The Big East Strikes Back

[TPBPlayer]

The Big East Strikes Back As everybody knows, the Big East Conference was decimated by the ACC when they raided the conference of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College. Little did we know this would be just the beginning of a huge restructuring of the entire country. The Big East was down in 2003 and 2004, but they had a few tricks up their sleeve. TV revenue was of the utmost importance in rebuilding Northeast football, so naturally it seemed like a great idea to invite Army and Navy into the fold, if for no other reason that to have the annual Army/Navy game. So, we had the start of something here with the following teams in the fold: Syracuse, Uconn, Pitt, West Virginia, Rutgers, USF, Cincinnati, Louisville, Army and Navy But they needed a marquee team and another legit top 25 player. They had one in mind, but how do they get them? Meanwhile in Happy Valley.... Joe Paterno, perhaps the greatest football coach Northeast football has ever seen was a legend at Penn State. He knew his time was winding down as a coach. He has accomplished everything he could on the football field, but there was one thing left for him to do. .....flashback to 1980..... The Big East was just 2 years old and it was a basketball conference: Syracuse, Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, BC, Uconn, Seton Hall and Villanova. A younger Joe Paterno was trying to put together an all eastern football conference, but Syracuse and BC were reluctant to pull out of the Big East, which had shown great promise. Paterno wanted to unite Penn State, Syracuse, BC, Pitt, Rutgers, West Virginia and Temple. With Syracuse and BC turning him down, Joe applied for membership to the Big East. Needing 6 votes, he only got 5 and soon after, Penn State's in-state rival, Pittsburgh joined the Big East. ....moving to 1990.... Syracuse and Pittsburgh discreetly approached Joe and Penn State about joining the Big East. Penn State was still independent at the time. Before a deal could be struck (rumor has it that the basketball only schools killed the deal) The Big 10 picked up Penn State and the first row of dominoes fell. USC and Arkansas to the SEC, Florida State to the ACC, Big 8 became Big 12, Miami, Virginia Tech to the Big East, etc... ...back to 2005... Paterno wanted to not only leave a lasting legacy on his school, but throughout all of college football. He worked secretly with the football schools of the Big East, and one basketball only in particular, to strike a deal. The plan was to have the football schools dump the basketball-only's and form a 12 team “New New Big East” conference with a championship game and the automatic BCS bid. Press Conference, early 2005, New York City. The Big East would like to welcome Army, Navy and Penn State to the Big East. We would also like to announce separation of the football playing schools from the basketball only schools. 2 hours of questions and answers, along with speeches from the new coaches and AD's were about to wrap up when the Big East commissioner took the podium again. “Oh, there is one more thing we would like to announce...” [Out of nowhere, the Notre Dame fight song begins playing over the speakers] “Our 12th and final member, The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame!”

[TPBPlayer]

The college football landscape was changing fast now. The Big East took Penn State from the Big 10 and landed maybe the most prestigious team in college football in the Irish. The Big 10 wasted no time in finding a replacement. In fact, they found 2 and finally found themselves in a 12 team conference. Of course, they kept the name the Big 10. The Big 10 poached Missouri from the Big 12 and small school Northern Illinois. (Rumor also has it that NIU settled for a reduced payout over several years until they became more established). The Big 12 pulled Memphis in from Conference USA, mostly to shore up their basketball conference, being that football was plenty strong. Conference USA pulled in Southern Miss and UAB, along New Mexico State to form their own 12 team conference. The PAC 10 quickly followed suit before their options became limited. In a somewhat surprising move, they pulled in Utah and Wyoming. The Mountain West filled up to 12 not long after with Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech and Utah State. The Mid-American took in Temple and Toledo while the Sun Belt added South Alabama, Idaho, Nevada and San Jose State. So just that quickly, thanks to Joe Paterno and his secret dealing with Notre Dame and the Big East, the country formed into 10 conference, all with 12 teams and a championship game. As much as things change though, things also stay the same. The same 6 power conferences held all the automatic bids to the BCS series and they refused to move to a playoff system. Not to worry, this year's events showed that anything can happen in the college football landscape.

