Awards, awards, awards

When you win a game like that, you deserve some awards. So let's give the people what they want.

Syracuse.com

MVP - Max Suter
This is a tough one. It could go to Delone Carter for his 105-yard performance. Ryan Nassib had a miserable three quarters, but he did lead the team on the game winning touchdown drive. Or how about Antwon Bailey who racked up 81 yards on just nine carries and was the lone spark for the offense for most of the game? But this one has to go to a defensive player, and no one stood out quite as much as Suter in Tampa. The safety piled up a team-high eight tackles, including a big sack on a safety blitz. He also recorded three tackles for loss and chased B.J. Daniels out of the pocket on multiple occasions. Cast your vote in the poll at the left for who you think the MVP was Saturday.

Best offensive player - Antwon Bailey
Already touched on briefly above, but Bailey made the Syracuse offense tick on Saturday. He finally got the touches he deserves, and took advantage of them to rack up 129 all-purpose yards on nine carries and three receptions. When Bailey gets the ball, the offense moves forward. Hopefully Doug Marrone and Co. have finally learned that lesson.



Most surprising performance - Da'Mon Merkerson
I've been on Merkerson all season, like most SU fans, but the senior corner was a rock on Saturday. He not only pulled in a big interception on the opening drive, he pretty much played shutdown defense throughout. He made one mistake on a short pass interference call, but was a major part of a great day from the secondary, limiting USF to just 124 yards on 9-23 passing.

Best redeeming yourself performance - Ryan Nassib
Nassib looked absolutely horrible for much of this game. He threw passes behind receivers on third down. He overthrew wide open receivers over the middle of the field. He just looked off. But then, young Nassib showed off all that promise in engineering the most important drive for SU in the last six years. We always judge quarterbacks on winning, and Nassib did enough to win on Saturday.

Best coach who's definitely leaving after the season - Scott Shafer
Is there any doubt Scott Shafer is going to be a head coach somewhere next season? The defense he inherited at Syracuse was a perennial cellar dweller in nearly every statistical category. Now, the Orange is 3rd in the Big East in points allowed, 3rd in the conference in yards allowed, 2nd in passing defense and 2nd in third down conversions allowed. Against its first Big East foe of the season, the Orange defense held the Bulls to just 219 yards of offense and just three points - not counting the kickoff return for a TD (Bob Casullo will be leaving too, but for different reasons).