Excitement Builds for Home Opener
9/21/2020 5:06:00 PM | Football
Saturday marks the first home game of the 2020 Syracuse football season when the Orange host Georgia Tech at Noon on ACC Regional Sports Networks. Things will look different in the new stadium experience when Syracuse takes the field Saturday. Despite a near-empty arena due to no fans in attendance because of the precautions for the COVID-19 pandemic, head coach Dino Babers and his team are excited to be home.
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"I haven't had an opportunity to be in there since the last time we've been in there and everyone tells me that it's going really well," Babers said of the renovations during his Monday morning press conference.
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"We are really excited," Babers added. "We are planning to go down there Thursday morning early for a practice to let the freshmen and the upperclassmen see it because we don't want them to walk in Saturday for the very first time. It is like they are walking into a new venue and it's supposed to be their home field. So, we are going to go in there and hopefully practice Thursday morning bright and early to get the throw game, the receivers, the punt returners, the kickers in there so they can see the different lighting. I am going to be excited to see it."
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Syracuse will debut $118 million in renovations to the stadium, including a new roof, center-hung scoreboard, upgraded lighting and sound and turf field. It is the latest home opener in the building's history and latest for the Orange since hosting Kansas on Sept. 26, 1970. Syracuse is 91-33-4 in home openers, excluding the 1979 season when Syracuse played all its games on the road while the Carrier Dome was constructed. Syracuse has won six of its last seven home openers including, three of the last four under Babers' leadership.
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Syracuse began the 2020 campaign with back-to-back road losses against nationally-ranked opponents for the first time since 2001 when the Orange lost to No. 10 Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic at MetLife Stadium (then known as Giants Stadium) and No. 8 Tennessee. Syracuse turned things around that year losing just one game, to No. 1 Miami, the remainder of the season and beating Kansas State 26-3 in the Insight.com Bowl to finish the season 10-3.
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"I haven't had an opportunity to be in there since the last time we've been in there and everyone tells me that it's going really well," Babers said of the renovations during his Monday morning press conference.
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"We are really excited," Babers added. "We are planning to go down there Thursday morning early for a practice to let the freshmen and the upperclassmen see it because we don't want them to walk in Saturday for the very first time. It is like they are walking into a new venue and it's supposed to be their home field. So, we are going to go in there and hopefully practice Thursday morning bright and early to get the throw game, the receivers, the punt returners, the kickers in there so they can see the different lighting. I am going to be excited to see it."
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Syracuse will debut $118 million in renovations to the stadium, including a new roof, center-hung scoreboard, upgraded lighting and sound and turf field. It is the latest home opener in the building's history and latest for the Orange since hosting Kansas on Sept. 26, 1970. Syracuse is 91-33-4 in home openers, excluding the 1979 season when Syracuse played all its games on the road while the Carrier Dome was constructed. Syracuse has won six of its last seven home openers including, three of the last four under Babers' leadership.
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Syracuse began the 2020 campaign with back-to-back road losses against nationally-ranked opponents for the first time since 2001 when the Orange lost to No. 10 Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic at MetLife Stadium (then known as Giants Stadium) and No. 8 Tennessee. Syracuse turned things around that year losing just one game, to No. 1 Miami, the remainder of the season and beating Kansas State 26-3 in the Insight.com Bowl to finish the season 10-3.
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