Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Cuse Cast XV

KingOtto and the Cuseman discuss the big win over NW, and the season up to this point. Cuseman reveals his new man crush. And they provided a prediction for the Maine game (avg score along with Erog SU 42 Maine 16).

Length about 21 mins
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Another PSU Recap

Here

Tale of the Tape: Maine Black Bears vs Syracuse Orange

Welcome to the ToT. Last week SU defeated NW with a buzzer beating FG. However SU is not quite back yet and we need to take our next opponent seriously. In time we will be back. Thats all it takes really, (D) pressure and time. This week SU hosts the Maine Black Bears. The teams will be playing for an Orange Gummy Bear Tattoo.








Born on Date
Maine: 1865 vs SU: 1870
Ottos Edge: Maine... they Bearly beat us out.

Edumacation
Maine: Tier 3 (US News) vs SU: 58th
Ottos Edge: SU... I wanted to go to Maine but my mom said, "they're all going to laugh at you."

Student size (not height and weight)
Maine: 12k vs SU: 19k
Ottos Edge: SU... wow two weeks in a row. Lets hope that gets us our second W on the field as well.

GPS (location)
Maine: Orono vs SU: Syracuse
Ottos Edge: Maine... Orono was settled in 1774

State known for
Maine: Lighthouses, LL Bean, Lobster, Maple Syrup, Mooses, Poland Spring (what it means to be from Maine), Toothpicks (#1 producer) vs
SU: Apples, Buffalo Bills, Dairy, Erie Canal, Lake Placid, NYC, Maple Syrup, Wegmans, Wine
Ottos Edge: SU... compared to NY, living anywhere else would just be Misery

Local Stores
Maine: Renys, Levinskys vs SU: Mannys
Ottos Edge: Maine... according to their slogan, Renys is an adventure

Now lets put the women and children to bed and go lookin for dinner (food)
Maine: Amatos, DiMillo's floating restaurant, Humpty Dumpty chips vs SU: Coneys, Dino BBQ
Ottos Edge: Push... eating really is a wicked adventure

You can get roadtrip food at...

Gas Station
Maine: Irving vs SU: Nice N Easy
Ottos Edge: SU... screw Canada

Canadians like to play...

Sport with sticks
Maine: Hockey vs SU: Lax
Ottos Edge: SU... Maine won titles in 1993 and 1999. And have made 11 Frozen Fours.

We are also good at...

BBall Coach
Maine: Rick Carlisle (transferred to UVA) vs SU: JB
Ottos Edge: SU... who wins by a Green Mile

Speaking of coaches...

Baseball
Maine: Stump Merrill, John Henry Williams (Teds kid) vs SU: Chiefs
Ottos Edge: Maine... why can the Chiefs drop the Sky but we cant keep the MEN in Orangemen?

And now to FB...

First year of FB
Maine: 1892 vs SU: 1889
Ottos Edge: SU... they were actually DII from 1973-1977 and played with small colleges before that.

Since 1977 they have been...

D1
Maine: AA vs SU: A
Ottos Edge: Maine... AA champs are decided on the field

Team Name
Maine: Black Bears vs SU: Orange
Ottos Edge: SU... do they need to discriminate against other bears? Where is the PC police?

No one, and I mean no one, comes into our house and pushes us around (Home Field)
Maine: Alumni Stadium (10K) vs SU: Carrier Dome
Ottos Edge: SU... two weeks in a row with the bigger pad

Staying with the Dome...

Dome
Maine: Under the Dome (upcoming novel by alum Stephen King) vs SU: Carrier Dome
Ottos Edge: SU... do people still read books?

Conf
Maine: Colonial vs SU: Big East
Ottos Edge: SU... the BE finally wins one. Maine competes in the America East in other sports.

Conf Champs
Maine: 11 (A10 which became Colonial in FB) vs SU: 4
Ottos Edge: SU... even GRob could win an A10 title.

Bowl Record
Maine: 0-1 vs SU: 12-9-1
Ottos Edge: SU... Maine lost in the 1965 Tangerine Bowl

Teams played the most
Maine: NH (98 times), RI (87), Bates (76), Colby (76), UConn (73), Bowdoin (66), UMass (55) vs SU: PSU (69), Colgate (65), Pitt (64), WV (56)
Ottos Edge: Maine... they have played 5 teams more than our biggest "rival"

Former Players
Maine: Lofa Tatupu (who transferred out to USC), Kevin McMahan (2006 Mr Irrelevant) vs SU: some guy named Jim Brown
Ottos Edge: SU... and many more

While we are on JB...

The Running Man
Maine: written by Stephen King vs SU: staring Jim Brown as Fireball
Ottos Edge: SU... JB is scarier than Cujo, the clown in It, Isaac and Malachai all combined

Speaking of fiery guys...

Coach Mac
Maine: born there vs SU: former HC
Ottos Edge: SU... he is ours now

Not only was he HC he also was an...

Announcer
Maine: Gary Thorne vs SU: Marv Albert
Ottos Edge: SU... I wonder if Marv bought his womens clothing through a...

Swap Shop
Maine: Uncle Henrys weekly guide vs SU: listen to Tradio pranks on Howard Stern
Ottos Edge: SU... love those calls. Does SYR have Tradio?

Staying with Stern, Robin is a fan of...

Cats
Maine: Maine Coon Cat vs SU: Solvay
Ottos Edge: Maine... they are a large breed of cat. The better to eat you with?

Speaking of eating, for the category of the week we go to the Overlook Hotel...

Competitive Eater
Maine: Jack Torrance vs SU: Doug Marrone
Ottos Edge: SU... who wins despite Jack's home field advantage.



And the winner of the Tattoo is....



The Syracuse Orange as they win this one easily. Make sure everyone to show up this Saturday for the game. You can either get busy living, or get busy dying.



Sunday, September 20, 2009

King Ottos Konclusion

Finally a W. This could turn into a huge win for SU. First it gives some legitimacy to Marrone as a HC with recruits. Second it keeps the fans involved in the team as 0-3 may have made a few people lose interest. And third this gives the team some confidence. Which could lead to SU going on a run. That USF homecoming game could very well signify that SU is back. But first we need to take care of Maine first.

Marrone
He has the team playing well and believing. That is something a couch either has or doesnt have. Playing against NW you want to either slow the game down or try and outscore them. Based on last weeks performance by both teams, I thought we may see the slow it down approach. To his credit he went for the outscore them approach, and it worked well. That being said there were still plenty of rookie mistakes by Marrone. There were plenty of organizational issue with personnel, getting plays in, and clock management. IMO 2nd half TOs are gold, and we have zipped through them in all three games. Which is both frustrating and surprising since he seems like the type that would be good at those things. I also dont like relying on Ks in CFB. In the NFL you do what Marrone did. But in CFB way too often Ks are missed or blocked. Having a walk on true frosh have control of the game is a little scary.

Spence
Thought he did a great job. The only quibble was the 3rd and 2 run play. You need to go for a W there.

Shafer
I love defense and Shafer likes to bring pressure. Nothing better than 3rd and longs in the Dome. The D set the tone early with the sack/fumble and then the forced punt. And of course at the end the D set up the winning score with the Suter INT. NW is a hard team to defend. The usually go 4 WRs and no huddle so they put you on your heels. And despite being in a shotgun we were able to get 5 sacks, which is how many we had in a season the last few years under GRob. NW created macthups issues and Kafka took advantage, completing just about every pass he threw. At first we started in a 4-3-4, which I thought would cause major issues. At first we took it to NW. But once NW settled down, the destroyed that D personnel. But in the second half Shafer went to a 3-2-6 with the Okie personnel and Mckinnon (but then Suter) in over Carter. That slowed NW down limiting them to 13 second half points, and one TD came after NW took over at the SU 28.

Paulus
He played really well at times and at others looked like Nunes. He manages the game well and made plays. He had a nice fake on the long MW TD and ran for a nice TD. His arm strength is still a question. And he misses some easy reads out there. There was a play near the end of the 3rd where he missed MW on a perfect play call. It was our first play of the dive maybe around our 35. MW was on a deep post, had his man beat, and had no S help. Paulus threw a crossing route to Davis instead underneath. Two plays later he fumbled, leading to a NW TD. The pressure is on the OL but he needs to hold onto the ball. That series of events was a huge wasted opportunity. Which brings us to the end of the half. Great call by Spence but Paulus' pass was waaay under thrown. If you miss you need to miss deep. That cost us at least a FG there.

RBs
He just does not go down. We still need to get him going. If we do the 1-2 punch of DC3 and MW will be hard to stop. We got Mike Jones involved nicely.

