Curtis Brinkley has rushed for more than 100 yards six times this season.
Brinkley Eyes Brown Rushing Record When Orange Travels to Notre Dame
11/21/2008 3:58:21 PM | Football
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Listen to the Game
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse football team travels to South Bend, Ind. to take on Notre Dame on Saturday, November 22, at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast to a national audience on NBC with Tom Hammond and Pat Hayden calling the action. Matt Park and Chris Gedney will call the game on the Syracuse ISP Sports Network. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on Orange All-Access.
Brinkley-Brown Connection
The Orange looks to add to its rich tradition in one of college football’s most storied venues, Notre Dame Stadium, on Saturday, November 22. With only two games remaining in his Syracuse career, senior running back Curtis Brinkley is 63 career rushing yards behind SU legend Jim Brown on the school’s all-time record list.
Last week against Connecticut, Brinkley rushed for 94 yards on 21 carries, becoming the eighth different player in Syracuse history to record 1,000 rushing yards in a season (1,060 total). In that same game, Brinkley etched his name in the SU annals as the 17th most prolific runner with 2,028 total rushing yards (461 carries, 4.4 yards per rush).
Brinkley has the opportunity to move past the legendary Brown on the career rushing list, fittingly, in a place where so many other players have made the game of college football what it is today. Brown, who played from 1954-56, recorded 2,091 total rushing yards and currently ranks 15th on the Orange record list.
The Philadelphia, Pa. native has already totaled six 100-yard games this season and could tie Brown’s record of seven 100-yard rushing games in a season on Saturday. Brinkley is one of two backs in the BIG EAST to have six 100-yard games and ranks 19th nationally in rushing with 106.0 yards per game. Brinkley’s average of 106.0 rushing yards per game is presently seventh on Syracuse’s single-season record list.
The Fighting Irish defense has allowed 136.7 yards rushing per game this season, while the Syracuse ground attack is averaging 146.2 yards per contest.
The Series
Saturday’s contest marks the sixth time these two programs have met. The Fighting Irish holds a 3-2 series advantage. Syracuse’s last victory against Notre Dame came in 2003 – a 38-12 win in the Carrier Dome. The first year the two distinguished programs were pitted against each other was in 1914 at Archbold Stadium. It wasn’t until 47 years later that the two teams met again at Notre Dame Stadium in 1961. The Orange earned its first win in the series at Yankee Stadium in 1963, 14-7, against Frank Leahy’s team. It has been three years since the Orange and Fighting Irish faced each other on the gridiron. Notre Dame defeated Syracuse 34-10 in 2005 in South Bend, Ind.
Special Teams’ Touchdowns
Two weeks ago at Rutgers, freshman defensive back Dorian Graham blocked a Rutgers’ punt and sophomore Da’Mon Merkerson recovered it in the endzone for a touchdown. It was the first blocked punt for Syracuse since 2005 at Pittsburgh (Anthony Smith blocked a punt and it was returned for a touchdown by Reggie McCoy).
The following week at home against Connecticut, the special teams sparked the Orange once again. On fourth down inside the Connecticut 10-yard line, sophomore Max Suter came free and blocked the Huskies’ punt. Classmate Parker Cantey jumped on the loose ball in the endzone for the score.
Shadle a Semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award
Senior Patrick Shadle is a semifinalist for the 2008 Lou Groza Award, marking the second time he has earned the honor (2006). The Groza Award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I college place-kicker as determined by a national voting panel comprised of all Division I head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters from across the country, conference officials, various NFL kickers, and all previous Groza Award finalists. The Morgantown, W.Va. native holds the SU record for field goal accuracy of 80.1 percent, which is 12th among active kickers in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly 1-A).
Shadle’s 38 career field goals rank seventh on the Syracuse career record list and his 65 PATs are eighth-best in the Syracuse record books. Shadle has recorded 191 career points, 13th-most in Orange history. In the BIG EAST, Shadle is fourth in field goals per game (1.20), third in field goal percentage (85.7) and fourth in kick scoring (5.7 ppg).
