The Big East Strikes Back

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2006 Season Last year was nothing short of a miracle. I don't really think we are an 11 win team, yet. Certainly, our talent this year is going to bring us back down to Earth a bit. Still, I expect at least 6 wins and a trip to a bowl game. We will start by looking at the starting lineups for opening day. QB Milford Tensi, JR, 68. Tensi had a brilliant training program and his development in the offseason proved worthwhile for him. He unseated the Big East Offensive Player of the Year in Donovin Kellogg and has earned the start during camp. Kellogg will back him up to start the season. RB Yatil Sheriff, JR, 65. Sheriff is not much of a dropoff from Reeece, who went pro. He'll be backed up by talented freshman, Jamil Franz, a 4 star recruit. FB Hank Runyan, FR, 49. Runyan has great potential, but is very raw. This would have been a good year to switch to a more balanced offensive attack, but in the end, we stuck with the smash mouth attack. TE Ty Novak, FR, 58. A pretty well rounded TE. A better blocker, but he will make some receptions for us this year. If Novak plays well, we can have some explosive offensive Saturdays. WR Secdrick Younger, SO, 57. Great hands, decent speed. A classic possession receiver. WR Norman Tinker, SR, 59. Our speed receiver. C Vai Phipps, SR, 68. The anchor of our offensive line. A terrific run blocker. We should have lots of success pounding the ball up the gut. G Lewis Surtain, SR, 66. Another great run blocker up the middle of the line. G Darvin Current, SR, 56. A balanced lineman when it comes to pass and run blocking. T Levi Keckin, SR, 56. Strong run blocker, not so strong pass blocker. T Olindo Kay, JR, 45. Clearly the weakest link on the offensive line. We have a nice QB and receivers, but not much blocking for them when the QB drops back. DE JC Newson, JR, 63. Great pass rusher, but only recorded 3 sacks last year. We are looking for him to put more pressure on opposing QB's this year. DE Dub Grace, JR, 63. Another great pass rusher. We should get lots of pressure from the outside of the defensive line this year. DT Deke Leyva, JR, 63. All three of our linemen are juniors and will have 2 full seasons to grow together. Deke is a tremendous run stopper. IL Tyoka Pearson, FR, 52. ILB is a huge weak link in our defense and considering we are running a 3-4 defense...well, we might struggle because of this. IL Shaun Westbrooks, SR, 47. Not good. OL Ickey Fischer, SR, 56. Solid tackler, well rounded linebacker. OL Tywoin Casey, FR, 57. Future stud, getting the start as a true freshman. CB Bob Naeole, SR, 63. Solid coverage man. What he lacks in speed he makes up for in pure instincts on the field. CB LeShaun Nelsen, FR, 52. He has the potential, but will see lots of balls thrown his way this year as he develops. FS Brendon Rasmussen, SR, 60. Excellent coverage safety. SS Quinton Wightkin, SR, 72. Our defensive star. K Macey Shiancoe, JR, 63. He had a solid season for us last year and earns the right to start again. P PeterTom Renfro, SO, 74. He is developing into a great punter and will help us win field position week in and week out. Our offense is solid. We should be able to run the ball. I am concerned about pass blocking, and the lack of a real big play maker on offense outside of Sheriff. I'm not sure our receivers can beat people down the field consistantly, although Tensi will get his chances to air it out. The defense is a concern this year. We have some youngsters starting and a few holes, particularly at the ILB spots. We are vunerable to the run up the middle and we have a freshman corner who will need his safeties to help him out. Schedule: Central Michigan Memphis Rutgers at Penn State Cincinnati at South Florida Colorado Army Pittsburgh at Connecticut at Louisville Utah Our schedule is not overly difficult. We once again avoid Notre Dame. We skip West Virginia as well this year. We also get Pitt at home. The Penn State game on the road will be a tough one, that is for sure!

