It's Way Too Early For This, Part 1
The college football season kicked off last night.
Yup, on August 22, a Thursday night, no less. Something called the "Jim Thorpe Classic", between Colorado State and Virginia. A pretty exciting game, down to the wire, but come on! August 22? Most schools don't even start classes until this Monday, and even that seems too early. Blame it on the fact that Labor Day falls on the earliest possible date this year, September 2. That throws everything out of whack, as the college football gods decided, hey, let's put an extra game on the schedule this year! Hence, your super-early start, and the fact that the first full weekend of college football starts on Thursday, the 29th of August, so in many cases, there will be teams whose national championship chances will be dead before the first of September, yet they'll still have 11 more games to play, plus, more than likely, a bowl game. However, they have good timing from this standpoint: the 29th of August is also the last night of the baseball season (if you agree with me and believe that there will be a strike that wipes out the rest of the season and World Series). Therefore, you have a perfect segue, and more proof that when (not if) the players do go on strike, nobody will miss them. But then, as Barry Bonds recently said, "It's not my fault you don't play baseball."
Now that Thursday night game matches BYU against my Syracuse Orangemen, and let me tell you, there's no better way I can think of to start a season than a Thursday night in Provo, Utah. Now excuse me while I mop up all the dripping sarcasm from that last line. If you know me and have read this column, you'll know that about this time every year, I attempt to predict the fortunes of not only Syracuse, but also my college alma mater Susquehanna and my high school alma mater West Genesee. However, as I am now in Chambersburg, Pah, I am further out of the loop than ever. I have, however, bought and skimmed a copy of Street and Smith's College Football Preview, so therefore, I think I am now qualified to get at least the college part done, so here we go...
Last year, I said Syracuse would go 4-8, and Paul Pasqualoni would be on the unemployment line by mid-January. Oops. After starting in that direction with a woeful 0-2 start, Coach P put RJ Anderson behing the controls of the SU offense, and despite the ever-thinning crowds at the Carrier Dome all season, RJ got the job done, and SU ran off 9 straight wins. Then they went out and lost 59-0 to Miami, and to OrangeFan, it was suddenly as if those previous 9 wins had never happened. Despite SU's impressive destruction of Kansas State in the WhoCares.com Bowl last year, many of the SU faithful still want Pasqualoni whacked as soon as possible, and the number of season ticket-holders are down again this year. I dare say that anything short of an improbable national title run may lead to yet another fall of all-out warfare between SU fans, other SU fans, AD Jake Crouthamel, and maybe even Chancellor Buzz ("Get a life") Shaw again. It's sad, it's unfortunate, but knowing the SU fans like I do, it's inevitable, because there will not be an improbably national title run this year. The schedule is there; if they can somehow upset BYU in the Land of 3.2 Beer, they may not get seriously tested again until November 9 against Virginia Tech. On the other hand, they do play North Carolina and Auburn during that span, and we know Pasqualoni's good for at least one September brain-fart a year, so pencil them in at 7-2 going into Vah Tech at what will probably be a half-empty Dome due to the level of fan infighting by that point.
And I say this without knowing who the hell they have on offense besides RJ. Well, OK, I know they have Walter Reyes at tailback, Joe Donnelly at tight end, and Johnnie Morant at wideout. Morant had a big game at the Why Are We Playing a Football Game in the Diamondbacks' Home Stadium.com Bowl, but that's pretty much the only big game he's had in two years on the Hill. At the very least, he gives RJ a big, tall target to throw to a lot, the rest is up to him. However, I don't really need to know who is at a lot of the skill positions, because for better or worse, we all know that the Orangemen will run the option, and run between the tackles, and RJ will run bootlegs. That sometimes is the problem for us; everyone knows what's coming, but if you're good enough to beat somebody when they know what you're throwing at them, then that makes all the difference. Meanwhile, the D is solid despite losing Dwight Freeney. Clifton Smith could win the Butkus Award this year, he's that good, and he also is the leader of a solid unit whose only real letdown was the Miami game last year.
In all, this will be a fun team to watch, if for no other reason than it's Syracuse. You never know what they're going to do each year. They could conceivably run off to an 11-0 start going into the Miami game, or they could lose to Division I-AA Rhode Island. You never know. You just close your eyes, throw at the dartboard and come up with a prediction in between the two extremes. I say 9-4. It's a good pick, it's par for the course under the Pasqualoni regime, which of course the P-haters think is why he needs to go; 9 wins a year is not good enough. You know what? If SU never wins a national championship in football, I won't be upset, because they're a fun team to watch. Too bad only 30-35,000 people agree with me enough to buy tickets to this team week in and week out.
