There was a fleeting moment, about 6-months before I accepted my current position at FGCU, when I thought I could fill one of the open coaching jobs on the DePaul University Men’s Basketball staff. Working for DePaul offered several extremely attractive possibilities including stepping up to work for a high-major program as well as the opportunity to live in Chicago.

Unfortunately, the same reasons that made a job at DePaul so alluring also told me that I had little to no chance of getting one of the coveted openings no matter how persistent I was. I formally applied online for the position I qualified for, but of course I didn’t stop there. I followed up my general application with a letter to the DePaul Head Coach where I employed all my charm and powers of persuasion as well as several phone calls before hearing back from their Head Coach.

While other coaches wouldn’t have bothered to respond to my inquiries DePaul’s Head Coach not only called me back, but also spend considerable time on the phone with me answering  questions, providing advice and passing along words of encouragement.

While I knew going in that my dream of working at DePaul and living in Chicago was the longest of long shots, as a result of how their Head Coach treated me, I moved on from the situation feeling positive about myself and my approach to finding a job. 

As the season changed, I sweated my way both literally and figuratively through the summer months, before finally landing my job at FGCU in October. One of the first things I did after arriving on campus was to familiarize myself with our roster and schedule. As I scrolled through the list of our opponents’ one team that would be visiting Alico Arena jumped off the page.

For the tenth game of the 2009-2010 college basketball season little known Florida Gulf Coast University would be hosting mighty DePaul from the Big East. Over the past few years the Big East Conference has been considered one of the premier basketball conferences in the country. Furthermore, prior to us hosting DePaul last week there had been only a handful of other times in Atlantic Sun Conference history (that is the conference that FGCU plays in) where an A-Sun team had hosted a Big East opponent.

As we prepared for the game early last week I couldn’t help but think about how life is filled with coincidences and quirks that always keep things interesting. On the day of the game there was no doubt that DePaul was heavily favored, which was confirmed when I read on one website that a complicated series of formula spit out that DePaul had a 95% of winning.

No matter the odds, or whether anyone outside of the staff and players thought we had a chance, the team knew that if we played our style and remained focused that this could be a significant night in the history of FGCU Men’s Basketball.

We played a solid first half and went into the locker room with a 30-25 lead. We knew that DePaul would come out strong in the second half and get the ball inside attempting to use their superior size and athleticism to wear us down. However, we withstood their initial surge and built a double-digit lead with 10-minutes left, but DePaul had one more run left in them.

As we saw our 13-point lead slowly dwindle, and DePaul gain momentum, we knew on the sidelines that someone needed to step up. After they cut the lead to one point a series of hustle plays gave us multiple chances to score on offense and kept DePaul from having a chance to tie the game or take the lead.

We executed nearly flawlessly in the last two-minutes and held on for a program defining 64-61 win. Many fans and members of the media in the coming days would label our victory over the Blue Demons as the biggest win in FGCU Men’s Basketball history, and a win that would put our young program on the map.

After the game I called my Dad to celebrate our huge triumph and as we broke down the contest one thought kept running through my mind. In my wildest dreams I never thought that I would be lucky enough this season to be a part of a win that was this momentous.

As I explained to my Dad during our talk you never know how things are going to turn out or what twists and turns you are going to encounter along the way. Back in April when I fantasized about the prospects of working for DePaul I would never have believed, after not getting a job there, that they would end up playing such a noteworthy part of my season.

I guess in the crazy world of college basketball, as in life, you never know what moments will define a particular period. In my case it was FGCU and not DePaul who gave me an opportunity this season to continue to my development as a college basketball coach. While I’ve been extremely happy working at FGCU thus far this season I will admit that our win over DePaul last week further served to reinforce the fact that I made the right decision.

You may recall an item from back in July about Doug Marrone wanting to have Syracuse host a yearly New York state HS all-star game. The old Governor’s Bowl setup, matching up NY and NJ,  alternating games between Rutgers and Michie Stadium ended because New York was overmatched on a yearly basis.

Now, I wouldn’t read as much into this as Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician did, but it looks like Marrone’s plan is coming to fruition in some fashion. Isn’t deeming the move a “giant middle finger towards Rutgers” though more than a little hasty? If Coach Schiano’s decisions were seemingly directed at another football program, I’d be pretty perturbed and scared. Besides; Marrone probably has bigger fish to fry, with still having to replace fired assistants Jaime Elizondo (WR coach who recruited Maryland, DL Coach Derrick Jackson (who’s from Rahway, NJ) and Rob Spence (inept offensive coordinator who was one of Marrone’s supposed “NY guys”), and rumors that two other assistants in RB Coach Stan Drayton (recruits Ohio) and OL Coach Greg Adkins may be out the door as well.

Now, is Marrone’s new game symbolism, or will it have much of an effect in practice? Where it will help is to build goodwill among NY state coaches and communities, with another additional showcase and postseason reward for players. That may spur some additional level of interest in the Syracuse football program, especially in their core upstate markets that are already inclined towards the Cuse. I’m not sure how much of an effect it will have in terms of future roster additions though. Maybe there will be a sleeper here and there.

The problem being, of course, that New York state just doesn’t produce all that much in the way of talent (the real struggle is over fans, and their eyeballs and wallets). Schiano pulled Jordan Thomas out of the Binghamton area (halfway between RU and Syracuse), who attends Union-Endicott, the former home of Arthur Jones. The state’s top recruit this year, Dominique Easley, didn’t want to attend college near his Staten Island residence. Given that Rutgers is less than a half hour away from home, he showed only token interest, and never considered Syracuse at all.

The other players of note are off to the likes of PSU, VT, and UNC. Rutgers and Syracuse are left to square off over LB Malcolm Cater, who’s very talented, but his off the field issues have scared off other suitors. After the top guys, it’s fairly slim pickings even in a deep year like with last year’s class. Marrone and assistant John Anselmo have tried to make in-roads in the New York City market, but will have to overcome geographic impediments and recent program history. IMO, they’re better off getting sleepers from Florida; as we’ve seen, those guys are arrogant in good way, expecting to win wherever they land.

The thing is, the Governor Bowl never really ended, morphing into the New Jersey vs. Northeast All-Star Classic. Look at last year’s NJ/NE roster – according to Rivals, NY’s #3, #5, #6, #8, and #10 players played for the Northeast team. #1 played in the Army All-American bowl, and many players often sit out these regional games in favor of national showcases, or just to avoid risking injuries. #4 was a Rutgers verbal who enrolled early. #7 was a Rutgers recruit that was injured I believe, and I don’t remember why #9 (another RU signee) didn’t play. The NJ/NE game is more prestigious, as the rosters littered with FBS signees, including three who signed with the Orange last year. Better competition, and a much more accessible location will probably continue to steer the best New York talent to Rutgers Stadium each June regardless of who they end up signing with.

Overall, it’s a good symbolic gesture. That’s not to knock it at all - Rutgers and Coach Schiano sure know the value of symbolism. That’s why every elementary school in New Jersey received a copy of Hello Scarlet Knight!, and the coaching staff makes sure to visit every high school in the state at least once a year. Syracuse needs to build goodwill in the Empire State, but their ticket back to success (as I’ve argued in the past) is to reinvent themselves as a Stanford of the East, with recruiting pull on a national scale. Doug Marrone knows this; which is why his future staff hires will no doubt have as much geographic diversity as the ‘09 group did.

Over the past few days, events have reached a fever pitch. In the face of a changing landscape, it is no longer possible to ignore the question on everyone’s mind: is it time for Rutgers to join the Big Ten?

Now, normally folks, I wouldn’t think twice about this topic, but that was before those long-standing rumors actually started to have some substance behind them. Last week Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez ignited this firestorm, by making public comments that spurred a formal response from the Big Ten on Monday.

Now all rank speculation has an air of respectability, and Rutgers fans can daydream about plating the weight room in gold and training tables full of caviar. Is it time to pay attention to a topic that I’ve gone out of my way to ignore, and even actively show contempt for in the past year?

Now, let’s all get ourselves pumped with some exciting Big Ten football highlights. Be sure to mute the video as to not distract yourself from the exhilarating action.

