Syracuse Basketball: We're Back Online

I have to apologize for the lack of updates from The Cuse Connection the past week or so. Haven't had the time necessary to dedicate to covering the Syracuse Orangemen but I'm ready to get back into the thick of things. Time to dust off the cobwebs and get back to work.

During my absence, the Syracuse Orangemen have split two games and seen quite the display from head coach Jim Boeheim during the post game news conference of the victory over West Virginia on Valentines Day.

The loss came on a Saturday afternoon at 12 o'clock in the KFC Yum Center, a 73-69 defeat at the hands of Rick Pitino's Louisville Cardinals. Syracuse had a few things going against them on this day. For starters, the Orangemen always come out FLAT during noon tip offs. I don't know what it is, maybe the team doesn't go to bed early enough. Whatever the reason, Syracuse is always sluggish for the 12PM tip. Couple that with Rick Pitino's recent success against Jim Boeheim (although to be fair Jim used to own Rick Pitino) and Louisville's unbelievable efficient 3-point shooting barrage and you had the recipe for disaster.

Syracuse was holding their own on the road in Louisville, entertaining a 3 point lead at the under 4 minute official time out in the first half (26-23). Then the Cardinals started raining three pointers. Preston Knowles, Kyle Kuric, Preston Knowles, Kyle Kuric. It felt like a horror film. When the dust settled Louisville was up 40-30 at the break.

The three pointers continued to fall for Louisville as they opened up a 57-37 2nd half lead with 15:30 to go in the ball game. That's when Brandon Triche decided enough was enough. The defense started clamping down for the Cuse and Triche started nailing some 3-pointers of his own to narrow the deficit. Even Scoop Jardine knocked down a 3-point shot. By the time the under 4 time out came in the 2nd half, the Louisville Cardinals were clinging to a 5 point lead.

Unfortunately for Syracuse they didn't have enough in the tank and the game wasn't a few minutes longer, and the Orangemen dropped yet another Big East game to Rick Pitino. Final score Syracuse 69 Louisville 73. Brandon Triche lead the Orangemen with 21 points and Scoop Jardine finally showed some signs of life, finishing with 20 points on 8 of 15 shooting, 4 of 8 from 3-point range. C.J. Fair also put together a solid game, playing 33 minutes and finishing with 11 points and 7 rebounds on 4 of 6 shooting. Fair also made 2 steals.

A couple days later and Syracuse was right back out on the floor, this time at home for a Valentines Day showdown against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Once again, it was Brandon Triche who lead the way for the Orangemen, establishing himself as the most consistent scoring threat and shooter for the Cuse.

Triche finished with 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting and C.J. Fair added 8 points and 5 rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Kris Joseph also contributed 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the floor.

The most interesting storyline developing for the Orangemen was the lack of Fab Melo on the floor. Not the usual, "Oh Fab only played 3 minutes tonight." Fab did not start and did not make an appearance in either the Louisville nor the WVU game. Coach Boeheim said Fab Melo missed practice without letting the coaching staff know, and was done playing for now. Melo said he was dealing with some family issues back home in his native Brazil. Either way we are all waiting to see how this plays out.

Back to the game, Syracuse controlled much of the action, however Casey Mitchell kept the Mountaineers in the game shooting an unbelievable 7 of 12 from behind the three point line. Mitchell had a game high 23 points, and every time Syracuse started to make a run and pull away, Casey Mitchell was right there answering back with a 3-pointer and keeping his team in the game.

In the end, Brandon Triche and C.J. Fair were able to keep pacing the Orangemen offense and Syracuse held on for a big 63-52 Big East victory over the Mountaineers to improve their record to 21-6 overall, 8-6 in the Big East.

Coming up next for the Orangemen, who are now ranked #17 in the AP Top 25 and #20 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll, is Rutgers on Saturday afternoon at 4PM in the Carrier Dome, followed by a trip to Philadelphia to take on the Villanova Wildcats. Two very big games for the Cuse.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

THE RETURN OF THE BEN SCHWARTZWALDER TROPHY!!