[TPBPlayer]

So where do I fit in to this story? I was a walk on at Syracuse in the late 1980's and became a coach at a few Division 3, then later, Division 2 schools with varying degrees of success. When Coach Pasqualoni was fired after the 2004 campaign, I threw my name into the ring thanks to myself keeping some good contacts at my alma mater. To be honest, I was just as anxious as the fan base to see if the new coach would be Norm Chow, or Greg Robinson, or Randy Edsall, or whomever. Never thought it would be me, but here I am, coach of the Syracuse Orange. The team is a marginal 500 squad over the last couple of seasons and it is my job to get them back to BCS bowl status. The school has a rich football history. 1959 National Champions with a Cotton Bowl victory over Texas. Big East Champs in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2004. Since 1988 they had bowl wins over LSU, Georgia, Arizona, Ohio State, Colorado, Clemson, Kentucky and Kansas State. They appeared in the Fiesta Bowl Twice, the Orange once and the Gator once in recent years. Famous players to wear Orange: Jim Brown, Donovan McNabb, Marvin Harrison, Art Monk, Dwight Freeney, Joe Morris, Marvin Graves, Floyd Little and Heisman winner, Ernie Davis.

[Bryan Swartz]

Interesting backstory, and a good start. Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

[TPBPlayer]

2005 Preseason The first order of business is to set up our offensive and defensive philosophies. Our OC is a smash mouth type of coach and really, the players I have inherited fit the mold. We are average in most spots, but have 2 spectacular running backs, so there is no reason not to pound the ball down the opponent's throat. In time, I would rather move to a balanced offense, but I have to go with what I have at this point. On defense it is a 3-4 all the way and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. The next order of business to to put together a schedule. I feel at this point, I need to schedule for success more than challenging my players, so a 12 game schedule with 3 OOC cupcakes and 1 stiffer challenge would be fine. We get Rice, Nevada and Ball State as Home games this year and a home and home with Colorado, starting at my place. Here is our 2005 schedule in full: Nevada Rice at West Virginia at Louisville Pittsburgh Penn State Ball State at Rutgers Army Cincinnati at Uconn Colorado Only 4 away games this year is a big plus.

[TPBPlayer]

2005 Opening Day Lineup and Team Information On offense we are pretty average, except for a pair of super running backs. We have to keep it simple, play all upperclassmen on the line and limit our mistakes on offense. QB Donovin Kellogg, SO, (Rating: 58) – A pocket passer with good arm strength and accuracy. Just what we need to limit mistakes. RB Omare Reece, SO (72) – All around solid back with great running instincts. His backup is a senior, Edward Walls who is certainly just as talented and will come in as the speed back to Reece's exciting style of play. FB Alan Witkowski, SR (56) – Strictly a blocking back TE Aeneas Prince, SR (62) – Mostly a blocking TE, but not bad as a receiver (which is something I highly value). WR Norman Tinker, JR (60) – Our speed receiver WR Secdrick Younger, FR (60) – Our possession receiver T Jamel Cipa, SR (59) – mostly a run blocker, relies on strength. T Levi Ketchen, JR (50) – balanced at run and pass blocking. While not horrible, he is the weak link on the offensive line. G Lewis Surtain, JR (64) – Very skilled, balanced blocker G Darvin Current, JR (58) – Much more of a pass blocker than run blocker, but the dropoff in talent is sever after our starters. C Vai Phillips, JR (60) – Powerful run blocker On defense we have some serious talent, but a lack of depth. We also have some of the best names in college football out there, particularly our 2 OLB and a cornerback. DE Durand Madison, SR (64) - Our hardest working player and it shows every Saturday. Very consistant. DE J.C. Newson, SO (57) – Pass rush specialist. DT Deke Layva, SO (64) – Will do a great job bottling up the run and has so much potential to grow over the next 3 seasons. OL Little John Dewveal, SR (78) – Our star player on defense. Great tackler and a blitzing LB. OL Ickey Fischer, JR (57) – Solid tackler and a coverage specialist. IL Dermontti Wahlabaugh, SR (58) – Blitzing specialist IL Shaun Westbrooks, JR (53) – Balanced player, but not that great overall. CB Horace Dorris, SR (62) – Solid coverage corner. CB Bob Naeole, JR (67) – Zone corner. Our two corners will be tough to beat. FS Brendon Rasmussen, JR (58) – coverage safety. SS Quinton Wightkin, JR (73) – very talented and very hard hitter. You have to like our secondary. K Macey Shiancoe, SO (47) – need an upgrade here P PeterTom Renfro, FR (52) – some nice potential here.

