Pinstripe Bowl Instant Reaction

Defense. One word: Defense. Kansas State didn’t lose this game because Syracuse played so great. They didn’t lose because of a poor offensive day. They didn’t even lost this game because of a horrendous personal foul call that had a major impact on a two point conversion. No, this is squarely on the shoulders of the Wildcat defense. What used to be the Lynch Mob has turned into the Purple Plague. Hit the jump if you can stomach it.

The only stats we need to look at in this one is what Kansas State gave up when they didn’t have the ball.

• Syracuse came into this game averaging 15 points per game against Big East competition. The Big East includes 4-8 Rutgers, 4-8 Cincinnatti, 7-6 Louisville, and the league champion 9-4 West Virginia. This was a season of disappointment for the entire conference. And it held Syracuse to 15 points per game. The purple plague let them have 36 tonight. That’s right, better than double what they were used to.
• Syracuse RB Delone Carter averaged 86 yards per game this season and totaled 7 touchdowns. That average is against all the Big East teams and teams like Colgate. Who you ask? Exactly. Carter vs. the purple plague: 202 yards rushing (career high for him), 2 TD, with a long of 60 yards at a crucial time. In a post earlier this year on another site (Bring on the Cats) I talked about how our defense is making Heisman candidates out of normally sub-par backs. That is exactly what happened tonight. I figure the purple plague added a few hundred thousand dollars to Carter’s NFL worth tonight.
• Syracuse Quarterback Ryan Nassib averaged 175 yards passing per game with a 2:1 TD to INT ratio. Against the purple plague: 239 yards in the air, 3 TD, 0 INT. On top of that, not one Syracuse receiver averaged more than 50 yards receiving per game. Tonight the purple plague made one receiver look like a mixture of Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, and Superman. Marcus Sales totals for the year was 242 yards receiving, 1 TD, averaging 24 yards per game. Sales vs purple plague: 172 yards receiving, 34 yards per RECEPTION, 3 TD. His per reception average was better than his per game average! Is this a freaking joke?!
• One last stat just to make sure you throw up. Syracuse’s offense ranked #106 of 120 nationally with 306 yards per game. However, the purple plague was there to save them from finishing that low! Syracuse O vs purple plague: 498 yards of offense which puts them right at what AUBURN pulls in per game. Yes, playing for a national championship, stud dual threat quarterback Auburn.

All I can say is thank you Chris Cosh. I’ll be back in the next couple of days with a recap of the game that won’t be written in moments of fury. For now, this should suffice. EMAW!