SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 32,699
- Like
- 62,971
- I’m doing a series on the 1954 Syracuse team, which with Jimmy Brown, lost three one-sided games in a row and wound up 4-4. That was Ben Schwartzwalder’s sixth year and there must have been people wondering if he was the right man for the job. We were in the Cotton Bowl in two years and won the national title three years later. I remember the “Sack Mac Pack” from when we opened 0-4 in 1986. That was Coach Mac’s sixth year. We went 11-0 in his seventh. I think I’ll stick with this coach and see how things work out.
- The good thing about hard times is that you see who your friends are. In football, you see who your fans are. It’s the riff-raff that jumps ship.
- We outgained Cincy, 373-368 and out-first downed them 22-18. That’s like getting more hits in baseball but it also means that were weren’t pushed around. This game was about field position and red zone performance, not being competitive.
- Unsung hero department: on the kick-off return that opened the second half, Ross Krautman, (remember he’s coming off an injury), ran the returner down from behind and actually caused a fumble. Usually no one is as forelorn as a kicker who sees a return guy elude everyone else: he’s not a tackler by nature and he has the entire field to cover against a sprinter. But Krautman didn’t give up and the play and brought the guy down. Unfortunately, the Bearcats fell on the ball and then Pead ran untouched into the end zone. But that wasn’t Ross’s fault and shouldn’t obscure the fact that he made a great play.
- Antwon Bailey, in his last game in the Dome, ran like a man possessed, gaining 135 yards on 27 carries and catching 5 passes for 43 yards. It was good to see him rediscovered as a pass receiver. We need him to have the ball in space where he can use all his abilities.
- Ryan Nassib is one tough kid. He got hit and often knocked down on every play yet he kept getting back up and competed to the end of the game, completing 10 of 11 passes during two late drives. He was 6 for 20 going into those drives and 13 for 18 after that.
- I liked the looks of Jerome Smith, who lowered the boom on a bearcat tackler on one play and left him on the carpet for several minutes. He runs hard and keeps his legs moving, enabling him to “move the pile and fall” and fall forward.
- It was nice to see Van Chew get back into the flow with 6 catches for 77 yards.
- He was overshadowed by the Cincy kicker but Jonathan Fisher had a nice game averaging 42.8 per punt.
5-6 and one to fix it
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
- The good thing about hard times is that you see who your friends are. In football, you see who your fans are. It’s the riff-raff that jumps ship.
- We outgained Cincy, 373-368 and out-first downed them 22-18. That’s like getting more hits in baseball but it also means that were weren’t pushed around. This game was about field position and red zone performance, not being competitive.
- Unsung hero department: on the kick-off return that opened the second half, Ross Krautman, (remember he’s coming off an injury), ran the returner down from behind and actually caused a fumble. Usually no one is as forelorn as a kicker who sees a return guy elude everyone else: he’s not a tackler by nature and he has the entire field to cover against a sprinter. But Krautman didn’t give up and the play and brought the guy down. Unfortunately, the Bearcats fell on the ball and then Pead ran untouched into the end zone. But that wasn’t Ross’s fault and shouldn’t obscure the fact that he made a great play.
- Antwon Bailey, in his last game in the Dome, ran like a man possessed, gaining 135 yards on 27 carries and catching 5 passes for 43 yards. It was good to see him rediscovered as a pass receiver. We need him to have the ball in space where he can use all his abilities.
- Ryan Nassib is one tough kid. He got hit and often knocked down on every play yet he kept getting back up and competed to the end of the game, completing 10 of 11 passes during two late drives. He was 6 for 20 going into those drives and 13 for 18 after that.
- I liked the looks of Jerome Smith, who lowered the boom on a bearcat tackler on one play and left him on the carpet for several minutes. He runs hard and keeps his legs moving, enabling him to “move the pile and fall” and fall forward.
- It was nice to see Van Chew get back into the flow with 6 catches for 77 yards.
- He was overshadowed by the Cincy kicker but Jonathan Fisher had a nice game averaging 42.8 per punt.
5-6 and one to fix it
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
