Babers Named George Munger Award Semifinalist
11/21/2018 3:26:00 PM | Football
PHILADELPHIA – Syracuse head football coach Dino Babers was named a semifinalist for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award on Wednesday, Nov. 21.
Babers is one of 18 coaches in contention for the award, which is presented by the Maxwell Football Club.
The Orange are in the midst of a breakthrough season in Babers' third year at the helm. After going 4-8 in 2017, Syracuse is 8-3 overall and 5-2 in ACC play heading into Saturday's regular-season finale at Boston College. Syracuse is currently second in the ACC Atlantic Division after being picked to finish last on its side of the conference in the preseason. Of the Orange's three losses, two are to teams currently in the top four of the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings – Clemson and Notre Dame.
Babers has guided the Orange to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2013, and Syracuse attained its first top-25 ranking in 17 years last month. The Orange broke into the Associated Press Top 25 and Amway Coaches' Poll on Oct. 28, rising as high as No. 12 last week. Currently, the Orange are No. 19 in both polls and have an opportunity to finish the season in the top 25 for the first time since 2001.
In addition, Syracuse has appeared all four editions of the CFP rankings. The Orange are No. 20 in the committee's most recent poll.
Syracuse boasts one of the most opportunistic defenses and complete special teams units in the country. The Orange are in the top 10 nationally in third-down defense (5th - .274), fumbles recovered (10th - 11), kickoff return defense (4th - 15.3), interceptions (9th - 15), turnover margin (8th - +1.0) and turnovers gained (3rd - 26). In ESPN's special teams efficiency ratings, Syracuse is tied for third nationally and ranks No. 1 among Power-Five teams with mark of 68.5.
Offensively, Syracuse is second in the ACC in both scoring offense (40.6) and total offense (459.6). The Orange have scored at least 50 points in a game a school-record five times, and have scored 40+ in seven of their 11 games.
Voting for the Munger Award begins on Monday, Nov. 26 and closes Monday, Dec. 10. The finalist round will include the top three coaches as selected in the semifinalist round. Finalist voting will open Dec. 11 and run until Dec. 27. The winner will be announced on Dec. 28. Eligible voters include Maxwell Football Club members, NCAA head football coaches, sports information directors and select national media.
The formal presentation of the award will take place at the Maxwell Football Club's National Awards Gala on Friday, March 8 at the Tropicana Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.
2018 George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Semifinalists
Dino Babers, Syracuse
Bill Clark, UAB
Butch Davis, FIU
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Josh Heupel, UCF
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Mike Leach, Washington State
Lance Leipold, Buffalo
Jeff Monken, Army West Point
Ed Orgeron, LSU
Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Nick Saban, Alabama
Kirby Smart, Georgia
Mark Stoops, Kentucky
Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Matt Wells, Utah State
Kyle Whittingham, Utah
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