Some of the greatest athletes to wear the Orange have played in the Carrier Dome since the building opened in September of 1980. These remarkable student-athletes have provided many memorable moments that will forever remain in the minds of SU fans.
Defining Moments in Carrier Dome History
By David Salati
Throughout the first 25 years of the Carrier Dome, there have been many heart filled and breathtaking moments under the bubble. The building located in the heart of Syracuse’s campus has hosted millions of fans, thousands of student-athletes and hundreds of coaches and administrators. The memories created in the Dome will last a lifetime. For retired Syracuse Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel, Orange men’s lacrosse coach
John Desko, and former SU football coach Dick MacPherson, it is difficult to recall every moment, but the special moments distinguish themselves in the minds of three of the men who were affiliated with the Dome since its construction in 1980.
“There are so many great games and so many endings to great games,” Crouthamel said. “Any close game, even regardless of the opponent, is a great moment, as long as you won. I think it is easier to probably remember the losses at the end of those games because, fortunately, there are not a whole of those.”
When pressed for one single game to put at the top of his list, however, Crouthamel said it might be one from Syracuse’s unforgettable and magical 1987 football season.
“The one game, if there was to be one game that I can recall that defined our season was 1987 when we went undefeated and had to beat West Virginia on the last play of the game to advance to the Sugar Bowl,” he said. “I mean that was a defining game. I do not know that there was any other contest that important to defining a season. The others have just been great games.”
Desko echoed Crouthamel’s sentiment about the number of outstanding games played in the Dome. His reflections come from the coaching perspective.
“Well there are a lot of games where we have come from behind and won,” Desko said. “Winning a championship in the Dome was certainly huge. There were games like the one against John Hopkins where we won the game by one in front of a record crowd just shy of 20,000. Some of moves that the Powell brothers and the Gait brothers made, including the ball trick and things like jumping over the goal, were certainly momentous.”
MacPherson’s recollections focus on the magical 1987 season.
“From the fan standpoint, the first big win over Nebraska in 1984 (undefeated at the time), a 1987 win over Penn State, who we had not beaten in 17 years before that, and then the one of high significance to go 11-0 was the West Virginia game in 1987. As you go around you will hear people say that Nebraska was my favorite, others will say Penn State was my favorite, and then the true fan will never forget the West Virginia win.
“From my own coaching standpoint, the 1984 win over Nebraska gave us some credibility, particularly when we were not doing that well. The game that we has had against Penn State made us into something. Then people in 1987 knew that the Syracuse Orangemen were for real and that quarterback Donnie McPherson was for real. The great 11-0 season and going to the Sugar Bowl established the program that Syracuse was back like it had been in the past.”
List of Carrier Dome Events for the Month of August
1 - Empire State Games, 1983; Empire State Games, 1987; Empire State Games, 2002
2 – Empire State Games, 1987; Empire State Games, 1990, Empire State Games, 2002
3 – Empire State Games, 1990; Empire State Games, 2002
4 – Empire State Games, 1988; Empire State Games, 1990; Empire State Games, 2002
5 – Empire State Games, 1988
6 – Empire State Games, 1988
7 – Empire State Games, 1988
8 – Empire State Games, 1984
9 – No Events
10 – ESF Ecology Conference, 1986
11 – No Events
12 – Empire State Games, 1981; Empire State Games, 1982; National Junior Olympics, 1987
13 – National Junior Olympics, 1987
14 – National Junior Olympics, 1987
15 – National Junior Olympics, 1987
16 – No Events
17 – No Events
18 – No Events
19 – No Events
20 – SU football scrimmage, 1983
21 – Ernie Davis Fund scrimmage and dinner, 1990
22 – Fall Convocations, 1997
23 – NFL exhibition game featuring the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints, 1981; SU football scrimmage, 1984
24 – Chancellor’s Convocation, 1991
25 – SU football scrimmage, 1984; Chancellor’s Convocation/New Student Picnic, 1995
26 – Playfair Orientation, 1990
27 – Ernie Davis Fund scrimmage and dinner, 1987; Ernie Davis Fund scrimmage and dinner, 1992
28 – SU football scrimmage, 1994; New Student Orientation, 2004
29 – SU men's soccer team opened the season with a 5-1 win over Oneonta in front of 1,295 fans, 1990
30 – In the first ever overtime game in SU football history, the Orange fell short to North Carolina State, 32-31, 1997
31 – Chancellor’s Convocation, 1984