Man, that sent shivers down my spine! Quaking in my boots here! Who can possibly wait for some of that hard-hitting action. Sign me up today, I can’t wait for Rutgers to get its surely-forthcoming invite!

(This post is shameless ripped off from this. All requisite apologies to Alexi Lalas.)

A lot of talk has popped up over the last few hours about the Big Ten’s plans to explore the addition of a 12th school to its conference, so they can split into two divisions and have a conference championship for football.

Ever since Penn State joined the league back in the early-1990s, I’ve wanted to see the Big Ten do this. My idea is similar to what Christoph Trappe has posted on Eastern Iowa News, except I would put Indiana in the Eastern Division, making the state line between the Hoosier State and Illinois the divider.

It would also correlate the schools with the time zone they’re in. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern and Wisconsin are on Central Time, and Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue are on Eastern Time.

Several schools have been mentioned as candidates, namely from the Big East and Big 12. Notre Dame is also in the pool, but don’t look for them to jump from their cushy independent status and lucrative TV deal to join a conference.

From a geographical standpoint, a team defecting from the Big 12 makes more sense. My money is on Missouri, who is unhappy with its football team’s placement in recent bowl games and immediately released a statement despite not being contacted by the Big Ten yet saying it would consider such a move.

Iowa State and Nebraska are also possibilities, but I can’t see either of those happening, even though bringing the Cyclones over to the Big Ten would solidify the ongoing Cy-Hawk rivalry between Iowa City and Ames.

The only problem with stealing a team from the Big 12? The Big Ten would then have 12 teams and the Big 12 would have 11 teams. You’d think both conferences would have to change their names.

Adam Kramer, who runs the Kegs ‘n Eggs blog, suggested the Great Lakes Conference for the Big Ten on Twitter yesterday. A nice idea, but unfortunately, one that has already been taken by a couple groups of Division II schools (one is the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and the other is the Great Lakes Valley Conference).

The Big Midwest is not in use at the moment. That sounds like a good name, but may not necessarily work for Penn State, who hopes to bring another team from closer to its region, like Syracuse, Rutgers or in-state rival Pittsburgh. Pitt seems like the most likely of the three from the northeast to join. If it does, would Big Lakes fit? That sounds kinda cool.

Keep in mind that the Big Ten is doing nothing more than looking into the option at this point, a process they say will take anywhere from a year to 18 months. And even then, they may things are fine the way they are now. As an alum of a Big Ten school, you can bet I’ll be monitoring this closely.

It turns out that Barry Alvarez was just letting the cat out of the bag a few days early. Before I was out the door this morning, I saw a story on the Chicago Tribune’s website about growing support for Big Ten expansion. Then, a conference spokesman confirmed that an announcement was forthcoming, Soon enough,

The Big Ten is looking to add a 12th member to the conference, the league announced today. Its Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) “believes that the timing is right for the conference to once again conduct a thorough evaluation of options for conference structure and expansion,” the statement said. “As a result, the commissioner (Jim Delany) was asked to provide recommendations for consideration by the COP/C over the next 12 to 18 months.”

I for one, am not looking forward to an unbearable, endless cascade of rumors and speculation.

If something actually happens on that front, fine. Until then, I’m not going to sit around and pine for an awful football conference that happens to have a lot of ill-gotten money (i.e., Jim Delaney is standing directly in the way of a playoff, and the Big Ten network is a giant middle finger to fans, designed to directly capture more of their entertainment dollars). The Big Ten obviously brings (unwarranted) financial stability, and (unwarranted) great bowl bids to the table. Notre Dame is the only program that’s a natural match in terms of geographic footprint and unwarranted hype, so they’ll undoubtedly get the first call. Rutgers is probably the next most attractive expansion candidate, even though there’s no reason to rehash why at the moment. Tim Brewster told Steve Politi that he liked Rutgers as a candidate a while back, you’d think that Joe Paterno is probably on board, and that’s just for starters.

It’s not a slam dunk though. As inept as the Big East leadership is, and even considering how Rutgers usually draws the short end of the stick when Providence has anything to say about anything (re: UConn angling its way into the Pizza Bowl in Birmingham, and proceeding to sell 6,000 less tickets than Rutgers did last year), accepting an invite to what is, let’s not mince words, a cartel would be soulless and wrong. In a just world, the trio of Penn State, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse could have put their petty differences aside back in the day, and we’d actually have conference affiliations that made geographic sense.

The lesson from that, and similar debacles, is that Rutgers can’t stand idly by, and it can’t be Joe Paterno’s lapdog either. It has to make the decisions that are in the best interests of Rutgers. Unfortunately, with the money at stake, that would likely mean holding our noses and accepting any invitation if it ever comes to that, even taking account how plain boring and overrated Big Ten football has been in recent years. Even putting aside all the other, very sound reasons why making a jump would be a bad idea. All Rutgers fan should be filled with disgust and contempt at the Big Ten conference. We despise you. Now give us your money.

I designed the 8-page special section, wrote captions for the photos and headlines for the articles written by staff writers and our sports editor.

Eriksen design clip (entire document)

After hearing about all the hype surrounding 4th ranked University of Kentucky freshman sensation guard John wall I decided to watch him and the wildcats take on the 12th ranked University of Connecticut Huskies on ESPN. The game was part of the Madison Garden SEC, Big East conference challenge and ended up being a better game than advertised.

As soon as the game started the Wildcats went into attack mode led by Wall, they were able to shut the Huskies down as the freshman took over and helped his team to a 12-0 led to start the game. Realizing his team was out of sync Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun called a timeout to stop the wildcat attack before the game got out of hand. During the timeout Calhoun got into the face of his star player Jerome Dyson, which proved to payoff as the Huskies, came storming back and within minutes they were leading the Wildcats 26-18.

During the Huskies comeback and into the beginning of the second half Kentucky’s Wall started to look more like a freshman as the Huskies were able to slow him down and force him to commit six turnovers. But as the clock ran down and the game was on the line Wall put on his Superman cape and took over. Not only did he slow down Dyson he none of the Huskies defenders could stop him as he scored 12 of the last 15 Wildcat points including the go ahead winning shot with .30 seconds left in the game.

There were times in the game where Wall looked like an average college player but the majority of the game he dominated against a very tough and physical Huskies team. After watching the game a got to see why almost everyone is talking about him being the number one pick in the NBA draft next year. He has all the tools to make a great a player and a future star in the NBA. Not only is he freakishly athletic he can shoot, get to the basket at any time, and is a very solid defensive player.

I know the season has just started and it’s a little too early to jump to conclusions about who the best player is in college basketball. But it’s hard not to say that Wall is not the leading candidate after the show he put on, and I am not even a Kentucky fan he is just that good.

Had Georgia Tech not taken care of business in the ACC Championship Game against Clemson, the ACC bowl selections would have gotten very complicated.  Then again, thanks to the Gator Bowl, they already are.

The big story in the ACC postseason is not Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.  Instead, it centers on the story of Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden’s retirement and legacy.

The Gator Bowl gets the second selection of ACC teams after the BCS has selected, and they seem to have already made their selection.  The Gator Bowl intends on inviting 6-6 Florida State to face Big East representative West Virginia.  That may not seem like a problem on the surface, but it gets deeper.

Should this selection become official, Florida State, with a 6-6 record will have been chosen over four ACC teams with better overall records:  Miami at 9-3, North Carolina and Boston College at 8-4, and Clemson at 8-5.

I personally am strongly against this selection.  The reasoning for this selection seems to be to honor Bobby Bowden’s legacy.  I agree that he deserves being honored.  But at 6-6, Florida State should just be grateful they are going to a bowl game.  Regardless of how I, or perhaps others may feel, the Gator Bowl is entitled to its selection, assuming the ACC allows it.

With all of said, here is how I see the ACC bowl selection happening, with potential opponents:

Orange Bowl – Georgia Tech (vs. TCU)

Chick-Fil-A Bowl – Virginia Tech (vs. Tennessee)

Gator Bowl – Florida State (vs. West Virginia)

Champs Sports Bowl – Miami (vs. Michigan State)

Meineke Car Car Bowl – North Carolina (vs. Rutgers)

Music City Bowl – Clemson (vs. Kentucky)

Emerald Bowl – Boston College (vs. USC)

*Note – The ACC does not have enough bowl eligible teams to fill their bowls.  The EagleBank Bowl and GMAC Bowl will feature teams from different conferences, likely a MAC team and a Sun Belt team.

