Four Downs: Northwestern Wildcats

Before every SU football game this season I’ll preview the game by discussing the four biggest questions heading into the contest. Now, while we all have asked questions such as “How on earth does Greg Robinson still have a head coaching job at anything above JV high school football?” we will stick to relevant questions for the upcoming game. Let’s get on with it.

1. Who will step up and take over for the departed Mike Williams and Taj Smith?

Without a doubt this is the biggest question mark on the team heading into the opener. Andrew Robinson was able to develop great chemistry with Williams and Smith, who combined for over 100 catches, 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns. Robinson was sure to enter this year with a chance to improve upon his numbers with these two returning. Now that they’re gone, who is left? Lavar Lobdell returns, and many are expecting him to finally show the potential we thought he had when he signed with the Orange. Bruce Williams has converted back from free safety and might get a chance to start. Donte Davis, Marcus Sales and Chaz Cervino also might get a chance to contribute. My prediction is that it will change week to week who Robinson is targeting the most. Lobdell definitely has the talent and attitude to develop into a number one wideout, but this is the biggest concern heading into Evanston.

This could be a recurring sight this season...

2. What will be Mitch Browning’s effect on the offense?

We’ve already seen his effect on local eateries; Browning’s main task is to keep his QB upright, as the SU offensive line gave up 4.5 sacks per game last season. Andrew Robinson might not have anyone to throw to, but you could give him Marvin Harrison and Art Monk and it wouldn’t matter if the O-line doesn’t protect him. Browning’s Minnesota teams had prolific rushing attacks and there is no doubt that Syracuse needs help running the football. But pass protection is going to be a necessity, as we will be playing from behind a lot this year.

3. How will the defense handle Northwestern’s spread offense?

Last year the Wildcats finished second in the Big Ten in total offense with 427.67 yards per game. QB C.J. Bacher leads their spread offense attack and he has good weapons in RB Tyrell Sutton and WRs Ross Lane and Eric Peterman. Dealing with this attack will be no picnic for the Cuse defense.

As of right now G-Rob has not made a decison on his starting CB opposite of Mike Holmes. Both Nico Scott and Da’Mon Merkerson will get a look against Northwestern. This defense has a lot of untested players who will need to play big roles if the Orange can be competitive this year. Facing this type of offense has me worried just based on the numbers Robinson’s defenses have put up in his tenure. Here are the national rankings for the defense over the last three years:

2007:

• Rusing Defense: 108
• Passing Defense: 102
• Total Defense: 111
• Scoring Defense: 104
• Sacks: 118

2006:

• Rusing Defense: 110
• Passing Defense: 76
• Total Defense: 107
• Scoring Defense: 72
• Sacks: 19

2005:

• Rusing Defense: 97
• Passing Defense: 21
• Total Defense: 57
• Scoring Defense: 67
• Sacks: 55

You can see the pattern. The first year, with basically Paul Pasqualoni’s players, Robinson had a very solid defense who was always on the field because the offense was brutal (it is worth noting that Robinson’s first defense performed better than Coach P’s last one). But since his recruits and his schemes have become a more prevalent part of the Syracuse defense, the results have become unbelievably horrid. I think the D will struggle this season as usual, but our pass defense will look extremely terrible this week.

4. How will the carries be split between the tailbacks?

Greg Robinson hasn’t decided who will start yet, and might not until Saturday. Curtis Brinkley, Doug Houge, and Delone Carter have by all accounts had their moments this pre-season. Brinkley is the top returning rusher from last season, having carried the ball 111 times for 416 yards and 2 TDs. Of course leading the team in rushing isn’t impressive when your team ranks 118th in the country in rushing offense. There is a possibility that all three could receive some of the work load, or that it could be an even split. What’s likely is the coaches going with whomever is having the best day out of the three for the first few games, then settling on a more definitive distribution of the carries.

Highly touted freshman Averin Collier is not listed on the depth chart for Northwestern. G-Rob hasn’t announce if Collier would be redshirted or if he can expect to play this week. As of now it seems he won’t see any time until a few of the others drop out of the race or are hit by the injury bug.

Thursday Night in the Big East

Tonight is the start of the 2008 college football season, and two of Syracuse’s Big East foes are in action. UConn takes on the Hofstra Pride and Cincinnati takes on Eastern Kentucky.

The Syracuse-UConn rivalry is still alive and well, despite our 3 year run of what could charitably be described as a “slump” on our end of the spectrum. But like any good slump all we need is one ugly drunk chick to get back on track. UConn is hoping that Hofstra is their version of the slump-buster after being outscored by a margin of 90-31 in their final two games last season. The thought of an Appalachian State type upset has been talked about in Connecticut this week, which goes to show how much there is to write about Hofstra. I don’t really like the Pride’s odds in this one:

UConn is 6-0 vs. FCS competition since 2002, winning those games by a combined 297-52. The Huskies are also undefeated in their five season openers at Rentschler. They’ve won seven straight at home, where they’ll play three of their first four games.

