8/21, OL Tom O'Mara is out for the season. RB Devan Bass may miss the whole season “after having surgery to an unannounced location”, (I hope they announced it to the surgeon). OL Ken Aguirre is out until the “latter part of” September, (which would likely include the SU game) and TE Anthony Torres is out for an unknown period. RB Christian Singleton “is managing an injury to an unlisted area” and is unlikely to play in the open against Monmouth but starting QB Jon Wassink, who has a foot injury, is likely to play in that game.
Last year’s stats:
Offense: 40.2 points (11th) 464.8 yards (19th) 200.1 rushing (36th) 264.7 passing (31st) per game
Defense: 27.0 points (64th) 426.5 yards (88th) 162.5 rushing (63rd) 264.1 passing (116th) per game
Turnovers: 18 lost vs. 31 gained = +13 (5th)
Saturday September 28th TBA vs. HOLY CROSS at the Dome
TV: TBA RADIO: TK 99/105
And, just when we might badly need them, comes our old friends from the 60’s and 70’s, the Holy Cross Crusaders. Once upon a time the Crusaders were a major eastern independent:
They beat #1 ranked Boston College by the astounding score of 55-12 in 1943:
1942 BOSTON COLLEGE (11-28-42)
They lost to the U of Miami on the last play of the 1946 Orange Bowl:
Then they won the NCAA basketball tournament behind Bob Cousy a year later:
In 1957 and 1958, they beat Ben Schwartzwalder’s Syracuse teams twice in a row, both by a single point:
The ’58 game was the only regular season loss Syracuse had that year: there wouldn’t be another SU loss for two years:
But in the 60’s, after Colgate had ended its series with the Orange, the Crusaders became Ben’s new punching bag, a team that could only take punishment, not give it back. The 1959 started it, 42-6; 1960 15-6; 1961 34-6; 1962 30-20; 1963 48-0; 1964 34-8; 1965 32-6; 1966 28-6; 1967 41-7; 1968 47-0; 1971 63-21. They played one more time when Ben’s last team, with an 0-8 record, finally managed to scrape out a victory over the Crusaders, 5-3. I remember the Holy Cross coach saying “Syracuse is still Syracuse.” No, we weren’t. But we are now.
Since Rockne protégé Eddie Anderson retired as their coach in 1964 the Crusaders are 258-284-9 but that includes Mark Duffner’s 60-5-1 from 1986-91 and doesn’t include the fact that Holy Cross has been an FCS team since 1980. Last year they were 5-6 after a 1-6 start. Nunes: “Despite the strong finish, Holy Cross was still barely a top-100 offense in the FCS, at just 333.5 yards per game and scored 24.4 points per game (87th overall). Geoff Wade led the Crusaders in passing with 1,844 yards and 16 touchdowns after taking over the starting gig from Emmett Clifford following his early season struggles. They also didn’t move the ball all that well on the ground, averaging just 3.43 yards per carry. Domenic Cozier led the way with 679 yards….Unfortunately for Holy Cross, Wade’s not under center anymore, so they may have to hope Clifford can get past last year’s early season struggles. If not him, then perhaps freshman passer Chris Butash from Tampa, who seemed to put up big numbers as a high school senior (5,002 yards and 45 TDs).”
“For Holy Cross, the more dominant side of the ball was the defense. The Crusaders averaged 26 points per game (43rd in the FCS) and allowed 369 yards per game (46th). Senior linebacker Ryan Brady led the team with 121 tackles, which was one of the top figures in the country, while defensive lineman Teddy Capsis led the team with six sacks. The team registered 23 sacks on the year — just outside the top-50 at the FCS level. Perhaps most relevant to Syracuse, they were a top-50 group against the pass, and could probably put up a better fight there than UConn did last year.”
Still, this game should go about like those games of the old days: 42-6, 34-6, 48-0, 34-8, 32-6, 28-6, 41-7, 47-0, 63-21. That last one has a ring to it.
Holy Cross injury report:
Apparently nobody has a reportable injury as of 8/21. God must be on their side.