Keith Sargeant had a very informative post yesterday about RU’s bowl prospects. Basically, the Meineke Bowl wants nothing, at all, to do with Pittsburgh (if they lose to Cincinnati), echoing their comments from last year. Something clearly has to give with the other bowls. Rutgers beat USF and UConn this year, but unfortunately the International Bowl picks first even though all three teams would rather go to St. Pete or Birmingham. Based on the belief that UConn won’t go to Toronto again (although they could go to Detroit), and that USF won’t be sent to cold weather, many projections floating around the net have Rutgers heading back to Toronto. I don’t see how Rutgers would stand for that though. It’s quite a stalemate, which is all the more reason to play well on Saturday.

I am a bit confused about one part of it though. The Meineke Bowl may indeed want Miami, but will they have the opportunity to take the Canes? They may not, because the Peach and Champs Sports bowls get their pick of the ACC before Meineke, and Miami to the Orlando-based Champs Bowl seems to be a natural fit.

Complicating matters is that even though nearly everyone in Morgantown and Blacksburg believed over the past week that West Virginia and VT would end up playing in Charlotte or Jacksonville, it now looks like the Peach Bowl wants the Hokies.

Now, that doesn’t matter in the sense that West Virginia is a near certainty to go to the Gator Bowl because of their fan support, even if it means jumping a one-loss Cincinnati team. However, the ACC lineup could portend trouble for RU’s chances to land in Charlotte. For instance, suppose UNC ends up playing in that game again. Not only would a Rutgers/UNC game be unappealing considering that the two teams played last year, and are set to meet again in 2010, but UNC would sell enough tickets to the game that Pittsburgh’s reputation for anemic fan support may not matter. Miami and Clemson are good fits for Rutgers though, and it looks like either UNC or Miami will get the bid.

One further complication that I don’t understand: could a 6-6 FSU team jump BC and their worst-in-FBS travelling contingent for the Meineke bid, once again exiling the Eagles to San Francisco? I didn’t think it was possible because of NCAA regulations about 6-6 teams having to wait behind winning teams, but the Charlotte Observer does not think so.

I wrote that last night, but now comes word that the Gator Bowl has designs on inviting Florida State, even though it would seem to be precluded by their contract. It’s not like we already didn’t know that some very sketchy and unethical people run that bowl, and hopefully they’ll be shut down like the Sun Bowl was last year.

Jarrett Brown, West Virginia’s senior starting quarterback, has had an up and down season. He torched East Carolina, and followed that game up by throwing 4 interceptions at Auburn. After Brown was hurt against Marshall, it was up to Noel Devine to save the day against UConn, and then the offense slogged through uninspiring performances against USF and Louisville. Given that Pat White may be the most beloved player in Mountaineer history, it may have been asking too much for anyone to fill his shoes.

Rutgers fans have reason to fear Brown though. With White out, Brown started at QB in an absolutely gut-wrenching overtime loss in Morgantown at the end of the 2006 regular season. It was no 80-7, but that loss arguably stung more, with Rutgers not only failing to secure a conference title during its best season in decades, but eventually relegated (once again) to a second-tier bowl against an overmatched opponent. I’m going to put the frustration angle aside for now, because it’s sure to come up more during the week.

Here’s a thought that may sound heretical, but I do have a very specific reasoning for it, so hear me out. There’s no debate that White was an incredible player, and was far superior to Brown. However, for that one specific game, I would have rather played White. The Rutgers defense traditionally has had a lot of speed under Greg Schiano, and they’ve had a decent amount of experience defending the different flavors of option/spread-option. In 2006, the one achilles heel of the defense was in the secondary. Rutgers ranked 69th in defensive pass effiency, despite finishing fifth in sacks and tackles for loss, and 17th in total rushing defense (surrendering less than three yards per carry, a good number albeit undoubtedly scouted by specific schemes and personnel).

Now, Steve Slaton ran for his customary 112 yards and 2 touchdowns, but that wasn’t honestly that bad considering that he averaged 7 yards per carry on the year, and put up comic book numbers against the rest of the schedule. USF (another defense emphasizing speed) was the only team that fared better against the elite Mountaineer rushing attack, and they always have West Virginia’s number, just like Rutgers always beats USF, and West Virginia always beats us. Rochambeau.

Now, as amazing an overall player as Pat White was, I didn’t think much of him as a passer. He had a lot of screens to backs, and had a big arm for the deep ball, but didn’t have much accuracy on the intermediate stuff. Purely in terms of passing, Brown is better. West Virginia had only 305 pass attempts last year, and they’re already at 308 with two games remaining. Brown’s overall line on the night (1 TD, 1 INT, completed less than 50% of his passes) wasn’t that impressive, but he did throw for 8.4 yards per attempt. That indicates many long completions, and I recall a lot of them coming on third and longs. I’m not saying that Brown is anywhere near as good as White (although he is a decent player), or that Rutgers would have necessarily won that game against White. I will always be curious as to how things would have unfolded though.

Greg Auman reported last week that the St. Pete Bowl was likely to invite Rutgers or UConn (barring the outcomes of next week’s games). Technically, the International (Toronto) and PapaJohn’s.com (Birmingham) bowls have first dibs before St. Pete, but my understanding is that, in practice, the Big East office works with the three to set up the best logistical matchups (a point echoed by Auman). Hence, they don’t want to send a team to the same game two years in a row, and want to avoid sending a team like USF all the way to Canada.

I think that Rutgers is likely to get the nod over UConn for several reasons if it came down to those two teams. Rutgers won the head to head matchup (although, UConn may very well be the better team this year…), they’re a bigger name, hail from a bigger media market, and have a better travelling reputation. Now, on Wednesday, an Orlando Sentinel blogger reported that UConn was unlikely to accept any bid to the St. Pete bowl if it was offered, as it conflicts with their finals schedule. Does that mean they’re ticketed for Toronto (or a trade with Detroit?) However, Dec. 19th falls right in the middle of the Rutgers finals too. I have to think that Rutgers would absolutely not turn St. Pete considering the other options, although this is one more reason to try to win next week, because the bowl in Charlotte is on the 26th.

Yes, I am completely discounting the possibility of a Notre Dame win over Stanford, which could further throw a wrench into things.

I saw an interesting item on Brian Bennett’s blog yesterday. Pitt’s athletic department has done a wonderful job of putting together quality OOC schedules over the next several years. I’ve spoken before (sorry, can’t find the post at the moment) about how I look at Pitt as an ideal model for the Rutgers athletic department – in terms of success, academic prestige, and fiscal discipline. They’ve done a masterful job with fundraising (and Tim Pernetti has made the first of many strides here with that), and give their athletic teams all the needed tools to succeed. I look at Pitt though, and I’m still green with envy.

Now, I understand that these deals need to be put together years in advance. Realistically, it’ll be at least five years between when a series is announced and the games are actually played. Still, if Pittsburgh can do it, there’s no good reason why Rutgers cannot. It’s very simple really: they’re using the exact same model for scheduling that I’ve advocated numerous times. Three home and home series games every year (either with BCS conference teams, or “good” mid-major programs like Navy and Utah), arranged in a way to buttress the unbalanced Big East schedule. For instance, two of those OOC games come to Pitt when they only have 3 conference games, and only one OOC team comes in when they have four. To fill out the schedule, buy two games against patsies.

It’s not a mystery. The big obstacle to Rutgers playing a competitive out of conference schedule in the near future is Army. They may or may not be on the level of Navy in the coming years, and I wish them well in those pursuits. Right now, treating Army as an equal partner, whatever the secondary benefits, necessarily must result in Rutgers playing a bad out of conference schedule.