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Week 1 Central Michigan (0-0) at Syracuse (0-0) I am not sure what to expect here. Their AD doesn't expect much out of this team, so they cannot be very good. On the other hand, I'm not sure what to expect from our team either. Syracuse 31, Central Michigan 29 I wouldn't it call it pretty, but it was a win. We built a 28-7 lead, only to let them come most of the way back. We stuffed a 2 point conversion try by them with under 4 minutes to go, and they never got another chance. We'll have to play better in the future, but we are happy to start off 1-0. Sheriff ran for 118 yards and a touchdown. His backup and true freshman, Franz, ran for 122 yards. Nice collegiate start for him. QB Tensi threw for 223 yards and 3 touchdowns, but also threw 2 interceptions. He spread the ball around nicely though, with 3 different players catching the touchdown passes. Tinker led the team with 53 receiving yards and 1 of the touchdowns. TE Novak, another freshman, caught a touchdown as well. On defense we had 2 sacks and 2 interceptions. Wightkin and another freshman stepped up, Nelsen, with the interceptions. Big East Action: #16 Notre Dame (1-0) 31, #20 Purdue (0-1) 7 Virginia (1-0) 38, Rutgers (0-1) 6 West Virginia (1-0) 42, Michigan State (0-1) 19 #3 Oklahoma (1-0) 58, Navy (0-1) 14 Miss State (1-0) 45, Army (0-1) 6 Pittsburgh (1-0) 35, Middle Tenn St (0-1) 22 Penn State (1-0) 38, Oklahoma State (0-1) 35 – Great win! Cincinnati (1-0) 42, Memphis (0-1) 6 Injuries: RB Sheriff is out, probably for just a week or two. FB Runyan will dress but not start. Sophomore Peerless Stinchcomb will start in his place next week. T Levi Keckin is hurt, but will start.

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Week 2 Memphis (0-1) at Syracuse (1-0) Cincinnati blasted these guys last week, so surely we can do the same, no?? Syracuse 17, Memphis 14 Despite being 2-0 on the year, I am very concerned that we are not taking control of these games against supposedly lesser opponents. It took a 19 yard touchdown pass with less than a minute to go to pull this game out. RB Franz ran for 68 yards in his first start. QB Kellogg came in for an injured Tensi and threw for 257 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. WR Tinker led the team with 93 receiving yards and a touchdown. TE Novak had the other touchdown. SS Wightin had 13 tackles, and a sack to lead the defense. We had 2 other sacks and an interception on the day. Big East Action: #23 Penn State (2-0) 28, Georgia Tech (0-1) 14 #11 Iowa (1-0) 52, Cincinnati (1-1) 7 Iowa State (1-0) 47, Army (0-2) 14 #2 Oklahoma (2-0) 59, Rutgers (0-2) 3 #7 Florida (1-0) 38, West Virginia (1-1) 20 #16 Alabama (2-0) 51, Connecticut (0-1) 7 Pittsburgh (2-0) 47, Buffalo (0-1) 28 Louisville (1-0) 39, Stanford (1-1) 23 Miami, OH (1-0) 19, South Florida (0-1) 9 Navy (1-1) 45, Air Force (1-1) 14 #12 Notre Dame (2-0) 30, Tulsa (1-1) 29 – Lucky! Injuries OLB Ickey Fischer is suspended due to academics. QB Tensi is out for about 2 months. So much for his great training camp. Kellogg takes his starting position back. T Levi Keckin out for a month or 2. RB Sheriff will be back at full health. DT Leyva out for 4-8 weeks.

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Week 3 in the Big East #8 Virginia Tech (3-0) 24, Louisville (1-1) 17 Michigan State (2-1) 27, South Florida (0-2) 14 #14 Minnesota (3-0) 38, Rutgers (0-3) 6 #9 Wisconsin (3-0) 45, Navy (1-2) 13 Oklahoma State (2-1) 45, West Virginia (1-2) 28 Texas Tech (2-1) 45, Army (0-3) 7 #6 Georgia (2-0) 52, Connecticut (0-2) 14 Cincinnati (2-1) 22, #5 Auburn (2-1) 19 – Finally a Big East win, and a huge one! #23 Penn State (3-0) 43, NC State (1-1) 10 #22 Colorado (2-0) 34, Pittsburgh (2-1) 31 #12 Notre Dame (3-0) 33, Idaho (0-3) 20

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Week 4 Rutgers (0-3) at Syracuse (2-0) I really would like to see us take control of the game early and bury these guys from New Jersey. It would make me feel more confident moving forward. Kellogg resumes his starting role at QB this week and will likely be there all season. Syracuse 34, Rutgers 14 We scored the first 34 points of the game. They got their two scores, both with under 2 minutes left in the game. At least you can say they didn't give up if you are a a Rutgers fan. We needed a dominating win like this. RB Sheriff had a career game for himself with 210 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Kellogg threw for 268 yards and a touchdown. TE Michaels led the team with 86 receiving yards. WR Tinker had 80 with a touchdown. Freshman OLB Tywoin Casey had 2 interceptions and returned one of them for a touchdown. The rest of the defense had 2 sacks and another interception. Big East Action: #10 Notre Dame (4-0) 36, Army (0-4) 0 Cincinnati (3-1) 34, Connecticut (0-3) 28 – nice start for the Bearcats Pittsburgh (3-1) 13, Navy (1-3) 12 Louisville (2-1) 17, South Florida (0-3) 14 National Scene: We still have at least 15 undefeated teams, so it is too early to tell who might have a chance at the National Title, but here is the GDS top 5: 1 LSU 2 Florida 3 Michigan 4 Oklahoma 5 Wisconsin Injuries: No new developments. (Thank you for the patch!)

