Orange Have History on Their Side
9/20/2020 1:57:00 PM | Football
Fortunately for the Syracuse University football team, history has this funny way of repeating itself.
The Orange are 0-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after losses at No. 18 North Carolina and No. 25 Pittsburgh. While an 0-2 start is not what the Orange had hoped, their season is far from over.
A quick history lesson:
• In 2013, the last time the Orange started 0-2, Syracuse opened with losses to Penn State (at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey) and at Northwestern. But the Orange rebounded to finish to finish 7-6 with a 21-17 win over Minnesota in the Texas Bowl.
• In 2012, Syracuse opened with losses at Northwestern and to USC at MetLife Stadium. But the Orange bounced back to finish 8-5 with a convincing 38-14 win over West Virginia in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
• In 2001, the last time Syracuse faced two top-25 teams to open the season, the Orange lost to No. 10 Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic at MetLife Stadium (then called Giants Stadium) and at No. 8 Tennessee. The Orange lost only one more game the rest of the season (to No. 1 Miami) and throttled Kansas State 26-3 in the Insight.com Bowl to finish 10-3.
So, in this most unusual of seasons because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Orange need to only look at their own record book to see that a lot can change from week two until the end of the season.
"There's no doubt we can clean this thing up and we're going to clean it up," said head coach Dino Babers, who led the Orange to a 10-3 record and Camping World Bowl win over West Virginia in 2018. "You'd like to think that if we can get something going on offense and special teams, that we're going to have a defense that we can really be proud of when the smoke all clears."
The Orange will be energized by a return to a renovated home for three consecutive games against Georgia Tech next Saturday, Duke on Oct. 10, and Liberty on Oct. 17 (Oct. 3 is an off week). Georgia Tech won at Florida State, 16-13, in its opener before losing at No. 14 Central Florida, 49-21, on Saturday.
Duke is 0-2 with ACC losses to No. 7 Notre Dame and Boston College, while Liberty is an FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) school that will play its first game next week against Florida International.
"We've got to take it one game at a time," Orange linebacker Mikel Jones said, "and next week we have to start winning."
Led by Jones, the Orange's new defense was outstanding in the first two games of the season. Syracuse's defense has recorded four takeaways, with Jones responsible for three of them (two interceptions and a fumble recovery). Preseason All-America safety Andre Cisco also has an interception, the 13th of his career (the most among active FBS players and fourth on Syracuse's all-time list).
Against North Carolina, the Orange trailed only 10-6 after three quarters. And against Pittsburgh, Syracuse's defense kept the score close despite the Panthers' 80-58 edge in number of plays.
"When you start looking at how many plays (North Carolina and Pittsburgh ran), our defense has just been playing outstanding," Babers said. "If you cut off the fourth quarter where when you start adding up how long they've been out there – and they've probably been out there too doggone long – their first six quarters of football have been outstanding against two really strong opponents.
"It might be some of the best defensive football I've seen since I've been here," Babers added.
Jones, a sophomore from Miami, said the defense wasn't happy about North Carolina's 21-point fourth quarter and was determined to "finish the game" against the Panthers. He said the best is yet to come for this group.
"I love playing in this defense and everybody around me loves playing in this defense and I feel we're all on the same page," Jones said. "I feel like these first two games we played pretty good, but I feel like we can play much, much better than what we saw as a defense."
Offensively on Saturday, the Orange scored their first touchdown of the season when backup quarterback Rex Culpepper entered the game in the second quarter and connected with wide receiver Taj Harris on a beautiful 69-yard score to give the Orange a 10-3 lead. Harris snared Culpepper's pass along the sideline in stride and danced away from a lunging Pitt defender and raced the final 20 yards into the end zone.
"Obviously, it was something that we needed," Babers said. "It was the first touchdown of 2020 and it was a big load off of everybody's shoulders and I wish we could have got a couple more."
Babers remains confident the offense will hit its stride and when it does – along with the stellar defense – the Orange can join that list of 0-2 teams that ended up in bowl games.