[TPBPlayer]

Opening Day at the Carrier Dome, 2005 Every coach wants to start the season with a victory. I want to start my tenure at Syracuse with one, and I scheduled to give us a great chance to make it happen. Syracuse 30, Nevada 10 We racked up 548 yards of total offense today. Our two back attack was impressive. Starter Omare Reece ran for 143 yards and Edward Walls ran for 134 and a touchdown. QB Donovin Kellogg was pretty good, throwing for over 240 yards and 2 touchdowns, with just 1 interception. The defense had a sack and an interception, but pretty much man handled the Nevada offense, particularly their passing game. Their QB threw for only 12 completions and less than 130 yards in the air. Edward Walls, the senior RB, was named player of the game. In other Big East action, it was not nearly as pretty: Purdue 24, Notre Dame 7 Oklahoma 35, Navy 25 Texas 65, Army 21 Arkansas 13, Rutgers 7 West Virginia 31, Vanderbilt 10 Pittsburgh 30, Fresno State 27 Western Michigan 35, Penn State 28 Notre Dame and Penn State were supposed to be our two flagship programs and they both stumbled out of the gate. Navy had a decent showing against the current #1 team in the land, Oklahoma. Week 2 is one of our bye weeks, but the rest of the Big East was in action: Boston College 20, Connecticut 10 Oklahoma State 41, Cincinnati 20 West Virginia (2-0) 19, South Carolina 0 Ole Miss 63, Rutgers 3 (ouch!) Miss State 54, Army 21 Pittsburgh (2-0) 24, Northern Illinois 16 Penn State 42, New Mexico 7 Louisville 17, Kent State 14 Louisiana Lafayette 40, South Florida 20 Navy 45, North Texas 13

[TPBPlayer]

Week 3 Rice (0-2) at Syracuse (1-0) Our only injury coming into this game is to our backup tight end, who could play, but will be limited in his time on the field. This should really be an easy victory for us... Syracuse 45, Rice 0 We had the running game going, the passing game going and the defense going all at once today. Reece was easily the player of the game, running for 192 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 31 receiving yards. Walls got 9 carries for just 40 yards though. QB Donovin Kellogg threw for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns. TE Aeneas Price was his favorite target. He had 151 yards and both touchdown receptions. The defense had 2 sacks and an interception. They pitched the shutout but did give up 440 yards of offense. Rice was 0 for 2 on field goals. Around the Big East: Navy (2-1) 28, Maryland (2-1) 20 North Carolina (1-2) 27, Connecticut (0-2) 9 #9 Virginia Tech (3-0) 56, West Virginia (2-1) 31 #14 Iowa (2-0) 52, Cincinnati (0-2) 20 #23 Iowa State (2-0) 27, South Florida (0-2) 23 Army (1-2) 31, Texas A&M (1-2) 28 #17 Texas Tech (3-0) 30, Louisville (1-1) 7 #6 Florida (2-0) 42, Rutgers (0-3) 21 Pittsburgh (3-0) 17, Eastern Michigan (0-3) 14 Penn State (2-1) 35, Oregon (1-2) 14 Notre Dame (1-1) 22, Louisiana Monroe (0-3) 3 Nice wins by Army and Navy. Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Penn State and Notre Dame look to be the top 4 teams early on in the Big East. Injury report (for starters or key players only): T Levi Keckin – probable for next week

[TPBPlayer]

