After Syracuse downed Akron in the opener, there were a few awards to go around for for the Orange.
Quarterback Ryan Nassib was named the Big East Conference offensive player of the week and cornerback Mike Holmes was named the defensive player of the week.
ohio.com
Making his first career start, Nassib went 17-27 for 229 yards, two TD’s and also ran for 58 yards. Holmes, a senior, notched six tackles and a sack. He also picked up a blocked field goal and took it in for a touchdown.
While Orange Nation has basked in the glory of SU players actually being honored, let’s stop to consider what the rest of the conference was doing, shall we?
Cincinnati: 28-14 pounding from Fresno State. Nice opener, boys.
UConn: 30-10 stomping from Michigan. Way to go, Edsall.
Louisville: 23-16 loss to Kentucky. Leave the conference immediately, please.
Pittsburgh: 27-24 OT loss to Utah. Oops.
Rutgers, WVU, and USF all scheduled cupcakes (like SU) and won by a combined score of 121-14. USF was the only team that even gave up any points, and it was to Stony Brook.
Interesting Aside: The starting QB for Stony Brook, Michael Coulter, was once a fifth stringer for the Orange in 2007. I had Spanish class with him and he left after that year. Nice guy, though.
So while half of the conference took on an opponent with a pulse, those three plus SU played the pee-wee programs.
Next week is not much better. Cincinnati plays Indiana State, Pitt takes on New Hampsire, Rutgers battles FIU. (Props to USF for scheduling Florida in Week 2.)
So Nassib won’t likely put up the best quarterback numbers in the conference next week. Holmes may not have the same performance against a much better team.
While the Big East is not the SEC or Pac-10 when it comes to football, it’s still a BCS conference. Expect to see the likes of Zach Collaros, Greg Romeus and Dion Lewis shine brightest for the weekly honors.
But for the moment Syracuse swept two awards this week. Let’s enjoy it while we can.
Posted: Mike Couzens