"What we need to do," Babers said, "is we've got to have faith."
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The Orange are 0-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after losses at No. 18 North Carolina and No. 25 Pittsburgh. While an 0-2 start is not what the Orange had hoped, their season is far from over.
A quick history lesson:
• In 2013, the last time the Orange started 0-2, Syracuse opened with losses to Penn State (at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey) and at Northwestern. But the Orange rebounded to finish to finish 7-6 with a 21-17 win over Minnesota in the Texas Bowl.
• In 2012, Syracuse opened with losses at Northwestern and to USC at MetLife Stadium. But the Orange bounced back to finish 8-5 with a convincing 38-14 win over West Virginia in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
• In 2001, the last time Syracuse faced two top-25 teams to open the season, the Orange lost to No. 10 Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic at MetLife Stadium (then called Giants Stadium) and at No. 8 Tennessee. The Orange lost only one more game the rest of the season (to No. 1 Miami) and throttled Kansas State 26-3 in the Insight.com Bowl to finish 10-3.
So, in this most unusual of seasons because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Orange need to only look at their own record book to see that a lot can change from week two until the end of the season.
"There's no doubt we can clean this thing up and we're going to clean it up," said head coach Dino Babers, who led the Orange to a 10-3 record and Camping World Bowl win over West Virginia in 2018. "You'd like to think that if we can get something going on offense and special teams, that we're going to have a defense that we can really be proud of when the smoke all clears."
The Orange will be energized by a return to a renovated home for three consecutive games against Georgia Tech next Saturday, Duke on Oct. 10, and Liberty on Oct. 17 (Oct. 3 is an off week). Georgia Tech won at Florida State, 16-13, in its opener before losing at No. 14 Central Florida, 49-21, on Saturday.
Duke is 0-2 with ACC losses to No. 7 Notre Dame and Boston College, while Liberty is an FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) school that will play its first game next week against Florida International.
"We've got to take it one game at a time," Orange linebacker Mikel Jones said, "and next week we have to start winning."
Led by Jones, the Orange's new defense was outstanding in the first two games of the season. Syracuse's defense has recorded four takeaways, with Jones responsible for three of them (two interceptions and a fumble recovery). Preseason All-America safety Andre Cisco also has an interception, the 13th of his career (the most among active FBS players and fourth on Syracuse's all-time list).
Against North Carolina, the Orange trailed only 10-6 after three quarters. And against Pittsburgh, Syracuse's defense kept the score close despite the Panthers' 80-58 edge in number of plays.
"When you start looking at how many plays (North Carolina and Pittsburgh ran), our defense has just been playing outstanding," Babers said. "If you cut off the fourth quarter where when you start adding up how long they've been out there – and they've probably been out there too doggone long – their first six quarters of football have been outstanding against two really strong opponents.
"It might be some of the best defensive football I've seen since I've been here," Babers added.
Jones, a sophomore from Miami, said the defense wasn't happy about North Carolina's 21-point fourth quarter and was determined to "finish the game" against the Panthers. He said the best is yet to come for this group.
"I love playing in this defense and everybody around me loves playing in this defense and I feel we're all on the same page," Jones said. "I feel like these first two games we played pretty good, but I feel like we can play much, much better than what we saw as a defense."
Offensively on Saturday, the Orange scored their first touchdown of the season when backup quarterback Rex Culpepper entered the game in the second quarter and connected with wide receiver Taj Harris on a beautiful 69-yard score to give the Orange a 10-3 lead. Harris snared Culpepper's pass along the sideline in stride and danced away from a lunging Pitt defender and raced the final 20 yards into the end zone.
"Obviously, it was something that we needed," Babers said. "It was the first touchdown of 2020 and it was a big load off of everybody's shoulders and I wish we could have got a couple more."
Babers remains confident the offense will hit its stride and when it does – along with the stellar defense – the Orange can join that list of 0-2 teams that ended up in bowl games.
"What we need to do," Babers said, "is we've got to have faith."
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