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Week 5 Syracuse (3-0) at #19 Penn State (3-0) This is the type of game that can define your program, and make your season. They beat us at the Carrier Dome last year, and I don't believe we are as good as we were last year. It is a bit early to tell too much about them either. We'll have to see how it plays out on the field. Penn State 38, Syracuse 9 We are not there yet, obviously. I was hoping just to play competitively, and maybe, just maybe, sneak out a win, but things went pretty bad, very quickly. It was 14-3 after the first quarter and 31-6 by halftime. Sheriff was held to just 52 yards. Kellogg was not much better, throwing for only 146 yards along with one interception. SS Quinton Wightkin was maybe the best player on the field though. He had 3 interceptions for us on the day, along with 8 tackles! OLB Tywoin Casey had 2 sacks. Big East Action: Army (1-4) 33, Rutgers (0-5) 17 South Florida (1-3) 46, Connecticut (0-4) 30 West Virginia (2-2) 19, Pittsburgh (3-2) 17 #6 Notre Dame (5-0) 48, Louisville (2-2) 19 Cincinnati (4-1) 31, Navy (1-4) 24 – Bearcats could be the biggest surprise of the year. Injuries: OLB Ickey Fischer returns from academic suspension, but we lose WR Tinker and OG Current to suspension.

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Week 6 Cincinnati (4-1) at Syracuse (3-1) This is a big conference game, despite us being in different divisions. Both teams still are not sure if they are legit top 25 team material despite the good starts to their seasons. We have a little confidence problem after last week's ass kicking by Penn State. Cincinnati won in Auburn, but got destroyed in Iowa, so everyone wants to know if the Auburn win was a fluke. Syracuse 26, Cincinnati 10 A quick start saw us jump out to a 17-0 lead after the first quarter. After that our defense kept them under wraps and we took our 4th victory of the season while raining on their parade. Still, for the good of the Big East, I hope the Cats make a bowl game, we can use them to step up their program. Sherrif ran for 179 yards today, but no touchdowns. Kellogg threw for 239 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. WR Hannah, now starting in place of tinker, led the team with 83 receiving yards. Hannah also returned a punt for a touchdown in the first quarter. WR Forsey had the lone touchdown catch. Wightkin and Casey both had interceptions today. The defense held the Bearcats to just 181 yards of total offense. Very nice effort! Big East: Pittsburgh (4-2) 24, Army (1-5) 22 Connecticut (1-4) 37, Navy (1-5) 6 – Navy really tumbled from the fine season they had last year. West Virginia (3-2) 34, South Florida (1-4) 24 #4 Notre Dame (6-0) 45, Rutgers (0-6) 21 – The Irish have National Title hopes now #8 Penn State (5-0) 32, Louisville (2-3) 0 – so does Penn State National Scene: Top 5 in the GDS and the other undefeated teams remaining: 1 LSU 2 Florida 3 Michigan 4 Wisconsin 5 Notre Dame 6 Penn State 8 Arizona 23 Colorado State Syracuse landed at #25 in the Coaches Poll, but we are still unranked in the Media Poll. Injuries: No changes here.

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Week 7 Syracuse (4-1) at South Florida (1-4) Our team defense is ranked #5 in the country. When it comes to playing on the road though, we better bring your best game, no matter who the opponent. If we don't take USF seriously, they will burn us. Syracuse 33, South Florida 23 We had another fast start, taking a 17-3 lead after the first quarter. It was 20-10 at halftime. USF kicked a few field goals in the third quarter to cut the lead to 20-16, but in the fourth we put them away with a couple field goals of our own and a 94 touchdown run by Sheriff. Sheriff finished with 214 yards and a touchdown. Kellogg threw for 293 and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. TE Michael had 96 yards and a touchdown. WR Forsey had 90 yards and a touchdown. OLB Casey had a nother pair of interceptions today. That makes 5 for him on the season. OLB Ickey Fischer had 2 sacks, along with DE Dub Grace. Tyoka Pearson also had a sack today. Big East Action: Cincinnati (5-2) 16, Army (1-6) 3 #7 Penn State (6-0) 33, Connecticut (1-5) 7 Pittsburgh (5-2) 21, Rutgers (0-7) 16 #3 Notre Dame (7-0) 36, Navy (1-6) 26 West Virginia (4-2) 34, Louisville (2-4) 24 National Scene: The number of undefeated teams is dropping fast, and there are a few 1 loss teams that still look good enough to get into the Title game. GDS Standings: 1 LSU 6-0 2 Michigan 6-1 3 Notre Dame 7-0 4 Florida 5-1 5 Penn State 6-0 6 Wisconsin 6-1 7 Miami 6-1 8 Arizona 6-0 9 Ohio State 6-1 10 Nebraska 5-1 18 Colorado State 6-0 Syracuse is the first team receiving other votes in both polls. I suppose that makes us #26 in the country. Injuries: WR Sedrick Younger is a little banged up, but will still start. CB Bob Naeole is also hurt, but still starting.

