Syracuse football is not going to a bowl game. Mark it down right now. Forget those holiday travel plans to exotic locales like Birmingham and the Bronx. It’s over, because the ’10 Orange season will end next weekend in Pittsburgh. Not that this team is playing as though it deserves a chance at the postseason, but the ugly loss to Cincinnati stamped this team as D.O.A.
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At the moment the Orange is 5-6, 1-5 in the Big East. A win would technically make this team bowl eligible, but that’s only lipstick on a pig. Syracuse will finish at best with just two league wins. As long as USF wins next weekend, Syracuse will finish in last place of the the Big East. The Bulls also have only one league win, but hold the head-to-head tie-breaker.
Most importantly, there won’t be enough bowl slots for SU even with a victory. Louisville, Rutgers, West Virginia and Cincinnati will all get bowl invites. That leaves potentially two more Big East slots (not all of the league’s bowl tie-ins are guaranteed), while the Champs Sports Bowl can take Notre Dame. Pitt and UConn already have three league wins, and will finish ahead of the Orange.¬†The death blow? Every team above .500 must be selected for a bowl game before a 6-6 team does.
SU is destined for no better than 7th in a mediocre 8-team Big East, which is completely unacceptable for Year 3 of the Marrone Era. A loss or a Bulls win means it’s the basement of the worst AQ conference in America for the Orange.¬†
The loss to the Bearcats was more of the same. A lethargic first half, a lackluster offensive effort, and a handful of big plays given up by the defense. The Orange couldn’t muster a touchdown until 43 ticks left in the 3rd quarter. The offensive line was leaky, SU was just 4-15 on 3rd down and once again gave the half-empty Dome almost nothing to cheer for.
Is the Orange regressing? It certainly seems so. There’s almost no excuse to finish near last place in a middling Big East. While last season may be chalked up to a magical season where everything fell into place, and one glorious night vs. WVU could be simply an anomaly, there’s no explanation for the current four-game losing skid. Louisville, UConn, USF, and Cincy were all winnable games and the Orange was beaten soundly in three of those. The offense remains remarkably stagnant, and the squad continues to lack the emotion it played with last season.¬†
Marrone sounded devastated after the loss, and rightfully so. We know he cares, but sympathy is not enough to wash away a miserable season. If we celebrate Marrone for the successes, we must also critique the losing. The Orange has taken a large step backward this season. And no matter what happens next week, SU will likely be home for the holidays.
Posted: D.A.
6 responses to “Syracuse Stays Down, Numbers Say “No Bowl For You” Even With Pitt Win”
If SU beats Pitt, Cincy beats U Conn and WVU beats USF then Cuse will go bowling because Pitt, USF and Conn would all be ineligible, leaving 5 Big East teams to fill 5 slots(ND will fill the 6th slot in the Champs Bowl. Unfortunately there is no way I can see SU winning at Pitt, this team has huge issues, whether it be talent, chemistry, name it
Correct on the DOA thing and the bowl wipeout.This team doesn’t deserve a bowl game A team of under achievers if ever there was one. this was a pathetic effort on the part of a quite a few player including the seniors being honored in the pre-game ceremonies.Chances are they will lose next Saturday as well. Good riddance to this team. They didn’t deserve the fan loyalty that they received despite their performance. I don’t blame Marrone but he shouldn’t be happy with these players.
Stop this bowl talk now….This is not a Bowl team…even if we win next week ..get Bowl invite…..Turn it down!!!!!
This team…shows no heart….defense is bad…offense is worse…..we don’t even see big plays that were there when Spence ran offense..with the hated Greg Paulus! Ryan Nassb……Need to go in a different direction next year….Want evidence?: Look at Louisville with Fr. QB Teddy Bridgewater…kid is straight out of HS….we have guys with one, two, three years of college ball and can’t make the plays this kid can. Tired of seeing Lemon drop passes….
Offense needs some big time play makers….Offensive line is terrible….need bigger , better blockers..that was supposedly Marrone’s strength. To be fair…take a look at all of injuries, with our lack of depth…that has hurt us as well
The biggest thing that concerns me is this..I thought strength of staff was NFL type game planning and scheming..need players , yes,,,but clearly, this group doesn’t have skill to execute what staff wants to do!!!!! Why are guys like Ameen Moore getting more reps?
Lots of questions for HCDM to answer…
Marrone is good… Hacket is bad. Need to demote the kid and get an experienced coordinator.
aaron you do know marrone gives the ok on every single playcall right?
hack calls marrones game
da does this mean no bcs for cuse?
Pathetic. This sucks. I love SU football so much. But we need better recruits. Nassib was a two star recruit on some sites and a one star on others. He was offered no big time scholarships anywhere and we have nobody to compete with this kid?(not to mention he is a GRob recruit) That’s bad. That should be HCDM’s top priority. His recruiting sucks. He was to hard on GRobs recruits. No KID wants to come into a military style situation. I will give Doug one more year to prove he can win with his recruits (or GRob’s redshirt Seniors) I don’t care witch, just WIN.