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| A banner year for the Orange |
For a blog devoted to Syracuse Athletics, 2012-2013 was one of those years where you look back at it with a big smile on your face. Here at Orange::44, we focus mainly on football, men's basketball, and men's lacrosse -- the "Big 3" -- the money-makers for the Department. Over the life of this blog, each of those sports teams has had some dark days: the Greg Robinson Era, the NIT years, and lacrosse not making the tournament. So for a year like this to come along, where each of those sports saw great success, well, it makes being a fan a pleasure.
Football
The 2012 football season seems so long ago now, doesn't it? We're nearly nine months removed from the start of the season, and five months removed from the bowl game; and the 2013 season begins in three months. When it all started, did anyone realistically think the team would win the Big East? Have a winning season? Make it to a bowl game? Be Doug Marrone's final season? It was a surprisingly successful football season. The team had marquee wins over Pittsburgh, UConn, Louisville, Missouri, and South Florida. Ryan Nassib became one of the most successful quarterbacks in Syracuse history. After finishing with a respectable 7-5 regular season record and a share of the Big East title, Syracuse was invited to the Pinstripe Bowl to face West Virginia, a school who had just completed its first season in the Big 12 after competing for several years alongside Syracuse in the Big East. The annual battle for the Schwartzwalder Trophy had ended, but the Orange once again found itself lined up against the Mountaineers. Syracuse dominated at Yankee Stadium and brought the George Steinbrenner trophy back to Central New York once again.
Offensive lineman Justin Pugh gave up his final year of eligibility, entered the NFL draft, and was selected in the first round by the New York Giants. Joining him in the Meadowlands is Ryan Nassib, who was drafted much later than expected by the pre-draft hype. Shamarko Thomas also heard his name called on draft weekend.
Losing all that talent, what was Doug Marrone to do for next year? Sadly for the Orange, the answer was "Become the Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills." That news broke just a week after the Pinstripe Bowl victory. Reaction among Orange faithful was mixed; while most were happy for him being able to reach the pinnacle of one's coaching career and realize a life-long dream, fans were left feeling betrayed as Marrone took most of his Orange coaching staff down the thruway to Buffalo. Thankfully, he left Scott Shaffer behind, who Athletics Director Dr. Daryl Gross named the new Head Coach. So far he's said and done all the right things, and has done his best to put together a good recruiting class and maintain continuity within the program for the existing players, as the team heads into its first season in the ACC. I think it's fair to say we're all cautiously optimistic for this coming season and for years to come.
Men's Basketball
Oh Jim Boeheim, you old curmudgeon, you. But you're our curmudgeon, and we love you. As you may recall, the season started with a stabbing at Midnight Madness. The first game was on the deck of an aircraft carrier in San Diego. Jim Boeheim reached win #900, and shortly thereafter passed Bob Knight for second on the all-time wins list. There were a couple bumps in the road as the season trudged on, but this team was looking really good going into the first part of February. Hell, they had even traveled to Louisville, the number one team at the time, and beat them! But shortly into February, things started going badly. And then the ball wouldn't go in the hoop. We all remember that horrible February stretch. Georgetown visited the Carrier Dome in late February for one last Dome tilt as Big East foes, and beat the Orange in front of the largest Carrier Dome crowd in history. A week later, Louisville came in and avenged the earlier loss. The following week, Syracuse closed out the regular season by traveling to Georgetown, played one of the worst games in recent history, and got beat by the Hoyas. At that point, most people were writing off this Orange squad for a quick Big East Tournament exit and likely an embarrassing first round NCAA exit to an inferior team.
But our favorite curmudgeon still liked his team. He got them ready to compete in New York for the Orange's final Big East Tournament. A win over Seton Hall, and then over Pittsburgh, set up one last chance to play Georgetown as Big East members. The only way fate could have done that better is to set that up as the Big East title game. But we settled for the semifinals. And as fate would have it, these longtime rivals couldn't settle the score in a regulation 40-minute game. It took an overtime period, but finally Syracuse was victorious over the Hoyas. Already exceeding most people's expectations, the championship for Syracuse would go through Louisville. Sadly, a monster first-half Orange lead quickly flipped to a Cardinals blowout, and Syracuse went home runner-up.