SYRACUSE 19

WEST VIRGINIA 14

The Syracuse Orangemen are back and The Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy has been returned to its rightful place. After an amazing defensive performance, lead by Doug Hogue and a relentless Mikhail Marinovich, the Syracuse Orangemen pulled off a classic upset win in Morgantown, West Virginia. It was Syracuse's first win on the road against #19/20 WVU since 2000 and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Orangemen, who also ended a 12 game home winning streak for the Mountaineers.

In front of a national television audience and 58,122 fans, just one week after being embarrassed in the annual Homecoming game with numerous recruits in attendance, Syracuse showed the entire country that they are no longer the doormat of the Big East. The Orangemen re-established themselves on the college football scene and improved their record to 5-2 on the year, 2-1 in Big East play. West Virginia came into the game ranked 19th in the Coaches Poll and 20th in the AP Top 25. The loss drops WVU to 5-2 on the year, 1-1 in conference play.

Syracuse got started early, with Doug Hogue intercepting Geno Smith (before ESPN2 realized that the NASCAR time trials had gone on long enough) and Hogue returned the ball to the WVU 26 yard line. Facing 3rd and long Van Chew dropped a pass which would have given the cuse 1st down and goal from the 2 yard line, and SU had to settle for a 28 yard Ross Krautman field goal giving SU the lead 3-0.

West Virginia responded with a 81 yard touchdown drive capped off by a Geno Smith 6 yard touchdown pass to Tavon Austin to give WVU the lead 7-3. On the play both Mike Holmes and Da'mon Merkerson looked to be lost in coverage, however the two would respond to put together an extremely solid afternoon.

On Syracuse's next drive Van Chew atoned for his previous dropped pass by catching two balls, the first for a 17 yard gain to the WVU 29 yard line. On the next play Ryan Nassib found Van Chew again, this time for a 29 yard touchdown pass to put Syracuse back out in front 10-7. Van Chew, who finished the day with 2 catches for 46 yards and 1TD, dedicated the game to his grandfather who passed away earlier this week.

West Virginia would only need 3 minutes 14 seconds to respond. Geno Smith and Noel Devine lead the Mountaineers on a 77 yard drive which ended with a 1 yard Ryan Clark touchdown run giving WVU the lead yet again 14-10. With a shootout seemingly brewing, Syracuse's defense would shut the door on the Mountaineer offense. After giving up the 2nd touchdown of the game with 2:06 left in the 1st quarter, the Orangemen's D would not allow another point the rest of the game.

Ross Krautman connected on three field goals in the 2nd quarter, and was a perfect 4 for 4 on the afternoon. His 2nd quarter field goals were from distances of 19, 33 and 22 yards. Needless to say the Syracuse Orangemen's red zone offense was shown up by the #5 defense in the country. Thankfully for the cuse Krautman was perfect. Syracuse would go into the locker room up 19-14 at half time.

Geno Smith came into this game having only thrown 2 interceptions on the season. On this Saturday Doug Hogue had two interceptions of his own, and Phillip Thomas added a 3rd to help shut down the passing game for the Orangemen. Smith finished the game 20 of 37 passing attempts for 178 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. Noel Devine had a great day, totaling 122 yards on 24 carries, however he could not find the end zone.

In The Cuse Connection's pregame report, I stated that Syracuse's defense would have to play "out of their minds." I said that the defense would have knock down Geno Smith all day and be extremely aggressive. Thanks to the great play-call and scheming by Scott Shafer Syracuse was able to do just that and shut down the WVU offense in the 2nd half. The special teams also was able to prevent any big plays during returns, however Max Suter did fumble a kick return following WVU's second touchdown. Thankfully Phillip Thomas was able to negate the drive with a pick.

With enough good vibes to go around there was unfortunatey an injury in the game. Delone Carter was injured on a 2nd quarter rushing attempt and was forced to leave the game. He would not return. Carter had an absolutely tremendous 1st quarter, finishing the day with 75 yards on 9 carries. Antwon Bailey took over the rushing game and finished with 94 yards on 19 carries to go along with 2 catches for 11 yards. Prince-Tyson Gulley added 19 yards on 6 carries.