Listen to the Game
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse football team travels to South Bend, Ind. to take on Notre Dame on Saturday, November 22, at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast to a national audience on NBC with Tom Hammond and Pat Hayden calling the action. Matt Park and Chris Gedney will call the game on the Syracuse ISP Sports Network. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on Orange All-Access.
Brinkley-Brown Connection
The Orange looks to add to its rich tradition in one of college football’s most storied venues, Notre Dame Stadium, on Saturday, November 22. With only two games remaining in his Syracuse career, senior running back Curtis Brinkley is 63 career rushing yards behind SU legend Jim Brown on the school’s all-time record list.
Last week against Connecticut, Brinkley rushed for 94 yards on 21 carries, becoming the eighth different player in Syracuse history to record 1,000 rushing yards in a season (1,060 total). In that same game, Brinkley etched his name in the SU annals as the 17th most prolific runner with 2,028 total rushing yards (461 carries, 4.4 yards per rush).
Brinkley has the opportunity to move past the legendary Brown on the career rushing list, fittingly, in a place where so many other players have made the game of college football what it is today. Brown, who played from 1954-56, recorded 2,091 total rushing yards and currently ranks 15th on the Orange record list.
The Philadelphia, Pa. native has already totaled six 100-yard games this season and could tie Brown’s record of seven 100-yard rushing games in a season on Saturday. Brinkley is one of two backs in the BIG EAST to have six 100-yard games and ranks 19th nationally in rushing with 106.0 yards per game. Brinkley’s average of 106.0 rushing yards per game is presently seventh on Syracuse’s single-season record list.
The Fighting Irish defense has allowed 136.7 yards rushing per game this season, while the Syracuse ground attack is averaging 146.2 yards per contest.
The Series
Saturday’s contest marks the sixth time these two programs have met. The Fighting Irish holds a 3-2 series advantage. Syracuse’s last victory against Notre Dame came in 2003 – a 38-12 win in the Carrier Dome. The first year the two distinguished programs were pitted against each other was in 1914 at Archbold Stadium. It wasn’t until 47 years later that the two teams met again at Notre Dame Stadium in 1961. The Orange earned its first win in the series at Yankee Stadium in 1963, 14-7, against Frank Leahy’s team. It has been three years since the Orange and Fighting Irish faced each other on the gridiron. Notre Dame defeated Syracuse 34-10 in 2005 in South Bend, Ind.
Special Teams’ Touchdowns
Two weeks ago at Rutgers, freshman defensive back Dorian Graham blocked a Rutgers’ punt and sophomore Da’Mon Merkerson recovered it in the endzone for a touchdown. It was the first blocked punt for Syracuse since 2005 at Pittsburgh (Anthony Smith blocked a punt and it was returned for a touchdown by Reggie McCoy).
The following week at home against Connecticut, the special teams sparked the Orange once again. On fourth down inside the Connecticut 10-yard line, sophomore Max Suter came free and blocked the Huskies’ punt. Classmate Parker Cantey jumped on the loose ball in the endzone for the score.
Shadle a Semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award
Senior Patrick Shadle is a semifinalist for the 2008 Lou Groza Award, marking the second time he has earned the honor (2006). The Groza Award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I college place-kicker as determined by a national voting panel comprised of all Division I head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters from across the country, conference officials, various NFL kickers, and all previous Groza Award finalists. The Morgantown, W.Va. native holds the SU record for field goal accuracy of 80.1 percent, which is 12th among active kickers in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly 1-A).
Shadle’s 38 career field goals rank seventh on the Syracuse career record list and his 65 PATs are eighth-best in the Syracuse record books. Shadle has recorded 191 career points, 13th-most in Orange history. In the BIG EAST, Shadle is fourth in field goals per game (1.20), third in field goal percentage (85.7) and fourth in kick scoring (5.7 ppg).
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