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Week 8 Colorado (4-2) at Syracuse (5-1) The bookies have this game as a pick 'em, and considering it is at the Carrier Dome, that is a bit of a lack of respect for us. I tell our guys to go out there and earn some national respect. Colorado 41, Syracuse 3 A total embarrassment on our home field. I really don't have anything to say, and what could I? 41-3 at home to a 4-2 team? Sheriff was held to just 67 yards. Kellogg threw for just 141 yards with an interception. WR Hannah did have 102 receiving yards. The defense recorded 2 sacks and an interception. ILB Tyoka Pearson had one of each for us, one of the few players to have a decent game. Big East: South Florida (2-5) 27, Army (1-7) 13 Rutgers (1-7) 24, Louisville (2-5) 10 – Rutgers finally wins one! #5 Penn State (7-0) 44, Navy (1-7) 14 West Virginia (5-2) 31, Cincinnati (5-3) 20 National Scene: Wisconsin moves up to #3 in the polls with a big win over Ohio State, 31-28. #2 Michigan dominates Northwestern, 44-24. Colorado State remains undefeated with a 24-21 win over UNLV. They move up to #16 in the polls. #1 LSU has dominated in every game this year. They blew out Ole Miss (5-3) by a final score of 42-17. Last year's National Title game losers, Oregon State is now ranked #11 after a 40-24 win over San Jose State. Injuries: WR Tinker and G Current will return from academic suspension. T Levi Keckin will return to the starting lineup, though he is not fully recovered yet. DT Leyva has been in a backup role while nursing an injury. He is now out for a few weeks at least.

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Week 9 Army (1-7) at Syracuse (5-2) This is a good chance to get the season back on track after last weeks debacle. Syracuse 51, Army 6 This is the score you want to see every week, don't you? Sheriff ran for 163 yards, had 90 receiving yards and scored 2 touchdowns. A complete performance for him today. Kellogg had his statistically best day of his career, throwing for 393 yards and 4 touchdowns on 21 for 31 passing. WR Tinker led the team in receiving yards with 117. WR Younger had 105 and scored 2 touchdowns. Stinchcomb and Novak also had receiving touchdowns. The defense had 3 interceptions, including one by Wightkin. He has 7 on the season. The defense also recorded 2 sacks today. Big East: Pittsburgh (6-2) 31, Connecticut (1-6) 3 #3 Penn State (8-0) 29, Rutgers (1-8) 10 #4 Notre Dame (8-0) 41, South Florida (2-6) 7 Navy (2-7) 41, West Virginia (5-3) 13 – What happened here?? Louisville (3-5) 23, Cincinnati (5-4) 3 – Cincy trying their best to blow their Bowl chance. National Results: New GDS Poll: 1 LSU 8-0, defeated Auburn 38-24 2 Wisconsin 8-1, defeated Minnesota 33-10 3 Penn State 8-0. 4 Notre Dame 8-0 – Penn State/Notre Dame should be a great Big East Championship game. 5 Florida State 7-1, defeated NC State 29-17 Injuries Sheriff is a little banged up, but will try to give is a go.

