If you doubt whether ACC football can be huge, the moments prior to kickoff of Clemson-Florida State should quickly disabuse you of that. What a great job by the Clemson athletic department and fans to make the scene truly memorable. Unfortunately, Clemson did not follow through on the field. But let’s take a look across the ACC.
Well, another interesting week in the Atlantic Coast Conference comes and goes. The team that needed to win the most to help the conference’s standing–Clemson–pulled off the win. Narrowly. But let’s take a look across the ACC.
The David Glenn show reported this afternoon that Dave Doeren is optimistic that Brandon Mitchell will be ready for Saturday’s game with Syracuse. If he does start, it would give the Pack a more mobile option to Pete Thomas who would likely fit State’s desired style of play.
Not that Thomas has played badly, but Wolfpack Nation will take any straw of hope we can grasp at this point.
Update:
Game is just starting, Thomas will start again. So never mind.
The Confidential followed this game by participating in the game day thread over at TNIIAM, the great Syracuse blog. A big area of debate was Dabo Swinney’s decision to go for it on 4th and goal with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half, up 35-7. Even on the Syracuse site, there was debate as to whether it was courageous or classless. Let’s discuss
You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.
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Now… onto the mailbag…errr… twitterbag. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Syracuse looked rough tonight. The 48-27 score was perhaps a bit misleading as it seemed as if Northwestern could have scored a lot more, had they chosen to keep throwing. There is plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth by Syracuse fans tonight. But the Confidential just wants to remind Syracuse fans that they need to come in off the ledge. There are many reasons why.
Well, this was certainly a tough one. Frankly, narrowing it down to four Syracuse icons is very difficult. Too many deserving folks get left off. Based on the comments, and upon further review, it has to come down to Ben Schwartzwalder and Ernie Davis. For all the lacrosse accomplishments, lacrosse remains a non-revenue sport. Although many basketball players made contributions, only a few won a national title–Anthony, McNamara, and Warrick. Does it get won without either of the three?
Still, Ben Schwartzwalder created Syracuse football. And Ernie Davis won a Heisman Trophy–the only Syracuse player to do so and the first African-American to ever do so. While Ernie Davis is a hero, it is difficult to choose a player over a legendary coach. This is especially true when the coach brought the player to campus. Without Schwartzwalder, perhaps Davis goes elsewhere. And maybe Davis ends up a linebacker. Who knows?
The Ernie Davis story deserved to be a movie, but we’ll have to go with the hero here: Ben Schwartzwalder. He was a military hero, receiving a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, four battle stars, a Presidential Unit Citation and his actions during the Normandy invasion led to a promotion to major. He coached Syracuse for 24 years, winning 178 games and a national title in 1959. He brought Jim Brown, Davis, John Mackey, Floyd Little, and Larry Csonka to Syracuse.
Upon further review, however, it is impossible to keep Ernie Davis off the Syracuse Mount Rushmore. For all that Dave Bing accomplished on and off the court, there is a clear lack of notoriety. Part of that is because Dave Bing is a very classy individual. But Bing did not win an award equivalent to a Heisman Trophy. Bing is certainly a top 5, but we are going to switch things up and give Davis the spot previously reserved for Bing. Mea culpa.
The final Syracuse Mount Rushmore: Jim Boeheim, Jim Brown, Ben Schwartzwalder, and Ernie Davis.
The original article…
The Confidential has been having some fun with league-wide coaches Mount Rushmores. Football and Basketball, plus polls for each of football and basketball to share your thoughts. In fact, it was so sufficiently fun and controversial that we are going to do school-wide Mount Rushmores now. And we will only put three people on the list, leaving you–our readers–to comment as to who should be the fourth. We will not do polls anymore. For today, let’s go with the school that has been with the ACC a very short time: Syracuse.
The Confidential was started shortly after the ACC announced plans to add Syracuse and Pittsburgh. From day one, the Confidential approached the ACC as the then-current teams, plus Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Our rankings reflected 14 teams.
Now, of course, Syracuse and Pitt are officially part of the ACC. But then Maryland will soon be replaced by Louisville. And whither Notre Dame, with its 5-game football schedule preventing full membership.
What is your opinion as to the simple question–as of today, who do YOU consider to be part of the ACC?
Thanks for sharing.
The Confidential 