Bad losses in good seasons

[SWC75]

Someone was saying that we could win those last 5 games and wind up 9-3 and it wouldn't mean anything because we got whipped in the middle three games. We've been 9-3 twice in this century. We've also been 3-9 twice, 2-10 and 4-8 and 5-7 several times. We badly need to run together some winning seasons and bowl appearances. If we can do that, along with improvements in the infrastructure of the program, we can recruit the type of players the teams that are beating us have and do it in depth. 9-3 would be a fine season, even if the losses prove we aren't at the Clemson-UNC-Florida State level yet.

We've had some bad losses in good seasons before:
(The Dome Era: Syracuse Historical Scores )
1983: Coming off three straight losing seasons but also three straight wins we get clobbered at Nebraska 7-63 but wind up 6-5
1988: we lost 9-26 to a 4-6-1 Ohio State team and a 9-31 confrontation with an 11-0 West Virginia team but finish 10-2 with a bowl win over LSU.
1989: A three game losing streak early in the season includes home stompings by Florida State, (10-41) and Penn State (12-34) but we finish 8-4, including a bowl win over Georgia.
1990: Our first meeting with U of Miami after they became a powerhouse results in a 7-33 loss in the finale. But we finish 7-4-2 with a 28-0 romp over Arizona in the bowl game.
1991: An undefeated SU team travels to Tallahassee to play #1 Florida State and, after a strong start, get run out of the place 14-46. But we finish 10-2 with a bowl win over Ohio State.
1992: Ohio State gains revenge with a 12-35 thrashing in the Dome behind QB Kirk Herbstreit. But we again went 10-2 and beat Colorado in the bowl game.
1993: We had that awful 0-92 fortnight against U of Miami and West Viriginia that had Lee Corso demanding that we never get put on the air again. But we continued our streak of winning seasons with a 6-4-1 record.
1994: This time it was a 6-58 stretch against the Canes and Boston College. But we finished 7-4.
1995: A 7-31 whipping by Virginia Tech didn't prevent a 9-3 final record and a 41-0 thrashing of Clemson in the Gator Bowl.
1997: Another black day at Blacksburg, (3-31) didn't prevent a 9-4 record that ended in the Fiesta Bowl.
1998: That soul crushing 17-38 defeat to NC State in Raleigh when we had such high ambitions didn't prevent a trip to the Orange Bowl.
1999: The ultimate disaster, that 0-62 nightmare in Blacksburg and an13-45 follow-up in Miami didn't prevent us from beating Kentucky in a bowl game.
2000: A 0-26 home loss to Miami didn't prevent us from having our 14th straight winning season.
2001: A 9-33 mess at Tennessee and another nightmare, 0-59 in Miami didn't prevent us from going 10-3 and thumping K-State in a bowl game.
2004: A 0-51 loss to Purdue didn't prevent us from getting the Champ Sports bowl - and losing to Georgia Tech 14-51
2010: 20-41 and 14-45 losses to Washington and Pittsburgh didn't prevent a Pinstripe Bowl win over the Wildcats and our first winning record in 9 years.
2013: Northwestern 48 Syracuse 27. Clemson 49 Syracuse 13. Georgia Tech 56 Syracuse 0. Florida State 59 Syracuse 3. But we wound up 7-6, beating Minnesota in a bowl game.
2018: Dungey goes down early and we lose 3-36 to a Notre Dame that would finish the regular season 12-0. But we finished 10-3 with a 34-18 win over our old pals, the Mountaineers, in the Camping World Bowl.
2022: Florida State sits on us, 3-38 in the Dome. Still we get to a bowl game and wind up 7-6. Now we need to build on that and 9-3, or 8-4 or even 7-5 would allow us to do that.

So don't panic. Don't give up. And hope the players don't either.

 

[GoSU96]

Whoever said that first sentence is an idiot.

 

[OrgTruckPat]

Someone was saying that we could win those last 5 games and wind up 9-3 and it wouldn't mean anything because we got whipped in the middle three games. We've been 9-3 twice in this century. We've also been 3-9 twice, 2-10 and 4-8 and 5-7 several times. We badly need to run together some winning seasons and bowl appearances. If we can do that, along with improvements in the infrastructure of the program, we can recruit the type of players the teams that are beating us have and do it in depth. 9-3 would be a fine season, even if the losses prove we aren't at the Clemson-UNC-Florida State level yet.

We've had some bad losses in good seasons before:
(The Dome Era: Syracuse Historical Scores )
1983: Coming off three straight losing seasons but also three straight wins we get clobbered at Nebraska 7-63 but wind up 6-5
1988: we lost 9-26 to a 4-6-1 Ohio State team and a 9-31 confrontation with an 11-0 West Virginia team but finish 10-2 with a bowl win over LSU.
1989: A three game losing streak early in the season includes home stompings by Florida State, (10-41) and Penn State (12-34) but we finish 8-4, including a bowl win over Georgia.
1990: Our first meeting with U of Miami after they became a powerhouse results in a 7-33 loss in the finale. But we finish 7-4-2 with a 28-0 romp over Arizona in the bowl game.
1991: An undefeated SU team travels to Tallahassee to play #1 Florida State and, after a strong start, get run out of the place 14-46. But we finish 10-2 with a bowl win over Ohio State.
1992: Ohio State gains revenge with a 12-35 thrashing in the Dome behind QB Kirk Herbstreit. But we again went 10-2 and beat Colorado in the bowl game.
1993: We had that awful 0-92 fortnight against U of Miami and West Viriginia that had Lee Corso demanding that we never get put on the air again. But we continued our streak of winning seasons with a 6-4-1 record.
1994: This time it was a 6-58 stretch against the Canes and Boston College. But we finished 7-4.
1995: A 7-31 whipping by Virginia Tech didn't prevent a 9-3 final record and a 41-0 thrashing of Clemson in the Gator Bowl.
1997: Another black day at Blacksburg, (3-31) didn't prevent a 9-4 record that ended in the Fiesta Bowl.
1998: That soul crushing 17-38 defeat to NC State in Raliegh when we had such high ambitions didn't prevent a trip to the Orange Bowl.
1999: The ultimate disaster, that 0-62 nightmare in Blacksburg and an13-45 follow-up in Miami didn't prevent us from beating Kentucky in a bowl game.
2000: A 0-26 home loss to Miami didn't prevent us from having our 14th straight winning season.
2001: A 9-33 mess at Tennessee and another nightmare, 0-59 in Miami didn't prevent us from going 10-3 and thumping K-State in a bowl game.
2004: A 0-51 loss to Purdue didn't prevent us from getting the Champ Sports bowl - and losing to Georgia Tech 14-51
2010: 20-41 and 14-45 losses to Washington and Pittsburgh didn't prevent a Pinstripe Bowl win over the Wildcats and our first winning record in 9 years.
2013: Northwestern 48 Syracuse 27. Clemson 49 Syracuse 13. Georgia Tech 56 Syracuse 0. Florida State 59 Syracuse 3. But we wound up 7-6, beating Minnesota in a bowl game.
2018: Dungey goes down early and we lose 3-36 to a Notre Dame that would finish the regular season 12-0. But we finished 10-3 with a 34-18 win over our old pals, the Mountaineers, in the Camping World Bowl.
2022: Florida State sits on us, 3-38 in the Dome. Still we get to a bowl game and wind up 7-6. Now we need to build on that and 9-3, or 8-4 or even 7-5 would allow us to do that.

So don't panic. Don't give up. And hope the players don't either.

Wow, you just like, provided an entire time capsule recap of sufb in my life in ah, a couple paragraphs. I remember every one of those games you mentioned (I was at many, home and road) save for the early 80s when I was under 10. Thank you sir, this is true awesomeness down memory lane. Mad props

 

[Dinkyspond]

Someone was saying that we could win those last 5 games and wind up 9-3 and it wouldn't mean anything because we got whipped in the middle three games. We've been 9-3 twice in this century. We've also been 3-9 twice, 2-10 and 4-8 and 5-7 several times. We badly need to run together some winning seasons and bowl appearances. If we can do that, along with improvements in the infrastructure of the program, we can recruit the type of players the teams that are beating us have and do it in depth. 9-3 would be a fine season, even if the losses prove we aren't at the Clemson-UNC-Florida State level yet.

We've had some bad losses in good seasons before:
(The Dome Era: Syracuse Historical Scores )
1983: Coming off three straight losing seasons but also three straight wins we get clobbered at Nebraska 7-63 but wind up 6-5
1988: we lost 9-26 to a 4-6-1 Ohio State team and a 9-31 confrontation with an 11-0 West Virginia team but finish 10-2 with a bowl win over LSU.
1989: A three game losing streak early in the season includes home stompings by Florida State, (10-41) and Penn State (12-34) but we finish 8-4, including a bowl win over Georgia.
1990: Our first meeting with U of Miami after they became a powerhouse results in a 7-33 loss in the finale. But we finish 7-4-2 with a 28-0 romp over Arizona in the bowl game.
1991: An undefeated SU team travels to Tallahassee to play #1 Florida State and, after a strong start, get run out of the place 14-46. But we finish 10-2 with a bowl win over Ohio State.
1992: Ohio State gains revenge with a 12-35 thrashing in the Dome behind QB Kirk Herbstreit. But we again went 10-2 and beat Colorado in the bowl game.
1993: We had that awful 0-92 fortnight against U of Miami and West Viriginia that had Lee Corso demanding that we never get put on the air again. But we continued our streak of winning seasons with a 6-4-1 record.
1994: This time it was a 6-58 stretch against the Canes and Boston College. But we finished 7-4.
1995: A 7-31 whipping by Virginia Tech didn't prevent a 9-3 final record and a 41-0 thrashing of Clemson in the Gator Bowl.
1997: Another black day at Blacksburg, (3-31) didn't prevent a 9-4 record that ended in the Fiesta Bowl.
1998: That soul crushing 17-38 defeat to NC State in Raliegh when we had such high ambitions didn't prevent a trip to the Orange Bowl.
1999: The ultimate disaster, that 0-62 nightmare in Blacksburg and an13-45 follow-up in Miami didn't prevent us from beating Kentucky in a bowl game.
2000: A 0-26 home loss to Miami didn't prevent us from having our 14th straight winning season.
2001: A 9-33 mess at Tennessee and another nightmare, 0-59 in Miami didn't prevent us from going 10-3 and thumping K-State in a bowl game.
2004: A 0-51 loss to Purdue didn't prevent us from getting the Champ Sports bowl - and losing to Georgia Tech 14-51
2010: 20-41 and 14-45 losses to Washington and Pittsburgh didn't prevent a Pinstripe Bowl win over the Wildcats and our first winning record in 9 years.
2013: Northwestern 48 Syracuse 27. Clemson 49 Syracuse 13. Georgia Tech 56 Syracuse 0. Florida State 59 Syracuse 3. But we wound up 7-6, beating Minnesota in a bowl game.
2018: Dungey goes down early and we lose 3-36 to a Notre Dame that would finish the regular season 12-0. But we finished 10-3 with a 34-18 win over our old pals, the Mountaineers, in the Camping World Bowl.
2022: Florida State sits on us, 3-38 in the Dome. Still we get to a bowl game and wind up 7-6. Now we need to build on that and 9-3, or 8-4 or even 7-5 would allow us to do that.

So don't panic. Don't give up. And hope the players don't either.

A voice of reason.