SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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- A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, said Gertrude Stein. She probably would tell us that 4-0 is 4-0, as well.
- The team rallied to pull out another game that looked as if it had gone down the drain, which showed guts and determination. A point of pride with me over the years is that I was one of the supposed crowd of 24,605 people, (it was about half that) who arrented that 1983 Kent State game. Coach Mac had opened his tenure here with three straight losses, the first two to Rutgers and Temple on his way to a 4-6-1 record, (worse than Frank Maloney’s last team the year before, which went 5-6). Then he’s had a 2-9 disaster in 1982, followed by a 6-17 road loss to Temple to open the ’83 season. 6-16-1. We were now playing the team with the longest losing streak in the country, Kent State. We fumbled the opening kick-off but held the Golden Flashes to a field goal. then we fumbled on our first play from scrimmage and the worst team in the country marched in to score a TD that made it Syracuse 0 Kent State 10. Then we fumbled the kickoff again. A woman sitting next me said “This is actually funny”. Boos reigned down. But Four-Wheel Drive, our defensive line, (Tim Green, Bill Pendock, Blaise Winter and Jaime Kimmel), motioned to the crowd, raising their arms upward, asking “Support Us, get behind us.” The crowd responded with cheers and we kept cheering to the end of the game. The defense took control of the game while the offense sputtered. But they got close enough for Don McAuley to attempt a field goal, then another, then another, then another, then another. He made all of them and we pulled ahead 15-10. Finally, in the fourth quarter, we punched over a touchdown to win 22, (the same score as today) to 10. People scoffed at beating the worst team in the country by such a score but it the first of three straight victories on our way to a winning record. Then came another winning record and another, with a bowl game that Helped Coach Mac recruit the class that, (after a redshirt year) moved into the line-up for the 1987 season and produced the 11-0 breakthrough of that year. Maybe this team has bottomed out and will be on the rise again.
- The 2018 team had a strong start and we knew it was going to be a special season, but they hit a rough patch in mid-season after the Clemson game slipped away. We lost to Pitt in overtime and Tommy DeVito had to rally us to beat North Carolina, also in over time. People wondered what was wrong with Dungey. But he came back to have a big game in beating NC State and we closed out the season strong. All seasons have their ups and downs.
- The defense proved they could win a game with little help from the offense. They sacked Brennan Armstrong 6 times and hurries him into 19 incompletions and an interception. We limited him to 7.3 yards per completion and 3.6 per attempt. None of those 50 yard bombs with the game on the line we suffered through last week.
- I’d decided that when I got home I’d try coach Baber’s celebratory meal of noodles, hotdogs and eggs, (he eats only the whites- I included the yokes). I didn’t have any noodles so I make elbow macaroni with tomatoes sauce, cooked some mini-dogs and dumped two eggs, scrambled over the mix. I hadn’t been feeling as if we’d won a game because there were so many discouraging aspects of it. But after having this meal, I started to feel the win. I don’t know if I’ll wake up tomorrow morning after taking in all that cholesterol but I’ll sleep well.
4-0 with 8+ to go
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
- The team rallied to pull out another game that looked as if it had gone down the drain, which showed guts and determination. A point of pride with me over the years is that I was one of the supposed crowd of 24,605 people, (it was about half that) who arrented that 1983 Kent State game. Coach Mac had opened his tenure here with three straight losses, the first two to Rutgers and Temple on his way to a 4-6-1 record, (worse than Frank Maloney’s last team the year before, which went 5-6). Then he’s had a 2-9 disaster in 1982, followed by a 6-17 road loss to Temple to open the ’83 season. 6-16-1. We were now playing the team with the longest losing streak in the country, Kent State. We fumbled the opening kick-off but held the Golden Flashes to a field goal. then we fumbled on our first play from scrimmage and the worst team in the country marched in to score a TD that made it Syracuse 0 Kent State 10. Then we fumbled the kickoff again. A woman sitting next me said “This is actually funny”. Boos reigned down. But Four-Wheel Drive, our defensive line, (Tim Green, Bill Pendock, Blaise Winter and Jaime Kimmel), motioned to the crowd, raising their arms upward, asking “Support Us, get behind us.” The crowd responded with cheers and we kept cheering to the end of the game. The defense took control of the game while the offense sputtered. But they got close enough for Don McAuley to attempt a field goal, then another, then another, then another, then another. He made all of them and we pulled ahead 15-10. Finally, in the fourth quarter, we punched over a touchdown to win 22, (the same score as today) to 10. People scoffed at beating the worst team in the country by such a score but it the first of three straight victories on our way to a winning record. Then came another winning record and another, with a bowl game that Helped Coach Mac recruit the class that, (after a redshirt year) moved into the line-up for the 1987 season and produced the 11-0 breakthrough of that year. Maybe this team has bottomed out and will be on the rise again.
- The 2018 team had a strong start and we knew it was going to be a special season, but they hit a rough patch in mid-season after the Clemson game slipped away. We lost to Pitt in overtime and Tommy DeVito had to rally us to beat North Carolina, also in over time. People wondered what was wrong with Dungey. But he came back to have a big game in beating NC State and we closed out the season strong. All seasons have their ups and downs.
- The defense proved they could win a game with little help from the offense. They sacked Brennan Armstrong 6 times and hurries him into 19 incompletions and an interception. We limited him to 7.3 yards per completion and 3.6 per attempt. None of those 50 yard bombs with the game on the line we suffered through last week.
- I’d decided that when I got home I’d try coach Baber’s celebratory meal of noodles, hotdogs and eggs, (he eats only the whites- I included the yokes). I didn’t have any noodles so I make elbow macaroni with tomatoes sauce, cooked some mini-dogs and dumped two eggs, scrambled over the mix. I hadn’t been feeling as if we’d won a game because there were so many discouraging aspects of it. But after having this meal, I started to feel the win. I don’t know if I’ll wake up tomorrow morning after taking in all that cholesterol but I’ll sleep well.
4-0 with 8+ to go
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