On to Susquehanna, who I believe I said would go 7-3, because I wanted to keep my expectations low. Apparently, they weren't low enough. Right about when The College Formerly Known As Western Maryland went up 21-0 in the first quarter of the first game, I threw 7-3 out the window. Instead, the Crusaders started 0-5, and yet they managed to save head coach Steve Briggs' job by winning 4 of their last 5, mostly without starting QB Mike Bowman. Bowman's back and healthy, once again he has Mark Bartosic to throw to, and the defense is one year older, not to mention the fact that they finally seemed to put it together after the first few weeks, holding Widener's all-world offense to a touchdown in the first half at Homecoming. The biggest problem, once again, is the schedule. Flipping open my copy of Street and Smith's, I can tell you that SU has four opponents ranked in their top 25, including the first two. Once again, the Crusaders open with newly-rechristened McDaniel College, only this time in Selinsgrove. Once again, the biggest game of the season, the battle for Stagg's Old Hat against Lycoming, will be the second game of the season, which I still think is a joke. Add in the fact that the Crusaders have to face the other two ranked opponents (King's and Widener) on the road, and it may not be pretty again this season. But hey, they got lights at Lopardo Stadium now. I say 6-4.
Finally, West Genesee, and may I say that it is truly a unique feeling and somewhat bizarre to be going into a season with everyone saying we are a postseason LOCK. We went 13 years between postseason appearances, but the Wildcats put it together last year, and were one late-game choke job against Auburn away from a 5-2 regular season, and one final minute from hell away from a huge sectionals upset of the eventual Section 3 champs. In the end, they went 4-4, just as I said they would (another unique and bizarre feeling, that of actually being RIGHT on one of these predictions). Now comes the next step. Eric Cizenski is back for one more year as the starting QB, and if he continues to improve, he'll give the defense more chances to practice holding leads. It's the same schedule as last year, except this year, the non-leaguer brings Binghamton to town. SInce F-M isn't as good as they were last year without Damien Rhodes, the Wildcats have a shot at a 3-0 start. Then, they travel to RFA to face a hungry Black Knights squad who not only had a rare bad year in '01, they lost to WG for the first time since the 1988 sectional final. If West Genny plays up to form, they could be 5-1 going into a Homecoming showdown with Corcoran for the league title. And they now have playoff experience, and a bitter taste in their mouths from that experience. It's all about how hungry they are and how bad they want it. If they want it bad enough, they could go to the Dome. I'll say 5-2 in the regular season, then let the chips fall where they may in sectionals. Now can I please get back to my summer?
Yup, on August 22, a Thursday night, no less. Something called the "Jim Thorpe Classic", between Colorado State and Virginia. A pretty exciting game, down to the wire, but come on! August 22? Most schools don't even start classes until this Monday, and even that seems too early. Blame it on the fact that Labor Day falls on the earliest possible date this year, September 2. That throws everything out of whack, as the college football gods decided, hey, let's put an extra game on the schedule this year! Hence, your super-early start, and the fact that the first full weekend of college football starts on Thursday, the 29th of August, so in many cases, there will be teams whose national championship chances will be dead before the first of September, yet they'll still have 11 more games to play, plus, more than likely, a bowl game. However, they have good timing from this standpoint: the 29th of August is also the last night of the baseball season (if you agree with me and believe that there will be a strike that wipes out the rest of the season and World Series). Therefore, you have a perfect segue, and more proof that when (not if) the players do go on strike, nobody will miss them. But then, as Barry Bonds recently said, "It's not my fault you don't play baseball."
Now that Thursday night game matches BYU against my Syracuse Orangemen, and let me tell you, there's no better way I can think of to start a season than a Thursday night in Provo, Utah. Now excuse me while I mop up all the dripping sarcasm from that last line. If you know me and have read this column, you'll know that about this time every year, I attempt to predict the fortunes of not only Syracuse, but also my college alma mater Susquehanna and my high school alma mater West Genesee. However, as I am now in Chambersburg, Pah, I am further out of the loop than ever. I have, however, bought and skimmed a copy of Street and Smith's College Football Preview, so therefore, I think I am now qualified to get at least the college part done, so here we go...
Last year, I said Syracuse would go 4-8, and Paul Pasqualoni would be on the unemployment line by mid-January. Oops. After starting in that direction with a woeful 0-2 start, Coach P put RJ Anderson behing the controls of the SU offense, and despite the ever-thinning crowds at the Carrier Dome all season, RJ got the job done, and SU ran off 9 straight wins. Then they went out and lost 59-0 to Miami, and to OrangeFan, it was suddenly as if those previous 9 wins had never happened. Despite SU's impressive destruction of Kansas State in the WhoCares.com Bowl last year, many of the SU faithful still want Pasqualoni whacked as soon as possible, and the number of season ticket-holders are down again this year. I dare say that anything short of an improbable national title run may lead to yet another fall of all-out warfare between SU fans, other SU fans, AD Jake Crouthamel, and maybe even Chancellor Buzz ("Get a life") Shaw again. It's sad, it's unfortunate, but knowing the SU fans like I do, it's inevitable, because there will not be an improbably national title run this year. The schedule is there; if they can somehow upset BYU in the Land of 3.2 Beer, they may not get seriously tested again until November 9 against Virginia Tech. On the other hand, they do play North Carolina and Auburn during that span, and we know Pasqualoni's good for at least one September brain-fart a year, so pencil them in at 7-2 going into Vah Tech at what will probably be a half-empty Dome due to the level of fan infighting by that point.