I think Tim Pernetti is off to a great start, and he’s surrounded by K-Mac and other capable people. After 2009, they have to know what’s up (presumably they did earlier, with all the big series announcements several months back). There’s a hunger for Rutgers football in New Jersey, but no one wants to pay $70 a ticket to watch a scrimmage. We want good, competitive games. I understand that what happened with the 2009 schedule was a worst case scenario that everyone tried to avoid, but it’s bound to happen again without implementing the proper changes. That means, a commitment to long-term scheduling, and jettisoning the Army series once and for all. Please, live up to fan expectations by giving Rutgers football the challenges that it deserves over coming seasons. Give our Scarlet Knights the opportunity to show the world what they can do.

Tiny Wofford College Goes On the Road, Defeats SEC’s Univ. of Georgia, 60-57!!

As the fourth-smallest school in the nation that plays NCAA Division I basketball, Wofford College, from The Southern Conference, knows that going on the road into tough environments is unavoidable. Two weeks ago, Wofford opened the season with a heart-breaking 63-60 loss to the Big East Conference’s University of Pittsburgh at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh.  Wofford held a ten point lead with ten minutes remaining in the game, but the Panthers took the lead after an 8-0 run with just 1:33 left in the game.

After losing to the University of Georgia in overtime last season, Wofford held on in the final seconds to take a 60-57 victory over the Bulldogs on Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens (GA).  Leading 58-56 with just 6.1 seconds remaining, the Terriers (1-1) could only stand and watch as Georgia’s Dustin Ware had two chances to tie the game at the foul line.  But Ware missed the back end of a 1-and-1  and Wofford’s Cameron Rundles made both ends of a subsequent 1-and-1 on the other end with 3 seconds remaining, putting the Terriers up by 3 points.  Georgia (1-1) managed to get one final shot, a 3-point attempt with 1 second left by Trey Thompkins near the Bulldogs’ bench, but it didn’t fall, as Wofford saved the win.

Wofford continues play on the road, facing Bradley in Peoria (ILL) on Nov. 22, the University of Illinois in Champaign (ILL) on Nov. 24, and Seattle in Las Vegas (Nev.) on November 28.

Video Highlights: Tiny Wofford College Defeats the University of Georgia,  60-57

(Please Click Image to View Video Highlights)

Viewers can access a video of the full game here.

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Here’s some food for thought.

• Doug Marrone rules with an iron fist over the vast plane of desolate, inhospitable tundra known as Upstate New York. The region’s traditional sport involves masked thugs attacking each other with rubber balls and netted sticks.
• There is zero tolerance for dissent, leading to frequent purges of any remaining players with ties to the previous regime. Judging from the way Michigan’s defense has looked this year, Greg Robinson has yet to resurface.
• Awash in the new Mandate of Heaven, they’re eager to establish link to past foregone imperial glory days.
• Overworked wounded subordinates are dropping like flies.
• The fearless leader is a purveyor of newspeak, believes in the One, True Adjective above all others.
• He allegedly attributes past failures to vast, insidious conspiracy by the (clearly omnipotent) Rutgers football program. No subsequent witnessess have surfaced, as they were all sent to labor camps for re-education.
• There was recently a bizarre public outburst in defense of favored apparatchiks. Ryan Nassib better watch out for icepick-wielding assassins, and I’m not talking about Joe Lefeged.

You know, it was surprisingly hard to find enough quotes to do a Kanye/Hitler style riff here. Why does Marrone have to be so damned boring? Can’t he spout easily-twistable country colloquialisms like Bill Stewart does (e.g., “It’s a lot easier if you have bullets in the holster”)?

What’s really sad is that his pressers don’t even show up in the top Google search results for the T-word. Wouldn’t manipulating those page rankings be the perfect X-Mas gift? More importantly, do they even celebrate our western bourgeois holidays in the fiefdom?

Here’s my Q&A with Brian from Orange::44, the other half should be available there. Unlike with the last one with The UConn Blog, I didn’t fantasize about destroying East Brunswick with nuclear weapons (this time at least, no guarantees for the future) or savage Lil’ Jovi, although I kept looking for an in there.

It is truly tough to answer this question because this team Syracuse currently has is not the team we started with.  Through various circumstances including players quitting and injuries Syracuse is a shell of its former self, losing over 20 players since the season began.  None more impactful than Mike Williams for the offense and Arthur Jones on the defense.  These two players were excellent as Jones anchored the best rush defense in the conference, and Mike Williams led the conference in reception yards.  Losing both players is a huge loss for Syracuse.  So it truly is impossible to say if the team is living up to expectations.  I myself predicted a five win season, but that was judging by the talent we had.  Therefore I suppose with the team we currently have, and I don’t expect another win, they are right on par with my expectations.  Before that, they started the season very well, looking much improved from the Greg Robinson era, passing the eyeball test.  They were just slightly underperforming their first couple of Big East games, but in general they were right about where they should be for the talent level on the team.
 
As for Marrone, while he has made some rookie mistakes along the way, overall he is exactly what the program needed.  He is a hard ass with rules, and is an alumnus of Syracuse University.  Oh yeah, and he seems to be able to recruit, which as everyone knows is one of the biggest keys to college football.  Plus, as stupid as this sounds, realizes that to be able to tackle in a game you have to tackle in practice.  Something Greg Robinson never got.  Like the fan base, I am overall very pleased with Marrone as coach, and what he has done with the program, especially restoring some old traditions that went by the wayside when Robinson took over.

Senior QB Greg Paulus has completed a high percentage of his passes this year, but hasn’t amassed that many yards. and has a negative touchdown to interception ratio. His understudy, Ryan Nassib, has shown a stronger arm, and is the presumed heir apparent next year. Who should be starting under center, and compounded by Mike Williams leaving the team, is there enough of a supporting cast for either guy to make plays?

As of right now this is Delone Carter’s offense.  However, at this point because Syracuse is now bowl ineligible and the team is just north of running an Iron Man squad, I have to say that Nassib should be put in under center.  The Greg Paulus Experiment was fruitful, and we certainly were kept in games in the beginning of the season we probably would not have been, but now is the time to get ready for next year.  Nassib is more of a true pocket passer, and is tougher than Paulus, along with a more powerful arm.  Paulus has been accurate and I don’t think you can say his playing was a failure for Syracuse despite the interception numbers.  Without question he played better than most “experts” thought he would, and he created buzz for the SU Football program again, which was good.  However, now is the time where you can get Nassib some true game experience, and see how he reacts under pressure in a situation where no one expects Syracuse to win.  He could respond really well.  However I have a feeling Marrone will let Paulus finish out the year, get his graduate degree, and move along.
 
On a positive note, Delone Carter looks to be having a good statistical year at tailback. I saw some of the Louisville game last week, and was impressed. I’ve read about breakout campaigns on defense from the likes of Derrell Smith, Doug Hogue, and Shamarko Thomas. Any other immediate positive signs that only those who follow the program know about?

For the last five years, the truly terrible part of the Syracuse team has been the offensive line.  While there were rocky moments this season, the line generally has been good and has shown improvement in every game.  While Delone Carter is a good back by himself, without the offensive line making holes for him, he can’t run.  Additionally they have given Paulus and Nassib time to make throws when they have open targets, which Syracuse has had a lot of trouble with the last few years.  I can’t express exactly how much this group has improved in words, because it is night and day better than the past few seasons.  Doug Marrone was an offensive lineman, and his personal tutelage is clearly evident, along with the coaching staff he has hired.  This is one of the most improved groups on the field for Syracuse this year.
 
If there’s a key to this game, I think it’s going to be the line play. Both teams give up a lot of sacks on offense, and get after the quarterback a lot on defense. With Rutgers, the strength of the defense is with the front seven, and Coach Schiano has always loved to blitz. It seemed like the defense played well against the ‘Ville; does the DL have the depth to at least be passable without Arthur Jones? How confident are you in the OLine?

The offensive line should be able to hold off Rutgers as well as they have been in the previous Big East games Syracuse has played.  They will allow a few sacks, but not an outrageous number.  The true test is if Syracuse is able to protect the QB’s blind side, as that is what caused turnovers in the Louisville contest.  While Louisville is not exactly known for their running ability, Syracuse should find similar success with Rutgers.  Syracuse is now playing for pride, and it is also Senior Day, so there will be added motivation for Syracuse to stop the run as they have all season.  The simple fact is that Syracuse’s run defense is solid and shouldn’t give up more than around 125 yards on the ground.  The Syracuse secondary is a joke, and if Rutgers manages to have enough time to throw the ball, they should find success through the air, as every other team playing Syracuse has.
 