WR/TE
MW had a huge game. They had no answer for him. Davis was more involved and may be settling into the #2 role. Lobdell was out there quite a bit. Lemon wasnt used as much. Hopefully he bounces back and adds another weapon.

OL
McKenzie has a bad game. He has been disappointing so far this year. The bad snaps and the missed fumble recovery hurt the team. Baumbach still struggles in pass protection. He seems to wiff every now and then. I wonder if he is not sitting back properly and reaching instead. Tiller made an appearance on a goaline play that was stuffed.

DL
Art made some nice plays out there but seemed gassed all game. Sharpe continues to impress, hopefully he is healthy.

LBs
For most of the game we only played 2 LBs, so not much can be said of Carter. But the other two played very well. Both Smith and Hogue had great games. The Smith sack/fumble started SU off on a roll. Hogue had his coming out game.

DBs
No one really got beat, as NW mostly threw underneath. Besides our normal 4 DBs, both Thomas boys and McKinnon played quite a bit. Shamarko is just a nasty player. He can hit and has an attitude. He and Sharpe were steals. Gotta think he cracks the starting lineup next year. Suter was flying around on blitzes and made the INT to set up the game winner.

STs
Lichy had a low kick that was blocked but he came back and hit his next one. And then he nailed the game winner. Long played well except for the one KO that went out of bounds. Coverage teams were good and the last punt was huge. Long punted from the end zone and NW took over at their 40. Jones was bottled up early on KRs but had soem nice ones later on. The PRs were scary. Both Jones and Davis dropped returns. I also think they were too close to each other, causing confusion. The missed extra point by NW was huge.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Cuse Cast XIV

KingOtto and Cuseman give their final thoughts on their PSU trip. They then discuss the NW game and its importance. Finally (along with Erog) they offer a final score of NW 26 SU 25. That is mainly thanks to one idiotic prediction.


Length about 25 mins
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Tale of the Tape: Northwestern at Syracuse


Welcome to the ToT. This week the Northwestern Wildcats go against the Syracuse Orange. The two teams will be playing for an Orange Oprah Tattoo.












As one of my heroes once said, lets rock.

Born on Date
NW: 1851 vs SU: 1870
Ottos Edge: NW… which was founded to serve the people of the Northwest Territory, hence the name.

Side note: in 1933 the University of Chicago proposed merging the two schools to save costs. The NW campus would be used for undergrad and the Chicago for grad. However NW eventually turned that down.

Founded by? Anyone? Anyone?
NW: Methodists vs SU: Methodists
Ottos Edge: Push… John Evans, who Evanston is named after, was one of the founders of NW. Then he became Govna of the Territory of Colorado, founding the University of Denver out there.

Speaking of Evanston...

GPS (location)
NW: Evanston vs SU: Syracuse
Ottos Edge: NW... they have a tax exempt status and pay no property taxes to the city

Evanston is located on...

Lake
NW: Michigan vs SU: Onondaga
Ottos Edge: NW… you can actually swim in it

Also on Lake Michigan is...

Major City
NW: Chicago vs SU: NYC
Ottos Edge: NW… even though it is the 2nd city, NW is practically part of Chicago. SU is nowhere near NY, no matter how hard TGD tries to prove otherwise.

You can get around Chicago by using the...

Train
NW: Purple Line of the El vs SU: Elmira Express Ernie Davis
Ottos Edge: SU… lets see the Purple Line get a movie about it

Juicy Fruiting (sticking) with trains, as in minds....

Edumacation
NW: 12th (US News) vs SU: 58th
Ottos Edge: NW… WTF is happening to SU? It is bad enough that our sports have all hit the shitter. Do our academics need to too?

Communications School
NW: Medill vs SU: Newhouse
Ottos Edge: SU… I dunno which is better but I do know we need a W somewhere

Some of those students run the...

School Paper
NW: Daily NW (1881) vs SU Daily Orange (1903)
Ottos Edge: Push… I see both schools took a long time thinking up the name.

Doubleminting (sticking) with names...

Team Name
NW: Wildcats vs SU: Orange
Ottos Edge: NW... SU had its manhood taken away

A nickname often associated with ones manhood...

Mascot
NW: Willie the Wildcat vs SU: Otto the Orange
Ottos Edge: SU… Willie sounds like a better name for South Carolinas mascot

Also supporting the team is the...

Band
NW: NUMB vs SU: SUMB
Ottos Edge: SU… our band hurts your ears only sumb of the time (that’s because they aren’t large enough to make a lot of noise), while NW’s band will leave you feeling numb.

Staying with numb, as in numbers...

All Time Wins
NW: 468 vs SU: 674
Ottos Edge: SU… NW holds the all time record for Ls, points allowed, and point differential.

They have been losing since...

First Year of FB
NW: 1876 vs SU: 1889
Ottos Edge: NW... at least they have been playing real teams unlike our friends in Jersey

And more NW futility...

We're going streaking
NW: Losing (34 straight games, 23 straight seasons 1972-1994) vs SU Winning (15 straight seasons 1987-2001, 22 straight with .500 or better 1950-1971)
Ottos Edge: SU… when they set the 34 game record in 1981 (losing 61-14 to Mich St), students rushed the field to celebrate, chanting “we’re the worst” and took down the goalposts.

Speaking of Mich St…

Hardest Loss
NW: 41-38 to Mich St in 2006 (biggest comeback in NCAA history) vs SU: Our Manhood (going from Orangemen to Orange)
Ottos Edge: Push… there are no winners here. In that game NW was up 38-3 with under 10 min in the 3rd Q.

Mich State is a conf rival but not NWs...

Biggest Rival
NW: Illinois vs SU: PSU???
Ottos Edge: NW… they play Illinois for the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk. Surprisingly NW only trails Illinois all time 45-52-5 and 29-33-2 since the Tomahawk was established. Also NW has played 8 teams (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mich, Minn, OSU, UP, and Wisc) more times than SU has played its “chief rival”.

And those teams play in the...

Founding Members of
NW: Big Ten vs SU Big East
Ottos Edge: NW… can you try and sneak us in too? Please? BTW NW grads are likely the only ones in the B10 who can count to 11 and know how dumb a name the B10 is. In fact last weekend I over heard a PSU grad saying that there are only 10 teams in the B10. They said that they play Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mich St, Minn, Northwestern, Ohio St, Purdue, and Wisconsin. That equals 10.

Conf Championships
NW: 8 vs SU: 4
Ottos Edge: SU… the BE hasnt been around as long otherwise we would have more. Even so, we have more conf championships since 1936 (4 to 3) and NW had none from 1936-1995.

The conf champ goes to the BCS...

Bowl Record
NW: 1-6 vs SU: 12-9-1
Ottos Edge: SU… NWs first Bowl game was the 1949 Rose Bowl. Michigan was the conf champ but the rule back then said a team couldn’t go consecutive years. So NW played instead. Otherwise they would be Bowless until 1995. Ironically the first Bowl was the only one they won. They upset an undefeated Cal team that was coached by Pappy Waldorf, who was NWs coach from 1935-1946.

Big League Chewing (sticking) with coaches...

Former HCs
NW: Ara Parseghian, Dennis Green vs SU: Ben Schwartzwalder, Coach Mac, Coach P
Ottos Edge: SU… our coaches were more successful while coaching for SU than theirs were for NW. I wonder what Green thought about Da Bears back then? Ara is 3rd all time in Ws at NW with a 36-35-1 record.

Former player now HC
NW: Pat Fitzgerlad vs SU: Doug Marrone
Ottos Edge: NW... well Marrone has zero Ws. Also Fitzgerald won the Nagurski and Bednarik awards as a player. Plus the sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.

Bubble Taping (sticking) with former players...

SB winning Giant
NW: Barry Coefield vs SU: David Tyree
Ottos Edge: Push… we are all winners when the Giants win the SB.

Cleveland Brown Great
NW: Otto Graham vs SU: Jim Brown
Ottos Edge: NW… Graham attended NW on a BBall schollie and was an All American in 1944. He also played 2 years of Baseball. Oddly he wore number 60 until the NFL put the rule in that linemen need to be numbers 50-79. His record with the Browns was 105-17-4, leading the team to 10 championship games in 10 seasons. He also played one season for the Rochester Royals (BBall), winning the league title. Plus his name is Otto.

All Pro Special Teamer
NW: Steve Tasker vs SU: David Tyree
Ottos Edge: NW… Tyree deserves a second mention for The Catch, but Tasker was the better STer.