Week 4 Syracuse (3-0) at West Virginia (2-1) Our conference opener in on the road against a tough team, in a tough stadium. It turned out to be a sensational game. We took an early 3-0 lead and that score held for the enitre first quarter. WVU put up 17 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter to take a 17-3 halftime lead. We chipped away in the 3rd quarter with 2 more field goals to make it 17-9 heading into the 4th quarter. A WVU FG made it 20-9, but then we scored two touchdowns to take the 23-20 lead. Late in the game our defense sacked their QB to seemingly put them out of range on 4th down, but they brought in their kicker anyway and he proceeded to knock through a 60 yard field goal to send the game into overtime. In the first overtime, our FB broke off a 11 yard touchdown run, and our defense kept the Mountaineers out of the endzone to give us a 30-23 victory! The WVU defense did a great job against our ground attack. Reece was held to 83 yards and Walls only had 75. Witkowski had 11 yards on 3 runs, but those 11 were the touchdown scoring yards in the overtime. Kellogg led us back with his arm, throwing for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. Prince was again our leading receiver with 93 yards and a touchdown. OLB Littlejohn Dewveal was a monster, recording 14 tackles on the day along with a QB sack. Monday morning polls show us with a big fat #16 next to our name!!! Injury report: WR Younger is questionable but will play. G Darvin Current is hurt, but will start. DT Leyva is out for about 2 months. He will be tough to replace. Around the Big East: Penn State (3-1) 41, Army (1-3) 13 Pittsburgh (4-0) 35, Cincinnati (0-3) 3 South Florida (1-2) 34, Rutgers (0-4) 18 Notre Dame (2-1) 36, Navy (2-2) 18 And the ranked teams in the Big East now: #16 Syracuse #17 Pittsburgh #24 Penn State The Nation's undefeated team: #1 Miami #2 Texas #3 Oklahoma State #4 Oklahoma #5 Michigan #6 Florida State #7 Ole Miss #8 Auburn #9 Florida #10 Oregon State #11 Iowa #12 Ohio State #16 Syracuse #17 Pittsburgh Southern Methodist Boise State Idaho

[Roger Kaputnik]

This is a very good dynasty report. It is right to the point and concise.

[TPBPlayer]

[QUOTE=Roger Kaputnik]This is a very good dynasty report. It is right to the point and concise.[/QUOTE] Thanks for the kind words, Roger.

[CapnPitt]

TPBPlayer, I hate the Orange, but I'm rooting for your dynasty. Well done.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 5 Syracuse (3-0) at Louisville (1-1) This is the first game of a 3 game stretch that will determine our fate. Following this tough road test, we have Pitt and Penn State back to back at home. A 2-1 finish in these games gives us a good shot at the conference title game. 3-0 thrusts us into the national spot light. Louisville 35, Syracuse 21 Our defense scored the first 14 points of the game, both on defensive touchdowns. Then Louisville rattled off 35 straight points to put us away. A late touchdown by Omar Reece made up the final score. A pretty disappointing result here as we now have to find a way to win against a couple of ranked teams at home. Reece ran for 93 yards and had 36 receiving yards with one touchdown. Kellogg threw for 100 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Prince once again led the team in receiving yards with 81. Littlejohn Dewveal had a huge game, recording 14 tackles, a sack and an interception. Horace Dorris also had an interception and scored a touchdown on it. Around the Big East: Penn State (4-1) 20, Pittsburgh (4-1) 13 Notre Dame (3-1) 34, Rutgers (0-5) 13 Army (2-3) 27, Connecticut (0-3) 21 Navy (3-2) 48, Cincinnati (0-4) 10 West Virginia (3-2) 19, South Florida (1-3) 6 Around the Nation (all records and rankings are post game): #5 Florida State (4-0) 30, #6 Miami (4-1) 29 #7 Michigan (4-0) 27, Northern Illinois (1-4) 24 #10 Ohio State (4-0) 35, Illinois (2-3) 7 #2 Texas (5-0) 55, Kansas State (3-2) 6 #4 Oklahoma (4-0) 30, Kansas (1-4) 9 #1 Oklahoma State (5-0) 27, Texas Tech (3-2) 6 #9 Oregon State (5-0) 42, California (2-2) 19 #8 Florida (4-0) 35, Miss State (2-2) 24 #3 Auburn (5-0) 31, #11 Ole Miss (4-1) 16 Syracuse suspensions: SS Quinton Wightkin – any loss on the defense is tough to replace. We simply lack depth. Injuries: WR Sedrick Younger – Out G Darvin Current – Out T Levi Keckin – Out

[TPBPlayer]