A lot of Syracuse fans have been critical of the athletic director Daryl Gross in recent years, which is understandable when he sold Greg Robinson as the next Pete Carroll. On one hand, the field at the Carrier Dome was renamed “Ernie Davis Legends Field”, and Marrone seems eager to embrace the football program’s tradition. However, Gross banished the hallowed #44 jersey into retirement. Is it just me, or is there a weird dichotomy going on here?

Gross (or DOCTOR Gross as he is playfully known in the SU Blogosphere) was definitely responsible for the retirement of the famed #44 and the hiring of Syracuse Public Enemy #1 Greg Robinson.  I’m not sure if there is an actual dichotomy going on, or if it is just the fact that DOC Gross is a “west coast”, USC type of guy, where as Marrone is one of us, knows the history of the program in and out, and has and always will love Syracuse.  I have a feeling if the USC job opened up immediately Gross would be on the first plane to California.  While I was never for the retirement of #44, I think if the previous athletic director, who was at the school from 1978 to 2005, did it we could have tolerated it because by then he was one of us.  This guy literally flies in and a half a year later he retires the most iconic thing about the SU Football Program.  I think that this would probably upset any fan base, whether you agree with retiring the number or not.  It’s completely a “who the hell do you think you are” kind of thing.  The retiring of #44 was basically the first and biggest stunt in a long line of marketing ploys designed to bring fans in, despite the product they are featuring on the field.  To add to your thirst for a conspiracy theory as well, Gross’ wife is the director of marketing, who really had no actual real world experience when she arrived at Syracuse as simply Gross’ babysitter for his previous wife.  The true and complete story is one I have written about before if you are inclined to dig deeper.  Needless to say most of the things Gross does could possibly be well intentioned but usually miss the mark significantly.  Meanwhile, Marrone is an alumnus, former player, and other than some small coaching issues is doing the right thing by most people’s eyes.  I’m going to defer to his judgment for most situations.
 
Years have gone by, and I still can’t get over my burning hatred of volume shooter Gerry McNamara and his sub-40% field goal percentage. Sorry, but I just had to get that out there. To make up for that, on a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you for the upcoming Red Nicholas era in Piscataway starting in 2010?

Aww, why you gotta hate on GMac like that?  Overrated?  I’m afraid not friends.  I think when Quincy Douby closes his eyes he sees Gerry McNamara hitting a three.  All kidding aside I’ll give you the friendly answer and say a 7 on the excitement level.  It is never a bad thing when a Rutgers or a Seton Hall gets good players as it makes the overall conference better, and it certainly makes a more meaningful win for Syracuse when they play (ZIIIIIIING).  Plus, Syracuse fans haven’t really gotten to make fun of a ginger in the Big East, so this will be an absolute treat.  He seems like a sold player as well, so that is good that Fred can finally get a good player to come his way.  Sadly though Syracuse should have a top 5 recruiting class in the country for that year, so tell Fred to strap in because it’s still going to be a bumpy ride both in the Carrier Dome and at the RAC for Rutgers playing Syracuse.  Also, in case you weren’t aware, Gerry McNamara is a graduate assistant with our team this year, so look for him on the sidelines.  I’m sure he’ll fill some more of your nightmares in the coming season.  Keep in mind I’m only hitting you hard on basketball because I am doubtful that Syracuse can pull this upset this Saturday on the gridiron.

Thanks again to Brian for answering my questions.

If Syracuse football has any supposed trump cards over Rutgers, you’d think that it’d be centered on their program’s tradition. They’re 38th in all-time DI-A/FBS winning percentage, and had two very successful periods (between the late ’50s to late ’60s under Ben Schwartzwalder, and between the late ’80s to late ’90s under Dick MacPherson and Paul Pasqualoni). Between Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Floyd Little, Ernie Davis, and Joe Morris, they’ve put out as many quality backs as any program.

SU holds the edge in the all-time series between the schools, at 28-10-1, which is better than their records against any other Big East football opponent. For any fans who started following SU football at some point during the MacPherson/Pasqualoni eras, it’s obvious why Rutgers winning five of the last six games in the series, and six of the last ten (yes, Terry Shea actually beat a McNabb-less Cuse on 11/13/99 in overtime) is so disconcerting.

That’s where the Orange faithful are coming from. Fine and good, but my counter is that all those past letter winners don’t have any eligibility left. Every program will have ebbs and flows in its trajectory (Frank Maloney didn’t win all that much in the seventies), and the ’90s not only saw Syracuse a high note, but Rutgers football hit its absolute nadir under Shea, a disasterous hiring with an uncanny number of similarities to Greg Robinson.

Any fans who started following Syracuse in that era can’t help but still see the RU football program as a punch line, even though its history is more one of mediocrity and missed opportunity than absolute failure. Until the I-A/I-AA distinction was formalized in 1978, Rutgers played the equivalent of what is now a Patriot League schedule, and actually saw some relative success, including an undefeated 1976 season (where they infamously turned down a bid to the Independence Bowl). As bad of a hire as Shea was, that was only the culmination of decades of neglect and not placing much of a priority on a successful athletic program. The former athletic director, Bob Mulcahy, was only able to convince Greg Schiano to leave the University of Miami nine years ago with promises of finally allocating sufficient resources to bring all facets of the football program up to par.

The five historical worst BCS conference football programs by winning percentage are Wake Forest, Indiana, Kansas State, Northwestern, and Iowa State. It seems odd to point towards history when programs like Oklahoma State and Cincinnati are lighting up the scoreboards at the moment. Naturally though, fans are always going to use the period where they started paying attention to the sport as their frame of reference.

It’s just like how the nation has a scurge of bandwagon fans of the Cowboys, Packers, and Steelers. Those were the most prominent franchises in the late ’60s and ’70s when the nascent NFL first started to make its mark on the national consciousness. Those Syracuse fans are never going to accept Rutgers for this reason, which is fine, and ultimately not worth getting upset over. There are now a legion of high school recruits who view the Cuse as synonymous with failure, and until if and when Doug Marrone gets things turned around, that’s going to have more of an impact over the next decade than anything else. He is legitimately a good guy and doing things the right way, just like Coach Schiano, so I can’t really say that I’m rooting against him or the Cuse.

I don’t see the fates of the programs as linked all that closely, even taking into account that Ray Rice decommited after Coach P’s firing. In fact, I do hope that they’re at least competitive at some point, if only to help raise the overall conference profile. Over the years, Rutgers and Syracuse have both risen and fallen on their own merits. Any future success will be wholly dependent on internal factors for the most part. I’m absolutely confident that Coach Schiano will make steady, continued progress in coming years in decades. Marrone very well may, but I think there’s more than enough room for both. In fact, there are eight schools, counting RU, that are closer to the City than Syracuse, and Schiano and staff have to take the other seven into account too. The whole thing to do is for each program to keep its head down and go about its own business with singular focus, unconcerned about keeping up with the Joneses.

UConn is a good example. Randy Edsall takes players that Rivals and Scout have never even heard of and sends them into the NFL every year. Some of the top Colonial Athletic Association teams beat the likes of Duke, Temple, and UVA this year, so there’s clearly talent that still slips through the cracks. And for all this talk about a civil war over New York City, or 6 first round picks from New Jersey in last April’s draft, the northeast as a whole doesn’t produce that much talent. Rutgers still has to go into the Mid-Atlantic region and to southern Florida for players.

If you look at the present Syracuse coaching staff, they have several assistants with ties to NYC and NJ, but not as many as Pasqualoni did in the McNabb era. Marrone also has position coaches assigned to places like Florida, Maryland, Western Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Despite any jabs in the press, he clearly knows that he has to make Syracuse into a program with national recruiting reach; an east coast answer to Stanford if you will. After all, Donovan McNabb grew up in the Chicago area.