Tecmo Super Bowler
NW: WR Curtis Duncan vs SU: WR Rob Carpenter
Ottos Edge: SU… Duncan was almost impossible to get receptions for in that game as Hill, Givins, and Jeffires were the 3 best options.

Other Players of Note
NW: Paddy Driscoll, D’Wayne Bates, Napoleon Harris, Darnell Autry, Damien Anderson, Mike Adamle, Matt O’Dwyer, Luis Castillo, Barry Gardner vs SU: Donovan McNabb, Rob Moore, Joe Morris, Larry Csonka, Moose Johnston, Floyd Little, Jim Ringo, Tim Green, Ted Gregory
Ottos Edge: SU… Driscoll is a HoFer, Autry finished 4th in the Heisman, and Adamle was host of American Gladiators but that still isn’t enough to beat out the SU players. Plus many more SU players of note were not mentioned above.

Both schools have former FB players that turned actors...

Original Gansta
NW: Fred The Hammer Williamson vs SU: Jim Brown
Ottos Edge: NW… he still is getting work as an actor (Starsky and Hutch)

They mixed sports and entertainment which is now a specialty of...

ESPN Alumni
NW: J.A. Adande, Kevin Blackistone, Rich Eisen, Mike Greenberg, Brent Musburger, Rachel Nichols, Dave Revsine, Michael Wilbon vs SU: Matthew Berry, Sean McDonough, Dave Pasch, Dave Ryan, Jayson Stark, Mike Tirico
Ottos Edge: SU… sorry but you gave the world Rachel Nichols and need to be punished. Not only does she have no talent, she is hard to look at. Damn HD.

Other Sports Alumni
NW: Luke Donald, Joe Girardi, Mark Loretta, Todd Martin, Debi Thomas vs SU: Melo, Dave Bing, Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly, Lax guys
Ottos Edge: SU... we used to be a sports school

Sports Management Alumni
NW: Jerry Reinsdorf, Glen Grunwald vs SU: Al Davis, David Falk
Ottos Edge: SU... with 2 of the most powerful people in sports

Orbiting (sticking) with power...

Political Alumni
NW: John Paul Stevens, William Jennings Bryan, Dick Gephardt, George McGovern, Adlai Stevenson vs SU: Al D'Amato, Joe Biden, Donna Shalala
Ottos Edge: NW... they have bigger names despite SU having the current VP. Also Obama is from Chicago, wait is that a good thing?

Alumni that didn’t graduate
NW: Warren Beatty, Cindy Crawford, Jane Curtin, Shelley Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jerry Orbach, Tony Randall, Hugh Hefner, Patti Davis vs SU: Vanessa Williams, Lou Reed
Ottos Edge: NW... that is a pretty nice list

Julia was on…

Seinfeld
NW: Elaine vs SU: Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller)
Ottos Edge: NW… she can drop him like a bag of dirt

Other Well known alumni
NW: Ana Gasteyer (SNL), Charlton Heston, Richard Kline (Larry from Threes Company), Seth Meyers (SNL), Stephanie March (Law & Order SVU), Garry Marshall (creator Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, directed Pretty Woman), Charlotte Rae (Mrs Garrett), Robert Reed (Mike Brady), Jeri Ryan, David Schwimmer, Jerry Springer, McLean Stevenson (Colonel Blake M*A*S*H), Arthur Anderson, Darren Rovell (CNBC), Charles Mayo (Mayo Clinic) vs SU: Stephen Crane, Marv Albert, Len Berman, Bob Costas, Ian Eagle, Marty Glickman, Megyn Kelly, Ted Koppel, Steve Kroft, Bob Shannon, Dick Stockton, Dick Clark, Taye Diggs, Peter Falk, Carl Gottlieb, Grace Jones, Lisa Lampanelli, Aaron Sorkin
Ottos Edge: SU... both are impressive lists but they have some from SNL and that hasnt been funny in decades.

Fake Alumnus
NW: Jim Levenstein (American Pie) vs SU: Sonny Koufax (Big Daddy)
Ottos Edge: SU… Koufax is a good egg. But he fights like a girl.

Freedenting (sticking) with Big Daddy...

Daily Show
NW: Stephen Colbert (NW Grad) vs SU: Jon Stewart (played SU grad in Big Daddy)
Ottos Edge: NW... SU needs no association with the unfunny Stewart, even if it is a fake association

Speaking of fake...

Cheating
NW: 2 BBall players convicted of fixing games in 1995 vs SU: MW allegedly cheated on tests
Ottos Edge: Push… neither was a big deal since both programs sucked

But it doesnt look good for either school just like...

Bad Apple Prof
NW: Arthur Butz (Holocaust denialist) vs SU: Dr Boyce Watkins
Ottos Edge: Push… there are no winners here.

Getting back to sports and a lack of winning...

BBall
NW: never made NCAAs, NIT 2009 (1st since 1999) vs SU: Sweet 16 last year
Ottos Edge: SU… I thought we have had it bad the past few years.

A sport NW is actually good at...

Womens Lax
NW: 5 straight titles vs SU: Gait is our coach
Ottos Edge: NW… but that wont be for very long

While we are on women (not literally)...

Alpha Phi
NW: headquarters are in Evanston vs SU: founded the sorority
Ottos Edge: Push… the real winners are male students

Now lets put the women and children to bed and go lookin for dinner (Eatery)
NW: Unos Grill vs SU: Dino BBQ
Ottos Edge: Push... the winner here is our stomachs

After dinner we can have an...

Ice Cream Sundae
NW: Evanston claims invented vs SU: Ithaca, Buffalo, and NYC all claim invented
Ottos Edge: SU... we have them outnumbered

Some people may top their sundae with marshmallows, which NW students used to throw during FB games played at...

No one, and I mean no one, comes into our house and pushes us around (Home Field)
NW: Ryan Field (47150) vs SU: Carrier Dome (49250)
Ottos Edge: SU… Ryan field was built in 1926. Before 1997 it was named Dyche Stadium. Parts of the Express were filmed there.

Other NW traditions include:
-Painting The Rock, a giant boulder used as a canvas/billboard
-Dance Marathon, a 30 hour dancing fundraiser. I think this started to Save Ferris.
-Primal Scream, 9pm the Sunday before finals students scream
-Dillo Day, an annual festival in May the Saturday after classes end. It started in 1972 and features an all day concert.

Big Reding (sticking) with students...

Student size
NW: 18k vs SU: 19k
Ottos Edge: SU... holy crap we are actually bigger than an opponent

The most important student on Saturday will be...

Bobby Boucher (best defender)
NW: Corey Wootton vs SU: Art Jones
Ottos Edge: NW... not good news for our OL

Which will effect the outcome and our record...

Head to Head
NW: 4 wins vs SU: 4 wins
Ottos Edge: Push… hopefully it will become 5 for SU or I will be feeling blue

Which is not a...

School Color
NW: Purple and White vs SU: Orange
Ottos Edge: SU… purple? The only thing worse would be pink and green.

And finally the category of the week...

My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw at 31 Flavors last night two guys...

Competitive Eater
NW: Chicago's own Al Bundy vs SU: Doug Marrone
Ottos Edge: SU... Marrone downed a nice juicy steak, medium rare, with little brown potatoes on the right side of the plate, ketchup on the left, where some people waste space with vegetables. And for dessert, a roast beef.



And the Tattoo goes to.....



The Syracuse Orange, who will get their first W of the year as DC3 scores 4 TDs in one game. Until next time danke schon, baby, danke schon.


Monday, September 14, 2009

King Ottos Konclusion

I was very very happy with the score but I wasnt happy with the way we played. It really reminded me of a GRobesque game from both the players and coaching. The final score was not as close as the game actually was.

I am going to start off talking about pre and post game. PSU is the only real CFB experience in the NE. So to take this in me and me amigos rented out an RV and headed there Friday night. My buddys were all drunk by the time we showed up at PSU. Which is right next to a prison BTW. When we got there the park was packed. And people were a partying well into the night despite the noon game. There was one row which was the happening row. Music was blaring. Huge tents were set up. And projectors showing TVs on big screens. It was great. As we explored we meet one group who was sponsored by Yuengling. Here are their websites (2thelion.com, dieseltailgate.no-ip.org). They said that they were on a line to get into the park 5pm on Thursday. Yes there is a line to get onto the cool RV row on Thursday night! They also had a donut maker, which just needed to be said. We later stumbled onto a tailgate where they had a dinosaur race, dice game for money. Dean the Sax Machine won 3 of 5 races. Although it was a buck each so he only won $5 a race.