With 6:35 left in the game the Mountaineers got the ball on their 6th yard line. After two penalties by the Orangemen got the drive started, Geno Smith and Noel Devine again started moving the ball down field trailing only by 5. After a 17 yard pass completion to J.D. Woods down to the Syracuse 20 yard line with just 1:25 left on the game clock, Syracuse's defense really shined. Noel Devine was stuffed for no gain on 1st down and Shamarko Thomas sacked Geno Smith for a 12 yard loss, pushing WVU's offense back to the 32 yard line. An incomplete pass on 3rd down brought up 4th and 22 from the Syracuse 32 yard line. With only 49 ticks left on the game clock Shamarko Thomas and Anthony Perkins combined to sack Geno Smith yet again, getting Syracuse the ball back sealing the Orangemen victory.

Post-Game Notes:

• Despite the injury Delone Carter moves past Damien Rhodes on Syracuse's All-Time rushing list to 9th place with 2,508 yards. He is now 43 yards behind #8 Bill Hurley on the All-Time list.
• Ryan Nassib committed no turnovers however was just 5 of 15 for 63 yards and 1TD. Marrone showed little faith in him throwing the ball in the 4th quarter.
• Syracuse is now 2 wins away from qualifying for a bowl game with 5 games left to play.
• Chandler Jones had 2 sacks, giving him 4 on the season to go along with his 8 tackles.
• First 4 FG game for Orangemen since Nate Trout in 1999 did it against Tulane.
• The win was Syracuse's 682nd All-Time win, 15th best in college football.
• Hogue had 2 interceptions and 10 tackles on the day to lead the Orangemen.

Next week Syracuse travels to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats at 12:00PM.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Syracuse Looks to Get Back on Track in Morgantown

This Saturday the Syracuse University Orangemen are traveling to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. Coming off an extremely disappointing loss at home to Pittsburgh on Homecoming Weekend (45-14), the Syracuse Orangemen are facing their toughest opponent of the season. Head Coach Doug Marrone calls Milan Puskar Stadium (Mountaineer Field) one of the toughest venues in all of college football, and in his opinion WVU is one of the Top-10 football teams in the country.

Syracuse has not beaten West Virginia since 2001, when the Orangemen won 24-13 in the Carrier Dome. The last time Syracuse won in Morgantown was in 2000 when the Orangemen defeated the Mountaineers 31-27. Following that game long time WVU coach Don Nehlen announced his retirement. As always, The Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy will be on the line. WVU has won the trophy 8 straight games.

The Mountaineers (5-1, 1-0 Big East) are ranked 20th overall in the AP Top 25 and 19th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. WVU is coming off a 20-6 win over the South Florida Bulls and have a defense that is ranked 3rd nationally in Points Allowed. For a Syracuse offense that struggled to set up a running game against the Panthers defense last week, the Orangemen are going to have their work cut out for them. West Virginia's lone loss came at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge when LSU beat them 20-14. LSU is now the #6 team in the country.

WVU's rushing defense has allowed 83.2 yards per game, which is 4th best in the nation. Their 248.5 total yards per game allowed is 5th best in the country. Doug Marrone is going to have to out coach, out wit, and out scheme WVU head coach Bill Stewart if Syracuse has any dreams of walking out of that stadium with a win. If the Orangemen had any trick plays up their sleeves that they have been saving, this is the game we will want to execute them!

On the other side of the ball for the Mountaineers, they are equally as dangerous as they are scary. Sophomore quarterback Geno Smith is coming into the game with 1,358 passing yards 14 touchdown passes and just 2 interceptions with 121 completions in 177 passing attempts. Syracuse can not just load up the box and dare Smith to beat the defense through the air, because he will have no trouble finding receivers.