Any talk of a budding rivalry is just hooey. Sure, Syracuse is playing a few home games in Giants Stadium in coming years, but there aren’t all that many college football fans in New York City. It’s just that it’s so big, and so wealthy, that even an infinitesimal percentage has some value, and confers some bragging rights. Hence, the Syracuse athletic department declaring that this weekend’s game was “Celebrate New York Day”, and all of my subsequent cracks about how thoughtful it was for them to do that when the only BCS conference team that plays in the NYC market came to town.

Proximity and heated words aren’t sufficient for a rivalry however; not when neither program has ever really been that competitive at the same time (which is why I didn’t consider Giants/Eagles in the NFL much of a rivalry until recent years). The bottom line is that their fans see Rutgers as a joke, our fans see Syracuse as a joke, and that won’t change in the near future barring years of competitive football games. In all likelihood, this year’s game isn’t going to be all that competitive. It was foolish to ever think that it would be. They’re just one of seven other conference teams, that’s it. For now, that’s the only reason that this game has any more significance than say, Army.

’sides, I honestly don’t think that Syracuse fans aren’t all that bad. Now, BC fans? There’s a target worthy of true vitriol.

It’s been a trying couple of years up in Orangeland. Greg Robinson’s tenure itself constituted a level of misery that most programs typically don’t see over the course of a century. Uncoincidentally, Rutgers has only recent managed to emerge from depths brought on by a similarly disasterous hire, so I can empathize. The program has been through a lot, and 2009 was supposed to mark a new beginning with the first step of their rebuilding process under Doug Marrone. The latest outrage? ESPN exercised an exclusivity clause in their contract to bar SNY and other regional Big East Network affiliates from airing the upcoming RU/SU game, which will solely available through their 360 streaming video service.

As anyone who’s followed Rutgers football can attest, rebuilding, while absolutely necessary after hitting rock bottom, won’t happen over night. Marrone and Syracuse have a long and difficult road ahead of them. No matter what’s said on message boards and blogs, no matter how many guido jokes on Twitter this week, it’s not a process that I’d wish on any program (excepting one particular one located in South Bend). Still, obstacles were to be expected. When Marrone dismissed 20+ players off the roster after taking over, including several contributors, that was an eye-popping number on the surface, but really shouldn’t have been. Happens all the time in rebuilding.

That lack of depth made any chance to be competitive this year largely doomed from the start. True, they came out firing on all cylinders in September, and regardless of any subsequent mistakes, Marrone and staff do deserve credit for those early efforts. It was inevitable that injuries would eventually start piling up, but the specific circumstances surrounding their more-recent roster attrition (e.g., Mike Williams quitting the team, those random JUCOs leaving which I didn’t really pay much attention to, Arthur Jones tearing his meniscus, compounded by a loss by their basketball team to DII LeMoyne) renders any comparisons to the biblical Book of Job not entirely on the level of hyperbole, or even downright plausible.

This got me to thinking a bit, because the narrative of all these events was vaguely familiar, although I couldn’t quite place exactly what I was recalling at first beyond the obvious parallels to Job. Then, it hit me all of a sudden. Take the following basic structure: unspeakable, nearly-unprecedented hardship compressed into a relative short period of time. The reasoning then follows that things could not possibly get any worse, as they have already sunk to rock bottom. There’s no more ghost to give; and yet, somehow they do in such an immediately striking and painful way. And then, they sink even deeper.

You know where I’ve seen this all before? Months ago, I had the misfortune of reading the Wikipedia entry for the seminal 1970s band Badfinger (which I don’t recommend reading for the faint of heart). Basically, they were scammed by their manager, and the resulting financial and stress caused one of the members to take his own life. Another never got over that death, and killed himself a decade later. Honestly, it’s one of the most tragic stories out there which doesn’t involve harm to innocent children.

Well, it was just a dumb point I wanted to make, as there’s not really a lesson here beyond the chance that things can indeed always get worse. By the way, the first commentator that compares Rutgers to Squeeze in this analogy will get IP-banned.

Having already determined that the actual matchup on the field this coming Saturday won’t be all that interesting, it’s time to really get down to business. And by that, I mean trying to be even a fraction as cool as the Syracuse blog. Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician. With that goal in mind, I’ve held this item in reserve for months, like a squirrel burrowing away acorns for the winter, determined to pull out all the stops for this very week.

Is the sporting blog community on the net a rather uncreative lot? I wonder sometimes, because I never really see other blogs messing around with stuff like Wordle, and this is in a similar vein.

So anyway, this isn’t a sponsored post, and should be obvious since I’m actually enthusiastic about what I’m about to talk about. Did you know that there’s a simple program that can take a 2D headshot, and spit out a 3D model of that person’s face in only a couple minutes without the need for any kind of computer savvy? It’s called Facegen, and in my humble opinion, its comedy potential is enormous, and sadly remains untapped for the most part.

Without further adieu, here’s our handsome hero.

And here’s some ugly dude who can go to hell.

Now, you may be asking yourself why the hair isn’t accurate, and why both have “S1″ stamped on their forehead like they’re members of some nefarious cult. That’s because both are limitations of using the free trial software, as they do have to give everyone a reason to actually buy the software.

Still, the potential of this is enormous. Those 3D models can be imported into computer games, which inevitably would lead to far more sophisticated video parodies. You can play around; want to dress Jim Leavitt up as a girl, shave the Wannstache, slay Joe Paterno as the Goblin King, or fit Rich Rodriguez for his perfect new uniform? Go nuts.

Late breaking Twitter news last night: injured Syracuse DT Arthur Jones will miss the remainder of this season, his final year of eligibility. That’s some serious, biblical-level torture, although it was partially inevitable on a roster with little in the way of depth to begin with.

And to think, I thought my only comment on the Cuse today would be to mention ESPN’s dastardly decision to not let SNY (and other conference affiliates) air the game, instead exclusively limiting it to their 360 online service. Dare I ask why on earth SNY and/or the Big East ever agreed to contracts that didn’t stipulate on this, or say, filming games in HD? Can our media expert Tim Pernetti please look over the next TV contract before it’s signed? Not to mention, my provider Comcast added 360 this year to their lineup, and ESPN turns around and takes programming away from one of their properties. This can’t go on.

The USF Bulls have a propensity to run their mouths. Have to say though, even though he’s a numbskull, these comments by Kion Wilson were accurate.

“Their offensive line had extremely a lot of hype going into the game, but they’re second in the Big East in giving up sacks,”  Wilson said. “They don’t handle stunts and pressure very well, so hopefully Coach (defensive coordinator Joe) Tresey will be aggressive with the play-calling, and have our defensive line do a lot of stunting and a lot of blitzing and hopefully we’ll be able to get pressure on the quarterback.”

May not have been the brightest thing to say though, with the way Mr. Invisible has been playing at right end as of late. Although, Anthony Davis has had his own nasty habit of daydreaming about future paychecks this year. At least he’s smart enough to not suggest that Selvie is anything less than an elite player.

Speaking of the whole “revenge” factor that was also mentioned, why is it that the league’s worst gameday coaches seem to emphasize that the most? Jim Leavitt should spend less time acting like a clown on the sidelines, and more managing the clock.

It’s interesting that the Memphis athletic department is so determined to jump to the Big East, given that their football program is in shambles, and just fired their coach yesterday. Don’t really see how they end up a viable candidate any time soon, no matter who is the next hire. The same goes for other the C-USA also-rans. Honestly, Temple looks like the best choice out there for an expansion candidate. I’ve thought that for some time. Before writing a detailed post about it, I wanted to wait for them to actually turn the corner. Now it’ll hinge on keeping HC Al Golden in place, who’d make a lot of sense at Maryland or UVA next year. I’m really hoping that Virginia passes on the NJ native for someone like a Mike London.

Is there any doubt remaining that Pittsburgh is going to rip Notre Dame to shreds next Saturday?

Sad thing is, if the Gator Bowl has any say about it, they’d still prefer to take the Irish over the Panthers. ND is like an unwanted houseguest that just won’t take a hint. I cannot comprehend their appeal on any level, but that appeal still exists nonetheless.

Which, has to be scaring the living daylights out of the Cincinnati athletic department right now. Jon Gruden and Skip Holtz may have the more obvious ties to South Bend, but it’s increasingly looking like a matter of when, and not if, Brian Kelly will replace Charlie Weis at the helm of the program.

Kelly may talk up the Bearcats to the press, but sports are driven by the bottom line, and college football is no exception. Turning down a Washington may be one thing, but will he be able to say no to Notre Dame and their NBC megabucks when UC is still dragging their feet on promised facility improvements?

But the stadium hurdle will be huge. UC has had a difficult time raising the $13.5 million to $15 million needed for the practice fields. The challenge of raising $50 million to $100 million or more for a stadium renovation looms as a daunting one.

Asked about the stadium Friday, new UC president Greg Williams spoke only in generalities.

“I’m exploring a lot of options,” Williams said.”

As Brian Cook has noted, there’s only so much that Kelly will conceivably take, which includes publicly pressuring the school administration. Being that this is a Rutgers blog, there is an interesting comparison to how things played out with Coach Schiano a few years back. Kelly may publicly talk up UC, but he’s originally from Massachusetts, and presumably just sees his current position as another step on his path to the NFL. Schiano committed to a program in his home state, and made, pretty much, well, ironclad assertions that he wasn’t going anywhere.

More importantly, Rutgers stood up to its commitments and gave Schiano the facility upgrades that he wanted. In turn, he rebuked overtures from Miami and Michigan. I don’t know if it’s possible to make a more-definitive gesture in turning down two programs with that level of prestige. Now, Cincy isn’t going to build Kelly’s wishlist over night, but there’s at least the public perception that they’re dragging their heels. With a perception as a commuter school, and as second banana to Ohio State when it comes to program support, it’s fair to be a little skeptical.

In fact, it may be fairer to ask why Kelly is even still with the Bearcats at this point. I think there’s a good chance that he would have gotten the Michigan job two years ago if not for one specific incident that happened while he was still at Central Michigan. Before Kelly’s first season at CMU was even underway, several scholarship players beat a man to death outside a night club. His subsequent comments are open to interpretation, and I’ll leave that up to the readers.

Yeah, rah rah to the Big East. I’m rooting for the Bearcats to run the table for the rest of the year, but Rutgers fans will be the first to celebrate if Kelly leaves town, even if it’s to take over the hated Fighting Irish. And make no mistake about it, Charlie Weis is a goner after this continuing debacle. After all, this is a guy who Rutgers wouldn’t even give a cursory interview when they were the worst program in all of I-A, and it’s really not that hard to see why at the moment.

It was fun watching Navy’s win on Saturday, but that victory may, unfortunately, end up dooming Weis. Savor all the negative vibes over the next two months, because they’ll disappear when the axe does fall. I’m not exactly looking forward to seeing a Notre Dame program that could actually, conceivably live up to their hype, but it’s a small price to pay to get rid of this damn thorn in our sides over the past few years. Kelly can coach. From Ben Mauk, to Tony Pike, and now Zach Collaros, all Kelly needs is a live arm and he’ll put out a solid quarterback. In fact, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he ends up spurning the Irish and following his dreams to the NFL instead.

There was an absolutely wonderful article on the Rutgers/Princeton game in 1869 in Friday’s Wall Street Journal. The entire piece is recommended reading, but if there’s one vital paragraph, it’s probably the following.

Baseball historians have never been able to agree on the “first” baseball game, but most football historians are on comfortable turf in pinpointing the start of their game with Rutgers-Princeton in 1869. Some have called that contest “primitive football,” some describe it as “primitive soccer,” and still others as “nascent rugby.” In truth, claims can be made for all these descriptions. But as Bob Boyles, co-author of the USA Today College Football Encyclopedia, says: “There are a great many traditions that started on that field in New Brunswick. The kicking factor, the goal posts, the physical contact—the men allowed to run ‘interference,’ an early term for what we call blocking—that pull that game towards the direction of American football and away from soccer or rugby.”

Last week, Beat Visitor posted the exact text of the original 1869 report in the Targum about the game.

I thought that two conference games on Saturday (excepting the Pitt-SU blowout) were rather interesting, for different reasons. Despite starting a 5′7 walk-on at QB, Louisville kept things close at West Virginia. The prime time game between UConn and Cincy was much more exciting. Statistically, Cincy should have won big, but UConn arguably benefitted from a little luck for once. I think that game showed that they’re a pretty good team, and should have a better record than 4-5. Cincy, of course, is very good. However, I’m not completely sold on the Bearcat defense. They’re overrated a bit based on the opener, which had plenty to do with poor personnel and gameplanning on the Rutgers side of things.

Honestly, I’m not sure exactly where to begin with Brett McMurphy’s interview with BE commissioner John Marinatto from last week. What’s the purpose of a quote like this?

The costs of travel could become such that an Eastern school that’s now in a non-Eastern quote-unquote conference might want to look [and think] ‘it makes more sense to be in the Big East.’ There could be a shifting around.

Jeremy Ito was expected to see his first ever CFL action on Sunday.

With Tennessee’s season in the tank, isn’t it time to start Kenny Britt?

There were a couple interesting threads on Rivals last week. I’m not talking about that stupid rumor that won’t die, but rather others speculating about what Bob Mulcahy has been up to, and and whether or not RU would ever pay to bring a Boise State in. There’s no way to verify what the supposed K-Mac response in the latter thread is accurate, but it seems plausible enough to me. Boise is certainly looking for a big payday to play a road game. If the 2011 schedule is finalized (with, presumably, an unknown FCS team), does that mean the Navy series is still on, despite all the rumors?

I have a mixed reaction to the story about ESPN reportedly plagiarizing Pro Football Talk last week. That shouldn’t happen. However, PFT has been quite liberal in its use of stories from other publications, and I don’t know if a mere link is sufficient when you’re cutting and pasting multiple paragraphs. I’m already inclined against PFT, since they did lift a major story last year from my old blog without giving any credit at all. Taking content is a two way street.

Pres McCormick seems to expect state funding of higher ed to continue its steady decline over the next few years, and I think that’s about right, barring any additional infusions of federal funding. Even though a new Governor is coming in, the same state legislature is still in place for the most part.

Rutgers looks to the new SuperHillel facility to help revitalize the College Avenue campus.

there is only, generic_USF_tailback. None of those guys have really stood out to this point, and that’s an underreported aspect that I’d like to briefly consider.

When it comes to next week’s game between Rutgers and USF, a lot of attention, quite rightly, is being placed on freshman QB B.J. Daniels. He’s the Bulls’ leading rusher, which is as much a testament to his prowess as an indictment some some combination of their playcalling and/or depth chart. If you think the Rutgers committee hasn’t looked impressive, check out what USF has mustered in the ground. It’s strange, considering that you’d think with a freshman QB, the Bulls would lean more on the running game.

True, the senior Plancher did play well against West Virginia, but that’s after not seeing many touches since their game against Western Kentucky. They’ve had some injuries on their offensive line too. How come they haven’t had a feature back since Andre Hall skipped town four years ago, though? A reliance on a scrambling QB is part of that; you could just as easily say Hall only saw so many carries because Pat Julmiste was just that bad.

A lot of observers, including myself, were really impressed with backup Mike Ford’s combination of size and athleticism. The dreaded two Is – injuries and inconsistency, have largely held back Ford up to this point. He’s a guy you want to file away for the future, as a textbook example of a prospect the New  York Giants could pluck out of obscurity and turn into their next feature back. Ford hasn’t shown all that much as of late, with freshman Lindsey Lamar pushing for more touches.

Scrambling’s fine, but it is an invitation to get your quarterback hit. Not having an effective, traditional running game does make the Bulls somewhat one-dimensional, and I think that’s to our advantage on Thursday. They’re like a far, far more talented FIU in that respect.

Today marks the official start of USF week. Between my frequent criticisms of George Selvie and Jim Leavitt (Matt Grothe too, if last year’s human interception machine didn’t get an early start on his prep for next year’s CFL draft), the Bulls take more heat here than any other Big East conference team. Now, their players are accusing Rutgers of running up the score (well, the same guy who said that last year), and vowing to embarrass the Knights at home.

