Published on 11.27.2009 by Brian Harrison
This dog may be mildly mentally handicapped.
Rutgers came into the Carrier Dome last Saturday and thought they were simply going to roll over the Orange. Not so fast my friends. We know how that ended up. Not well for Rutgers. Can the Orange finish the year with another upset, and possibly dashing Connecticut’s bowl hopes?
Connecticut is a team that is tough to understand. However, one thing remains clear. They are slightly better than Notre Dame. And Notre Dame sucks. But seriously, looking at their schedule they are just better than Rutgers this year. They played one tough out of conference game in then #19 North Carolina. But to be fair they did only lose that game by a safety. Sadly UConn as only won one lone conference game against Louisville. To their credit they did only lose to Cincinnati by two points, but they played a really good game above their usual level. They suffered a major tragedy earlier this season that no team should go through. However, this is not their last home game. Their only motivation will be trying to become bowl eligible and beat good old reliably terrible Syracuse. Not so fast. Syracuse’s run defense is one of the best in the nation. While UConn has two excellent running backs, Syracuse has faced good running backs before. Same with good offensive lines. This is not the real issue. QB Zach Frazier (74/146, 956yds, 5 TD, 8 INT) will likely be the starter and will be average at best. The difference will be if Greg Paulus, Delone Carter, and the rest of the offense can score points. In some fairly significant wind. Syracuse will look to again pound away on the ground and Paulus will be counted on for the occasional conversion, screen play, or long ball. If he can continue to not commit turnovers, Syracuse should do well. While I think UConn probably has a sliver more talent, Syracuse’s momentum is greater, it is their final game, and I just have a good feeling for once. Beating Rutgers handily will do that I guess. I’ll call the upset of Syracuse over Connecticut 24 to 13.
Sadly, or gladly depending on the point of view, I will not be making the trip to East Hartford for the first time in two appearances. That just means I won’t be cold, drunk and sad because I’m in Connecticut. I’ll be warm and drunk and glad I’m on a couch instead. Winning. Hopefully just like Syracuse to end the year right. Of course stay tuned to Orange::44’s hilarious and witty commentary from myself and Correspondent John Brennan (@BH_Orange44 and @JBren). I’m pretty sure that I’ll do something stupid and outrageous if we win. That’s the Orange::44 guarantee!
PS - Took a mini vacation from the blog. We'll fire it up again soon. Hope you and yours had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Labels: Big East, Football, Preview, Syracuse Needs to Win to Make Thanksgiving Tolerable, UConn, Unprompted Hatred
This dog may be mildly mentally handicapped.
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