Hofstra also lost 14 starters from last years team. I’m thinking UConn will have very little trouble in this one:

UConn 38 – Hofstra 10

Cincinnati also opens up against a D-1AA (fuck calling it the Championship Sub Division) opponent. Eastern Kentucky played the Bearcats two years ago, losing 31-0. A similar result is likely. Cincinnati’s quarterback that won’t go away, Ben Mauk, has one last chance to gain an additional year of eligibility:

Mauk will talk to the reinstatement committee by phone on Thursday afternoon, a few hours before the Bearcats open their season at home against Eastern Kentucky. He expects a decision either later in the day or on Friday.

Mauk initially appealed for another season because of the dislocated shoulder and broken passing arm he suffered in the season opener at Wake Forest in 2006. When that argument was rejected, he contended that he had to redshirt his freshman year at Wake Forest because of injury and should get another season for that reason.

Ben Mauk (left) and Sinbad look to lead the Fightin' Armadillos to the Big East title.

That injury was of course suffered against Syracuse. Mauk must want revenge. Or he wants to be exactly like Scott Bakula’s character from “Necessary Roughness”. Mauk is definitly a talented quarterback, as he finished last season as the 11th rated passer in the country. While it shouldn’t be a problem against the Colonels, they could have trouble replacing him when they get to the tough part of their schedule.

But for tonight:

Cincy 42 – EKU 20

Welcome To The Neighborhood

I prefered "Kazaam"

There are a ton of great Syracuse blogs out there, and frankly most of them are better than this one. But I wanted to take a minute to welcome an old friend of mine to the party. His name is Jesse and he just started his Orange tinted blog, “Tell Me How My Orange Tastes.” He’s the only friend of mine who has been to as many SU football games as me, and I’m still not quite over the fact that he got his picture taken with Donovan McNabb on the field while I was stuck up in the 300 level. But at least I got the phone number of the 16 year old girl who worked at the Carrier Dome Burger King, so I guess it all evens out.

Jesse will be providing his own unique commentary for all of us to enjoy, including some collaboration with this site. So stop by to his site and say hi to him. Just don’t pull a Kobe and mention him to the cops.

Syracuse Football 2008: The Red Album Preview

Can any of you catch a football? We could use some help.

I’ve been thinking of how to write a preview of something that I’m dreading: this upcoming season of Syracuse football. Between the horrible results of the last few years coupled with this tumultuous off season, I’m at the low point of my Syracuse fandom (and I guarantee I’m not alone).

But this new Syracuse football season comes with a potential silver lining. If the team performs well and gets into a bowl game we can rejoice in St. Petersberg or Toronto or whatever other city would be dumb lucky enough to invite us. Our team would be back to winning games. The Dome might begin to feel like it did before Greg Robinson arrived on campus.

And if the team plays poorly again and fails to win games, Robinson will likely be shown the door (OH MY GOD DARYL GROSS- IF THEY DON’T WIN 6 GAMES FIRE HIS ASS!!!!), allowing the program to move in a (hopefully) productive direction.

So this is the mindset I talked myself into in order to write about the 2008 season. Now I just needed a format.

Enter Weezer.

For as long as I can recall, Weezer has been one of my favorite bands. The “Blue Album” was the second CD I ever owned (Boys II Men II was first-probably the worst thing I’ve ever admitted to in my life) and it has grown to revered status with myself and my friends. Countless times we have sang (more like off-key shouted) Blue from start to finish. It started at high school parties, including every single graduation party. Then it continued at the first party when we returned home from college (the one where everyone is sharing stories about their crazy friend, or talking about a night of debauchery at Zeta Phi Alpha that unless you were there and it happened to you, nobody else cares about). It had gotten to a point that we actually “retired” the album with one epic sing-a-long during a New Year’s Eve party two years ago. Since then, the Blue Album has thrown on the 45 like Jordan and made multiple returns to our late night drunken festivities.

The point is, we can’t let go of it. And I can’t let go of Syracuse football. This summer Weezer released their first album since the disappointing “Make Believe” and restored my faith that you can still love something after you thought it had been left for dead. The “Red Album” is quirky, fun and the best thing they’ve put out in seven years (which is slightly longer than the six years since Syracuse had a player chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft). It renewed my faith in a band that I had abandoned. Hopefully myself, and any other fan out there, won’t do that to SU football.

So here are the preseason awards/preview for the 2008 season based on the “Red Album”: