SWC75
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We are about to play what has become a key game against North Carolina after a couple of frustrating losses and a bye week. It was my perception that, historically, Syracuse had not performed well after bye weeks. I decided to look at the games played in the Carrier Dome Era, (1980 onward) to get a relevant sample. The following games were played at least 10 days after the last prior game:
1980 none
1981 Penn State 16-41 loss, (L)
1982 at Penn State 7-28L
1983 at Pittsburgh 10-13L
1984 none
1985 Penn State 20-24L
1986 at Penn State 3-42L
1987 Penn State 48-21 win (W)
1988 Virginia Tech 35-0W, Navy 49-21W, Pittsburgh 24-7W
1989 Florida State 10-41L, West Virginia 17-24L
1990 at Vanderbilt 49-14W
1991 Boston College 38-16W
1992 at Louisville 15-9W
1993 at Pittsburgh 24-21W, at Rutgers 21-18W
1994 at Temple 49-42W, U of Miami 6-27L
1995 Minnesota 27-17W, at Virginia Tech 7-31L
1996 at Minnesota 33-35L, at Boston College 45-17W
1997 East Carolina 56-0W, West Virginia 40-10W, at U of Miami 33-13W
1998 at North Carolina State 17-38L, Pittsburgh 45-28W
1999 Boston College 23-24L at U of Miami 13-45L
2000 at East Carolina 17-34L, at West Virginia 31-27W
2001 Auburn 31-14W, West Virginia 24-13W
2002 at Auburn 34-37L, U of Miami 7-49L
2003 at Virginia Tech 7-51L, Temple 41-7W
2004 at West Virginia 6-27L, at Boston College 43-17W
2005 at Florida State 14-38L, South Florida 0-27L
2006 at South Florida 10-27L
2007 none
2008 at West Virginia 6-17L, Louisville 28-21W
2009 Akron 28-14W
2010 at South Florida 13-9W
2011 West Virginia 49-23W
2012 Pittsburgh 14-13W
2013 Clemson 14-49L, Wake Forest 13-0W
2014 Central Michigan 40-3, at Pittsburgh 7-30L
2015 at South Florida 24-45L
2016 at Clemson 0-54L
2017 at Florida State 24-27L
Overall that’s 28 wins and 27 losses. There have been some memorable highs: the ’87 Penn State game, the 2004 Diamond Ferri game, West Virginia 2011. There have been some dismal lows: Penn State ’86, Florida State ’89, NC State ’98, U of Miami ’99 and ’02, Va Tech ’03, South Florida ’05, Clemson ’13 and ’16, Pitt ’14 and USF ’15. Our overall record from 1980-2017 was 235-212-5, so our record after a bye week is slightly worse than our overall record (.509 vs. .526). One would think that if a bye we were beneficial, we’d have a slightly better record. In the early years, when we had more control over our schedule, we tended to schedule our bye weeks before our toughest opponents: several Penn State games, later on some U of Miami games. So the caliber of competition may have been superior to our other games.
Here’s a listing of our results compared to the individual records of teams, which I ranked by wins minute losses. 11-0-1 = +11. 1-10 = -9.
Our +11 was 1-0
Our three +8 teams were 5-0
Our +7 team was 2-0
Our +6 teams were 2-2
Our +5 team was 3-0
Out two +4 teams were 1-3
Our four +3 teams were 4-1
Our three +2 teams were 2-3
Our four +1 teams were 2-3
Our two even teams were 2-2
Our two -1 teams were 0-1
Our two -2 teams were 1-1
Our six -4 teams were 1-6
Our two -6 teams were 2-2
Our -7 team was 0-1
Our -8 team had no bye.
Our -9 team was 0-2.
Our winning teams are 22-12 (.647). Those teams had an overall record of 162-75-4 (.684). Our losing teams were 4-13, (.235). Their overall record was 54-120, (.310). Good teams do well but not as well as they normally do. Bad teams do poorly and not as well as they normally do. Overall, the bye doesn’t seem to help much. The question is: Are we one of the good teams?
By the way I also broke it down by coaches:
Dick McPherson was 5-7
Paul Pasqualoni was 17-11
Greg Robinson was 1-4
Doug Marrone was 4-0
Scott Shafer was 2-3
Dino Babers is 0-2
I’m not sure what it means but it may be that Doug knew what to do with that week better than our other coaches. (Although Dino was 7-1 at EIU and BG, including NCAA playoff games and an early bowl game.)
1980 none
1981 Penn State 16-41 loss, (L)
1982 at Penn State 7-28L
1983 at Pittsburgh 10-13L
1984 none
1985 Penn State 20-24L
1986 at Penn State 3-42L
1987 Penn State 48-21 win (W)
1988 Virginia Tech 35-0W, Navy 49-21W, Pittsburgh 24-7W
1989 Florida State 10-41L, West Virginia 17-24L
1990 at Vanderbilt 49-14W
1991 Boston College 38-16W
1992 at Louisville 15-9W
1993 at Pittsburgh 24-21W, at Rutgers 21-18W
1994 at Temple 49-42W, U of Miami 6-27L
1995 Minnesota 27-17W, at Virginia Tech 7-31L
1996 at Minnesota 33-35L, at Boston College 45-17W
1997 East Carolina 56-0W, West Virginia 40-10W, at U of Miami 33-13W
1998 at North Carolina State 17-38L, Pittsburgh 45-28W
1999 Boston College 23-24L at U of Miami 13-45L
2000 at East Carolina 17-34L, at West Virginia 31-27W
2001 Auburn 31-14W, West Virginia 24-13W
2002 at Auburn 34-37L, U of Miami 7-49L
2003 at Virginia Tech 7-51L, Temple 41-7W
2004 at West Virginia 6-27L, at Boston College 43-17W
2005 at Florida State 14-38L, South Florida 0-27L
2006 at South Florida 10-27L
2007 none
2008 at West Virginia 6-17L, Louisville 28-21W
2009 Akron 28-14W
2010 at South Florida 13-9W
2011 West Virginia 49-23W
2012 Pittsburgh 14-13W
2013 Clemson 14-49L, Wake Forest 13-0W
2014 Central Michigan 40-3, at Pittsburgh 7-30L
2015 at South Florida 24-45L
2016 at Clemson 0-54L
2017 at Florida State 24-27L
Overall that’s 28 wins and 27 losses. There have been some memorable highs: the ’87 Penn State game, the 2004 Diamond Ferri game, West Virginia 2011. There have been some dismal lows: Penn State ’86, Florida State ’89, NC State ’98, U of Miami ’99 and ’02, Va Tech ’03, South Florida ’05, Clemson ’13 and ’16, Pitt ’14 and USF ’15. Our overall record from 1980-2017 was 235-212-5, so our record after a bye week is slightly worse than our overall record (.509 vs. .526). One would think that if a bye we were beneficial, we’d have a slightly better record. In the early years, when we had more control over our schedule, we tended to schedule our bye weeks before our toughest opponents: several Penn State games, later on some U of Miami games. So the caliber of competition may have been superior to our other games.
Here’s a listing of our results compared to the individual records of teams, which I ranked by wins minute losses. 11-0-1 = +11. 1-10 = -9.
Our +11 was 1-0
Our three +8 teams were 5-0
Our +7 team was 2-0
Our +6 teams were 2-2
Our +5 team was 3-0
Out two +4 teams were 1-3
Our four +3 teams were 4-1
Our three +2 teams were 2-3
Our four +1 teams were 2-3
Our two even teams were 2-2
Our two -1 teams were 0-1
Our two -2 teams were 1-1
Our six -4 teams were 1-6
Our two -6 teams were 2-2
Our -7 team was 0-1
Our -8 team had no bye.
Our -9 team was 0-2.
Our winning teams are 22-12 (.647). Those teams had an overall record of 162-75-4 (.684). Our losing teams were 4-13, (.235). Their overall record was 54-120, (.310). Good teams do well but not as well as they normally do. Bad teams do poorly and not as well as they normally do. Overall, the bye doesn’t seem to help much. The question is: Are we one of the good teams?
By the way I also broke it down by coaches:
Dick McPherson was 5-7
Paul Pasqualoni was 17-11
Greg Robinson was 1-4
Doug Marrone was 4-0
Scott Shafer was 2-3
Dino Babers is 0-2
I’m not sure what it means but it may be that Doug knew what to do with that week better than our other coaches. (Although Dino was 7-1 at EIU and BG, including NCAA playoff games and an early bowl game.)
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