Syracuse Orangmen Dynasty (NCAA 10)

[TheSensation]

Akron, OH-Syracuse comes to Akron on a Thursday night to right their sinking ship. Things start right for the Orange as Mayes gets pick 6 on Akron’s first drive and Syracuse has momentum. The half continues and the Orangemen are playing well. Mac even overturns two fumble calls that would have gone for Akron touchdowns. At the half the Orange held and Mac threw 0 passes in 1st half

Carter scored on the ground (L), Akron tried some trickery (R)

Score-
Syracuse: 41
Akron: 13

Passing-
Rodgers: 31/39 268 1td 1int rush 7/-15
Nassib: 1/2 13

Rushing-
Torrence: 6/8 1td rec 10/63
Carter: 34/172 2td (P.O.G.)
Collier: 14/107 1td

Defense-
Dawson: 13tkls 1fl
Harvey: 10tkls 1fl
Mayes: 6tkls 1int (64) 1td

1-2

Top National Story: Minnesota beats #5USC in double OT 37-34; #7Virginia tech beaten 55-7 by Georgia Tech; #1Florida falls 12-10 to Tennessee
Top Local Story: Mac takes the air out of the ball for a much needed win

Week four ESPN.com-
Top National Story: Cincinnati takes down #5Oklahoma 37-24
Top Local Story: Mac gets to the recruiting trail

[TheSensation]

Morgantown, WV-Mac has decided to treat his team like a high school team because that is the type of personnel he has. Mac has a stable of able backs, a fullback and tightend that love to block, and a powerful o-line along with a terrible quarterback and a corps of receivers that can’t catch. That game plan is going to be put to the test against a very hot West Virginia team. This game would have been hard enough without it being an away game and a rivalry game.

To start things off Syracuse will kick. Rob Long decides to kick to the up-man in attempt to give his coverage squad a chance. Long sees Jock Sanders and Noel Divine back there and doesn’t treat his boys to make a tackle. The unthinkable happens as they manage to blow even that opportunity as the up-man takes the kick for a score! Fast-forward to the forth quarter. Sure, the in-between stuff was interesting but it gets dwarfed by what is about to happen.

To start forth SU is up 24-21 and taking over after a missed field goal. Mac is hoping to continue to run the ball and grind the clock down. However, SU goes 3 and out. West Virginia comes right down the field and score as Jock Sanders hauls in a touchdown pass to take the lead 28-24. On the ensuing kickoff Max Suter give the Orangemen great field position as he is tackled at the Mountaineer 38. Unfortunately Syracuse can’t muster any type of offense and turn the ball over on downs after gaining zero yards. Luckily the Syracuse D holds and the offense gets the ball back with 2:32 left. From their own twenty SU goes 4 and out. This West Virginia defense is all over Carter because they know exactly what’s coming. From here the game looks essentially over. Syracuse has three timeouts but all West Virginia has to do is get a first down to end the game. If they don’t they can always kick a field goal to make it a seven point game.

West Virginia grinds the clock and makes SU use its 3 timeouts but still get a first down. It is now 4th down from the SU five with :35 left. West Virginia has two options. They can either kick the field goal or attempt to score on 4th down; even if they miss Syracuse would have to go 95 yards with no timeouts and :30 seconds on the clock. West Virginia decides to kick the field goal to go up 31-24. On the kick off Suter takes it to 30 but a holding call brings it back to the 20 with 0:32 left. The Orange have no timeouts and the game is essentially over. None the less Mac gets Nassib chucking as he finds Bailey for 18 who is tackled inbounds. The offense hurries up to the line and Nassib finds Merkerson for 43 yards but he is also tackled in bounds. The offense is booking down field and Nassib wants to spike the ball but isn’t sure he’ll even have the time to spike it (ala Ryan Leaf in the Rose Bowl 1996). Nassib just motions to the receivers to run and get open. With 0:01 on the clock the Orange get the snap off. The entire field is full of frantic players. Both the offense and defense are disoriented and Nassib rolls to his left. He heaves the ball toward the left corner of the endzone toward Bailey…MAKE THE GRAB! Will Mac go for two? He thought long and hard about it but he decides against it and we have an improbable overtime folks.

To start the overtime West Virginia wins the toss and elects to be on offense first. On that first possession Devine scores a TD to put the Mountaineers up 38-31. Syracuse tries to answer but found itself pinned at its own 19 on a 2nd and goal. A pass to Bailey and a Collier run later the score is all tied up. In the second overtime Syracuse starts with the ball. After three runs net a mere eight yards Rauters kicks another FG. Mac has a bad feeling about this. West Virginia has had their way on offense the last few drives. To open their possession West Virginia gets a big pass to the Syracuse 12. The next two plays net a minus 8 yards and on 3rd down Smith rifles a ball to Starks running a post. Starks is tackled 1 yard short of the first down at the three and West Virginia will settle for the field goal. Can this game get any more tense? Tied at 41 all the Mountaineers begin the 3rd overtime on offense. Their first play goes nowhere as Devin is stuffed. On the next play Smith drops back to pass and SU rushes only four. Smith has all day to throw and after about seven seconds in the pocket tosses an ill-advised floater that is pick off by John Mark Henderson. Time for Syracuse to take over on offense…but wait…Henderson has a clear path to the endzone and takes off. Devine is trailing him and this turns into a foot face folks! Henderson reaches the ten yard line and is dying as Devin is coming up hard…Henderson does it, He scores! If Devine would have been a little closer when the pick was made he wouldn’t have made it. What a game folks, this Syracuse team has a flair for the dramatic.