Last year’s stats: (rankings are FCS)
Offense: 32.0 points (39th) 436.8 yards (35th) 199.5 rushing (38th) 237.4 passing (63rd) per game
Defense: 34.5 points (106th) 386.6 yards (57th) 165.8 rushing (68th) 220.8 passing (59th) per game
Turnovers: +1 (57th) I don’t have Starting Field Position
Bye week
Thursday, October 10th 8PM at NORTH CAROLINA STATE Carter-Finlay Stadium, Raleigh NC
TV: ESPN RADIO: TK 99/105
Our next three games are against long-time nemeses and it would be wonderful to sweep them. We have the 39th best historical winning percentage among current NCAA teams. The Wolfpack is 71st. Yet we are 2-10 against them all time, winning for only the second time in the Dome last year, 51-41. The fact that this is a Thursday night game in Raleigh leads my mind back to the darkest moment of my career as an SU football fan. It was 1998. We’d opened with a near upset of eventual national champion Tennessee, then blown defending national champion Michigan out of their own place. Lloyd Carr said that he didn’t see how anyone could stop our offense. Rutgers certainly couldn’t: we scored 70 points on them. We’d lost in overtime in the Dome to NC State the year before when heavily favored. Now we were going down to Raleigh to obtain revenge. I thought we were strong enough to run the table and maybe get into the first BCS title game and that Donovan McNabb would win the Heisman. We took the opening kickoff and drove down the field efficiently and scored, just as we did against Michigan. The Wolfpack had a 3rd and 29 and it looked like we’d get the ball right back. But we forgot to cover All-American Torrey Holt and he gained 30 and everything fell apart. The rest of the game was Syracuse 10 NC State 38,. I was in such a dark mood I actually considered whether it was worth it to be an SU fan if it hurt so much to lose. But I’m still rooting for them 21 years later. I’m sure the Pack would love to ruin another SU season.
But it might be hard. They’ve lost a lot from last year’s team. Star QB Ryan Finlay is gone. So are his two top targets, Jacobi Meyers and Kelvin Harmon, who caught 173 passes between them, 1,000 yard rusher Reggie Gallasby and 3 offensive linemen. They do have the third and fourth receivers, Emeke Emezie and Thayer Thomas, who caught 89 balls and Rickey Person Jr., who ran for 471 yards and a touted local running back prospect with a great name, “Bam” Knight.
Defensively, they have 8 starters back but again, defense is not the forte of the opposition. The Wolfpack didn’t howl, at least not against the pass. They put little pressure on the quarterback and gave up 261 yards per game, including 480 against Syracuse. If Tommy DeVito and his receivers have got it going by this point of the season, they could have a very big night and help me to exorcise the memories of that Thursday night 22 years ago.
Chris Dunn is a fine place-kicker who made his last 15 field goals last year. But they are looking for a new punter and the return game was unproductive last year.
Coach Dave Doeren is defiant. “The national champion just won it with a true freshman quarterback. So, for us to put boxes on how good we can be at this point is premature. There are a lot of unknowns right now and that’s the part that is exciting and unsettling.” The ‘opposing coaches’ in the Athlon publication said “This is a program that really doesn’t get enough credit for their player development. They’re turning out NFL talent at a clip they have no business achieving. It’s nuts.”
I just hope the Wolfpack doesn’t drive us nuts again.
North Carolina State injury report
NC State Wolfpack Injuries - NCAAF Football - USA TODAY
As of 8/21, RB Damontay Rhem has been indefinitely suspended.
Last year’s stats:
Offense: 40.2 points (11th) 464.8 yards (19th) 200.1 rushing (36th) 264.7 passing (31st) per game
Defense: 27.0 points (64th) 426.5 yards (88th) 162.5 rushing (63rd) 264.1 passing (116th) per game
Turnovers: 18 lost vs. 31 gained = +13 (5th)
Offense: 40.2 points (11th) 464.8 yards (19th) 200.1 rushing (36th) 264.7 passing (31st) per game
Defense: 27.0 points (64th) 426.5 yards (88th) 162.5 rushing (63rd) 264.1 passing (116th) per game
Turnovers: +13 (5th) Starting Field Position: 35.0-27.4 = +7.6 (I couldn’t find a ranking for this)
Saturday September 21st TBA vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN at the Dome
TV: TBA RADIO: TK 99/105
Last season began with a roller-coaster game that left us wondering what would follow. The Broncos, who had sent a 13-0 team to the Cotton Bowl two years before, were coached by Scott Shafer’s former offensive coordinator, Tim Lester and he very much wanted to beat us. Opening on the road against a good MAC team after four straight losing records was a risky thing for a program advertising itself as a coming power to do.. But we looked every bit the powerhouse in building a 34-7 halftime lead. It wasn’t a turnover-produced fluke. That half was like taking candy from a baby. The Broncos kept going three and out and SU would score no matter where the drive started, inexorably moving down the field. Big plays are exciting but it’s actually more impressive to win play after play and that’s what we were doing. Dino Babers got so confident he sent Tommy DeVito in to start the second half. We immediately turned the ball over. Suddenly we couldn’t move the ball when we had it and we couldn’t stop the Broncos, who scored three unanswered touchdowns to close to 34-28. It looked like we were going to open the season by blowing a 34-7 halftime lead! Eric Dungey came back in and we began scoring but we still couldn’t stop the Broncos, whom we finally outscored 55-42, losing the second half 24-35. This looked especially bad when Michigan waxed WMU 49-3 the next week. But the Broncos won their next six games. Then they lost their star quarterback, John Wassink to injury, (and he’s hurt again- see injury report, below), and also lost 4 of their last 5 games to finish 7-6.
