Endicott, NY. It's a village of about 13,000 folks in Broome County, right in the middle of the New York-Pennsylvania border. It also boasts a decent collection of football-playing alumni. Former NFLer Isaiah Kacyvenski grew up there, as did former SU and current Ravens lineman Arthur Jones. His younger brother, Chandler, is now a star for the Orange and he too came from Union-Endicott High School.
Lining up across from Chandler this weekend will be Rutgers running back Jordan Thomas. Thomas grew up in Endicott, which is must closer to Syracuse than it is to New Brunswick. Still, Thomas says he never even considered SU when making his decision on where to attend school. Rutgers, moreso than Syracuse, felt like home.
"The reason why I came here is because it felt like home," Thomas said. "I had the feeling that I was comfortable here and that overtook my decision."
Fair enough. Dude also grew up a Penn State fan, so, I guess that explains his lack of affinity for the Orange. That said, he clearly doesn't like something about SU. Maybe we didn't recruit him? I'm not sure, but he's apparently got something to prove this weekend.
"You have a chip on your shoulder when you go out there," he said of the prospect of facing Syracuse.
In other Rutgers news, expect freshman Chas Dodd to start for the Knights. That means the Orange will have faced a Chazz and a Chas within two weeks of one another. Big East Football!
Delone Carter must be excited at the prospect of facing the Rutgers defense this weekend. The Scarlet Knights have allowed five opposing running backs to top 100 yards in the last four games. South Florida’s Mo Plancher ran for 135 last week. Also adding to it is that Delone didn't have a great game last year (67 yards), though he didn't really need to in the blowout win.
Now its time for a history lesson...