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Week 10 Pittsburgh (6-2) at Syracuse (6-2) The winner takes over sole possession of 2nd place in the division and will end up with one of the better bowl games, most likely. I wish we had a fully healthy Sheriff for this one. Syracuse 29, Pittsburgh 15 Best win of the year for us, no doubt about it. With last year's season and hopefully a second place finish this year, I think we are in the next tier of teams below Penn State and Notre Dame. We will take that next step though, I guarantee it! The game was 16-0 at halftime, and 26-8 to start the 3rd quarter, so Pitt was never really in the game. Sheriff ran for just 21 yards. He just couldn't do it physically. Franz came in and picked up the slack with 80 yards and a touchdown. Kellogg carried the offense with 267 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. WR Younger had 110 yards and a touchdown. WR Forsey had the other touchdown catch. Cornerback's Nelsen and Jett each had 2 interceptions today. The defense had 5 sacks on the day. Big East Action: #2 Penn State (9-0) 44, Army (1-9) 12 Connecticut (2-6) 32, Rutgers (1-9) 20 West Virginia (6-3) 27, #6 Notre Dame (8-1) 22 – There goes their Title hopes I would think. South Florida (3-6) 16, Cincinnati (5-5) 10 – Cincy has dropped 3 of 4 now National Results: GDS Poll: 1 LSU 9-0, defeated Arkansas 51-21 2 Penn State 9-0 3 Wisconsin 9-1, defeated Purdue 26-23 4 Florida State 8-1, defeated Maryland 20-6 5 Florida 7-1, defeated #22 Tennessee 38-3 6 Notre Dame 8-1 Injuries No change in Sheriff's condition. He will give it a go, but probably not see too much time. DT Carapella, already our second stringer, is out. We are seriously weak at DT now. DE Grace is out. Our defensive line has been severly hit this week. CB Bob Naeole is out. Our remaining defensive players better step it up.

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Week 11 Syracuse (7-2) at Connecticut (2-6) A good team to face when we have some injury problems, but road games are always tough and I predict a tough battle here. Connecticut 20, Syracuse 10 Exactly what I was afraid of. A big let down, which will make it very difficult to reach 10 wins now. We scored first and last, and Connecticut scored 20 straight in between. Franz and Sheriff combined for just 73 yards. You have to give credit to the Uconn defense for that. Kellogg threw for 295 yards and a touchdown, but also threw 2 interceptions. Wightkin had his second 3 interception game of the season and should be in line for some serious post season awards. Big East Action: Louisville (4-5) 31, Navy (2-8) 6 #5 Notre Dame (9-1) 26, Pittsburgh (6-4) 24 – keeps us in 2nd place in our division. #2 Penn State (10-0) 29, West Virginia (6-4) 28 – barely keeps their title hope alive. North Texas (4-6) 19, Army (1-10) 13 National Scene, GDS top 5: 1 LSU 10-0, defeated #10 Georgia 37-31 2 Penn State 10-0 3 Wisconsin 9-1, defeated #22 Purdue, 26-23 4 Florida 8-1, defeated South Carolina 52-14 5 Notre Dame 9-1 Injuries: Sheriff is going to have to take a least a week off to get healthy. QB Tensi will suit up, but will have to fight for a starting job in camp again next year. DT Leyva is back in action this week.

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Week 12 Syracuse (7-3) at Louisville (4-5) Louisville has been playing great lately and we have not been to put it bluntly. I kinda expect the same results as last week. Louisville 16, Syracuse 6 Back to back losses to inferior teams puts a real damper on our season. RB Franz ran for 99 yards. QB Kellogg threw for 238 yards and an interception. No touchdown throws. Hannah was the leading receiver with 99 yards. The defense had 1 pick and 3 sacks on the day. Big East Action: Army (2-10) 34, Connecticut (3-7) 6 #2 Penn State (11-0) 24, Pittsburgh (6-5) 22 West Virginia (7-4) 38, Rutgers (1-10) 14 #6 Notre Dame (10-1) 34, Cincinnati (5-6) 28 – What a meltdown for Cincy. Navy (3-8) 31, South Florida (3-7) 28 Latest GDS Results: 1 LSU 11-0, defeated Vandy 44-16 2 Penn State 11-0 3 Wisconsin 10-1, defeated Iowa 51-20 4 Florida 9-1, defeated #21 Miss State 44-7 5 Florida State 9-1, defeated Duke 38-17 Injuries: We are off this week, so we will update before the Utah game.

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Week 14 Utah (5-6) at Syracuse (7-4) The week 13 weirdness happens again this year so we head right to week 14. A win would be really nice and give us some momentum, make that, reverse our momentum, heading in to the Bowl Season. Utah 33, Syracuse 23 OK, final season results might be right about where I expected them to be in the preseason, but the way we are collapsing at the end of the season is not what we had in mind after the hot start. Franz ran for 106 yards but cannot find the endzone. Kellogg threw for 325 and 2 touchdowns along with an interception. TE Michaels and WR Tinker both had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown each. SS Wightkin adds another Int to his season total, bringing it to 11 on the year. National Scene: GDS Top 5 remains the same, except for Oregon State who bumps Florida State down a spot and takes over the #5 spot.