Henderson’s pick six in the 3rd OT won the game (L) but it took a pass from Nassib to Bailey as time expired to even earn OT (R)

Score-
Syracuse: 47 3OT
#6 West Virginia: 41

Passing-
Nassib: 10/19 178 1td 1int
Smith: 18/25 273 1td 2int

Rushing-
Carter: 32/145 1td
Collier: 14/78 3td
Devine: 30/186 2td rec 2/43

Defense-
Glover: 15tkls
Stewart: 12tkls
Lazear: 10tkls 2fl 1int (72) 1td
Stenclik: 12tkls 3fl 1sack
Henderson: 7tkls 1int (88) 1td (P.O.G.)

Special Teams-
Snook: KR 1/72 1td

2-2 (1-0)

Top National Story: #1Texas and #5Oklahoma get ready for barnburner
Top Local Story: Orangemen retain the Schwartzwalder Trophy in one of the greatest games ever played

[TheSensation]

Syracuse, NY-This is the classic setup for a letdown game. Mac is hoping for a solid effort with recruits in the house…

Visiting-
MLB Jeff Sampson
WR Jeremy McCoy
CB Derek Darby

…He got that solid effort from the entire team including a few nice hookups between Merkerson and Nassib. Maybe the passing game isn’t going to be a total loss after all. With under five minutes left the Orange were up 37-14 and Mac put the 2nd team in.

Merkerson had some success going deep (L), the Orangemen attacked on defense (R)

Score-
Connecticut: 30
Syracuse: 40

Passing-
Nassib: 6/12 160 1td
Frazer: 20/30 305 3td

Rushing-
Todman: 20/104 1td
Carter: 26/162 2td (P.O.G. & Big East P.O.W.)

Receiving-
Merkerson: 4/127 1td

Defense-
Bagsby: 14tkls
Lutrus: 13tkls
Junior: 11tkls

Injury-
Kinnard: 5-7 weeks (dislocated elbow)

3-2 (2-0)

Top National Story: #1Texas takes down #5Oklahoma 24-12
Top Local Story: Mac’s new running focused attack paying dividends

[TheSensation]

New Brunswick, NJ-Rutgers could not catch a break this game. To start their kicker took and missed three 45+ yard field goals. They could not convert on third down and when they finally got some momentum going Syracuse stole it back. Syracuse was in control the majority of the game but did get a scare in the third quarter. The Orangemen went from being up 24-0 with just over 2 minutes left in the 3rd to only up 24-15 after a 49 yard TD run by Rutgers and an interception got returned for a score on the next drive. After those two scores things settled down and the Orange put the game away.

Collier was key to many scores today

Score-
Syracuse: 34
Rutgers: 15

Passing-
Jefferson: 16/28 133 1int
Nassib: 9/17 172 2td 1int

Rushing-
Williams: 13/80 1td
Martinek: 10/40
Collier: 7/132 1td (P.O.G.)
Carter: 20/80

Receiving-
Merkerson: 4/101 1td

Defense-
Lefeged: 10tklls 1int (55) 1td
Noonan: 10tkls 1fl
Perkins: 3tkls 3fl 2sacks

4-2 (3-0)

Top National Story: #8Cincinnati gets first loss as Connecticut gets first win
Top Local Story: Syracuse plays solid ball in win over Rutgers; MLB Jeff Sampson commits!

[TheSensation]

Syracuse, NY-Seemingly half the recruiting class is on the sidelines for this game…

Visiting-
C William Myers
CB William Stanley
ATH Malik Turner
S Marcus Brown
OLB Bernard McCall
CB Shane Scott
WR Kyle King
S Vince Herring
QB Luis Patrick
DE Reggie Turner
OLB Joe Seals
CB Daniel Callahan
CB Paris Burns
ATH Jarrod Garcia
S Brian Griffin

…This was a very close matchup in the first half. As time was ticking down in the half Syracuse was up 14-13 and with under a minutes left SU goes for a 4th and 3 from the Pitt 5. Mac wanted to solidify some momentum going into the half and he figured Pitt couldn’t drive down the field if the Orange got stuffed. Well, the Orange did get stuffed but they do force Pitt to punt with :09 left in the half. After a 4 yard return by Suter SU has :01 left in half from the Pittsburgh 43. Nassib takes the snap and heaves a ball deep down the sideline to Merkerson who got behind the zone for a touchdown.

Syracuse took that momentum into the second half and continued to put the game out of reach. Delone Carter did not have his usual success this game because Pitt really packed the box with eight and nine men. Consequently Nassib had his best game of the season.