Leavitt is an absolutely terrible coach, but Selvie is the biggest target of my ire. People are starting to acknowledge at this point that, opposite impact JUCO transfer Jason Pierre-Paul, there are no excuses left for why Selvie only has (statistical caveats aside) 3 sacks on the year. Is George Selvie a has-been? In fact, it’s more accurate to say that he was a never-was.

Rutgers fans have never bought into the hype with Selvie, and for good reason. In three years, he’s made a grand total of one memorable play against the Knights, coming with fooling Anthony Davis on a stunt in last years game. I wish I could take credit for being the first to see that the emperor had no clothes, but all I really did was codify the long-held conventional wisdom of Scarlet Nation.

George Selvie was and remains an absolute, incontrovertible fraud; a one trick pony who put up a single flukey season of gaudy statistics against hapless OOC opponents (counting a horrific pass protector in Auburn’s King Dunlap). Against Elon and 2007 North Carolina, Selvie looked good. Everyone else, not so much. His numerous accolades solely the result of the groupthink consensus of people who had not actually bothered to watch his play. Should our players who compiled gaudy numbers against the likes of Texas Southern and Howard get to be All-Americans too? That’s ludicrous; without an adequate OOC schedule, they should only be judged by the results of conference play.

This argument isn’t that Selvie is solely lacking talent, although I have found myself continually lowering his ceiling. He’s a nice speed rusher, but nowhere near the level of difference-making defender that he was sold as. Selvie isn’t going to be a first round pick, he shouldn’t be the conference player of the year, and he doesn’t even have much of a case to make any all-Big East team. Despite the continued existence of Notre Dame and the Big Ten conference, I’m wondering if he’s not the most overrated (i.e., a subjective judgment, not an indictment of base talent) player in the country.

Could Rutgers lose to USF next Thursday? Certainly, for a variety of reasons. I’m scared to death of JPP matched up against Kevin Haslam. The Rutgers offensive line is playing poorly, but if they lose to the Bulls, I’m confident in predicting that it won’t be because of Selvie.

Ah, November. With two months of play now in the books and consistituting a (relatively) adequate sample size, all the random statistical noise is largely fading away, and teams around the country are starting to show and revert to their true colors. Rutgers isn’t where they need to be just yet, but is steadily getting there. It’s no surprise, given recent history. Nor is the acute slide of of Syracuse over the past several weeks. It’s who we are, and that’s who they are right now. Any peculiar, ashistorical talk about somehow reinstituting the latter’s 90’s-decade superiority was just that; pharmacologically-induced talk.

By now, most readers are probably familiar with yesterday’s announcement that receiver Mike Williams quit the Syracuse football team. Between that loss, recent lousy attendance, and a very public quarterback controversy, the mood yesterday in Orangeland was predictably glum.

Should it be though? For one thing, by managing to beat Akron, Syracuse and Doug Marrone have managed to accomplish something that Greg Robinson couldn’t in 2008. The Orange showed some competitive fire in September, but have been slowly beaten down over the course of the past two months, the rigors of time exposing their brutal lack of depth on both sides of the ball; not to mention, athleticism and experience.

Take it from someone familiar with rebuilding a program in the midst of one of the worst all-time hires in college football history; it takes time. The current SU roster has a handful of standouts, but is largely a mess. Offseason housecleaning exacerbated things. More than anything else, Marrone needs warm bodies. Players who had not grown accustomed to the repeated failures of the Robinson era, his essence perminating throughout the roster, signifying Greg’s status as disease-ridden hellspawn

That may be one reason that Marrone was so eager to start Greg Paulus this season. Owing to his lofty high school accolades, Orange fans mostly overlooked the fact that their returning prodigal son had not touched a football in four years. With underclassman Ryan Nassib looking better than Paulus in recent weeks, it’s hard to see why Marrone did end up starting Paulus. Nassib seems to be better, and as an added bonus, actually has eligibility remaining beyond this season. As far as I can tell, it was a decision solely driven by the need to generate national media interest in the program, and reinvigorate a fanbase that had long since quit on Robinson.

The biggest downside to starting Paulus may have been that the move simply set expectations too high for this season. If Marrone went with an underclassmen, the narrative changes to “write off this year, we’re building for the future, any positive signs at all are reason for wide-eyed optimism”. By going with the fifth year senior, it’s impliciting saying that you expect to seriously compete at a high level this year.

As far as I could tell, the biggest reason for optimism with this season for Syracuse was the fact that Doug Marrone could not possibly be worse than Greg Robinson. Fair enough, but Syracuse is his first head coaching gig on any level. Even if Marrone ultimately turns into a god hire, it was not realistic to be an overnight success. Not facing the toughest college rebuilding job since Greg Schiano replaced Terry Shea (the ur-GRob in nearly all aspects) nearly nine years ago.

In this sense, there isn’t truly all that much to be alarmed about regarding the recent events. Syracuse fans should have tempered their expectations, instead of preemptively gloating about the wonders of Paulus after lighting up the likes of Northwestern and Maine. Sure, Marrone has made some awful mistakes, but those are to be expected considering the circumstances. Is there really anything to indicate that the current results compare unfavorably to any other rebuilding job in recent memory?

That being said, even though I don’t actually give a damn either way about Syracuse football, it’s somewhat (ok, very) amusing to think back to all the recent SU anti-Rutgers sentiment, and smile if just for a moment. Their louder fans only brought the resulting meltdown on themselves, through their sheer hubris and overwhelming lack of humility. So take heart, my friend Jeff and all the other Cuse grads out there who actually are varying degrees of sane if you wrest away their keyboards. The next year and a half may well be painful, but there’s no real reason to jump to any conclusions at the moment. Just as, in retrospect, there weren’t over the past few months when things were looking better.

On paper, evaluating the loss of Jasper Howard is relatively straight forward. He was apparently replaced in the lineup by a freshman. How will that player perform? Secondly, are there any similar cases of players losing teams to tragic deaths during the season? For instance, take the most immediately salient example of Miami’s Bryan Pata from back in 2006. Miami proceeded to lose its next two games on the road, before winning its next game at the Orange Bowl.

There’s certainly an emotive aspect this coming game, although I think it will be difficult to quantify. Certainly, everyone expects the home crowd in Storrs to be a proverbial “twelth man”. There can be a downside to that, however; fall down a little early, start pressing, and just exacerbate your mistakes. UConn was on the road in Morgantown last Saturday, but this example isn’t that far-fetched, considering that’s exactly what they did against West Virginia. UConn gained far more total yardage in that game, but gave it away on turnovers and miscues.

Not that I necessarily believe this will happen, but suppose the Huskies are so overcome with grief that they come out listless and flat? What if Tim Brown and Antonio Lowery (who were personal friends of Howard’s) step up their games to an even higher level? All in all, this factor isn’t easy to predict, and has a lot of morbid connotations. My preference is to analyze the game based solely on on-field factors.

I’m also not looking forward to the post-game headlines. Regardless of the outcome, any result will be directly attributed to the Howard factor. It completely removes any notion of agency, and that could not be more misleading. With all due respect to Howard, who fell in a senseless, unspeakable tragedy, the Huskies do have to pick themselves up and play another game on Saturday. The game will be won or lost based on personnel, schemes, and yes, a little bit of luck. It’s more than a little disingenuous to deny credit or blame to specific individuals, and the various causal factors at play. If UConn wins, it’s to honor Howard. If UConn loses, it’s because they were emotionally drained and whatnot. No! The game will be won or lost based on which team ends up making more plays.

In fact, I’d like to think that if Howard was indeed as reputable and dignified as all available information indicates that he was, that his spirit of competitiveness would want all the players involved to give their all, and win or lose the game on the merits. That’s how I want to remember Jazz Howard. Not as a victim, or a rallying cry soaked with implications of regret and loss. As a (somehow, all the usual, cliched combat-related football nouns seem wildly inappropriate and non-fitting) talented player who more than earned all of his accomplishments. It’s not asking for all that much for his surviving peers to be granted that same level of honor and dignity.