Unprecedented?

[sufandu]

I don't know if it's unprecedented. We finished 9th in '58 after starting the year unranked with a pretty good RB relegated to the freshman team. I don't know enough about the roster to know who else was on that freshman team that was a major contributor in '59. We started that year 20th before working our way to #1.

 

[OttoMets]

Looking to the board historians for some insight.

This year is crazy - 7-2, so close to 9-0. Top 15 in CFB. Upset over a top 25 team at home. Eric. Dino in year 3. Offense and defense coming along enough to give anyone trouble.

But we’re still not firing at a super effecient clip on offense. With Jackson, Adams, and DeVito (all might be better than the guys in front of them, in this system) all geared to be featured in our O next season - we could be top 15 with our better fits/talent on the
bench?

Is that unprecedented?!

Sounds like 1992. 'Man, these guys were 10-2 and so close against Miami, and they've got young guys like Marvin Harrison coming up! '93's gonna be the year!'

 

[sufandu]

Sounds like 1992. 'Man, these guys were 10-2 and so close against Miami, and they've got young guys like Marvin Harrison coming up! '93's gonna be the year!'

We should've known better with everything we were losing, especially on defense.

 

[RoatanCuse]

Good point... but how much better can you get than McNabb, Konrad, Spotwood, Kevin Johnson, Mo Jackson, etc...

Well, you might have Brown, Davis, Little, Czonka, Monk, Schwedes, Morris, Harrison, Wally Mahle, Green. Yeah, I’m dating myself, but these guys deserve mention.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Wow you sure knew that Playboy ranking really quickly!

That page wasn't stuck to some of the others!

 

[OrangeFoo]

Well, you might have Brown, Davis, Little, Czonka, Monk, Schwedes, Morris, Harrison, Wally Mahle, Green. Yeah, I’m dating myself, but these guys deserve mention.

Oh I know Syracuse had great players other than the ones I was mentioning... the ones I mentioned were all on the same Syracuse squad going into McNabb’s senior year. So the answer to the op is that we have had years where we had a ton of talent coming back. Unfortunately McNabb’s teams never had great defenses and were very inconsistent so they never lived up to their billing beyond a game here or a game there.