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Week 15 Big East: #6 Notre Dame (11-1) 31, Boston College (6-5) 20 Buffalo (4-7) 32, Connecticut (3-8) 27 Cincinnati (6-6) 14, Miami OH (5-6) 6 Louisville (6-5) 27, Kentucky (4-7) 16 South Florida (4-7) 34, Central Florida (4-7) 13 National Scene: The only significant game saw Florida knock off Florida State and end any chance of them repeating as National Champions. Awards SS Quinton Wightkin wins the Jim Thorpe Award! He finished with 11 interceptions and 108 tackles! Wightkin was also first team SS in the country. Big East Awards: TE Ty Novak, 1st team. G Lewis Surtain, 1st team. SS Quinton Wightklin, 1st team and Defensive POY. QB Donovin Kellogg, 3rd team. K Macey Shiancoe, 3rd team. LB Tywoin Casey, 3rd team. LB Ickey Fischer, 3rd team.

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Conference Championship Week ACC: #5 Miami (10-2) 40, #10 Florida State (9-3) 10 Big East: #2 Penn State (12-0) 30, #6 Notre Dame (11-2) 10 Big Ten: #9 Ohio State (10-2) 31, #4 Wisconsin (10-2) 10 Big 12: #15 Oklahoma State (9-3) 63, #14 Iowa State (10-2) 21 SEC: #1 LSU (12-0) 16, #3 Florida (10-2) 14 PAC 10: #8 USC (10-2) 47, #7 Oregon State (11-2) 28 LSU will play Penn State for the National Title. Syracuse will face Nebraska in the Liberty Bowl this year. Other Big East Bowl Games: Poinsettia Bowl Texas (7-5) 42, Cincinnati (6-7) 10 Champs Sports Bowl Pittsburgh (7-5) 20, #22 Oklahoma (8-4) 10

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Liberty Bowl Syracuse (7-5) vs. #12 Nebraska (9-2) I honestly do not like our prospects in this game. Sheriff will not dress for this one, though most of the rest of the team is in pretty good shape. We will give it our best, and if we lose, at least try to make it respectable. Nebraska 34, Syracuse 2 Well, at least we didn't get shut out. Nobody played good, the defense didn't record anything in the way of sacks or interceptions. Our leading receiver had 21 yards. Franz ran for just 60. Just complete domination by Nebraska. We finish the season a very disappointing 7-6. Other Big East Results: Holiday Bowl: #18 Colorado (10-3) 45, Louisville (6-6) 9 Cotton Bowl: #14 Iowa State (11-2) 44, West Virginia (7-5) 10 Gator Bowl #10 Florida State (10-3) 31, #6 Notre Dame (11-3) 16

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GDS Bowl Results Rose Bowl #5 USC (11-2) 34, #11 Ohio State (10-3) 29 Orange Bowl #4 Miami (11-2) 35, #19 Oklahoma (9-4) 24 Sugar Bowl #3 Florida (11-2) 41, #6 Wisconsin (10-3) 30 Fiesta Bowl #1 LSU (13-0) 51, #2 Penn State (12-1) 27 LSU dominated every team, all season long and is the rightfully crowned 2006 National Champion!

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OffSeason (Quick) Recap Our OC leaves, so we hire an average guy whose specialty is a balanced offense. Time to move away from the smash mouth attack. Transfers I try every year to get players to transfer to me (in this career and some early practice ones) and I have never gotten a transfer. Makes me wonder if this works correctly. Needless to say, no trasnfers into Syracuse this year. Recruiting We pulled in one heck of a recruiting class this year. (Best since I have been playing this game now). We naturally targeted positions that we needed to fill, but never passed up a very talented player in any position. We landed our first 5 star recruit in CB Paul Wonsley, out of North Carolina. We had a bunch of 4 star players as well: G Dat Markham CB Dez Demar ILB Kareem Dyson RB Po Huckleby CB Kindal Nutten CB Gerome Sampson OLB Bubby Meredith Our defense, particularly our secondary has some great talent coming in. I think a bunch of these guys will be contributing, if not starting, as true freshman.