We started Sat off with a breakfast of beer, hotdogs, and sausages. Our neighbors had egg sandwhiches and thought we were weird. The stadium looks bare bones. Not nice on the outside, crappy concessions, and bathrooms which have a trough/sink hybrid. It didnt look like 110k either. The student section was huuuge though. It stretched a long long way. Almost from the entire endzone to the 30 on the home side. They started a wave early, then did a super slow mo wave, followed by a super fast wave. I hate the wave but it was cool.

After the game everyone went back to their RVs and got drunk. When we left early Sunday morning there were still a ton of RVs there. Insane. Now to the game:


Marrone
I thought he had a very poor game. At halftime I thought he was playing to keep the game close so people would show up vs NW. He was as conservative as one can be. He played to keep it close and not to win. Why on 4th and 2 from the PSU 35 are you faking a FG and punting? You are down 14-0 at that point. This isnt a D battle where it is all about field position. Then at the end of the half with it 2nd and 3 at the 50, we ran 5 plays in the last 2:15 of the half. Not only that we called a TO after a first down to stop the clock. Why? We just seem disorganized out there and that is suppossedly Marrones strong suit. Twice in the first game we were disorganized and 3 times in the PSU game. The first was the opening play of the season. The other 4 all resulted in TOs. Off the field Marrone has been great. But on the field not so much. Which is why I didnt want a rookie HC. Thank god he has a great staff around him.

Spence
What was the gameplan here? We mainly pounded the ball up the middle against a physically superior team, whose weakness is their DBs. Why did we never challenge them? Also why pound it away and never run a play fake off of it? Why did we have as many one WR sets as three WR sets in the first half? Why did we not spread them out? Why when we did go trips and PSU had a CB, a LB, and a S over the top, did we not exploit this mismatch? Not even once? Instead we tried a bubble which they were expecting? Why did we not open up the play book until it was 21-0 with 7:30 left in the 3rd?

Shafer
I think he did ok. The first drive and a half we wouldnt come out of the 4-3 and they exploited mismatches. Finally he went to the Okie and we slowed them down. Not only that, on key third downs we only rushed a few guys and sat in a zone, which helped extend drives. I hate 3rd down zones. They got a big 3rd down in drive #2 that made it first and goal, where we rushed 3 GUYS and played Zone. Made no sense but we would stop them anyway. I was not a fan of that start. I guess he was worried about the run but if you watched the Akron game you should know that stopping PSUs passing game was key. For some reason we went back to the 4-3 to start the second half and PSU scored. After that it was garbage time so not much can be taken. What can be said is that we have a good goaline D.

Paulus/Nassib
I am not sure what advantage you get by playing Nassib at QB. He isnt going to keep a D honest. As to Paulus I think he played ok. In fainess he wasnt given a chance to succeed with the play calling. When we opened things up in the 2nd half he looked much better. He still has happy feet though. The first two pressures were more on him than the OL. And he had some WRs open that he never saw. But he is still learning the game at this level and hopefully will improve. I think the USF game will be a big game for him. If he doesnt have it by then, he wont get it.

Carter/Bailey
Besides his first run DC3 couldnt get a thing going. Bailey did ok again in the Stallion.

WRs
Williams had a big drop killing his TD streak. Lemon had two big drops. One on 3rd and one resulting in an INT. He is only a Frosh so he gets a pass, for now. Davis had a nice TD catch.

Owen/Catalina
Both made catches. Both were also beaten by a blitz on the same play. Where did all those play actions to Cody from the Spring game go?

OL
Run blocking looks worse. Then again we played two big DLs. Pass blocking seems better than last year. Still not great but good enough to move the ball.

DL
They did a good job stuffing the run. Chandler lost contain on the 2nd PSU TD. Marinovich made a nice sack and fumble recovery in garbage time.

LBs
Smith made some nice plays and in other plays he was out of position. He needs to get consistant. Same can be said of Hogue. He got nice pressure on a few blitzes. And he shoulda had two INTs. One he was out of position on a slant to Royster, that went for a TD. The other was high and he dropped it. I really did not notice Carter out there.

DBs
Poor game for this group. Kev was picked on the first half. But he did make a nice INT. Nico was picked on in the second half. On the first TD Suter and later Holmes missed chances at tackles. And on the second TD, Holmes took a bad angle.

Long/Jones
Long had some nice punts but shanked one deep in our territory, and missed badly trying to put one in the corner. Jones can return, fun to watch.

Cuse Cast XIII

A special on location Cuse Cast at Penn State.

Length about 5:15
Download












Friday, September 11, 2009

PSU Preview

Follow KingOttos PSU journey on twitter


Remember the name, Derek Moye. He torched Akron last week and will be a danger to SU. He may very well be the most talented WR on the field Sat, and that includes Mike Williams.

I watched the first half of PSU's first game against Akron. As it was 31-0 at the half there was no reason to watch the second half. While PSU likes to call their O a Spread, it really is more of a pro set. Against Akron they were under center 28 out of 42 plays. And the Shotgun plays were in obvious passing situations. They ran the ball only 16 times and threw it 26 times. The running plays were mixed between right, center, and left so they really didnt favor any side of the OL. Early on Clark threw short most of his passes. We saw screens, swing passes, bubble screens, and passes to the TE. While they didnt run the ball a lot, they did call 6 play action passes. Clark struggled early on, mostly working the middle of the field. And he got away with two balls that shoulda been picked. Then Clark started hitting his WRs and that is when PSU started to put up points. Or should I say his WRs started making plays, as quite a few where made with tight coverage. The last two drives put up 2 TDs late in the 2Q. Moye was a big part of that.

Akrons D played well before those last two drives making PSU work for points, despite the great starting field position. PSU had three miscues a sack, an INT near the goaline, and a missed chip shot FG. Also we should be aware that PSU ran a fake punt for 37 yards that resulted in a FG. At the time it was 14-0 early 2Q so they may have some tricks up their sleeves. But I am sure they were willing to take that chance because their D dominated. They almost forced Akron into negative yards for the half. This is a good D that we will struggle to get first downs against let alone points.

If SU gets some breaks they can keep it close early. But PSUs talent will keep this one from being close. The only hope is that a rainy day slows PSU down and makes them play sloppy. I would sign up for the Akron final score of 31-7 right now if I could.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Game Prediction

By scrambled E.G.S.

PSU 45
SU 16

Last week we got the margin spot of but were off 4 pts for each team. This week we will get it right.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Cuse Cast XII

Length about 23 mins















Tale of the Tape: Syracuse at Penn State


We are back for the second ToT of the year. Battling for the Tattoo are the Syracuse Orange and their neighbors from the Keystone State, the Nittany Lions. Thus this week's Tattoo is an orange can of Keystone Light.








Born on Date
PSU: 1855 vs SU: 1870
Ottos Edge: PSU... PSU was founded as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania. It then changed to the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania (1862), Pennsylvania State College (1875), and finally PSU (1953).

GPS (Location)
PSU: State College, Happy Valley, University Park vs SU: Syracuse
Ottos Edge: SU... pick a name already. When Penn State changed from a College to University in 1953, its president sought to persuade the town to change its name as well. When they decided not to, PSU created University Park.

At that location is a…

Mountain
PSU: Mount Nittany vs SU: Song Mountain
Ottos Edge: PSU... the word Nittany is derived from the Algonquian language word Nit-A-Nee meaning "single mountain"

Which is where PSU got their…

Team Name
PSU: Nittany Lions vs SU: Orange
Ottos Edge: PSU… we fed the men to the lions and are now a fruit

Speaking of fruit…

Gay guy
PSU: John Amaechi (former PSU BBaller) vs SU: Thom Filicia (Queer Eye)
Ottos Edge: Push... both are fabulous

Sticking with BBall and sex…

BBall sex scandal
PSU: Rene Portland allegedly kicked a girl off the team for being a lesbian vs SU: Billy Edelin missed 02 season because of rape accusations
Ottos Edge: Push... there are no winners here. Portland was forced out after coaching 27 successful seasons.