Week 6 #21 Pittsburgh (4-1) at #22 Syracuse (3-1) Besides these two teams, Penn State (#19) and Notre Dame (#25) are the other ranked teams in the Big East. The loser here most likely drops out. Syracuse 42, Pittsburgh 7 We scored the first 28 points of the game and led 28-7 at the half. Two more touchdowns in the 4th quarter made this one way easier than I ever thought it would be. Reece had a big game again this week with 186 rushing yards and a touchdown. He also had 44 receiving yards. Walls ran for 33 yards and a touchdown. Kellogg had a great day too with 4 touchdowns on 294 yards with only 1 interception. WR Dwone Hannah, our fill in for the injured Younger, was the leading receiver with 122 yards and a touchdown. Prince had another touchdown catch this week along with 74 yards. Horace Dorris had 2 interceptions this week and the rest of the defense had 2 more. That is 4 picks on the day! We also sacked their QB twice. Around the Big East: West Virginia (4-2) 20, Rutgers (0-6) 16 #22 Notre Dame (4-1) 41, Louisville (2-2) 16 #19 Penn State (5-1) 24, Cincinnati (0-6) 13 South Florida (2-3) 31, Army (2-4) 16 Navy (4-2) 42, Connecticut (0-4) 35 On the National Scene (ok, I'll list the team's ranking as they came into the game): #13 Nebraska 33, #1 Oklahoma State 30 #2 Texas 34, #9 Oklahoma 27 South Carolina 36, #3 Auburn 21 #5 Florida State 34, Duke 17 #6 Miami 35, Virginia 31 #7 Michigan 48, Illinois 15 #8 Florida 37, Tennessee 16 #9 Oregon State 44, Wyoming 0 #10 Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 27 Injuries: No new injuries this week, but nobody is back either.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 7 #19 Penn State (5-1) at #21 Syracuse (4-1) This is the big Big East West showdown. We are 2-1 and they are 3-0 in the division. Winner has the hot track to the conference title game. Penn State 24, Syracuse 7 Reece went down with an injury early, but it hardly mattered. Penn State outplayed us and deserved the win. The division is theirs to win or lose now, with a 2 game lead already. Reece went down after just 33 yards, but Walls showed he can step in and take care of business. He finished with 117 yards and a touchdown. Kellogg really struggled this week, throwing 2 picks and no touchdowns. Prince was our top receiver again, but was held to just 55 yards. The defense had a couple of sacks and Dewveal had 12 tackles. Not much more to talk about. Around the Big East: Pittsburgh (5-2) 27, South Florida (2-4) 3 Rutgers (1-6) 24, Connecticut (0-5) 15 Notre Dame (5-1) 15, Army (2-5) 14 West Virginia (5-2) 45, Cincinnati (0-6) 7 Navy (5-2) 24, Louisville (2-3) 21 Notre Dame survives a big scare. Navy looking great this year. The National Scene: We are down to 6 undefeated teams.... #1 Texas 52, Memphis 13 #3 Michigan 33, #18 Iowa 14 #4 Oregon State 43, Washington 17 #5 Florida State 38, Maryland 21 #6 Florida 54, #14 Georgia 13 #11 Ohio State 34, Michigan 21 Despite a 6-0 record, Ohio State only moved up to #10 in the polls. The press does not like what they are seeing I suppose. The coaches only have them at #8. Injuries: A devastating week. We knew Reece got injured and he is listed as questionable. Post-game we found out his backup, Walls, had a slipped disc and will miss the rest of the season, barring a miracle. We also lost SS Smerlas, who was our 2nd stringer forced to start. We are down to our third string at SS.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 8 Ball State (4-2) at #23 Syracuse (4-2) I am worried about the condition of Reece. Kellogg is going to have to carry this team on his arm, so to speak, because I don't think we can lean on Reece too much right now. Syracuse 39, Ball State 21 We fell behind 21-3 in this game, but our guys finally put it together in the second half, particularly our running game, We outscored them 36-0 in the second half. Reece finished with 122 yards and 1 touchdown. His new backup, Yatil Sheriff, outdid him with 112 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kellogg had a very accurate day, going 17 for 23 for 192 yards and 2 touchdowns. Dwone Hannah once again took advantage of his new starting role with 73 yards and a touchdown. Dewveal had 8 tackles and 2 sacks. The rest of the defense had 2 more sacks and 2 interceptions. Big East Action: Notre Dame (6-1) 41, Pittsburgh (5-3) 20 Penn State (7-1) 30, Navy (5-3) 25 West Virginia (6-2) 30, Connecticut (0-6) 3 South Florida (3-4) 39, Louisville (2-4) 28 National Scene The same 6 teams remain undefeated. Here are how they are ranked in the GDS poll, which determines the title game: 1 Michigan 6-0 2 Texas 8-0 3 Florida State 6-0 4 Miami 7-1 5 Florida 6-0 6 Oregon State 7-0 7 Oklahoma State 6-1 8 Ohio State 7-0 Ohio State has a real gripe right now, I think. Injuries: WR Tinker was suspended due to academics. T Levi Keckin can play, but won't be starting yet.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 9 #20 Syracuse (5-2) at Rutgers (1-6) This is one of a few games left where the game should be over by halftime. If we drop this one, words won't be able to describe my disappointment. Syracuse 42, Rutgers 16 When we made it 28-0 early in the second quarter, the game was all but over. Nice effort on the road today. Reece ran for 126 yards and had 25 receiving yards along with a touchdown. Sheriff ran for 92 yards. Kellogg threw for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns. Backup QB Faneca threw a touchdown as well. TE Aeneas Prince had another big game with 90 yards and 2 touchdown catches. Horace Dorris had another interception that he returned for a touchdown. That was his second TD of the year. Dewveal is quietly making a statement as a candidate for defensive player of the year. Today he had 8 tackles, 2 sacks and a fumble return for a touchdown. Around the Big East: Pittsburgh (6-3) 34, Army (2-6) 7 #14 Penn State (48), Connecticut (0-7) 14 #16 Notre Dame (7-1) 36, Cincinnati (0-7) 14 #21 West Virginia (7-2) 34, Louisville (2-5) 28 Navy (6-3) 21, South Florida (3-5) 17 And then there were three: #1 Texas loses to #7 Oklahoma State, 23-15 #3 Michigan loses to unranked Minnesota 43-33 #6 Florida loses to unranked Vanderbilt, 30-24 in overtime That leaves us with a top 5 in the GDS rankings that looks like this: 1 Florida State 7-0 2 Miami 8-1 3 Oregon State 7-0 4 Oklahoma State 7-1 5 Ohio State 8-0 Texas hangs in there at #6, waiting for a couple more teams to take a mis-step. Injuries: T Levi Keckin is healthy and will be put back into the starting lineup.