Orange Focus Turns to Washington

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The 2007 football training camp came to a close Wednesday. The Orange men will now turn their attention to preparation for the season-opener against Washington on August 31 (8:00 p.m., ESPN). Click here to buy tickets or call the Carrier Dome Box Office (1-888-DOMETIX).

"We begin our preparation tomorrow for Washington," said head coach Greg Robinson. "I have liked what we have done. It has been a long process from way back in January to right now. I have been pleased with the way we have worked and I'm pleased with the development with a lot of people. Now it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty."

The Orange open up the season on a Friday – the first Friday game since Connecticut in 2005 – but Robinson is not concerned with the day-early contest.

"It's at home, at night and I think we'll be prepared," Robinson said. "All-and-all I don't know that teams struggle much with playing on Friday night. In the regular season it makes for a shorter week, but you are gaining a day the other way. So there is two ways of looking at it. It's part of the game. It's no different than in pro football – you have Monday night games and periodically you have a Thursday night game. You adjust and make it work."

Who will represent the team as the coin flip against Washington is yet to be determined. With so many quality leaders to choose from, Robinson allows his student-athletes to determine the captains.

"There is a lot of leadership on this team – there really is," Robinson said. "I'm not really certain how I'm going to handle it. One year I did it where I had two captains and then I had a weekly captain. Last year we had four captains for the year. I'm going to wait and see how things come out, but we've had outstanding leadership. It isn't just seniors. There's leadership from a lot of different people. I think this group has something about them and I think it's because of good leadership."

Syracuse University Athletics

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