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2007 Preseason We finally switch to a more balanced offense this year, but remain in a 3-4 defense. We put together a schedule with 2 cupcakes and 2 mediocre teams from GDS conferences. Here is our full schedule: Buffalo Northwestern Arkansas at Rutgers Cincinnati Army at South Florida at Pittsburgh at Penn State #11 Notre Dame Connecticut Wake Forest We could very well be 7-0 heading into the road games at Pitt and Penn State, then back at home against Notre Dame. We should at least be favored in our first 7 games. Could be an interesting season for us. 2007 Starting Lineup and Team Outlook QB Donovin Kellogg, SR, 68. Donny outplayed Tensi in camp and will be our starter this year. Tensi is going to end up with a very unfulfilling career at our school, but he should be ready to go if something happens to Kellogg. RB Yatil Sheriff, SR, 69. Hopefully Sheriff can stay healthy all year and have a great season as our backfield leader. Jamil Franz is ready to help out as his backup. FB Hank Runyan, SO, 53. This is Hank's second year as a starter, and we are just looking for improvement from him week to week and year to year. TE Ty Novak, SO, 60. Great run blocker and a decent pair of hands for Kellogg to throw to. WR Dwone Hannah, JR, 56. As a backup last year he impressed and earned the starting job this year. A deep threat for us with his speed. WR Sedrick Younger, 59. Solid, but not spectacular possession receiver. C Paris Jett, FR, 55. You will see that our offensive line is young and inexperienced for the most part. It might be a struggle with a lot of these guys all year, but they all have nice potential. Jett is a strong guy who is a balanced lineman. G Dat Markham, FR 57. Balanced lineman who looks to be a very good blocker. G Darick Jermain, SR, 54. Decent blocker, very strong. T Royd Staley, SO, 50. Tackle will be a problem on both sides of the line this year. T Samari Lovett, FR, 53. These guys need to grow up and learn to play awfully fast. 3 freshman, a sophomore and a senior make up our o-line. Yikes. DE JC Newson, SR, 68. A great pass rusher. DE Dub Grace, SR, 62. What he lacks in run stopping, he more than makes up for as a pass rusher. Our defensive line is the exact opposite of our offensive line. Great, experienced players here. DT Deke Leyva, SR, 63. He will bottle up the run for us. IL Lennox Starring, SR, 58. Good coverage linebacker. We have upgraded a bit from one of our major weaknesses on defense last year with our 2 linebackers. IL Tyoka Pearson, SO, 58. Same type of player as Starring with more upside. OL Tywoin Casey, SO, 57. Has some great performances last year. Hope he is more consistant with them this year. OL Casey Saldi, SO, 57. We will play to his strength and send him in on the blitz often. CB Paul Wonsley, FR, 63. Our prized recruit will start from day 1. CB Dez Demar, FR, 59. Another true freshman manning the corner. It should be an adventure out there, but these guys can play and have all the potential in the world. FS JV Boiman, SR, 62. Some senior leadership in the secondary is needed, not to mention he has some nice talent. SS Everett Genova, FR, 46. SS is our only really big weakness out there. K Wesley Tobin, FR, 62. Shiancoe has lost his starting job to a red shirt freshman. P PeterTom Renfro, JR, 68. Very talented and reliable for us. The outlook is a Bowl Game, at a minimum. If we are indeed 7-0 heading into our tough 3 game stretch, we have a shot at a 10 win season. Still, we are young all over the field and there will be growing pains. Realtically, let's say we open 6-1, go 1-2 in our tough 3 game stretch, and win the last 2. That puts us at 9 wins heading into the bowl game. Give or take a game, 8-10 wins before the Bowls looks realistic.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 1 Buffalo (0-0) at Syracuse (0-0) The first game of the year is always so exciting. You want to see the upperclassmen step it up and you can't wait to see how those highly touted freshman look in their first game. Syracuse 36, Buffalo 10 It is just a tuneup game, but this is how you want to start a season. Buffalo scored their only touchdown on the last play of the game, an 83 yard hail mary, but nonetheless, this was our game from start to finish. RB Sheriff started his senior campaign with 165 rushing yards, 51 receiving yards and a touchdown. His backup, Franz, ran for 65 and a touchdown. Kellogg threw for 235 with 2 touchdowns and one interception. Younger led the team with 80 receiving yards. WR Hannah and FB Runyan caught the touchdown passes. The defense recorded 2 sacks and an interception while holding Buffalo to 201 yards of total offense. They forced 9 punts on the day. Big East Action: #2 Purdue (1-0) 34, #21 Notre Dame (0-1) 31 – Tough start for the Irish. #15 Maryland (1-0) 43, Army (0-1) 0 #9 Wisconsin (1-0) 40, Rutgers (0-1) 10 Kansas State (1-0) 15, Navy (0-1) 11 West Virginia (1-0) 49, Texas A&M (0-1) 10 Pittsburgh (1-0) 24, North Texas (0-1) 17 Penn State (1-0) 24, Arizona State (0-1) 22 Injury Report: FB Runyan is a bit banged up but will start. Freshman CB Dez Demar has elbow problems, and will start, but now backup new starter, LaShaun Nelsen (SO, 57). Not much of a downgrade there really.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 2 Northwestern (0-1) at Syracuse (1-0) We are favored by 3 touchdowns, and I expect us to win by a bit more than that. Syracuse 23, Northwestern 20 They gave us quite the scare today. We had to punt on our first possession and they returned it 71 yards for the touchdown (but missed the XP). Later in the first, QB Tensi came in for the injured Kellogg and threw a touchdown pass to Hannah. We added a field goal to go up 10-6 after the first. They scored a TD in the second to take a 13-10 halftime lead. The third quarter was scoreless, but we put up a quick 10 to start the 4th quarter. They tied it up with 3 minutes left on a 26 yard touchdown pass. With 4 seconds left, our kicker, Wesley Tobin, nailed a 41 yarder to give us the win. Sheriff was held to just 23 yards on 17 runs. Franz had 64 on 12 runs. Their defense keyed in on our running game. Tensi played most of the game and had 276 passing yards with 2 touchdowns and one interception. WR Hannah is proving that giving him the starting job was the right decision. He had 109 receiving yards and both touchdown catches. The defense recorded just 1 sack, but they forced 4 fumbles, recovering only 1, but those other ones stalled out some of their drives. Big East: #18 Penn State (2-0) 51, Michigan State (1-1) 31 #2 Purdue (2-0) 41, Army (0-2) 10 #24 Iowa State (1-0) 39, Connecticut (0-1) 10 #145 Texas Tech (2-0) 51, Cincinnati (0-1) 31 Kentucky (1-0) 33, Rutgers (0-2) 31 #8 Oklahoma State (2-0) 30, West Virginia (1-1) 13 Pittsburgh (2-0) 28, Florida Int'l (0-2) 17 Louisville (1-0) 51, Northern Illinois (0-2) 3 South Florida (1-0) 39, Akron (0-2) 12 Navy (1-1) 24, Central Florida (0-1) 12 National Results: #6 LSU beat #1 Oklahoma by a final score of 39-34, sparking talk about the chances of them repeating this year. Injuries FB Runyan will miss a couple weeks. RB Sheriff had to have a root canal?! He will be hurting, but ready to go in our next game, 2 weeks from now.

