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Message: [QUOTE="sutomcat, post: 825918, member: 27"] Lively pregame tailgate. Jeremy The Stalwart was the backbone, aided ably as always be ever amiable Nell (too bad her name doesn't begin with an a). Lots of good food. I tried to copy the Empire Subs seminal Cheeseburger recipe and served some up. Next time we need hot sauce with better portion control. LincolnCuse, maybe Caz, not sure, picked up the hot board propane heater. A double barrel beauty, it sat untouched until Hardware Specialist First Class Retro arrived to assemble it and get it working. He did a fine job and those double burners probably kept a number of us alive and frostbite free on a cold and foreboding morning/early afternoon. Props to all involved. [IMG]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2834/11143888663_f89b3427e2_c.jpg[/IMG] The highlight of the pregame festivities though was the visit by board legend CuseTroop and his family. I think Adam broke the all time board record for attending a tailgate (maybe Alibrandi has it). Nice to meet the man, the myth and the legend. Headed up at 2:55 PM. Arrived just in time to sit through the introductions of the senior players. Wish they did this a little later, when more people were in the stands. I know a lot of fans were disappointed they missed this; it is a special chance to say thanks and goodbye for kids we all care about, appreciate and respect. Maybe it can be tweaked for next year. Coach SS said before the game that a couple of players asked to attend the ceremony so they could be with many of the classmates they came into the program with. This included West and Hickey. Shafer was fine with it but said it doesn't mean these players will not be returning. Only 9 tubas today. Someone must have gone down with a serious injury, an ACL, an amputation, etc. Or perhaps the evil open container law struck again? 2 of the 9 tuba players were seniors and will not be returning. I hope the rumors of a monster incoming class (I am hearing 5 to 10) are true. The SUMB again played the BC fight song as part of its pregame activities. Fortunately for all, no one sang the special Chip lyrics. BC did not have an impressive group travel with the team. Maybe 500 in the opposition seating area with a couple hundred scattered through the rest of the Dome. They told me they are very happy to have a conference rival that is so nearby and are excited about starting the rivalry again. The ones I met were a classy bunch. in marked contrast to the imbecile UConn fans I have run into over the years. The weird thing is that I know a bunch of UConn fans from the Boneyard and almost to a person, they are all nice people that I like and respect. It was an interesting game to watch. Not the best played one, or one that featured the most skilled players I have ever seen, but it was close and competitive from the very start. BC used their power attack and formations for most of the game. At times, they played with 0 WRs...a QB, a FB, a RB and 9 lineman/TEs. Very extreme. SU was prepared for it and at time played with 0 CBs on the field; 4 DL, 4 LBs and 3 safeties. This pressed true frosh Hodge into a lot of playing time and again, he was a force while in the game. That kid is gonna be a good one. The SU DL did a good job occupying the BC OL on running plays and put good pressure on their QB on passing plays. BC was reduced to regularly using rollout plays because they just could not block the improving SU DL pass rushers. AA RB candidate Andre Williams was largely a non factor. He was stopped at the LOS on a regular basis, was gang tackled a number of times (the SU defense tackled really well today, especially against Williams), and was out of the game pretty quickly after a series of violent hits. The all out focus on stopping him did expose SU when the ball went elsewhere and BC got a few big gains to keep them in the game by their surprisingly quick QB and the backup RB, who was much more effective than Williams (he appeared to me a lot more mobile and quick). They had some nice gains on play action passes as well, as the SU safeties got caught up trying to defend the run several times. The SU offense was surprisingly effective almost all game long. Terrel Hunt was a force passing and running the ball, often getting crucial first downs on designed running plays. He continued his late season renaissance with a number of strong throws, as SU opened up the offense and used a number of patterns we haven't seen much of this year. AC continues to play well with more snaps and QF came off a picture on a carton of milk to make the play of the season. SU got into a deep hole after Hunt had a screen pass get tipped, then foolishly caught it for a big loss, setting things up for a long sideline pass to QF for around 30 yards and a desperately needed first