More BBall…

Point Guard
PSU: Joe Crispin vs SU: GMac
Ottos Edge: PSU... just kidding, SU

While we are on Scranton and joking…

Fictional alumnus
PSU: Toby Flenderson (Office) vs SU: Sonny Koufax (Big Daddy)
Ottos Edge: SU... Toby is a loser and divorced

Another fictional alumnus of SU was…

Anchorman
PSU: Adam McKay (writer/director) vs SU: Veronica Corningstone (charcter)
Ottos Edge: PSU... she is a smelly pirate hooker

Sticking with movies…

Along Came Polly
PSU: John Aniston (Jennifers dad) vs SU: Jerry Stiller (Bens dad)
Ottos Edge: Push... from the sounds of that movie the winners were those of us that didn't see it

The guys behind the movies are the…

Screenwriters
PSU: Steven de Souza (Lethal Weapon, Die Hard) vs SU: Carl Gottlieb (Jaws)
Ottos Edge: PSU... yippee-ki-yay

Staying with writers…

War Novelist
PSU: David Morrell wrote First Blood (Rambo) vs SU: Stephan Crane wrote The Red Badge of Courage
Ottos Edge: PSU... its over Johnny

Writers also work for…

School Papers
PSU: The Daily Collegian vs SU: Daily Orange
Ottos Edge: SU... we have the more interesting storyline of Greg Paulus

Speaking of storylines...

RB nickname
PSU: Reading Rambler (Lenny Moore) vs SU: Elmira Express (Ernie Davis)
Ottos Edge: Push… both are great players with great nicknames. Too bad the art of nicknames has been lost.

ED was part of…

Black History
PSU: Wallace Triplett 1st black draftee to play in the NFL vs SU: Ernie Davis 1st black Heisman winner
Ottos Edge: Push… both broke barriers

Staying with the Heisman…

Heisman Winner
PSU: John Cappelletti vs SU: Ernie Davis
Ottos Edge: Push... both had to deal with leukemia (John dedicated his Heisman to his dying brother Joey) and had a movie about it (made for TV: Something for Joey). Surprisingly PSU has only one Heisman winner.

While we are on RBs…

Other RBs
PSU: Franco Harris, Lenny Moore, Larry Johnson, Curt Warner, Matt Suhey,Wallace Triplett, Richie Anderson, Gary Brown, Blair Thomas, Curtis Enis, Ki-Jana Carter, Sam Gash, DJ Dozier vs SU: Jim Nance, Larry Csonka, Moose Johnston, Jim Brown, Floyd Little, James Mungro, Walter Reyes, Joe Morris, Rob Konrad, Michael Owens, David Walker, Jamie Covington, Robert Drummond
Ottos Edge: SU... lots of busts lately for PSU

Paving the way for the RBs is the…

OL
PSU: Mike Muchak, Marco Rivera, Brad Benson, Todd Rucci, Dave Szott, Steve Wisniewski vs SU: Jim Ringo, John Flannery, Walt Sweeney, CraigWolfley, Stan Walters, Adam Terry
Ottos Edge: PSU... we are still weaker on the OL

But we are stronger at…

WR/TE
PSU: Mickey Shuler, OJ McDuffie, Kyle Brady, Joe Jurevicius, Eddie Drummond, Bobby Engram vs SU: John Mackey, Rob Moore, Chris Gedney, Art Monk, Kevin Johnson, Marvin Harrison
Ottos Edge: SU... just a tad better

And throwing to them are the…

QBs
PSU: Kerry Collins, John Hufnagel, Todd Blackledge, Michael Robinson,Wally Richardson, Tony Sacca, Zach Mills, Richie Lucas (1st ever Buffalo Bill) vs SU: Donovan McNabb, Bill Custis, Marvin Graves, Todd Philcox, Wilmet Sadet-Singh, Don McPherson, Bill Hurley, Troy Nunes (a PSU fan)
Ottos Edge: SU... triple negative points for the bust Blackledge

From Offense to Defense…

DL
PSU: Rosey Grier, Courtney Brown, Tamba Hali vs SU: Dwight Freeney, Tim Green, Rob Burnett
Ottos Edge: SU... we could use these guys now

Behind them are the…

LBs
PSU: Jack Ham, Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor, Andre Collins, Keith Goganious, Lance Mehl, Matt Millen, Shane Conlan, Brandon Short, LaVar Arrington, John Skorupan, Denis Onkotz, Greg Buttle vs SU: Keith Bulluck, Dan Conley, Kevin Mitchell, Jim Collins, TerryWooden
Ottos Edge: PSU... they dont call it LB U for nuttin

Bobby Boucher (best current defender)
PSU: Novorro Bowman vs SU: Art Jones
Ottos Edge: PSU… well Bobby was a LB so he is the better fit

Ironically the “player” that can determine who Ws and who Ls is the…

K
PSU: Bahr Borthers (Matt, Chris), Robbie Gould vs SU: Gary Anderson, Olinda Mare, Nate Trout
Ottos Edge: SU... although I am grateful for Matts kicks with the GMen.


And finally the category of the what? You want more? Alright you go it.


Lets stay with the Giants…

XLII SB winning Giants
PSU: Kareem McKenzie, Jay Alford vs SU: David Tyree, Tom Coughlin
Ottos Edge: SU... they played a larger role

And more of the Giants…

Other former Giants
PSU: Kerry Collins, John Hufnagel (current Calgary Stampeders HC), Brandon Short, LaVar Arrington, Brad Benson, Matt Bahr, Joe Jurevicius, Rosey Grier vs SU: Joe Morris, Will Allen, Larry Csonka, Carl Karilivacz
Ottos Edge: PSU... lots of Ws produced by those folks

Speaking of Ws…
All Time Wins
PSU: 802 vs SU: 674
Ottos Edge: PSU... not many can beat PSU

Remaining on winning…

We're going streaking
PSU: 49 straight non losing seasons (1939-87) vs SU: 22 straight non losing seasons (1950-1971)
Ottos Edge: PSU… that is amazing. PSU also once had a 31 game win streak. However they had no title to show for it. They went undefeated in 1968 and 1969 finishing 2nd in the polls both years.

But they did win it in…

National Titles
PSU: 2 (1982, 1986) vs SU: 1 (1959)
Ottos Edge: PSU... the 1987 Fiesta Bowl was the most watched CFB game ever. PSU won 14-10 despite being out gained 3 to 1 (450 to 150), thanks to Testeverde’s 5 INTs

Speaking of the Fiesta Bowl…

Bowls
PSU: 25-13-2 vs SU: 12-9-1
Ottos Edge: PSU... they have the highest Bowl Win % in CFB

The best way to get to a Bowl is by winning your…

Conference
PSU: Big Ten vs SU: Big East
Ottos Edge: SU... PSU ruined the B10 by making it 11.

Conf Titles
PSU: 3 vs SU: 4
Ottos Edge: SU... PSU missed out by not joining the BE where they belong

Despite being in different confs, the teams still play for the…

Lambert Trophy
PSU: 27 (last 2008) vs SU: 6 (last 1992)
Ottos Edge: PSU... since 1998 they have only won twice

Staying with Trophies…

Rivalry Trophies
PSU: Governors Victory Bell (started 1993 with Minnesota, PSU leads 6-4), Land Grant Trophy (started 1993 with Mich St, PSU leads 12-4) vs SU: Schwartzwalder Trophy (started 1993 with WV, who leads 10-6)
Ottos Edge: Push... all are made up trophies trying to establish tradition. At least the SU-WV game has been played many years.

Speaking of playing many times…

Team played most
PSU: Pitt 96 times (50-42-4) vs SU: PSU 69 times
Ottos Edge: SU… good job Joe Pa ruining both. PSU last played Pitt in 2000.

Of those 69 meetings…

Head to Head
PSU: 41 Ws vs SU: 23 Ws
Ottos Edge: PSU… not close just like this game will be. The teams have tied 5 times.

Many of those games were played at…

No one, and I mean no one, comes into our house and pushes us around (Home Field)
PSU: Beaver Stadium (107,250) vs SU: the Dome
Ottos Edge: PSU... they have the largest stadium in the US (Michigan had to reduce seating for handicap accessibility). Their largest crowd ever was 110,753 (makes sense that it is 3k more than capacity). The stadium is named after James Beaver, former PA Govna and former president of the BoTs.

While there you will hear the…

Band
PSU: Blue Band (over 300 members) vs SU: SUMB
Ottos Edge: PSU... in 2005 the band won the Sudler Trophy, which goes to the nations top band.

As well as the fans…

Chant
PSU: We are... Penn St vs SU: Lets go Orange
Ottos Edge: SU... we know who you are and are not impressed

And those fans are made up of…

Fan Base
PSU: avg'd 107,567 a game, 90k season ticket holders (21k student), White Out vs SU: maybe 40k a game, season tickets?, Silver Out
Ottos Edge: PSU... it doesn't hurt that PSU has over 450k alumni

They have so many alumni because of their large…

Student size
PSU: 44k vs SU: 19K
Ottos Edge: PSU... the more the merrier

Those students should be there to get an…

Edumacation
PSU: 47th (US News) vs SU 58th
Ottos Edge: PSU... what happened to SU? PSU was my safety school.