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 10 Army (2-6) at #20 Syracuse (6-2) No excuse for not putting up another 40+ points this week. Syracuse 28, Army 17 It was not the blowout I expected, but we were never really in much danger this week. A very late touchdown by Army made it look closer than it ever was. Reece keeps doing his thing with 117 rushing yards and a short receiving touchdown. Sheriff had 89 yards rushing in the backup role. Kellog threw for 3 touchdowns and 135 yards on just 9 for 17. Backup QB Faneca also tossed a touchdown pass. Prince had 83 receiving yards to lead the team along with a touchdown. WR Forsey and WR Starring also had touchdown catches. The defense quietly did their job this week. Newson had a sack and Dewveal had 8 tackles. Big East Action: Pittsburgh (7-3) 31, Uconn (0-8) 10 #10 Penn State (9-1) 55, Rutgers (1-8) 14 Cincinnati (1-7) 23, Louisville (2-6) 17 #15 Notre Dame (8-1) 29, South Florida (3-6) 10 National Scene: 1 Florida State 8-0 2 Oregon State 8-0 3 Miami 9-1 4 Oklahoma State 7-1 5 Ohio State 9-0 6 Oklahoma 7-1 7 Texas 8-1 8 LSU 8-1 9 USC 8-1 10 Virginia Tech 7-1 11 Florida 7-1 12 Penn State 9-1 13 Auburn 7-1 14 Nebraska 8-2 15 Michigan 6-2 Florida State and Oregon State would play for the title if these standings hold. Ohio State would be left out in the cold as of right now. Luckily for them, there is a lot of football to be played. Injuries: DT Leyva returns to the starting lineup, which shores up our defensive line for the stretch run.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 11 Cincinnati (1-7) at #20 Syracuse (7-2) Prince and Reece and Kellogg should have a field day today. Not to mention Dewveal and the defense... Syracuse 42, Cincinnati 36 We slept walked through most of this game and found ourselves down 16-10 midway through the 4th quarter. Kellogg found WR Forsey in the back of the endzone late in the 4th, but we missed the extra point and had to face overtime. In the first overtime, they scored a TD, and we answered. In the second, it was the opposite. Again, both teams with a touchdown in the 3rd overtime, but niether of us could convert the 2 point conversion. In the fourth OT, we score 6, and our defense holds. A real scare, but we come out with the win. Reece went down hard this week and only ran for 46 yards and had an 11 yard reception for a touchdown. Hartwell and Sheriff took over in the backfield and combined for 99 yards. Kellogg threw for 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. WR Forsey had 81 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Starring, Hannah and Reece had the other TD catches. Dewveal led the team with 12 tackles and 2 hurries. The defense recorded a sack and an interception. Big East: Army (3-7) 21, Rutgers (1-9) 19 #21 West Virginia (8-2) 24, Navy (6-4) 14 Connecticut (1-8) 19, Louisville (2-7) 14 National Scene: Florida State and Oregon State still occupy the #1 and #2 spots in the GDS poll. Miami with 1 loss and undefeated Ohio State wait for one of them, or both, to slip up. Injuries: Devastating news as OLB LittleJohn Dewveal is put on academic probation. WR Forsey, G Darvin Current and TE Zach Schubert all met the same fate. WR tinker does return from suspension as does SS Quintin Wightkin, so getting them back help to offset some of our losses. RB Reece is out, likely for the year. Sheriff will get the starting job.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 12 #20 Syracuse (8-2) at Connecticut (1-8) After last week's close call, we better not take anything for granted, especially considering Reece is out. Syracuse 14, Connecticut 7 Not much to talk about in this defensive battle. Uconn scored 7 first and then Kellogg hit Hannah to tie the game. WR Tinker took a reverse for a score to give us the victory. Sheriff finished with 129 rushing yards. Kellogg finished with 264 yards and 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Hannah led the team with 87 yards and the touchdown. Tinker had 76 yards in his return to the lineup. Prince was held to just 24 yards. The defense had one interception and no sacks. Big East: Pittsburgh (8-3) 30, Rutgers (1-10) 12 #11 Penn State (10-1) 31, Louisville (2-8) 21 South Florida (4-6) 31, Cincinnati (1-9) 10 #16 West Virginia (9-2) 42, #16 Notre Dame (8-2) 19 Huge win for West Virginia. That should send them to the conference championship game against Penn State. Both West Virginia and Notre Dame are 7-1 in conference. National Scene: Florida State and Oregon State remain undefeated. Ohio State as well and they jumped Miami into the #3 spot in the GDS standings. Injuries: Reece is recovering fast and will try to make a return in our next game, 2 weeks from now. FS Rasmussen is out. Week 13 Probably due to the changes in the database that I made, there were no scheduled games at all in week 13. Award News: TE Aeneas Prince is the favorite to win the John Mackey Award

