#6 Syracuse at Texas, 1993

[GoSU96]

Ah yea. Different cruise. 95 was something like 35-7.

And beat them 52-20'something in the dome the following year.

 

[44cuse]

Spot on. It's about perception and expectations. Coach P's tenure was an enigma. Huge wins over national powers, but too many head scratchers. When you're coming off a Fiesta Bowl victory and you are #6 in the land, and you lay an egg against an unranked opponent, it doesn't meet expectations. As we've been through more times than necessary, it was a disturbing pattern in what was otherwise, arguably, the tenure of one of the top three coaches to pace the sidelines for the Orange. Too often, Paul Pasqualoni did not meet expectations, and ultimately, it got him fired. Greg Robinson did not meet much lower expectations, and he was shown the door, thankfully. Scott Shafer's 14 wins in three years resulted in a pink slip, despite very different expectations than those attributed to Coach P. One could argue that the list of coaches who consistently met or exceeded expectations over the course of their careers here is very short. Ben. Mac. Marrone. Different eras. Different expectation levels. But successful enough tenures to go out on their own terms. Here's hoping Dino Babers has Mac and Coach P-like victories (hello Clemson, FSU, LSU, Notre Dame and Wisconsin, I'm looking at you) with a minimum of head scratching defeats (insert Wake Forest, MAC team du jour and bottom half ACC teams). If that's what happens, we'll return to glory.

^^^^^^This

44cuse

 

[GoSU96]

Spot on. It's about perception and expectations. Coach P's tenure was an enigma. Huge wins over national powers, but too many head scratchers.

When you're coming off a Fiesta Bowl victory and you are #6 in the land, and you lay an egg against an unranked opponent, it doesn't meet expectations. As we've been through more times than necessary, it was a disturbing pattern in what was otherwise, arguably, the tenure of one of the top three coaches to pace the sidelines for the Orange.

Too often, Paul Pasqualoni did not meet expectations, and ultimately, it got him fired.

Greg Robinson did not meet much lower expectations, and he was shown the door, thankfully.

Scott Shafer's 14 wins in three years resulted in a pink slip, despite very different expectations than those attributed to Coach P.

One could argue that the list of coaches who consistently met or exceeded expectations over the course of their careers here is very short. Ben. Mac. Marrone. Different eras. Different expectation levels. But successful enough tenures to go out on their own terms.

Here's hoping Dino Babers has Mac and Coach P-like victories (hello Clemson, FSU, LSU, Notre Dame and Wisconsin, I'm looking at you) with a minimum of head scratching defeats (insert Wake Forest, MAC team du jour and bottom half ACC teams). If that's what happens, we'll return to glory.

One losing season in 14 years.

Three 10 win, three 9 win

How awful

 

[cuseguy]

Still judging the merits of Coach P.

So old.

The guy deserves better.

 

[Eric15]

One could argue that the list of coaches who consistently met or exceeded expectations over the course of their careers here is very short. Ben. Mac. Marrone.

I think the Syracuse fanbase significantly overrates Coach Mac, and underrates Coach P.

 

[Chip]

I think the Syracuse fanbase significantly overrates Coach Mac, and underrates Coach P.

The guy that brought it to life gets more credit than the guy who sustains it. There's a lot of personality factor in there as well.

Hiring an assistant to replace the coach that moved on is always risky. SU got it right with Pasqualoni, who moved things forward initially, and then after the hiccup this thread discusses, got it right back on track for 4 more years. With Shafer, didn't quite work out so well.

 

[cmr27]

College football is so much better now than it was way back when.

No playoff, ties, rock hard astroturf. No thank you.

No easy ways to find out scores either. I had to call the newsroom at the Post every few minutes to ask for a score update because I was at a restaurant in the second half. Pre smartphone era. How did we exist?

 

[lincolncuse]

No easy ways to find out scores either. I had to call the newsroom at the Post every few minutes to ask for a score update because I was at a restaurant in the second half. Pre smartphone era. How did we exist?

The CNN headline news sports ticker was great. First continuous score board that I can remember. Used to watch that thing religiously for updates in 94-95

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

I think the Syracuse fanbase significantly overrates Coach Mac, and underrates Coach P.

I admit it. First Syracuse game I ever watched on TV was Nebraska at Syracuse. Was a high school freshman in Connecticut and stumbled across the game and lingered because of the upset potential.

Next Cuse game for me was game #1 in 1987. I never saw Syracuse lose in person until the away game at Pitt in 1989.

In between, I'm pretty confident I picked up on the history of the program.

What were Mac's What losses again?

 

[lincolncuse]

I admit it. First Syracuse game I ever watched on TV was Nebraska at Syracuse. Was a high school freshman in Connecticut and stumbled across the game and lingered because of the upset potential. Next Cuse game for me was game #1 in 1987. I never saw Syracuse lose in person until the away game at Pitt in 1989. In between, I'm pretty confident I picked up on the history of the program. What were Mac's What losses again?

How about getting shut out by Buttgers in the dome the week before that Nebraska game

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

How about getting shut out by Buttgers in the dome the week before that Nebraska game

7-3 Rutgers? The one with wins over Temple, Cuse, Cincy, Army, Louisville, West Virginia and Colgate? The same Rutgers with with a 3-point road loss to Penn State, a loss to Flutie and BC, and a road loss to #19 Kentucky (who finished 9-3 with a Bowl win over Wisconsin?).

Rutgers was not yet Rutgers. So keep playing.