[TPBPlayer]

Week 3 Big East Results: #24 Maryland (2-1) 66, South Florida (1-1) 14 #5 Florida State (2-0) 54, Rutgers (0-3) 51 – Rutgers took them to Triple OT. North Carolina (3-0) 23, Louisville (1-1) 6 #14 Minnesota (3-0) 31, Connecticut (0-2) 21 #4 Purdue (3-0) 28, West Virginia (1-2) 14 – Rough start for WVU #8 Wisconsin (3-0) 42, Cincinnati (0-2) 6 Navy (2-1) 30, #22 Oklahoma State (2-1) 27 – Brilliant win! #12 Texas (2-1) 52, Army (0-3) 19 Pittsburgh (3-0) 27, Arkansas (0-2) 13 #17 Penn State (3-0) 40, Nevada (1-1) 34 #23 Nebraska (2-1) 31, Notre Dame (0-2) 19 – Brutal start for the Irish.

[Roger Kaputnik]

#2 Purdue???? This happens too often. Whoever did the prestige ratings must have been a Purdue fan. This is football not basketball! Purdue has the same prestige rating as VA Tech & Nebraska? No friggin’ way!

[TPBPlayer]

Week 4 Arkansas (0-2) at Syracuse (2-0) Sheriff is in a lot of pain and will only play in a backup role this week. Kellogg is starting and fully healthy despite getting knocked out of our last game early on. FB Stichcomb will start for the injured Runyan. Syracuse 31, Arkansas 14 We scored the first 17 points of the game and kept Arkansas at bay for the rest of the game. It was the usual suspects on offense that led the way today. RB Franz led the team in rushing with 126 and receiving with 85 yards, but didn't get in the endzone. RB Sheriff only had 10 rushes, but we put him in when it counted and he ended up with 69 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Kellogg threw for 344 with a touchdown and an interception. WR Hannah continues to impress with 74 yards and a touchdown today. The defense held them to just 11 first downs and 2 for 13 on third down. Big East: Rutgers (1-3) 27, Pittsburgh (3-1) 24 – Upset special! #14 Penn State (4-0) 31, Navy (2-2) 10 West Virginia (2-2) 26, Army (0-4) 10 South Florida (2-1) 59, Connecticut (0-3) 13 Louisville (2-1) 40, Cincinnati (0-3) 10 Injury Report: FB Runyan will dress, but will not start yet. RB Sheriff will still backup this week.