[TPBPlayer]

Week 14 Colorado (6-3) at #16 Syracuse (9-2) A win gets us to 10 for the season and a chance at 11 with the bowl game, but really, this game is about as meaningless as a regular season game can be. It probably won't even affect our bowl game situation. But we want to win and win our bowl game and try to crack the top 10 in the nation. Syracuse 27, Colorado 20 The Buffs scored first and we answered. They scored again, we answered again. At the half it was 14-14. In the third quarter we kicked two field goals. In the 4th quarter, they kicked two field goal, the last coming with just 3 second on the clock, to force overtime. In overtime, Sheriff ran it in from 10 yards out and our defense held them to give us win #10 on the season! Reece ran for 10-1 yards in his return. Sheriff had 88 and a touchdown. Kellogg threw for 157 yards, 2 touchdowns and a pick. Tinker led the receivers with 106 yards and a touchdown. Prince had 46 yards and backup TE Michaels had the other touchdown catch. The defense had 3 sacks and SS Wightkin, fresh off the academic suspension list, had 2 interceptions, including one in overtime to seal the victory. Big East: Navy (7-4) 21, Army (3-8) 20 – Great game, as usual! National Scene: Ohio State no longer has to worry about being left out of the Title Game. Michigan took care of that with a 49-24 trouncing of the Buckeyes. It seems simple now..if FSU and Oregon State win out, they meet in the Title Game. Miami lurks at #3 and Virginia Tech at #4, both from the ACC. Florida is at #5. Injuries: We'll evaluate before our bowl game.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 15 ...in the Big East: #15 Notre Dame (9-2) 31, Boston College (4-7) 0 Buffalo (3-9) 38, Connecticut (1-10) 20 Cincinnati (2-9) 37, Miami (OH) (6-5) 23 Kentucky (4-7) 36, Louisville (2-9) 34 – what happened to Louisville this year?? South Florida (5-6) 21, Central Florida (4-7) 17 Around the Nation The conference title games just got a whole lot more important for a lot of teams. #6 Florida walked into Tallahassee and knocked off #1 Florida State 38-30. That leaves Oregon State at 11-0 and #1 in the GDS. Miami is 10-1 and #2, the rest are as follows: 3 Florida State 10-1 4 Virginia Tech 10-1 5 Florida 10-1 6 LSU 10-1 7 Ohio State 10-1 8 Penn State 10-1 After that, every team has at least 2 losses. Syracuse clocked in at #15. Awards We were shutout of the National Awards. The Heisman went to QB Jabari Koser from Oregon State. In the Big East, QB Donovin Kellogg was named 1st team QB and offensive player of the year. I honestly thought he had a fine season, but not deserving of this. His final numbers were 2,665 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 140.8 rating. TE Aeneas Price was named 1st team. OLB Littlejohn Dewveal was named 1st team. RB Omare Reece was named 2nd team. FB Alan Witkowski was named 2nd team. G Lewis Surtain was named 2nd team. DE Durand Madison was named 2nd team. CB Horace Dorris was named 2nd team. T Jamel Cipa was named 3rd team.