Which is why schools often…

Outlawed Fun
PSU: The Phi Psi 500 (a fund raising mile run with pit stops at bars) vs SU: Livingston Block Party
Ottos Edge: Push... no one wins when fun is taken away. While PSU banned that fund raiser they are proud to have the THON (dance marathon), which is the largest student run philanthropy in the world.


And finally the category of the... wait you still want more? OK, on with the marathon


Sticking with fun and dancing…

Alumni
PSU: Richard James (invented Slinky), Herman Fisher (Fisher-Price), Mike Scioscia (baseball) vs SU: Steve Rubell (Studio 54), Lexington Steele, Marv Albert
Ottos Edge: SU… our guys are involved in adult entertainment

Speaking of adult entertainment…

Howard Stern Show
PSU: Benjy vs SU: Frozen (interned)
Ottos Edge: SU... Benjy is annoying

Howard is the King of All Media, which would include…

Sports Media
PSU: Tom Verducci, Lisa Salters, Todd Blackledge vs SU: Bob Costas, Vera Jones, Mike Tirico, etc.
Ottos Edge: SU... its our bread and butter

While we are on food…

Let's put the women and children to bed and go lookin' for dinner! (Eatery)
PSU: Otto's Pub & Brewery vs SU: Empire Brewing Company
Ottos Edge: SU... it was named after Otto, right? PSU also has the Ye Olde College Diner, which was voted the 3rd best place to eat a sticky bun in the United States. It is a place of Penn State tradition that dates back to 1929.

While we are on Otto…

Mascot
PSU: Nittany Lion vs SU: Otto the Orange
Ottos Edge: SU... poor Lion doesn't even have a name

But the Lion does have a…

Statue
PSU: Lions Shrine vs SU: Saltine Warrior
Ottos Edge: PSU… it is better for painting orange

Speaking of statues…

FB statue
PSU: Joe Paterno vs SU: Ernie Davis
Ottos Edge: SU... Joe ruined NE FB by going to the B11

But he has been a successful…

HC
PSU: JoePa (started 1966, 384 Ws, paid $500K) vs SU: Dou Marrone (0 Ws)
Ottos Edge: PSU... cant get a bigger difference in career wins than that. JoePa is still tied for career INTs (14) at Brown University. He is in his 60th season at PSU (started as an asst). He is 7-1 all time against his current nemesis Bobby Bowden. He is the only HC to win the Rose, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar, and Cotton Bowls.

HC is from
PSU: Brooklyn vs SU: Bronx
Ottos Edge: SU... Yanks 6 Dodgers 1

Sticking with HCs…

Former Coach
PSU: Rip Engle vs SU: Ben Schwartzwalder
Ottos Edge: SU... Ben was 9-7 vs Engle

And SUs former coach was…

Paul Pasqualoni
PSU: former player vs SU: former HC
Ottos Edge: SU... he did a lot for SU

Playing under Coach P was McNabb, who is now a…

Trustee
PSU: Chair is CEO of Eat'n Park vs SU: a trustee is an NFL QB
Ottos Edge: SU... that shows where our priorities are

SU has always been strong at revenue sports but overall…

Athletics
PSU: among the best vs SU: trying to improve
Ottos Edge: PSU... they have been Top 25 in the NACDA Directors Cup all 16 years of its existence with eight Top 10 finishes. They have 11 national titles in fencing, mens gymnastics has a record 12 titles, both the womens and the mens volleyball teams won in 2008 (women won in 2007 as well). But they still suck at BBall.

Supporting athletics is the…

Booster Club
PSU: State College QB Club vs SU: Orange Club
Ottos Edge: PSU… fans gather at the Nittany Lion Inn midweek to discuss the last game and the next game. JoePa and players often visit.

Dressing the athletic teams is…

Nike
PSU: Mark Parker (CEO) vs SU: Melo
Ottos Edge: SU... Melo sells shoes

Sticking with dress…

School colors used to be
PSU: Black and Pink vs SU: Pink and Green
Ottos Edge: PSU... supposedly PSU changed to Blue and White when the Black and Pink faded. Also they stayed classic with the unis while SU has been F-ing it up lately.

While we are on F-ing things up…

I-81
PSU: always down to 1 lane even though no work is ever done vs SU: smooth sailing
Ottos Edge: SU... also PA is filled with drivers going 20 MPH in the left lane. The state is a driving nightmare.

For this I blame the state…

Politics
PSU: Rick Santorum, Valerie Plame, Tom Ridge vs SU: Joe Biden, Donna Shalala, Al D'Amato
Ottos Edge: SU... their group is much more controversial

Sticking with politics…

Hillary Clinton
PSU: Hughs (father and brother) vs SU: NY Senator
Ottos Edge: Push... there are no winners here

If she ever becomes President it would be a first for a woman. Along those lines…

Astronaut firsts
PSU: Guion Bluford (1st African American in space) vs SU: Eileen Collins (1st female pilot)
Ottos Edge: Push... both boldly went where none had gone before

Sticking with firsts…

1st year FB
PSU: 1881 vs SU: 1889
Ottos Edge: PSU… back then JoePa was only an asst coach.


And from first to last, as in the last category and the category of the week (sorry I have nothing left)…


Competitive Eater
PSU: Bruce Banner (fictional alumn) vs SU: Doug Marrone
Ottos Edge: SU... not even the Incredible Hulk can beat Doug




And the TATTOO goes to……




Thats right the Syracuse Orange, as we pull off the huge upset by the slightest of margins. And remember, State Penn sucks!




Sunday, September 6, 2009

King Ottos Konclusion

Well here is my first game recap of the year. I think it is still too early to tell what we have here this year. We wont know for sure until after the NW game. They say you improve greatly from game one to two. But with PSU it wont mater. So we will have to wait another week. That being said it was a good start. The game really game down to our first play and last play on O.



Marrone
He didnt seem too involded during the game and let the coordinators do their thing. He seemed to be isolated on the sideline the way a SP throwing a no hitter is. But for a guy whose strength is his organizational skills, his very first play was as disorganized as can be. And may very well have cost SU the game. The play clock was winding down and the team was in disarray. At that point I was yelling take a TO. Yes that doesnt look good to start the game, but it is better than a broken play which was likely to occur. And of course the snap goes over Paulus' head for a turnover. Interesting that at the end of regulation the D was in disarray and he called a TO.

Spence
I liked that he called a diverse game. However I would have liked to see a few more deep shots. Also we NEED to establish a consistent running game if we are to be successful. The second half O was piss poor. I think we need to be a run first team to be successful.

Shafer
Did a great job with the D. We did give up a few big plays but bottomline we gave up only 20 points in regulation. And the first 14 the D was put in a hole by the O and STs. But Minn was all pass and no run. It will be interesting to see if the D does as well against a running or balanced O. Also he brought a lot of pressure but we only got 2 sacks. Weber rushed because of the pressure but had more time then he thought.

Casullo
Wow did he get mad after that block in the back flag was picked up. I think the refs made the right call but he went insane. I think anything is possible now on STs.

Paulus
He reminded me of Nunes and that isnt even including his last play. He lacks arm strength and made several bad decisions. There were three balls that coulda easily have been INTs that ended up as incompletions. One of which woulda been a pick 6. Now it was his first game in 4 years and he is basically a freshman at this level. So he has a lot of room to improve. And his arm strength should improve as well. If he were to stay at his current level, he wont go very far. But if he continues to improve as I think he will, we will have a shot in every game but PSU. That being said for a guy who is suppossed to be smart, he made as dumb of a play as one can make.

RBs
DC3 is a beast, he just doesnt go down. He gets extra yards just on his strength. However we couldnt really ever get him going. Bailey ran the ball well out of the wildcat, or Stallion as we call it. Mike Jones didnt do anything on O but looked good as a KR.

TEs
Lots of double TE sets. Provo got hurt early. Catalina was in there plenty but didnt have a ball thrown his way. Which was a little odd since he was a factor in the Spring game. We didnt see any of those play actions called. Owen had a rough game. Penalties and drops hurt the team.

WRs
We seemed to go 2 WR mostly. MW had a nice game. There was a deep ball that you expect him to come up with but it was underthrown and not an easy catch. Later on a big third down he dropped a ball that hit him in the pads. Lemon made a couple nice catches. He seemed to struggle to make guys miss on the bubble screens. And on one tunnel screen he missed a ball that he deflected up in the air, and it was almost picked. The play looked blocked as well. Davis looked like the 3rd WR. Unfortunately he was blocking on many bubble screens, which for his size is difficult for him. Dont feel comfy with him returning punts but there really isnt anyone else out there. Sales seemed to barely play. Big disappointment. Lobdell made an appearance catching a bubble screen. He also beat a man deep that Paulus missed badly.