Merkerson is still finding room deep (L), the Orange need to tackle better is they want to keep winning (R)

Score-
Pittsburgh: 23
Syracuse: 38

Passing-
Nassib: 16/21 281 3td 1int (P.O.G. & Big East P.O.W.)
Bostick: 12/21 152 3td 1int

Rushing-
Lewis: 28/109
Carter: 29/96 1td
Collier: 8/19 1td rec 2/53 1td

Defense-
Decicco: 22tkls 3fl
Fields: 12tkls

5-2 (4-0)

Top National Story: #18Florida gets ready to battle undefeated #7Georgia
Top Local Story: Syracuse eyeing another Big East title

[TheSensation]

Player Profile-

Name: Josh White
Position: T
Class: Jr
Home Town: Salisbury, MD
Season Stats: 10 pan-cakes 4 sacks allowed
Notes: White is a tad undersized for a major-conference tackle weighing in at only 291 but what he lacks in bulk he makes up for in agility and speed. Last year White was part of a unit that no one knew what to expect from. What that unit ended up doing was paving the way for one of the nations better running attacks which helped the Orange win the Big East and go to a BCS Bowl. This year White and all his mates returned while the skill players were nearly all fresh to the starting lineup. After a rough start this year the strength and solidarity of the offensive line has begun to show through thanks in no small part to White. Mac loves to run off the right tackle and he love that he can send his backs over the top of Josh White to get a key first down when needed.

[TheSensation]

Cincinnati, OH-This game was very much like the Rutgers game. Syracuse was up and looking to put the game away when turnovers let the Bearcats back in it. Up 17-0 Syracuse was looking to break a big option run when Ryan Nassib made a bad read and pitched the ball square into the hands of a Cincinnati defender. This pitch was thrown so perfectly that the defender caught it in stride and waltzed into the endzone as if he was supposed to be the recipient of that toss. Syracuse rallies to answer and Cincy manages to put in an field goal with seconds left in the half. Half time right? Wrong as Cincinnati makes the mistake of kicking off to Max Suter. Suter makes his usual magic and returns the kick to the house as time expires on the half, 31-10 Orangemen.

The second half proved to be no refuge for the Bearcats as the Orange kept piling it on. By the end of the game this was a blowout.

Collier keep providing big plays in the run game (L), Nassib needs to be more careful with his pitches (R)

Score-
Syracuse: 52
Cincinnati: 16

Passing-
Anderson: 15/28 154 1td 1int sacked 4x
Nassib: 6/14 120 1int

Rushing-
Pead: 16/66 rec 4/17
Carter: 24/147 1td (P.O.G.)
Collier: 8/52 2td
Barnes: 7/29 2td

Defense-
Quetant: 14tkls 1fr (22) 1td
Lambert: 13tkls 1fl
Barnett: 11tkls
Suter: 7tkls 1fl KR 4/179 1td (93)
Kimmel: 5tkls 2fl 2sacks
Henderson: 4tkls 1int (49) 1td

6-2 (5-0)

Top National Story: Six unbeatens remain
Top Local Story: The Orangemen prepare for ‘Penn State Week’, CB Rian Roberson commits

[TheSensation]

Syracuse, NY-When Mac came back to the ‘Cuse he wanted to keep the rivalry with Penn State going and today he gets his wish. Syracuse is making its run for another Big East title and BCS Bowl while at the same time trying to prove to the nation that the Big East is a conference worth such a bid. They could prove that point today by doing one thing, beating the top ranked team in the nation.

The Orange will be helped out by the rain. Mac and his bunch tend to lean heavily on the running game and the slop will play right into that style of play. The first play from scrimmage goes Syracuse’s way as well as Newsome slips on his drop back and poorly under-throws his receiver and the ball is picked by Henderson. That is where the positives ended for the Orange. Collier returns the favors later on the next drive and even though the first quarter ended 0-0 the optimism ended on the second play of the second quarter when Ryan Nassib is hit on a throw to Donte Davis. Nassib is surly hurt and will not come back in this game. Welcome to the big stag wide-eyed 18 year old true freshman Bob Lake. Third and 12 from the Penn State 13 and Lake takes the snap with 5 wides. As long as Lake doesn’t make a mistake the orange can get a few points out of this drive. However, Lake is sacked and fumbles. Penn State recovers and 82 yards later have a 7-0 lead. Syracuse never had any rhythm after that as the big Plays from Penn State never ended.

Penn State took it to the Orange all day

Score-
#1 Penn State: 44
Syracuse: 0

Passing-
Newsome: 19/28 353 2td 1int
Nassib: 4/8 48
Lake: 4/17 77 1int 2fum lost

Rushing-
Carter: 21/112
Green: 27/133 1td rec 3/26

Receiving-
Moye: 4/162 2td (P.O.G.)

Defense-
Stenclik: 10tkls
Bowman: 13tkls 2fl 1ff 1fr (82) 1td
Asterino: 11tkls 1ff
Mauit: 10tkls 1fl
Brown: 1fr (13) 1td
Crawford: 2tkls 1int (20) 1td

Injury-
Nassib: 2-4 weeks

6-3 (5-0)

Top National Story: #8Houston sits at 8-0 after big win over Central Florida and has very winnable games coming up
Top Local Story: Orange lose Nassib then get embarrassed at home