SWC75
Bored Historian
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Syracuse University just played a ‘doubleheader’ with football and men’s basketball playing on the same day. We managed to win both games, although the basketball game went into two overtimes and the football game came down to an onsides kick. At one point, both were on at the same time, (my computer and TV sets are in different rooms). But in the end, we went 2-0. I decided to look up how many such ‘doubleheaders’ SU has played over the years, see the results and also what memories they bring back, (although probably not of the first one).
11/5/1904: 2-0. The football team beat Manhattan144-0. The basketball team beat Jenner’s Prep 74-10. Now that’s a good day’s work. The Manhattan game is our highest scoring output in football, (it’s also our record for basketball: We beat Siena 144-92 in 1979)
12/2/50 1-1. The FB team lost at Fordham 6-13. The BB team beat Toronto 101-39.
12/5/59 2-0. The FB team beat UCLA 36-8 in the game that actually clinched the national championship, since the last poll was at the end of the regular season. The basketball team won at Clarkson, (yes we travelled to Clarkson in those days), 85-59.
12/8/62: 1-1 Another FB trip to UCLA 12-7. The BB team lost at Penn State 54-67.
12/7/68: 0-2 A very memorable day, in a bad way. Joe Paterno’s first undefeated Penn State team beat us 30-12, inaugurating an era of dominance that destroyed the rivalry. That night, Calvin Murphy rang up 68 points on SU in a 110-118 Niagara win. That was the most points that had ever been scored on a Division 1 team to that point, (Pete Maravich and Kevin Bradshaw later topped it.)
12/4/71: 2-0 The FB team won at U of Miami 14-0. The BB team beat Army, (Bobby Knight had just left for Indiana), 91-77.
11/29/75: 1-1 The FB team was hoping for a bowl bid but lost at Rutgers 10-21. The basketball team’s 83-70 win at Harvard hardly made up for it.
11/25/78: 1-1 A potentially great season had been crushed when Bill Hurley went down in the opener and we wound up a 3-8 year with a 9-21 loss at U of Miami. But that little freshman Joe Morris reached 1,000 yards rushing. The BB team beat Whittier 115-66 but lost the poetry competition afterwards.
12/15/79: 2-0 We whipped McNeese State in the Independence Bowl 31-7 and Penn State 85-72 in Happy Valley.
12/21/85: 1-1 We lost to Maryland in the Cherry Bowl, (but recruited a heck of a class) but beat ST. Bonaventure 83-64 in the Dome.
11/21/87: 1-1 This was the day of days. Our basketball team that had lost the 1987 NCAA championship game on a last second jump shot but had most of the key players returning now became the first SU basketball team to be ranked #1 in the nation. They would open against perennial power North Carolina in the Tip-off Classic in Springfield. Then the football team, who had never won more than 7 games in 20 years was now 10-0 and had to beat West Virginia in the Dome to complete an 11-0 regular season. I remember feeling a lot of pressure: if we went 0-2 this day, how would I, as a passionate SU fan since childhood, deal with that? It was scary.
The basketball game was first. All I remember about it was the ending. Derrick Coleman stole and inbounds pass and drove in for a lay-up that tied the game in overtime at 93. That took 2-3 seconds but no time went off the clock. A Tar Heel forward named Pete Chilcutt hit a three at the buzzer on the other end that should never have counted to win it for UNC 93-96. At the Dome, SU was behind the whole game but Michael Owens took a screen pass and maneuvered through the Mountaineers to go about 65 yards for a score. Daryl “Moose” Johnson ran through the whole state of West Virginia for another. Then Don McPherson found Pat Kelly in the end zone to make it 30-31. He then ran the option, drew in the D-back and pitched to Owens to make it 32-31 and make us 11-0 as Jim Ridlon went crazy. Is there another such day in our future?
12/2/89: 2-0 The BB team beat Virginia Commonwealth in the Dome 100-73. I remember sitting in my car at Manley listening to the broadcast of our FB’s 24-13 win over Louisville in Tokyo Japan.
11/24/90: 1-1 The FB lost to U of Miami, (the first time we’d played them since they became a powerhouse) 7-33 in Miami while the BB was in Maui beating Iowa State 83-67. We beat Indiana and Bobby Knight the next night for the title.
11/30/96: 1-1 We lost in the Dome to U of Miami 31-38 on the worst call I have ever seen, (our punt returner got levelled just as the ball was getting there. The ref claimed the Cane was blocked into him, which was nonsense. The basketball team beat UNC-Greensboro 73-56 in the Great Alaska Shootout loser’s bracket after getting clobbered by Kentucky.
1/2/99: 1-1 The FB team lost the Orange Bowl to Steve Spurrier’s Florida team, 10-31. The BB team beat West Virginia 83-67.
12/29/99: 2-0 The FB team beat Kentucky 20-13 in the Music City Bowl while the BB team handled Hartford 90-69.
11/25/2000: 2-0 The FB team beat Rutgers 49-21 while the BB won the Great Alaska Shoot-out from Missouri 84-64. I think this was the occasion of a legendary chatroom conversation that went on into the wee hours of the morning. Why did we stop using the chat room?
11/27/04: 2-0 Coach P’s last team shocked Boston College in Chestnut Hill in the famous ‘Diamond Ferri’ game. The BB team beat Sienna 78-56 in Albany.
11/25/06: 1-1 G-Rob lost to Schiano at Rutgers 7-38 while the BB team won at Canisius 81-71.
11/27/10: 1-1 Boston College beat our FB team in the Dome 7-16 while the BB team won 80-76 at Georgia Tech.
12/29/12: 2-0 The GB gave Geno Smith nightmares at the Pinstripe Bowl 38-14 while the BB team handled Alcorn State 57-36 in the Dome.
11/16/13: 1-1 The FB got it’s doors blown off by Florida State’s national champions 3-59 while the BB handled Colgate 69-50 in the Dome. Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?
11/21/15: 1-1 The FB team lost at NC State 29-42 but BB team got us a split with the state of North Carolina by beating Elon 66-55.
11/26/16: 0-2 The FB team lost the No-D game at Pittsburgh 61-76 while the BB team lost to South Carolina 50-64 in Brooklyn.
11/18/17: 1-1 The FB team had one of its disasters in Louisville, 10-56. The BB team handled Texas Southern, 80-67.
11/16/18: 0-2 Not a fun day in Fun City. Our fine 2018 team got crushed by Notre Dame in Yankee Stadium while the basketball team lost to Oregon 65-80 in the Garden.
11/16/19: 2-0 A disappointing FB team got it all together for one game and destroyed Duke in Durham,49-6. The BB handled Seattle in the Dome, 89-67.
11/23/19: 1-1 Another Louisville disaster a week after the outstanding performance at Duke, 34-56. The BB team crushed Bucknell 97-46 in the Dome.
12/5/20: 1-1 Dino’s disaster was no match for Notre Dame, 21-45 but Rider was no match for the BB team in the Dome. 87-52.
11/20/21: 0-2 A day of infamy. NC State blows our FB team out of Raleigh 17-41. Then the BB team jumped out to a 17-2 lead on Colgate and expect the usual rout. The rest of the game is 68-98. Not 98-68. 68-98. Colgate beat us 85-100 and that series has never been the same since.
11/19/22: 1-1 The FB team couldn’t keep up with Wake Forest, 35-45. The BB could against Northeastern, 76-48.
11/26/22: 1-1 A week later we win at Boston College to clinch a winning FB record, 32-23. But Byrant nips our BB team, 71-72, (after losing 85-84 two years before).
12/21/23: 1-1. Ugh, a shell of an SU team loses the Boca Raton Bowl to our old friends, South Florida, 0-45. But the BB team beat Niagara, 83-71.
11/16/24: 2-0 The BB alarmingly has its third straight “skin-of-our-teeth” win over a cupcake, Youngstown State, 104-95 in two OTs. Then the FB team routs California 33-25, sort of, allowing the game to come down to am onsides kick for the third time this year.
I count 11 double header sweeps, 19 splits and just 4 times getting swept. The fact that the basketball side of it was usually playing early season cupcakes kind of insulates us from that. Normally.
11/5/1904: 2-0. The football team beat Manhattan144-0. The basketball team beat Jenner’s Prep 74-10. Now that’s a good day’s work. The Manhattan game is our highest scoring output in football, (it’s also our record for basketball: We beat Siena 144-92 in 1979)
12/2/50 1-1. The FB team lost at Fordham 6-13. The BB team beat Toronto 101-39.
12/5/59 2-0. The FB team beat UCLA 36-8 in the game that actually clinched the national championship, since the last poll was at the end of the regular season. The basketball team won at Clarkson, (yes we travelled to Clarkson in those days), 85-59.
12/8/62: 1-1 Another FB trip to UCLA 12-7. The BB team lost at Penn State 54-67.
12/7/68: 0-2 A very memorable day, in a bad way. Joe Paterno’s first undefeated Penn State team beat us 30-12, inaugurating an era of dominance that destroyed the rivalry. That night, Calvin Murphy rang up 68 points on SU in a 110-118 Niagara win. That was the most points that had ever been scored on a Division 1 team to that point, (Pete Maravich and Kevin Bradshaw later topped it.)
12/4/71: 2-0 The FB team won at U of Miami 14-0. The BB team beat Army, (Bobby Knight had just left for Indiana), 91-77.
11/29/75: 1-1 The FB team was hoping for a bowl bid but lost at Rutgers 10-21. The basketball team’s 83-70 win at Harvard hardly made up for it.
11/25/78: 1-1 A potentially great season had been crushed when Bill Hurley went down in the opener and we wound up a 3-8 year with a 9-21 loss at U of Miami. But that little freshman Joe Morris reached 1,000 yards rushing. The BB team beat Whittier 115-66 but lost the poetry competition afterwards.
12/15/79: 2-0 We whipped McNeese State in the Independence Bowl 31-7 and Penn State 85-72 in Happy Valley.
12/21/85: 1-1 We lost to Maryland in the Cherry Bowl, (but recruited a heck of a class) but beat ST. Bonaventure 83-64 in the Dome.
11/21/87: 1-1 This was the day of days. Our basketball team that had lost the 1987 NCAA championship game on a last second jump shot but had most of the key players returning now became the first SU basketball team to be ranked #1 in the nation. They would open against perennial power North Carolina in the Tip-off Classic in Springfield. Then the football team, who had never won more than 7 games in 20 years was now 10-0 and had to beat West Virginia in the Dome to complete an 11-0 regular season. I remember feeling a lot of pressure: if we went 0-2 this day, how would I, as a passionate SU fan since childhood, deal with that? It was scary.
The basketball game was first. All I remember about it was the ending. Derrick Coleman stole and inbounds pass and drove in for a lay-up that tied the game in overtime at 93. That took 2-3 seconds but no time went off the clock. A Tar Heel forward named Pete Chilcutt hit a three at the buzzer on the other end that should never have counted to win it for UNC 93-96. At the Dome, SU was behind the whole game but Michael Owens took a screen pass and maneuvered through the Mountaineers to go about 65 yards for a score. Daryl “Moose” Johnson ran through the whole state of West Virginia for another. Then Don McPherson found Pat Kelly in the end zone to make it 30-31. He then ran the option, drew in the D-back and pitched to Owens to make it 32-31 and make us 11-0 as Jim Ridlon went crazy. Is there another such day in our future?
12/2/89: 2-0 The BB team beat Virginia Commonwealth in the Dome 100-73. I remember sitting in my car at Manley listening to the broadcast of our FB’s 24-13 win over Louisville in Tokyo Japan.
11/24/90: 1-1 The FB lost to U of Miami, (the first time we’d played them since they became a powerhouse) 7-33 in Miami while the BB was in Maui beating Iowa State 83-67. We beat Indiana and Bobby Knight the next night for the title.