OL
They didnt open many holes for the RBs. I thought pass blocking they did ok. Part of that was Paulus getting rid of the ball quickly. But I believe there was only 1 play all game that Paulus had no chance to get rid of the ball, and only 3 sacks allowed in 36 pass plays. Not too bad. Meldrum seemed to play all but the 4th Q. I wonder if something happened as Rosner came in.

DL
Art Jones played well. Tribbey was in to spell him every now and then. Lewis and Perkins split time at the other DT and I didnt really notice either making plays. Marinovich played most of the game. Made a nice deflection dropping back in coverage. Chandler Jones got most of the time at the other DE, with Kimmel in every now and then spelling him. Sharpe was at DE in the Okie. I think Ball played as well.

LB
Smith and hogue played the whole game, and seemed ok. The Will seemed to be split between Gillum and Carter. Both made some nice plays and both made some mistakes. Shamarko was that Okie LB.

DB
Both of the Scotts got beat deep, but it seemed like Nico was picked on more. Holmes and Suter made a lot of plays out there. Surprised Suter came out in the Okie in favor of Phillip Thomas.

K/P
Lichtenstein was 2 for 2 and neither was easy. The first had a weird angle and the second was over 40. Long looked fine punting and kicking off.



1st Half

SU won the toss. Personally I woulda kicked so I could have the ball to start the second half. I would not have wanted a three and out on O. Also I would have been worried my players would be too amped up. Better to have the D out there with the crowd behind them. The game started out about as bad as can be. Minn went up 14-3 and had the ball with over 11 mins left in the 1st Q.

To start the game the O was huddled up and the GA (Eric Sanders) looked to be talking to them trying to pump them up. Not sure if that was the issue. The first TD was too easy. A simple run that was bounced to the outside. Someone was responsible for the outside. Since the DE was lined in and the Will went inside I have to guess it was the S, who was blocked, or the CB. The CB was easily run off and may need to keep an eye out for the run.

When they were talking about Jedd Fisch they showed an old guy at first. And another time they showed what looked to be a GA. Thought that was funny. After their first TD we counter with a KR to the 16. We scored a TD that was called back due to an illegal formation. I noticed it live. Paulus waved Owen in motion and MW never replaced him on the LOS. The 2nd time organization hurt the team. We then tried a toss, which I hate in short yardage, that was stopped to make it 4th and 1. I have no issue with Marrone taking 3 points there as he just wants to get on the board. Not sure if anyone else noticed Loeb and Dantley giving in signals and were pretty animated. One is a decoy but it is fun to watch.

The ensuing KO no one had contain and Minn got a big return. It looked like Merk was the one who got caught too far inside. Minn then hit Decker deep. It wasnt a well thrown ball and Kevin Scott shoulda been able to make a play. At worst he shoulda interfered with Decker to prevent a big play. They said in the broadcast that they switched Weber's motion, why? The guy had a good year last year. Why mess with that? Maybe in the NFL it would mater but in CFB you can throw the ball under hand and it wouldnt mater. Weber was off all day. Not sure if this was a factor. Minn was stopped on 3rd and goal with a nice play by Kevin Scott. But a false start gave them another shot. We only rushed 4 on the play but the guy beat on the play was Carter. He had help to the outside and let the WR beat him inside for an easy score.

SU came back with a 3 and out and things started to look worse than when GRob was here. On 3rd Provo was hurt and he never returned. Minn now had the ball with SU in trouble. Marinovich almost made a big play. On a screen pass the ball went off the RB and he almost got an INT. Not sure but it looked like they had the screen blocked. On 3rd and 7 we brought no pressure. Weber hit his WR but the ball was bobbled out of bounds incomplete. For now the bleeding had stopped.

The next drive Paulus got lucky he didnt throw an INT. He under threw it behind Lemon, who made a great play to break it up. We finally got our first 1st down with 7:30 left in the 1st Q. It was 3rd and 2 and we ran the ball in a one WR set. I dont like the formation or play, and we barely got the 1st. Owen made his first mistake when we ran and end around for Davis. Owen missed a block that would have sealed the corner. On a swing pass to Lemon, Davis made a nice cut block but it seemed like Lemon ran right at the guy. The defender made a nice play but Lemon shoulda avoided him. Paulus picked up a first down on a run but Bartholomew was called for a hold, which didnt look like too much of a hold. So with it 3rd and long we call a tunnel screen which looked to be blocked but Lemon had the ball bounce off of him and it was almost an INT.

On Minn's first play they run the Wildcat for a loss. Nice play by Carter. For the first time we see the Okie D. Sharpe came in at DE for Chandler Jones, Phillip Thomas at SS for Suter, and Shamarko as the Okie for Lewis/Perkins. I was surprised that Suter wasnt at SS or Okie. Minn ran a screen and a nice play was made by Gillum. A shovel pass was stuffed for no gain and Minn was forced to punt.

For the first time we see our Wildcat, or Stallion set with Nassib split wide. It was interesting that Minn played with 2 safeties deep against this formation all day. Paulus threw a ball deep for MW who was doubled. It was under thrown and a difficult ball but coulda been caught. Davis was open on the play as well. A few plays later Paulus makes a great fake on the bubble and hits a wide open MW for a TD. SU is back in the game.

On Minns next drive they have a 3rd and 12. We dont bring pressure and give Weber all day. But he throws an INT to Holmes, who made a nice catch on the sideline. SU does nothing with the ball on the next drive. On 3rd down Minn brings a blitz and gets their first sack. On the punt we had bad coverage as Kimmel, Leo, and Gillum all missed chances at a tackle. A flag was thrown for a block in the back but was correctly picked up. Casullo went nuts for about 5 mins. He went a little over board.

Minn was forced into a 3rd and 1. Art Jones made a nice play to stuff the FB making it 4th down. Minn decides to go for it with a QB sneak that was stopped thanks again to Art Jones. The play was reviewed an correctly called as the ball was behind Weber's body.

We ran a bubble to Lemon for a nice gain. MW made a good block. It seemed like the play worked better with MW there instead of Davis, who cant block it as well. A few plays later Lobdell made a catch and nice move for 5 yards. He then got open deep but Paulus missed him. On a 3rd and 1, DC3 was stopped. Again a 1 WR set. Marrone trusted Lichy and he came through for 3.

SU stops Minn and gets the ball back. Paulus makes a few nice plays against blitzes and SU gets rolling. On the drive MW made a few catches and SU overcame a few penalties. DC3 had a long run to the 1 and then scored over the top to give SU its first lead.

Good KO coverage stops Minn at its own 18. On 3rd down Minn is trying to kill the clock and SU doesnt call TO. If Marrone calls TO after 2nd down with 5 secs left, Minn would only have 1 play left. So they would have to either try for a 75 yard TD or play it safe with a run. If they run SU could call TO and force a punt. But Marrone decided to let the half end. Minus the first play it was a very good half for SU. Wish we had the ball to start the second half.

2nd Half

The stats show Minn had only 63 yards passing, mostly on the early pass to Decker, and only three 1st downs. Their first 3 plays went for 54 yards, while the last 27 went for 60. Paulus was 12-17 for 128 yards.

Marinovich makes a nice play to bat a ball away. And on third down a bad pass leads to a punt that Davis muffed but goes out of bounds. On third Speller false starts making it 13 yards to go. Paulus throws a dangerous pass that is almost an INT and then almost caught off the deflection by MW. A bounced snap leads to a bad punt and good field position for Minn.

Minn almost scores on a deep pass that Suter barely tips away. Nico was blitzing and missed Weber for a sack. On third and long Minn picked up the blitz, but the pass fell incomplete. Kevin Scott was called for PI as he was grabbing Decker. Minn ends up getting a FG on the drive to cut the lead to 3.

Paulus almost throws a pick 6 on an attempted screen to Lemon. The next play Minn gets called for a late hit giving SU its first 1st down of the half at the 7:45 mark. On a 2nd down Davis is stopped on an end around and has his shoe thrown down the field, but no penalty is called. Personally I dont like plays like this on anything but 1st downs. That way if it is blown up you dont have a 3rd and long. On 3rd and 8 Paulus throws to Owen short of the first. It looks like a catch and fumble but is called incomplete. SU has to punt and the PR calls a fair catch to fake out Mayes who had a shot at downing it before going into the endzone.

