KEY MATCHUPS

Ryan Nassib, QB vs. Prizel Brown, DE

Nassib has struggled throughout most of Big East play. He has thrown an interception in three straight games. Kansas State will key on the SU run game. It’ll be up to Nassib to step up. It’ll begin with facing the pressure of Brown and the KSU line.

Doug Hogue, LB vs. Daniel Thomas RB

Hogue is coming fresh off a first-team All-Big East selection. Thomas is the key component of a Top-25 rushing attack. He rushed for 1,495 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.

Da’Mon Merkerson, CB vs. Aubrey Quarles, WR

Quarles is the one receiver that has been a consistent downfield threat this season for the Wildcats. He has 47 catches for five touchdowns. Merkerson and fellow corner Mike Holmes will need to key on him.

Ryan Lichtenstein, P vs. Tysyn Hartman, PR

Lichtenstein has been thrust into action once again with the absence of steady starter Rob Long because of surgery to remove a tumor in his brain. How Lichtenstein, SU’s starting kicker last year, handles spot punting duties will go a long way in a field-position battle.

 

BY THE NUMBERS

4

The number of schools to ever win 11 games six times over a seven year-stretch, one of which is Kansas State (1997-2003).

8

The number of different bowls – including the Pinstripe Bowl – Kansas State has played in since 1993.

1987

The year of the final football game in the old Yankee Stadium. In the final Whitney M. Young Urban League Classic, Central State University of Ohio defeated Grambling 37-21.

12

The number of passes Raymond Berry hauled in ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’. The NFL Championship Game on Dec. 28, 1958 was the first sudden death overtime game in the league’s history, with the Colts defeating the Giants in Yankee Stadium 23-17.

7

The number of All-Big East selections Syracuse garnered in 2010, the most for the program since 2004. Doug Hogue was the Orange’s only first-team selection.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

This isn’t the first time that Syracuse and Kansas State are playing in a bowl game versus each other. The two teams last played in 2001, in the Insight.com Bowl at Phoenix, Ariz. The Orange defeated the Wildcats in that game 26-3. Kansas State got the better of Syracuse four years earlier in the Fiesta Bowl, though, when KSU defeated the Orange 35-18 at Tempe, Ariz. It is also the first Big 12 team that sU has played since the Insight.com Bowl win.

 

CURRENT STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing                 Comp-Att            Yds         TD           Int

Ryan Nassib        189-337                2095       16           8

Rushing              Att            Yds         Avg        TD

Delone Carter    204         1035       5.1          7

Antwon Bailey    107           504         4.7          2

Receiving            Rec        Yds           Avg       TD

Van Chew            41           611         14.95     5

Nick Provo           32           356         11.1        1

Antwon Bailey     32           277         8.7          3

Alec Lemon         30           377         12.6        4

 

STARTING LINEUPS

Syracuse offense

12           QB          Ryan Nassib

3              RB           Delone Carter

49           FB           Adam Harris

15           WR         Alec Lemon

82           WR         Van Chew

85           TE           Jose Cruz

67           LT            Justin Pugh

75           LG           Zach Chibane

70           C             Ryan Bartholomew

66           RG          Andrew Tiller

74           RT           Michael Hay

Kansas State defense

46           DE           Prizell Brown

94           DT           Raphael Guidry

95           DT           Ray Kibble

40           DE           Antonio Felder

50           SLB         Tre Walker

26           MLB       Jarell Childs

27           WLB       David Garrett

16           CB           Terrance Sweeney

8              CB           Stephen Harrison

28           SS           Logan Dold

12           FS           Ty Zimmerman

Kansas State offense

14           QB          Carson Coffman

8              RB           Daniel Thomas

37           FB           Braden Wilson

89           WR         Aubrey Quarles

3              WR         Chris Harper

80           TE           Travis Tannahill

73           LT            Manase Foketi

59           LG           Zach Kendall

74           C             Wade Weibert

67           RG          Kenneth Mayfield

75           RT           Alyde Aufner

Syracuse defense

54           DE           Mikhail Marinovich

94           NT          Bud Tribbey

96           DT           Jay Bromley

99           DE           Chandler Jones

11           SLB         Marquis Spruill

25           MLB       Derrell Smith

32           WLB       Doug Hogue

6              CB           Da’Mon Merkerson

35           CB           Mike Holmes

21           SS           Shamarko Thomas

1              FS           Phillip Thomas

 

BEAT WRITER PREDICTIONS

Andrew L. John

Syracuse 17, Kansas State 14

Doug Marrone adds his name to Yankee Stadium lore.

Brett LoGiurato

Syracuse 21, Kansas State 20

More than a month of what Doug Marrone called another ‘spring football’ of practice will pay off for Syracuse. The Orange wins in a thriller in Yankee Stadium.

Tony Olivero

Kansas State 20, Syracuse 13

SU is simply missing too much. From the offense to the punting game. No amount of bowl magic will be able to quell that.

 

–– compiled by SU football beat writers Andrew L. John, Brett LoGiurato and Tony Olivero; aljohn@syr.edu, bplogiur@syr.edu, aolivero@syr.edu

Published on December 29, 2010 at 12:00 pm