That’s what both teams are at. They both may still have one or two guys who they expected to have at the start of the season out for the year, but both teams are at their healthiest. For Syracuse, it helps their defense. Pitt is seeing its O-line at its healthiest. The O-line has felt better about itself because of the way it has protected Palko in the previous two games. The thing it still hasn’t been able to do is provide any surge or open up holes for the running game. In fact the article talks about how the running backs are staying in there to help with the blocking.
Remember the Miami Dolphins of the 80’s? A great offensive line for pass protection, but couldn’t do a damn thing with the running game. Granted the Dolphins didn’t have a great running back, but even average running backs should have been able to get some yardage. Not with that line. They were focused on protecting Marino, and nothing else. I just felt my stomach acid tickle my throat as I typed that.
A game in a dome is a once every two-year thing for members of the Big East. This means the usual stories about how the kicker is adjusting to the turf, changing shoes, how much further he can kick the ball in a controlled environment. I actually like Cummings, though, he seems to be able to articulate some of the mechanics that a kicker has to do and how to adjust:
“That turf is a little different,” Cummings said. “It doesn’t have as much give. With this new shoe, I don’t think planting will be a problem.”
Planting will be more difficult, he said, because the turf doesn’t have as much give and forces more torque on his knee and ankle.
And of course there are the typical dome issue of crowd noise, so naturally Pitt is piping in loud noise over the sound system in practice to “simulate” the environment, though, as I noted earlier and was repeated in the story, the crowds haven’t exactly been huge in Syracuse this year.
A pretty good article where L.B. Blades talks about trying to stop the Orange’s (still working on adjusting to the truncated nickname) rushing attack.
“They do a variety of things to try and get you out of position and keep you off balance,” Blades said.
“And their running backs take what you give them. They are very good at that. So if you give them an opening, they can take it a long way.
“And they also like to get north-south fast, even when they run a sweep or an option, so we all need to get there and cut them down at the point. You can’t let them run, because when they run it they can hurt you in a lot of different ways.”
The Orange’s running attack is powered by two tailbacks who are among the Big East Conference leaders in rushing. Senior Walter Reyes has rushed 126 times for 677 yards and six touchdowns.
Reyes averages 5.4 yards per carry and 96.7 yards per game. He is complemented by junior Damien Rhodes, who has rushed for 446 yards and five touchdowns and averages 5.3 yards per carry.
Imagine that. They try to go upfield quickly rather than try and dance in the backfield. Amazing how well that can work. Talent and a good line helps a lot, but Syracuse under Pasqualoni has always done a good job of coaching the backs to go north-south quickly and decisively. I’m just hoping Pasqualoni forgets about the running game like he did last year.
In a whining article about the state of the Big East (Hey, did you know it isn’t that good or interesting this year? Revelation.), there was a somewhat interesting side-note about the Syracuse-Pitt game:
Oh, coaches care. Their jobs are on the line. So a bowl game – even one in which the school loses money by accepting the invitation – might save a coach his job.
Think Syracuse’s Paul Pasqualoni and Pittsburgh’s Walt Harris, who meet at high noon Saturday in the Carrier Dome, don’t know that? They know, too, that the SU-Pitt winner went bowling eight of the last nine years (lone exception, SU’s overtime winner/non-bowler in 2000).
Of course there’s also the possibility that a ho-hum, who-cares bowl won’t save one or both men’s job.
Hence, why this game should be billed as “the lame duck bowl.”