Weber has all day to pass but great coverage leads to him throwing it away. Then on 2nd down Kevin Scott blows up a bubble screen and Weber has to hold it and take a sack. SU forces the 3 and out. Davis gets nothing on the PR, which continues a problem from the GRob era.

A 3rd and 2 slant to MW gets a PI call extending the drive. A false start in which the D line moved but didnt go into the neutral zone pushes SU back 5 yards. On a bubble screen Lemon goes outside toward the defender instead of going in for more yards. On 3rd and 6 MW has the ball hit him in the chest and SU has to punt.

After 3 Qs Weber is 8/23 for 75 yards. On 3rd and 4 Weber hits Decker for a 1st. Before that they were 1 of 10 on 3rd. Decker beats Nico deep for 53 yards. On a blitz Marinovich knocks away a pass in the flat. SU goes Okie and Sharpe beats his man for a sack. On the way down Weber hits his OLman and the ball comes free. SU recovers. But again SU goes 3 and out. Paulus leads Owen into the safety and he cant hold on, but most could not.

Minn starts running the ball and gets some yards. On a 3rd and 2 Decker makes a great catch while double covered. Neither DB made a play on the ball. Holmes turned too late. Smith tips a pass that is almost an INT. On 3rd and 9 Weber throws it out of Deckers reach in the endzone. Minn has to settle for 3, but the 47 yarder is miss struck and falls well short. SU survives again.

Bailey goes down on both knees and the ball comes out. The refs rule it a fumble. For what ever reason the booth doesnt call for a review and Marrone has to challenge it, to get it over turned. I never understand why some easy calls are reviewed and plays like this the booth lets go. Owen is called for a hold making it 2nd and long. A slant to MW gets SUs first 1st down of the half not by penalty. This comes with 8 mins left in the 4th. A hold called on Rosner pushes SU back again. A bubble to Lemon loses yards as Davis misses a block. On 3rd and 16 Paulus feels pressure and pulls the ball down instead of just stepping up and keeping his head up. The sack forces SU to punt.

Minn takes over at the 12. Chandler Jones hits Weber forcing an incomplete. Then on 3rd and 4 SU goes to the Okie, which we will see the rest of the drive. Weber hits a quick slant for the 1st. SU forces another 3rd and 4 and Minn uses the same play for the 1st down. Weber hits his TE for a big play. Then he hits Decker to the 26 when SU only rushes 3. On the drive Art Jones dropped back into a zone several times which prevented him from making any plays. On a 2nd and 10 they run the same slant a 3rd time. Gillum may have missed a chance to stop it. On the play he was in a zone. He drifted inside with the TE instead of staying put. In which he may have tipped the ball or picked it off.

SU then takes a TO as the D was trying to change personnel. We were trying to go back to our base D and Suter ran on late. He was then running off as we had 12 on the field but Marrone called TO. He shoulda done this the first play of the game. After the TO we stay in the Okie. Before 3rd down for some reason Brewster takes a TO with 1:05 left instead of letting 30 secs fall off the clock. They were 1-10 on 3rd and then went 4-5. But this time SU makes the stop as Weber overthrows a fade to Decker. The FG ties the game at 20.

With little time left Paulus hits MW on a slant short of the 1st. The next play Paulus decides to tuck it in and then is sacked. He likley didnt want to take any chance there. Time runs out and we go to OT.

We run a shovle to DC3. Then a draw in which he breaks three tackles and then drags another to the 10. It reminded me of the Wyoming game where he carried us to victory. A pitch to DC3 takes it to the 5. The next play is a bad job by DC3. He runs into the line instead of bouncing it to the outside, where he likely scores. Now on 3rd down I am thinking TE throw back. Then I see the formation and think it is a fade to MW. Instead MW does an out and is open. There is pressure from the outside, but if Paulus steps in the pocket he can easily make the pass. Instead he scrambles to the backside. Then comes the Nunesque throw.

We stop Minn at the 18 and they have to kick a FG for the win. Marrone calls TO to freeze the K. I am glad he didnt call it just before the snap as it could give the K a second chance. I am hoping Casullo magic will keep SU alive. Holmes almost gets through but the K is good for the Minn win.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Game by Game Prediction

Week 1 vs Minn
Why we win- the team and crowd will be pumped for the first game in the Doug Marrone era. Also Minn will have no idea what to expect from us.
Why we lose- they are a more talented team. And we need time to adjust to new systems.
Score 38-24 Minn
Record 0-1

Week 2 at PSU
Why we win- State Penn thinks the game is another week and doesnt show up
Why we lose- hostel road game against a vastly superior team
Score 41-10 PSU
Record 0-2

Week 3 vs NW
Why we win- we gave them a close game last year and NW lost a lot of skill position players. Their QB is more of a runner than a thrower. If Shafer's system can cause havoc to the Spread, we will have a shot.
Why we lose- they are the better team
Score 31-28 SU
Record 1-2

Week 4 vs Maine
Why we win- they are a 1AA team
Why we lose- we would have to be 0-3 and the new system would have to have a long learning curve
Score 42-20 SU
Record 2-2

Week 5 vs USF
Why we win- they are coming off a game @FSU, so it could be a let down. SU could be coming off back to back Ws, so we could have momentum. But Shafer would have to be able to stop the Spread.
Why we lose- they have more talent and speed. Have been a bad matchup for SU. Grothe and Selvie have killed SU.
Score 35-27 USF
Record 2-3

Week 6 vs WV
Why we win- again depends on Shafer vs Spread. Last year we gave them a very close game in Morgantown. If we have at least 2 Ws by this point, we could get a good crowd.
Why we lose- they are better and more talented.
Score 24-21 WV
Record 2-4

Week 8 vs Akron
Why we win- two weeks to prepare for a MAC team
Why we lose- could be rusty after bye. If we have only 1 W or zero Ws, confidence will be low.
Score 34-17 SU
Record 3-4

Week 9 vs Cincy
Why we win- they lost their whole D so if Shafer can slow them down, we can outscore them
Why we lose- despite the losses on D they should still be a bit better than SU
Score 37-31 SU
Record 4-4

Week 10 at Pitt
Why we win- depending on our record we could have confidence. Wanny always gives you a chance. They have no QB.
Why we lose- road game against the most talented team in the BE.
Score 27-14 Pitt
Record 4-5

Week 11 at UL
Why we win- we will have confidence having beaten them 2 years in a row. By this point UL may have given up on the season and Kragthorpe.
Why we lose- road game
Score 28-13 SU
Record 5-5

Week 12 vs RU
Why we win- they have no skill players. Shady is a poor game coach. The coaches, team, and fans will want this game for recruiting purposes.
Why we lose- for now they are better.
Score 20-16 SU
Record 6-5

Week 13 at UConn
Why we win- they lost a lot of talent. This game could be for a Bowl bid.
Why we lose- late November game on the road, against a rival. Let down from week before.
Score 21-17 UConn
Record 6-6


So that is the King's prediction for this season. SU will go 6-6 overall and 3-4 in the Big East. We will avg 25.4 ppg and give up 25.9 ppg. And a Bowl will pick up SU because of the Paulus hype factor. IMO baring major injuries anything less than 4-8 (1-6) is unacceptable.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Cuse Cast XI

KingOtto and Cuseman talk about the new depth chart, the upcoming game against Minn, and give their game predictions as well as season predictions.

Length about 21 mins
Download















Before every game KingOtto, Cuseman, and Erog all give their predictions. When these are averaged out it usually is dead on with the outcome. For this game the avg was Minn 27 SU 24. Book it.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Big East Predictions

1. WV 8-4 (5-2)
Most Important Game- Pitt, which will likely give the winner control of the BE

2. Pitt 8-4 (5-2)
Most Important Game- @WV, see above

3. Cincy 8-4 (4-3)
Most Important Game- @RU, with game @USF and @Pitt starting 0-1 in the BE could be hard to overcome

4. USF 7-5 (4-3)
Most Important Game- @SU, they are ripe for an upset with FSU the week before and SU should be coming off at least one W.

5. UConn 6-6 (4-3)
Most Important Game- SU, with 5 hard road games a W over peaking SU is a must for a Bowl

6. SU 6-6 (3-4)
Most Important Game- NW, a W here could get SU on a big roll and headed to a Bowl

7. RU 7-5 (3-4)
Most Important Game- Cincy, if they win they will be on a roll and maybe headed to a BE Title

8. UL 3-9 (0-7)
Most Important Game- Pitt, a Fri night upset keeps the UL season from falling apart

BE OPY- Jarrett Brown
BE DPY- Greg Romeus

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