Wassink is back and they expect to do a lot better than that. His three top receivers, Jayden Reed, (56/797/8tds), D’Wayne Eskridge (20.4 per catch) and 6-4 Jayden Hall are also back, as is running back LeVante Bellamy (1,228 yards) and most of the offensive line. Can we stop them now, a year later?
We should be able to pick up where we left off against their defense, (assuming that DeVito is now ready to do it). Like so many of the ‘other’, (non-Clemson) opponents their weakness is defense. The 116th best passing defense is just what the doctor ordered for Tommy. Athlon: “The 2018 defense was aggressive up front – the Broncos posted the 28th most tackles for a loss in the nation – but WMU also was gashed repeatedly, in part due to always being in attack mode.”
Gavin Peddie is a good placekicker, (10 of 13 FG) but Nick Mihalic is a mediocre punter (37.3). Jayden Reed and Tyron Arnett both returned kicks for touchdowns last year.
If there’s a “trap game” on the schedule this year, this is it. Yeah, we beat them in their place and now we’ve got them in our place but if we aren’t fully focused on beating this team we won’t. A lot will depend on the team’s attitude coming out of the Clemson game. We need to avoid flying too high or too low, like Daedalus advised Icarus but how can we avoid either after the biggest game of everyone’s lives? I guess we also need to listen to Dino Babers who preaches being consistently good, not occasionally great. (How about being both, coach?)
Western Michigan injury report:
NCAAF Injuries - USA TODAY
Get the latest injuries, as well as full coverage of the NCAAF from USA TODAY.
www.usatoday.com
Last year’s stats:
Offense: 40.2 points (11th) 464.8 yards (19th) 200.1 rushing (36th) 264.7 passing (31st) per game
Defense: 27.0 points (64th) 426.5 yards (88th) 162.5 rushing (63rd) 264.1 passing (116th) per game
Turnovers: 18 lost vs. 31 gained = +13 (5th)
Saturday September 28th TBA vs. HOLY CROSS at the Dome
TV: TBA RADIO: TK 99/105
And, just when we might badly need them, comes our old friends from the 60’s and 70’s, the Holy Cross Crusaders. Once upon a time the Crusaders were a major eastern independent:
They beat #1 ranked Boston College by the astounding score of 55-12 in 1943:
1942 BOSTON COLLEGE (11-28-42)
They lost to the U of Miami on the last play of the 1946 Orange Bowl:
Then they won the NCAA basketball tournament behind Bob Cousy a year later:
70 years ago, Holy Cross won the NCAA tournament
Until 1999, only one New England basketball team had ever won the NCAA men’s tournament. And despite not even having a home court located on campus, they triumphed in the tournament whose modern day incarnation has come to rule the college basketball world. Holy Cross, going 27-3 that season...
www.boston.com
The ’58 game was the only regular season loss Syracuse had that year: there wouldn’t be another SU loss for two years:
But in the 60’s, after Colgate had ended its series with the Orange, the Crusaders became Ben’s new punching bag, a team that could only take punishment, not give it back. The 1959 started it, 42-6; 1960 15-6; 1961 34-6; 1962 30-20; 1963 48-0; 1964 34-8; 1965 32-6; 1966 28-6; 1967 41-7; 1968 47-0; 1971 63-21. They played one more time when Ben’s last team, with an 0-8 record, finally managed to scrape out a victory over the Crusaders, 5-3. I remember the Holy Cross coach saying “Syracuse is still Syracuse.” No, we weren’t. But we are now.
Since Rockne protégé Eddie Anderson retired as their coach in 1964 the Crusaders are 258-284-9 but that includes Mark Duffner’s 60-5-1 from 1986-91 and doesn’t include the fact that Holy Cross has been an FCS team since 1980. Last year they were 5-6 after a 1-6 start. Nunes: “Despite the strong finish, Holy Cross was still barely a top-100 offense in the FCS, at just 333.5 yards per game and scored 24.4 points per game (87th overall). Geoff Wade led the Crusaders in passing with 1,844 yards and 16 touchdowns after taking over the starting gig from Emmett Clifford following his early season struggles. They also didn’t move the ball all that well on the ground, averaging just 3.43 yards per carry. Domenic Cozier led the way with 679 yards….Unfortunately for Holy Cross, Wade’s not under center anymore, so they may have to hope Clifford can get past last year’s early season struggles. If not him, then perhaps freshman passer Chris Butash from Tampa, who seemed to put up big numbers as a high school senior (5,002 yards and 45 TDs).”