down. BC's pass defense was exceptional, and not in a good way. They blew coverages all game long, even in passing situations, and one wonders why GM didn't throw long a little more often. To be fair, all those runs up the middle helped to influence the BC secondary to cheat against the run and surely played a role in why they were so out of position so often during the game. I think SU only punted once or twice all game. They drove down the field well into the red zone the first 2 times they had the ball, only to miss an easy FG and then to fail to convert a 4th and short. Special teams were not great again but credit Norton for coming back after the bad start to hit all his PATs and a couple of big FGs as well. I am not sure he is 100%; the lack of power on his KOs has gotten so bad he was reduced to pooching the ball high in hopes BC LB types would call a fair catch around the 25 (did a good job at this). We have to find someone who can reliably kick the ball into the endzone on KOs for next season. I say this every year and it never happens. Sigh. Good jobs by the usual people on the SU defense: Bromley, Spruill, Eskridge. Lynch and Davis were pretty solid. Robinson and Welsh did a good job putting pressure on the QB. Eskridge also played WR and made a gem of a catch. It was Diamond-like. Unfortunately, something happened to him and he was gone by the start of the 4th quarter. Hope he is okay. Spruill also got dinged up in a memorable collusion with Williams. That play took both players out of the game for a while, though Spruill eventually returned. Very happy with the play of Hunt until the pick that could have ended the game. He has made major strides taking better care of the ball and made a bunch of big time throws, often with a guy in his face that hit him immediately after he released the ball. He missed a few throws here and there, certainly wasn't perfect, but showed me a lot today. Handled BC blitzes well too. Again, love a mobile QB...that really opens up the offense and gives it some breathing room when mistakes happen. Nice games by Broyld, who has come a long way as a blocker (though he was whistled, correctly for a hold today), Paris, and Moore, who unfortunately spoiled things a bit by dropping a perfectly thrown ball by Hunt that should have been a TD. And Estime had a couple nice plays that really helped to keep drives running. Thought the BC players were beaten badly on the OL and DLs, and were outplayed on the field all game long. I credit the BC coaching staff for making a series of excellent calls to get points on the board based on trickery and misdirection, which is very different than what they have been doing during their 4 game winning streak. IMHO, they outcoached the SU staff pretty badly to get their team in the lead late. But some questionable play calling late left a lot of time on the board after the big pick they got and when they were held to a FG, SU got the ball back with enough time on the clock to have a chance. This season it seems like there were 3 or 4 games that SU was so close to winning but just couldn't close the deal. This one felt like the others. What a frustrating way to lose. But props to the staff for using their TOs well down the stretch and props to them for not wasting any in the 2nd half (unlike say, every other half played this season). And props to GM for making some great calls on the momentus drive at the end of the game to clinch a likely, then unlikely victory. Thought it was interesting that BC took the lead on a nicely executed TE throwback play. Thought it was really interesting when SU called the same play to take the lead and essentially win the game. I like to think that somewhere in a darkened laboratory, with only light from the glow of a television screen, a former mad scientist offensive coordinator from Connecticut was watching this game, and enjoyed those last two scoring plays very much. This was a big win for bragging rights, for recruiting purposes, for the seniors, for the rest of the team that will benefit from the 15 extra practices, but more than anything, I think it was badly needed to change the national perception about the Syracuse program. One win doesn't necessarily do that but returning to bowl eligibility is a big deal. It gives the new staff instant legitimacy, important currency with so many programs in this area in the crapper. And it sets the stage for the development of the SU-BC rivalry more than any fan trash talk or ACC scheduling can do. Great games make for great rivalries. This game was a solid step towards building this into something special, something worth watching in the future. Lets hope this continues next season in Chestnut Hill. It could and should become the game of the year for Eastern football. I think it will. Time will tell. [/QUOTE]

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