Confidence was returned to the vocabulary of Orange fans heading into the NCAA Tournament. Games against Montana and California in the Oakland pod earned Syracuse a spot in the Sweet 16, playing in the much easier to travel to Washington DC. But there, #1-seed Indiana loomed. Arguably the most prolific offense of the tournament, the Hoosiers were held by the Orange 2-3 zone defense, as Syracuse advanced to the Regional Final against familiar foe Marquette. The same Syracuse shut-down defense did its thing against the Golden Eagles, and somehow, after that crazy ride, Syracuse found itself with its ticket punched to the Final Four in Atlanta. Unfortunately the Michigan Wolverines were too much for the Orange, but you can't not all that a successful season!
Men's Lacrosse
It used to be that Syracuse was one of a few elite national lacrosse programs: the best recruits, season by season success, guaranteed Final Four berths, and 11 National Championships. But the sport of lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, and many more programs are competing at the elite level. Thus, the best recruits are more spread out, random teams may dominate from year to year, and Syracuse hadn't been to a Final Four since 2009. Coming off last year's disappointing season and first-round exit, there were a lot of questions surrounding the 2013 men's lacrosse team. Panic set in when the season opener was lost to Albany after two overtimes. Luckily, the Orange quickly righted the ship, with impressive wins over traditionally elite programs such as Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, and Cornell. Of course, of that group, only Cornell earned a Tournament bid. The season had a couple low points, namely the loss at Villanova, and the loss at home against Hobart. The team finished out the season strong, however, with a hard-fought win over Notre Dame in the Big City Classic, and then a mere five days later, another win over Notre Dame in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. By defeating Villanova in the Big East Championship, the Orange earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and along with that, impressed the selection committee enough to earn a #1-seed.
In the Tournament, the Orange kept drama high. Whether it was overcoming early deficits, or giving up a big lead only to find a way to win in the waning minute(s) of the game, Syracuse made its way to the Final Four in Philadelphia. A tight win over Denver in the Final Four brought Syracuse to the title game against Duke. While it looked like Syracuse would dominate early, Duke woke up at the same time Syracuse fell asleep, and cruised to an easy 16-10 victory. It wouldn't be a 12th title for Syracuse, but the seniors finally got to taste a Final Four (and probably some cheese steaks).
Final Thoughts
For these "Big 3" combined, we saw two Big East titles, one bowl victory, and two Final Fours. Aside from the "Big 3," the women's basketball team had arguably its best season in school history and made an NCAA appearance. The women's lacrosse team carried over last season's success, and repeated a trip to the Final Four as well. Other team and individual sports at Syracuse also enjoyed some of their best seasons in recent memory. Suffice to say, the Syracuse University Athletics Department is sitting pretty right now. That's a great position to be in heading into the ACC in one month. The sports have done their part to invigorate the fan base; now it's up to us, the fans, to step up and support these student athletes as best as we can!
And with that, it's hiatus time. Don't expect much in the way of updates on this site until August comes around and we start preparing for football. That Penn State game is, what, 92 days away? We'll of course be here if anything big happens in the meantime, including legal analysis if necessary. Overall this season we haven't had to do much in the way of lawdog posts, but if the situation arises, you know who to turn to. We sure hope to not have to do that! So hopefully, until August, have a great summer!
Labels: Summertime Is Easy, Year In Review
Even Santa cries about this season.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Holidays to all our loyal readers. The 2011 Syracuse football season was, overall, a disappointment. A losing season. No bowl game. Regression in many aspects of the game. After each game this season, Orange::44 has graded the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching. Now that the season is over, it's time for the final report card, to see the final averages for the team. Let's just say, this isn't something to take home to mom & dad, hang on the refrigerator, and get a bonus in your allowance or a special dinner at that fancy restaurant.
