Samurai Snippets, Week 9: Syracuse

The Good

Defense: Still Pretty Good. Our D played hard, only giving up 13 points, and frankly most of Syracuse's production came when our defense was pretty worn down just by virtue of being out on the field so darn much.

Sherman Ragland III: Next Man Up. Sherman Ragland III turned in a Campanaro-esque  stat line of 10 catches for 91 yards.  No one will be able to replace Michael Campanaro, but I have to give credit to The Third for stepping up in his own right and at least trying to do things.  Good on ya.

Josh Harris Should've Gotten More Touches. 9 carries for 47 yards, which gives him a 5.2 YPC.  I don't know why J-Roc didn't get more touches, especially after Camp went down.

Kinal Is King. 12 punts!  We comin' for that record!

The Bad

The Offense.  All Of It. Barely over 200 yards.  4-18 on third down.  A turnover.  No time for Tanner.  Terrible throws.  Missed catches for TD's.  Drops.  Terrible calls.  Everything about the offense today just hurt my soul.

Camp Down. Now to be fair, we don't know the extent of it yet, but Michael Campanaro went down with some manner of collarbone injury, and frankly I'm expecting the worst.  The bottom line is we may have seen the end of Camp's career in a Wake uniform.  I pray this isn't the case, but it's possible.  If so, thank you, Michael Campanaro.  Seriously.  You are a warrior and a hell of a football player, and if there's any justice in the world, you'll recover fully, get drafted, and go on to have a baller career on Sundays.

No Fire. Now, the defense made some big plays and played hard, but I didn't get the same feeling of will that I had been getting the past few games, and don't even get me started on the offense today.  The entire team came out pretty damn flat and stayed that way.

The Funny

The ref apparently either having trouble with his microphone, getting confused on calls, or some of both never failed to amuse me on this one.  Actually, maybe it was a style choice.  Maybe he's a classically trained Shakespearean actor.  Come to think of it, that's what I'm gonna go with.

The Bottom Line

Our bowl hopes are on life support, and if Camp's injury is as bad as it appears, it might seriously be time to consider pulling the plug.  I don't want to give up on this team, but it might be best, especially if they give up on themselves.  Ah well, I have love for them no matter what.  No matter where we end up, this is a group I'll forever have some fondness for.  On to the next.  Go Deacs.

--SF