So far this season, Geno Smith has found seven different receivers for a touchdown. Tavon Austin has 32 receptions for 413 yards and 2 scores. Jock Sanders (is that his real name?) has 36 catches for 317 yards and 2 TDs. Stedman Bailey has 13 catches for 195 yards and 3 TDs. Brad Starks has 6 catches for 145 yards and 4 TDs. Their passing offense is EXTREMELY balanced as you can tell, and Syracuse's defensive backs and safeties are really going to have to be in top form if Syracuse wants to keep this game close.

Out of the backfield WVU has more weapons, most notably Noel Devine. Devine has 103 carries on the year for 504 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. Add that to his 17 catches for 126 yards and another TD catch, that gives him 5 total TDs on the year. In each of the first 3 games Devine rushed for over 100 yards, however he hasn't hit 100 yards in a game since. So we have that going for us. Another option at running back for WVU is Ryan Clark who has 43 rushes for 151 yards and a score. Devine is their go-to-runner and can beat Syracuse single handedly if Syracuse does manage to shut down Geno Smith's passing attack.

As for Syracuse, Ryan Nassib needs a MUCH better performance after last week's debacle against Pittsburgh. Nassib threw two interceptions, one of which was returned 80 yards for a touchdown. Overall, if Syracuse has any chance at all of being in this game they cannot turn the ball over. Not even once. Syracuse's execution has to be perfect. Marrone cannot be afraid to air out the ball and if Syracuse's rushing attack is getting stuffed at the line, the Orangemen can not afford to waste drives going 3 and out running up the gut twice.

On special teams, Syracuse simply can not afford any big returns. Giving WVU a short field is a death sentence and giving up points on special teams will surely spell doom for the Orangemen.

Defensively the Orangemen must play out of their minds. They need to be lights out. They have to get to Geno Smith, knock him down early and often. The linebackers need to identify the rush or the pass and get in position to make a play. If they sit back and wait for the game to come to them they are going to be embarrassed. The entire defense needs to anticipate the play and be extremely aggressive. That is the only way Syracuse can stay in this game.

If this preview of the Mountaineers hasn't scared Syracuse fans away from this game, than tune into ESPN2 at 12:00PM for the kickoff. It will be the Orangemen's first nationally televised game of the year. Syracuse is 4-2 overall, 1-1 Big East.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

On the Line Saturday: The Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy

This Saturday when Syracuse travels to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers there will be more on the line than just a Big East Victory. Both teams will be competing for the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy, awarded to the winner of the annual SU-WVU game since 1994. West Virginia won the first trophy game 13-0.

Most of you should know that Ben Schwartzwalder coached at Syracuse University from 1949-1973, leading the Orangemen to a 153-91-3 overall record and the 1959 National Championship. He coached the greats. Jim Brown. Ernie Davis. Floyd Little. Larry Csonka. Jim Nance. These aren't just run of the mill players, they are legends. He is the winningest coach in Syracuse Football history.

Before arriving at Syracuse Ben Schwartzwalder was a Captain in the 82nd Airborne during World War II. He was on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and four Battle Stars during his tour of duty. After the invasion of Normandy, Schwartzwalder was promoted to Major. This was not a man to be trifled with!

In college Ben Schwartzwalder attended West Virginia University, where he captained the football team in 1933, despite weighing only 146 pounds. He was also an all-campus wrestler during his time at the school.

So naturally, upon his death in 1993, former Syracuse player Jim Ridlon sculpted the 55 pound trophy to be awarded to the winner of the annual match up. Jim Ridlon played at Syracuse from 1954 to 1957 at both halfback and defensive back under Schwartzwalder's command. He would go on to be an art professor at Syracuse University after finishing his NFL career. Fans will remember him as the color commentator for Syracuse games on WSYR between 1961 up until 2000.

The last time Syracuse won the trophy was in 2001, when the Orangemen defeated the Mountaineers 24-13 in the Dome. WVU has won the trophy eight straight years.

Syracuse has the edge on West Virginia, with a 30-27 overall record. The teams have met every single year since 1955. The last time Syracuse beat WVU on the road was in 2000 when the Orangemen edged the Mountaineers 31-27.

This has gone on long enough!! It's time to bring the trophy home where it belongs! IN SYRACUSE!!