11/30/96: 1-1 We lost in the Dome to U of Miami 31-38 on the worst call I have ever seen, (our punt returner got levelled just as the ball was getting there. The ref claimed the Cane was blocked into him, which was nonsense. The basketball team beat UNC-Greensboro 73-56 in the Great Alaska Shootout loser’s bracket after getting clobbered by Kentucky.
1/2/99: 1-1 The FB team lost the Orange Bowl to Steve Spurrier’s Florida team, 10-31. The BB team beat West Virginia 83-67.
12/29/99: 2-0 The FB team beat Kentucky 20-13 in the Music City Bowl while the BB team handled Hartford 90-69.
11/25/2000: 2-0 The FB team beat Rutgers 49-21 while the BB won the Great Alaska Shoot-out from Missouri 84-64. I think this was the occasion of a legendary chatroom conversation that went on into the wee hours of the morning. Why did we stop using the chat room?
11/27/04: 2-0 Coach P’s last team shocked Boston College in Chestnut Hill in the famous ‘Diamond Ferri’ game. The BB team beat Sienna 78-56 in Albany.
11/25/06: 1-1 G-Rob lost to Schiano at Rutgers 7-38 while the BB team won at Canisius 81-71.
11/27/10: 1-1 Boston College beat our FB team in the Dome 7-16 while the BB team won 80-76 at Georgia Tech.
12/29/12: 2-0 The GB gave Geno Smith nightmares at the Pinstripe Bowl 38-14 while the BB team handled Alcorn State 57-36 in the Dome.
11/16/13: 1-1 The FB got it’s doors blown off by Florida State’s national champions 3-59 while the BB handled Colgate 69-50 in the Dome. Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?
11/21/15: 1-1 The FB team lost at NC State 29-42 but BB team got us a split with the state of North Carolina by beating Elon 66-55.
11/26/16: 0-2 The FB team lost the No-D game at Pittsburgh 61-76 while the BB team lost to South Carolina 50-64 in Brooklyn.
11/18/17: 1-1 The FB team had one of its disasters in Louisville, 10-56. The BB team handled Texas Southern, 80-67.
11/16/18: 0-2 Not a fun day in Fun City. Our fine 2018 team got crushed by Notre Dame in Yankee Stadium while the basketball team lost to Oregon 65-80 in the Garden.
11/16/19: 2-0 A disappointing FB team got it all together for one game and destroyed Duke in Durham,49-6. The BB handled Seattle in the Dome, 89-67.
11/23/19: 1-1 Another Louisville disaster a week after the outstanding performance at Duke, 34-56. The BB team crushed Bucknell 97-46 in the Dome.
12/5/20: 1-1 Dino’s disaster was no match for Notre Dame, 21-45 but Rider was no match for the BB team in the Dome. 87-52.
11/20/21: 0-2 A day of infamy. NC State blows our FB team out of Raleigh 17-41. Then the BB team jumped out to a 17-2 lead on Colgate and expect the usual rout. The rest of the game is 68-98. Not 98-68. 68-98. Colgate beat us 85-100 and that series has never been the same since.
11/19/22: 1-1 The FB team couldn’t keep up with Wake Forest, 35-45. The BB could against Northeastern, 76-48.
11/26/22: 1-1 A week later we win at Boston College to clinch a winning FB record, 32-23. But Byrant nips our BB team, 71-72, (after losing 85-84 two years before).
12/21/23: 1-1. Ugh, a shell of an SU team loses the Boca Raton Bowl to our old friends, South Florida, 0-45. But the BB team beat Niagara, 83-71.
11/16/24: 2-0 The BB alarmingly has its third straight “skin-of-our-teeth” win over a cupcake, Youngstown State, 104-95 in two OTs. Then the FB team routs California 33-25, sort of, allowing the game to come down to am onsides kick for the third time this year.
I count 11 double header sweeps, 19 splits and just 4 times getting swept. The fact that the basketball side of it was usually playing early season cupcakes kind of insulates us from that. Normally.