And I say this without knowing who the hell they have on offense besides RJ. Well, OK, I know they have Walter Reyes at tailback, Joe Donnelly at tight end, and Johnnie Morant at wideout. Morant had a big game at the Why Are We Playing a Football Game in the Diamondbacks' Home Stadium.com Bowl, but that's pretty much the only big game he's had in two years on the Hill. At the very least, he gives RJ a big, tall target to throw to a lot, the rest is up to him. However, I don't really need to know who is at a lot of the skill positions, because for better or worse, we all know that the Orangemen will run the option, and run between the tackles, and RJ will run bootlegs. That sometimes is the problem for us; everyone knows what's coming, but if you're good enough to beat somebody when they know what you're throwing at them, then that makes all the difference. Meanwhile, the D is solid despite losing Dwight Freeney. Clifton Smith could win the Butkus Award this year, he's that good, and he also is the leader of a solid unit whose only real letdown was the Miami game last year.
In all, this will be a fun team to watch, if for no other reason than it's Syracuse. You never know what they're going to do each year. They could conceivably run off to an 11-0 start going into the Miami game, or they could lose to Division I-AA Rhode Island. You never know. You just close your eyes, throw at the dartboard and come up with a prediction in between the two extremes. I say 9-4. It's a good pick, it's par for the course under the Pasqualoni regime, which of course the P-haters think is why he needs to go; 9 wins a year is not good enough. You know what? If SU never wins a national championship in football, I won't be upset, because they're a fun team to watch. Too bad only 30-35,000 people agree with me enough to buy tickets to this team week in and week out.
On to Susquehanna, who I believe I said would go 7-3, because I wanted to keep my expectations low. Apparently, they weren't low enough. Right about when The College Formerly Known As Western Maryland went up 21-0 in the first quarter of the first game, I threw 7-3 out the window. Instead, the Crusaders started 0-5, and yet they managed to save head coach Steve Briggs' job by winning 4 of their last 5, mostly without starting QB Mike Bowman. Bowman's back and healthy, once again he has Mark Bartosic to throw to, and the defense is one year older, not to mention the fact that they finally seemed to put it together after the first few weeks, holding Widener's all-world offense to a touchdown in the first half at Homecoming. The biggest problem, once again, is the schedule. Flipping open my copy of Street and Smith's, I can tell you that SU has four opponents ranked in their top 25, including the first two. Once again, the Crusaders open with newly-rechristened McDaniel College, only this time in Selinsgrove. Once again, the biggest game of the season, the battle for Stagg's Old Hat against Lycoming, will be the second game of the season, which I still think is a joke. Add in the fact that the Crusaders have to face the other two ranked opponents (King's and Widener) on the road, and it may not be pretty again this season. But hey, they got lights at Lopardo Stadium now. I say 6-4.
Finally, West Genesee, and may I say that it is truly a unique feeling and somewhat bizarre to be going into a season with everyone saying we are a postseason LOCK. We went 13 years between postseason appearances, but the Wildcats put it together last year, and were one late-game choke job against Auburn away from a 5-2 regular season, and one final minute from hell away from a huge sectionals upset of the eventual Section 3 champs. In the end, they went 4-4, just as I said they would (another unique and bizarre feeling, that of actually being RIGHT on one of these predictions). Now comes the next step. Eric Cizenski is back for one more year as the starting QB, and if he continues to improve, he'll give the defense more chances to practice holding leads. It's the same schedule as last year, except this year, the non-leaguer brings Binghamton to town. SInce F-M isn't as good as they were last year without Damien Rhodes, the Wildcats have a shot at a 3-0 start. Then, they travel to RFA to face a hungry Black Knights squad who not only had a rare bad year in '01, they lost to WG for the first time since the 1988 sectional final. If West Genny plays up to form, they could be 5-1 going into a Homecoming showdown with Corcoran for the league title. And they now have playoff experience, and a bitter taste in their mouths from that experience. It's all about how hungry they are and how bad they want it. If they want it bad enough, they could go to the Dome. I'll say 5-2 in the regular season, then let the chips fall where they may in sectionals. Now can I please get back to my summer?
Labels: college football
posted by Dave | 12:05 AM
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