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Conference Championship Week ACC: Florida State 21, Miami 17 Big East: Penn State 31, Notre Dame 29 Big Ten: Ohio State 35, Michigan 31 Big Twelve: Nebraska 27, Oklahoma State 10 PAC 10: Oregon State 28, USC 20 SEC: Florida 27, LSU 17 Looking at these results, you know Oregon State is in the Title Game. I think with Florida and Florida State both winning, one of them will get the other spot. Both are deserving. Before we get to that, the Syracuse Orange are going Bowling! We will play Oklahoma in the Liberty Bowl! Here is how the GDS Bowls break down: Fiesta: #15 Nebraska (9-3) vs. #5 Miami (10-2) Sugar Bowl: #3 Florida (11-1) vs. #4 Virginia Tech (10-1) Orange Bowl: #6 Ohio State (11-1) vs. #7 Penn State (11-1) Rose Bowl (Title Game): #1 Oregon State (12-0) vs. #2 Florida State (11-1) Earlier Big East Bowl Results: Champs Sports Bowl: #11 Texas (10-2) 21, Navy (7-5) 18

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Liberty Bowl #9 Oklahoma (9-2) vs. #14 Syracuse (10-2) Not a major bowl, but we are playing a big time team and have a chance to make a big statement. I think we over achieved a bit this year. Beating West Virginia was huge for us, as was Pittsburgh and Colorado. I thought about 8 wins would be where we stood, but now we have a chance, albeit a slim one, at 11 wins. We will have our entire starting lineup on the field, except for T Levi Keckin, who will dress and play still. Syracuse 24, Oklahoma 23 Now this is a reason to celebrate! We finish 11-2 with a Bowl Win over a fairly recent National Champion. This recruiting class and next year's season will answer the question....have we returned to the National Spotlight this quickly??? The game came down to a 41 yard field goal as the clock hit 0:00. Shiancoe hit it for us and we celebrated at mid field! Reece made a big state with an amazing 288 yards and 2 touchdowns. Dewveal had 9 tackles and a sack. Other Big East Bowl Results: Holiday Bowl: Pittsburgh (9-3) 21, Texas A&M (7-5) 20 Cotton Bowl: Colorado (7-5) 27, #16 West Virginia (9-3) 20 Gator Bowl: #17 Notre Dame (10-3) 41, Clemson (7-5) 23 GDS Bowl Series: Fiesta: Miami 30, Nebraska 19 Sugar: Virginia Tech 45, Florida 24 Orange: Penn State 38, Ohio State 17 – Penn State did the Big East proud! Rose Bowl: Florida State 32, Oregon State 31 Florida State wins the 2005 National Title! We finished #13 in the Media Poll and #12 in the Coaches Poll.

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Offseason (Quick) Recap We fire our defensive coach. He was very poor in just about everything. We beef up that position with Kirk Kovak. He is a very good motivator and an average game planner. We keep our OC, Webster Harbaugh, and our Special Teams coach, Willy Lilly. We make a few offers to players looking to transfer, but we don't pick anybody up, not surprisingly. Recruiting Recap: We had a solid recruiting class, filling most of our needs. We landed mostly 3 star players, along with the following 4 star players: OLB Tywoin Casey FS Rip Duckworth RB Jamil Franz The bad news of the offseason is that RB Omar Reece has decided to enter the draft as a Junior.