An Orange Conversation With A Magician

I don’t do these things every week. They’re actually a pain in the ass for the blogger who does the answering, but I would be remiss if I didn’t tap my old friend, author, and blogger extraordinaire, Sean Keeley from Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician for a little Q & A (blog name diss aside from a guy with a giant acronym).

I’ll dispense with the bull, and get right to it…

WELCOME TO THE ACC! How has your stay been thus far? Despite recently hearing from some random asshole that Notre Dame is the reason the Big East split, I fully blame Syracuse. Explain yourself.

Welcome-ish to the ACC, yourself. Look, when the alternative is to be in the AAC watching UConn collect all this sweet, sweet ACC money…it’s working out just fine.

As for whose fault it is that the Big East ended, let’s all be clear. It’s Providence’s fault. It was always Providence’s fault. They’re lucky we didn’t leave sooner.

You have many fine players, please give me your best intel on a few of them.

Let’s begin with QB Terrel Hunt. The junior is still coming into his own, slowly but surely. Concerns about his arm seem to have been put the rest but now its about how he can translate a good short passing game into more points on the board. He’s very capable on his feet so really it’s just about getting experience right now.

With leading receiver Ashton Broyld out, we turn to senior Jarrod West and sophomore Brisly Estime to pick up the receiving slack. Estime is a speedy guy so keep an eye on him, if you can.

Defensively, linebacker Cameron Lynch is our standout guy. He’s always doing something impressive each game, whether it’s leading the team in tackles, getting a key sack or causing a safety.

This is a “home game” for Syracuse. What are your feelings about this game being played at the Meadowlands?

There’s a lot of “feelings” amongst Syracuse fans about these MetLife games. We wish we didn’t have to do it. We’d much rather have you guys in the Carrier Dome, not only because it means we’d have an actual home field advantage but also because it give our local fanbase a home game to be excited about.

We get it, though. You play this game for the visibility and what it can do for you recruiting-wise. It would be nice to, you know, win one of these games. Otherwise, your visibility is just people constantly seeing you lose in New Jersey, and nobody wants that.

Syracuse has been kind of a dick to Notre Dame Football. Are there any applicable lessons from 2008 and 2003?

Syracuse plays its best football when its playing Notre Dame in a meaningless football game (for us, anyway). We’ve got a lot riding on this one so that probably changes things. Maybe the lesson is, play like you’ve got nothing to lose. Play as if your coach is an imbecile who has already been fired. How’s that for a slogan?

Please, explain why Subway Domer is awesome. Stop it, stop it- YOU’RE TOO KIND!

I’d say the name of the site is dumb, but, well, you know…

Now for some real business… how do you think this game shakes out. You may be as vague as you wish, but please give a final score, a “critical moment,” and whether or not you will be in attendance.

I don’t expect Syracuse to win this game, but, I do expect them to keep things respectable. We’re not going to be awed by the spectacle or anything, we’ve played in enough of these games now. The truth is, we’re a team that’s probably going to need to play a few more games against talented teams before we understand how to beat them. We can hold our own against the CMU’s of the world, but we’re not the well-oiled machine we need to be to win here. My hope is that we come away with some kind of moral victory, even though I hate moral victories.

Inject yourself with some gypsy steroids and give me your best season projection for both Syracuse & Notre Dame.

In spite of how they looked against Maryland and with a schedule that includes ND, Louisville, FSU and Clemson, I still think Syracuse has a very good shot at 6-6 and a bowl game. Once you get past that top level, the ACC is a total crapshoot. The 5th-best team and the 13th-best team aren’t separated by much at all. So, I hold out hope for that.

As for ND, you guys have a mostly-favorable schedule peppered with the likes of Florida State, Arizona State and Louisville. I think you’re probably looking at a 9-3/10-2 type season so long as Golson keeps it together. No playoff this time around, but, a solid bowl game nonetheless. Lucky you…