Last year, an overachieving Big East team that went into South Bend late in November, played with a lot of emotion, gave the Irish a fight and eventually pulled out a win in the game's final moments, sending speculation about Charlie Weis' tenure as head coach through the roof. That team then went out the following weekend and got crushed by a fellow Big East team.
Let's hope history repeats itself.
The UConn Huskies will host the Orange this Saturday. They want to win so they can become bowl eligible. They've got everything to lose whereas the Orange have nothing to lose. Syracuse is suddenly in the business of ruining fellow Big East team's bowl pictures so...why not win this one too, finish 5-7, steal all of Rutgers and UConn's recruits and return to dominance in two years. Deal? Deal.
Speaking of recruiting, there were many a recruit in the Loud House this past weekend. Any of them who might have been torn between Syracuse and Rutgers are no longer torn (right, Malcolm Cater???). If you want specifics beyond that, you'll have to look elsewhere. Doug Marrone ain't sharin'.
"I'm going to be a little bit more conscientious of what we put out there for recruiting, it's a very, very ... it's a highly competitive situation," Marrone said. "It's extremely important for us to get the right players in here and the right fit. To have people come up and have the ability to say they want to come to Syracuse University or not, I don't need to put that out there so people can put more pressure for them not to commit to our school."
Seems like Doug is referencing something specific but I can't imagine what it is. I don't remember Doug climbing to the top of the Dome and screaming two-star recruit names while twirling an SU towel over his head. Then again I was away from the computer this weekend. May have missed it.
How bout the guys already in uniform though? Coach was extremely pleased with the performance of his defense as well as players like Antwon Bailey. Marrone didn't hand out accolades to a select few, however, he saved that honor for all of the seniors.
There were a lot of players who played well in the victory besides Hogue and Bailey, Marrone said. He could hand out man game balls, but said game balls will be issued to all the graduating seniors.
"Man game balls?" Do those go with The Bone?
Sure, the SU running backs have been on fire lately but make sure the offensive line is getting some of that credit too. The much-maligned unit seems to have gelled somewhat and it's paying off.
Against Rutgers, all three rushing touchdowns were a product of clean seals by the line. Tackles Josh White and Nick Speller, guards Ryan Bartholomew and Adam Rosner and center Jim McKenzie mandhandled a defensive line that had been the nation’s 13th-ranked rush defense. On Collier’s clinching 60-yard score, Bartholomew completely turned Alex Silvestro out of the play.
Marrone is excited for the opportunity to coach against Cuse alum Randy Edsall. As a rookie coach, he must see great benefit in the fact that the league has some long-standing coaches in it's midst.
"In the last two games we’ve played against the two Big East coaches who have been here the longest amount of time. Coach Schiano has been there nine years and Coach Edsall has been there 10 so both of those coaches have been through quite a bit with their football teams.
Coach...just an FYI...Jim Leavitt has been with USF longer than both of them ('97)...but maybe you were just counting FBS years. If so, cool If not...well, you probably don't want to let Leavitt know about this. He's got a tendency to get a little headbutty.