Syracuse Football: Get To Know Your Orange Man — #76 Ian Allport

We're going to be writing these things until November.  Someone send beer and pretzels to the Nunes Compound so that we can sustain ourselves through this epic football profiling.

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PLAYER: Ian Allport

NUMBER: 76

POSITION: Well, that depends on what day it is.

YEAR: Senior (RS)

HEIGHT: 6'5"

WEIGHT: 306

HOMETOWN: Pulaski, NY

HIGH SCHOOL: Pulaski Central

2010 STATS: Allport played in three of Syracuse's games last year, but spent a portion of the season dealing with a knee injury.   He originally spent time at guard during 2009, but was moved out to tackle in 2010.  

His biggest statistical output came in the classroom last year, where he made the Big East All-Academic team for the second year in a row while holding a major in Biology.  I'm not sure why he couldn't just diagnose and fix his knee injury on his own with those bona fides.

2011 PROJECTIONS: The post-spring depth chart currently shows Allport as the second-string center behind sophomore Macky MacPherson. It's unclear where Allport will shake out in 2011.  Marrone and offensive line coach Greg Adkins haven't been afraid to mix and match offensive line combinations in the past, and if MacPherson is overwhelmed this year, Allport has a chance to contribute. 

Given the Orange's depth at tackle - Justin Pugh, Michael Hay, Sean Hickey, and Andrew Phillips - it probably isn't likely that Allport cracks the rotation outside.  Regardless, he does provide upperclass utility for a unit that finally looks like it is going to turn the corner and serve as a position of relative strength in 2011.

HOW'D HE GET HERE: It was pretty easy, actually:  Drive south on 81 from Pulaski until you run into the Carrier Dome. 

That and, you know, Syracuse was his dream school:

Ian Allport recently picked up his first two offers from Syracuse and Albany, but it was the offer from the Orange that really piqued his interest. When we last spoke with the offensive lineman he told us that when the written offer hit his kitchen table he would be verbally committing and on Sunday night he followed through, giving Coach Brian White his word over the phone. 

He must've really like the Orange if he committed to that old red nose.

WHAT DID SCOUT/RIVALS SAY?: Scout had Allport as a two-star cat; Rivals nodded in agreement and also graded him out as a two-star. 

Coming out of high school Scout highlighted his "Nasty Streak" as a strength.  Given a recent documentary I saw called Major League, getting nasty helps you win important ball games.  I am now inclined to believe that Syracuse will get off to a poor start in 2011, but Allport's nastiness in crucial spots will lead the Orange to a once-unfathomable conference tittle..

MONEY QUOTE: Knowledge is exciting!

i love class

LINKS OF WONDER: His brother from another mother apparently runs a haulage company on the other side of the Atlantic.

I'm assuming haulage is kind of like truck freight here in the God-fearing United States of Amercia?  I'm not quite certain, though.  The Brits have stupid names for normal things (they're fries, jerkfaces; only someone wearing a bib would call them chips). 

WHAT DOES MARRONE THINK?: He thinks you should stop asking questions, college boy.

Nathaniel Hackett seems to be willing to give Allport a shot at an offensive line spot:

"I know we’re going to give Ian Allport a shot at it," Hackett said. "See if he could handle it."

Fire away.

PANDA BEARS AS FOOTBALL THEORY: Here you go: