Orange to the Pinstripe Bowl: This One’s for All the Schwartzwalders

There was a lot of this the last time the Orange and the ‘Neers met.

By virtue of a 7-5 record and winning five of their last six games to become Big East co-champions, the Syracuse Orange are headed back to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl for the second time in two years.  Their opponent?  A familiar foe in the West Virginia Mountaineers.

I think it’s safe to say that playing another bowl game in Yankee Stadium was everyone’s preference outside of sneaking into the Big East’s BCS bowl berth.  DOC Gross gets to plaster orange block ‘S’s all over town and really ramp up his “New York’s College Team” marketing schtick.  The players get to spend a week in NYC.  And Syracuse fans have a bowl in close enough proximity that they might actually be able to attend.  It’s a winning situation all around.

One can only hope that the only loser that comes out of this is WVU.  Last season’s 49-23 manhandling of the ‘Neers was both Syracuse’s best and worst game of the season.  On the one hand, it was a totally unexpected domination of what was widely considered the best team in the conference.  On the other hand, it was the Orange’s last win of the season as they squandered a 5-2 record to finish 5-7 and miss out on the bowl game festivities.

Football: Colts’ Dwight Freeney Moving to Linebacker

Big changes are in the works for the Colts and newly minted LB Dwight Freeney.

Syracuse football trivia.  Prior to Chandler Jones in 2012, Dwight Freeney was the last Orange player selected in the first round of the NFL draft.  Freeney was a freak during his time at SU, leading the nation in sacks in his last season before being chosen 11th overall in 2002.  All he’s done since is rack up 286 tackles, 102.5 sacks and 43 forced fumbles in ten years as a speed rushing defensive end.

Now, he’s an outside linebacker

After owner Jim Irsay got rid of virtually everyone in the Colts organization except for himself, the new regime has decided that one of, if not the, best pass-rushing DEs over the past decade is better off as a LB.  It’s not an unprecedented move.  Mario Williams make the same switch when he left Houston for the Buffalo Bills.  And the trend in the NFL leans toward hybrid players who can rush both from the line and also from off it.  But is this the best move for Freeney at this point in his career?