What we learned from Syracuse’s win over Clemson
Could ‘Cuse go to a bowl game?
'Cuse history was made Friday night when the Orange beat the Clemson Tigers in a 27-24 victory. Clemson, ranked number two in the country, won the National Title last year, their first since the 1980's. But why is this victory so big for Syracuse? Here's the run down.
There was once a time when the Orange was the best football team in America — back in 1959. For 58 years, Syracuse has been a sub par team, only achieving five conference titles since the '50s, the latest being in 2013. That same year, Cuse beat Minnesota 21-17 in the Texas Bowl at Reliant Stadium in Houston, under Coach Scott Schaffer. He would remain with the team one more season until the end of the upsetting 2014 season.
In the four years between then and now football for the snowy, upstate city has been nothing but bleak. They were plagued with losses so brutal fans and students wouldn't waste their time going to the game, but tailgated to no end.
Shotgunning and pounds of liquor was usually the only way to get through those chilly football Saturdays. But that all changed last year when Dino Babers became the Orange Head Coach. With an impressive resume, the new Athletic Director, John Wildhack (yes, the former ESPN executive) was able to secure a job for Babers.
With a slow first season, 'Cuse was still impressed with his season and welcomed Babers back for year two. With a 3-3 record, no one expected Friday's night outcome. In fact, everyone was so sure Syracuse was going down that the spread was 22.5 in favor of Clemson…obviously. So here's whats good for the future:
Miami
On Saturday, Syracuse plays undefeated Miami who just had an impressive game against Georgia Tech, winning in the last minute of the game. The struggle won't be playing an undefeated team as Clemson was also undefeated, but dealing with the heat and humidity of Miami.
Pinstripe bowl?
Syracuse needs to win two more games. If they beat Miami, their chances will increase even more as they are potentially the hardest team left on the schedule. If they win those two games, we can see the boys back at Yankee Stadium playing a Big 10 school in the Pinstripe Bowl.
The only thing comparable to the win was Twitter's reactions: here are some of my favorites:
Cheers to a good game, crossing my fingers for another.