“For Holy Cross, the more dominant side of the ball was the defense. The Crusaders averaged 26 points per game (43rd in the FCS) and allowed 369 yards per game (46th). Senior linebacker Ryan Brady led the team with 121 tackles, which was one of the top figures in the country, while defensive lineman Teddy Capsis led the team with six sacks. The team registered 23 sacks on the year — just outside the top-50 at the FCS level. Perhaps most relevant to Syracuse, they were a top-50 group against the pass, and could probably put up a better fight there than UConn did last year.”
Still, this game should go about like those games of the old days: 42-6, 34-6, 48-0, 34-8, 32-6, 28-6, 41-7, 47-0, 63-21. That last one has a ring to it.
Holy Cross injury report:
Apparently nobody has a reportable injury as of 8/21. God must be on their side.
Last year’s stats: (rankings are FCS)
Offense: 32.0 points (39th) 436.8 yards (35th) 199.5 rushing (38th) 237.4 passing (63rd) per game
Defense: 34.5 points (106th) 386.6 yards (57th) 165.8 rushing (68th) 220.8 passing (59th) per game
Turnovers: +1 (57th) I don’t have Starting Field Position
Bye week
Thursday, October 10th 8PM at NORTH CAROLINA STATE Carter-Finlay Stadium, Raleigh NC
TV: ESPN RADIO: TK 99/105
Our next three games are against long-time nemeses and it would be wonderful to sweep them. We have the 39th best historical winning percentage among current NCAA teams. The Wolfpack is 71st. Yet we are 2-10 against them all time, winning for only the second time in the Dome last year, 51-41. The fact that this is a Thursday night game in Raleigh leads my mind back to the darkest moment of my career as an SU football fan. It was 1998. We’d opened with a near upset of eventual national champion Tennessee, then blown defending national champion Michigan out of their own place. Lloyd Carr said that he didn’t see how anyone could stop our offense. Rutgers certainly couldn’t: we scored 70 points on them. We’d lost in overtime in the Dome to NC State the year before when heavily favored. Now we were going down to Raleigh to obtain revenge. I thought we were strong enough to run the table and maybe get into the first BCS title game and that Donovan McNabb would win the Heisman. We took the opening kickoff and drove down the field efficiently and scored, just as we did against Michigan. The Wolfpack had a 3rd and 29 and it looked like we’d get the ball right back. But we forgot to cover All-American Torrey Holt and he gained 30 and everything fell apart. The rest of the game was Syracuse 10 NC State 38,. I was in such a dark mood I actually considered whether it was worth it to be an SU fan if it hurt so much to lose. But I’m still rooting for them 21 years later. I’m sure the Pack would love to ruin another SU season.
But it might be hard. They’ve lost a lot from last year’s team. Star QB Ryan Finlay is gone. So are his two top targets, Jacobi Meyers and Kelvin Harmon, who caught 173 passes between them, 1,000 yard rusher Reggie Gallasby and 3 offensive linemen. They do have the third and fourth receivers, Emeke Emezie and Thayer Thomas, who caught 89 balls and Rickey Person Jr., who ran for 471 yards and a touted local running back prospect with a great name, “Bam” Knight.
Defensively, they have 8 starters back but again, defense is not the forte of the opposition. The Wolfpack didn’t howl, at least not against the pass. They put little pressure on the quarterback and gave up 261 yards per game, including 480 against Syracuse. If Tommy DeVito and his receivers have got it going by this point of the season, they could have a very big night and help me to exorcise the memories of that Thursday night 22 years ago.
Chris Dunn is a fine place-kicker who made his last 15 field goals last year. But they are looking for a new punter and the return game was unproductive last year.
Coach Dave Doeren is defiant. “The national champion just won it with a true freshman quarterback. So, for us to put boxes on how good we can be at this point is premature. There are a lot of unknowns right now and that’s the part that is exciting and unsettling.” The ‘opposing coaches’ in the Athlon publication said “This is a program that really doesn’t get enough credit for their player development. They’re turning out NFL talent at a clip they have no business achieving. It’s nuts.”
I just hope the Wolfpack doesn’t drive us nuts again.
North Carolina State injury report
NC State Wolfpack Injuries - NCAAF Football - USA TODAY
As of 8/21, RB Damontay Rhem has been indefinitely suspended.
Last year’s stats:
Offense: 40.2 points (11th) 464.8 yards (19th) 200.1 rushing (36th) 264.7 passing (31st) per game
Defense: 27.0 points (64th) 426.5 yards (88th) 162.5 rushing (63rd) 264.1 passing (116th) per game
Turnovers: 18 lost vs. 31 gained = +13 (5th)
