Syracuse vs. Akron: The Day Before Tomorrow

One day.  That's all that stands between you and watching the Orange play an actual football game (Plus, the whole ESPN3 thing...).  The final news and nuggets are trickling in, let's sort them out.

Ever think about maybe coaching football one day? Doug Marrone probably has a file on you. J. Edgar Marrone keeps files on every coordinator this side of the Pacific so that he can be prepared to beat them wherever they are:

"I’ve been keeping folders on coordinators since 1996. We keep folders on coordinators so when they change teams we know exactly what they do. I think it is hard to change if you’re a coordinator, your style, your system, what you want to run. You bank on that and that is what you’re playing, percentages."

Doug Marrone scares me sometimes.  And I like it.

Cornerback Kevyn Scott and linebacker Ryan Gillum are officially out for the Akron game.  Both have spent most of the last few weeks on the sidelines so it's not a huge shock. 

Gillum, a junior, was listed as having an upper body issue, and Scott, a junior, was listed as having a lower body issue on the non-detailed reports.

Well at least they're spreading out the regional body issues.

The heart and soul of the Syracuse defense, and possibly the entire team, are the linebackers.  Namely, Derrell Smith and Doug Hogue.  The Bone-masters are ready to take their game to something called "another level."

"I think there has to be another level," Hogue (72 tackles, 16 TFL, 9.5 sacks) said. "Last year was my first year of playing linebacker at this level. Derrell had two or three defenses here before. For him to learn this defense was like learning all over again, so it’s hard to play as fast. Now with this defense and what we know we can play faster."

"If you watch film you see a lot of missed tackles and times when we did a lot of wrong things," Smith (82 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks) said. "There is another level."

Hogue is excited for the season and desperately wants a bowl game or some kind of championship to hang his hat on.  The man's got plenty of fingers, they need some rings.

One guy who's got plenty of rings on his fingers is Floyd Little and the Hall of Famer will be in Akron to greet SU fans and sign some autographs:

Little will be located inside the southeast gate of the venue from 5-5:45 p.m. He will also participate in the coin toss on the field prior to the game, which starts at p.m..

Finally, its a homecoming for Delone Carter. Doug Marrone expects his feature back to have a great game and lead the team.

"He just needs to play like he has been playing," he said. "He’s been a good player here in the past and we feel his skill level is up from last year."