Granted the Orange did make it to the 1999 Orange Bowl in McNabb's last season with Syracuse, only to be stomped...errrr chomped...by the Florida Gators. From that point forward Paul Pasqualoni led the Orange to only 1 more season with more than 7 wins. That one season was 2001 when the Orange magically won 10 games and the Insight Bowl, ironically over Kansas State. So the Pasqualoni years ended with an embarrassing 51-14 loss to Georgia Tech in the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl.
Then came the time we don't speak of. The Greg Robinson Era. God, even saying those words makes me want to dig a hole and wait for the New Year. The...lets just call them the Bad Times...included 4 seasons with not one, NOT ONE, having more than 4 wins. The Bad Times included no bowl games, no 4 or 5 star recruits, and, worst of all, no winning.
Then came the greatest news an Orange fan could hear. Doug Marrone is the new Head Football Coach of the Syracuse Orange. The Bad Times were finally over. Marrone brought with him hope of change and a newly focused team. Marrone's inaugural year was fairly Robinsonesque resulting in only 4 wins. Then came the year. The year that started the resurgence of Syracuse football. The 2010 season brought with it 7 wins and the first bowl birth for Syracuse since 2004. And who better to play that bowl game against than good ol' Kansas State. The Orange, led by Ryan Nassib's superior day, won 36-34 in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. The win, however, meant so much more than a banner in the rafters of the Carrier Dome. It meant we were back. The Orangemen (now the Orange) were back. The year after was a bit of a stumble after the Orange stormed out of the gates to a 5-2 start to the season, they lost 5 straight to miss bowl eligibility by 1 game. 2012 reminded us why Marrone was a reason for hope. He led the Orange to a 7-5 record and a share of the Big East title in Syracuse's last season in the conference. Then came the Pinstripe Bowl 2.0. The bowl game that pitted Syracuse against the former Heisman candidate, Geno Smith, and the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Marrone led Orange routed West Virginia 38-10 and made Geno Smith look like...well like he has with the Jets...GOD AWFUL. With its 2nd Bowl win in 3 years, it really seemed like Syracuse was back on the track to national relevance. Then our savior left.
When Doug Marrone decided to leave 'Cuse for the Buffalo Bills, the feeling around the suddenly revitalized program turned to more like, Oh Sh*t. But then came the hardnosed, workaholic, players coach named Scott Shafer. And here we are. One year into Shafer's tenure and we're bowling once again. Shafer's reaction after the BC game pretty much summed it up. He is very proud of this team and there is much more to come. So my point is that although Mr. Marrone may have gotten us there a bit faster, Syracuse is on the right track. And if we can beat Minnesota in Houston this week it will be our 3rd bowl win in 4 years. I mean come on you have to be impressed with Shafer's first year. 6 wins, in a better conference, against better non-conference teams, and with a quarterback that throws less often then that Pope says "I think I'll be Jewish today." SO what I'm saying is that Syracuse is back, we're not all the way back, but we are back. And it is time that we rallied around this team and showed the rest of the nation that Orange Football is HARDNOSED FOOTBALL.
--Ron
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