Offense
Season GPA: 1.693
I think the offense is the unit that regressed the most through the season. Led by quarterback Ryan Nassib, the offense started as a solid C unit. It was getting the job done, putting points on the board, winning games. It all peaked with that monster win over West Virginia. And then, well, the bottom fell out. The once-accurate Nassib was now badly missing his targets; receivers weren't getting open; the line couldn't hold open the pocket. It was bad. Antwon Bailey had a good season and will be known for being a small but strong runner who could make something out of nothing. But too often he was a non-factor in this offense; there were some games where his numbers were simply awful -- not because he didn't play well, but because he wasn't given the ball. Nassib will be returning for his senior year, and the young receiving corps will have a chance to shine next year, but there are a lot of questions to be solved between now and September. Does this offense have the ability to do well?
Defense
Season GPA: 1.803
It wasn't always pretty, but often times this defensive unit kept the team in the game. We'll put it on the offense as to whether a win resulted or not. Coming off a 2010 campaign where the defense was strong, veteran, and clearly the most dominant unit on the team, the 2011 version had younger players, and some key injuries. Most damaging was losing Chandler Jones after the Wake Forest game. He provided a nice spark for the line upon his return, and was constantly able to put pressure on opposing QBs. Jones also had the uncanny ability to be all over the field, following the ball and making stops. I'm too lazy to look up the stats, but he probably led the team in tackles. Maybe he should teach the rest of the defense how to tackle, because they were awful. Just awful. It was Greg Robinson Era tackling for many games. Pass coverage was soft too... as if we had seen that before in a prior administration. At any rate, a healthier, more experienced defense should help out this team next year. Especially if Chandler Jones sticks around. We need more interceptions from him like the one he got in Pittsburgh to close out the season.
Special Teams
Season GPA: 2.026
In many ways, this was not a typical season for the Syracuse special teams unit. Filling the boot of Rob Long proved to be an extremely difficult task. As a result, Syracuse gave up some yards on the field position game that hurt the defense. Field goals & extra points weren't the automatics we were generally used to. Toledo game, anyone? The one bright spot on this squad was the kick return unit. Led by Kobena & Graham, you could often times count on a nice run back and a good starting position for the offense. Again, whether the offense would do anything with it would be up to the offense.
Coaching
Season GPA: 1.803
We all expected more out of Doug Marrone and his staff. Sure, we had all gotten used to his conservative play-calling, but we weren't content with it. Especially when we saw him open up the playbook at the Pinstripe Bowl last year, we all thought, maybe, we'd see an exciting offense this year. Not so much. There was the occasional trickery, razzle-dazzle, whatever you wanna call it. Flea flickers, WR passes, a new name for the Wildcat. But that was all pretty rare. Outside of the play-calling, coaching disappointed me with the lack of discipline on this team. False starts, holding, personal fouls. Sure, those things are done by the players, but the leadership, the discipline, the preparation, they all come from the coaching staff. You take a look at some of the boneheaded things that happened at the last home game against Cincinnati, or the season finale at Pittsburgh; those were the actions of a team in week 1 or 2, not week 12. We saw some players face suspensions for "violating team rules," and you have to wonder what was going on in that locker room. Was there a lot of in-fighting? A mutiny? This doesn't seem like Doug Marrone's team. Not the Doug Marrone who cleaned house when he was hired, getting players off the team who weren't willing to buy into his work ethic and his way of doing things. I don't know what it is. That's a coaching issue, a team issue, that Marrone needs to regain in the off season. Otherwise, all the talent in the world isn't going to win a game on the field next season.
Overall
Season GPA: 1.831 (C/C-)
You crunch the numbers and you end up with a C/C- and you think to yourself, "Yeah, that sounds about right." On the lower part of the curve, decent, but not good enough. At the halfway point, this team was 4-2, and I said they were either the best 4-2 team in the country, or the worst 4-2 team in the country. It ended up being the latter. Other than the upset victory over West Virginia, the Orange lost every game of the second half of the season. And you look back at those four wins, and you realize they were just good enough to win those games. Two of them required overtime. We'd all be singing a different tune about "just good enough" if that equated into six wins and a bowl berth. But five, just not good enough. 2011 wasn't a total failure; it's simply another chapter in the Syracuse anthology currently being authored by Doug Marrone. We just hope that, as the pages turn from 2011 to 2012, the narrative doesn't turn into a horror story.
Labels: Report Card, Syracuse Football, Year In Review