The Year 2007: An Orange Fan's Nightmare

As the year 2007 comes to a close, many Syracuse Orange fans can now look forward to the men's basketball team as they head into Big East Conference play. The talent of the freshman class has made it worth every penny spent at the Carrier Dome thus far. Hey, don't look now, but as I wrote before, the Orange women's basketball team is now on a ten game win streak as they defeated Siena in their last contest. The women are now 11-1 and are garnering some recognition in the national polls. Lacrosse is only two months away and both the men's and women's teams are ranked nationally. And in the last few weeks, Greg Robinson has put a little buzz back into the football program by snagging highly ranked recruits. But what Syracuse fan could forget the awful year their beloved Orange suffered, no matter what the sport?

As Orange fans, we have been spoiled with the success of the men's lacrosse program. Nine national titles, 22 straight Final Four appearances, and at least an annual appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Well, that last one went by the wayside this past season as the Orange missed out on the tournament for the first time since 1982. Worse than that, it was the first losing season for Syracuse since 1975. There are Orange fans out there, including myself, who had never seen either of these two things occur in our lives. It was quite a shock seeing the Orange struggle, especially when Cornell and Albany played so well. Ranked number 2 heading into the season, the Orange were expected to do great things. But that second game against Army was a sign of things to come. Syracuse struggled to control the ball, turning it over far too many times. The offense was not very fluid and took a while to develop over the season. The major weakness on the team was the defense, a unit which ranked 48th out of 57 teams. Adding to the problems on the field were the arrests of Patrick Perritt and John Carrozza. Overall, the team lacked a passion to play lacrosse and the famed number 22 should be put aside for now as the current holder does not live up to its standard of excellence. The streak had to end some time, but the way in which it ended rubbed me the wrong way. Heading into his tenth season as head coach, John Desko must shake things up to get the Orange back where it belongs in the lacrosse world.

Going over the struggles of the football program has pained me, as it has with many other Orange supporters. Head Coach Greg Robinson entered the 2007 year promising a much improved team, including the offensive line which surrendered 45 sacks the previous season. Andrew Robinson, although starting for the first time in his career, was GRob's quarterback for the west coast offense. The Orange defensive line was supposedly going to be the strength of the defense as senior Jameel McClain returned after posting 9.5 sacks (18th best in the nation) last year and garnered All-Big East second team honors. The anticipation mounted as the first game was to be televised to a national audience on ESPN. And then it all came crashing down in the Carrier Dome the very night of the opener. Washington exposed the Orange offensive line, recording seven sacks and scoring 42 points on a porous and slow Syracuse defense. The Orange followed that up by getting shut out by the Iowa Hawkeyes 35-0. In that game, Syracuse could not muster up a single first down in the opening half of play. These first couple of games were only a preview of what was to come later in the season. In a match up against rival West Virginia, the Orange had no hope as they allowed the most points by an opponent in the 28-year existence of the Carrier Dome.

The one miracle that took place during the year was the win at Louisville. It was only the second win over a Big East foe under Robinson and the win ended the Cardinals 20-game home win streak. In a break out offensive performance, Andrew Robinson threw for a career-high 423 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-35 shocker over the then 18th ranked Cardinals. But that is about as much excitement we had this season. The few bright spots on the team were the wide receiver tandem of Mike Williams and Taj Smith. Especially Williams, a sophomore who led the Orange in catches (60), yards (837), and touchdowns (10), earning him All-Big East second team honors. Those ten touchdowns included a streak of one TD reception in nine consecutive games, breaking the old mark held by SU great and future hall of famer Marvin Harrison. Freshman Max Suter shined on kickoff return duties as he broke the NCAA record with 1,299 return yards. Suter earned All-Big East first team recognition as a special teams standout.

But of course, this record was broken due to the number of points the Orange gave up. Syracuse was outscored by a total of 221 points (418 to 197). After saying the offensive line would be improved, the Orange gave up 54 sacks. The Carrier Dome crowds hit an all-time low as fans called for Robinson's firing. Daryl Gross decided to retain Robinson for another season, even though GRob has accumulated a 7-28 record with only two Big East wins in three seasons and guiding the program to its only two ten-loss seasons in the school's history. I watched every second of every game at the Carrier Dome and it was nothing less than depressing. It did not help that running back Delone Carter missed the entire season due to a dislocated hip and four-star recruit Jermaine Pierce was told he could never suit up for the Orange. Here's hoping the recent success in recruiting shows up on the field as well.

Prior to that disaster, Orange fans experience the shock of a life time when Syracuse was left out of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. I, like many others, kept watching the field of 65 being unveiled on Selection Sunday, waiting to see who the Orange would play. But Syracuse was never announced and I sat there looking at the television screen with my jaw hanging. No words could describe the disbelief I had at that point in time. How could the Orange be left out of the tournament? Syracuse ended the year winning seven of their last ten games, eclipsed the twenty win mark with an overall record of 24-11, including a mark of 10-6 in a very difficult Big East Conference. In the statement game of the year, senior night at the Carrier Dome, the Orange took the bite out of the hated Georgetown Hoyas. Coming into that game, the Hoyas were on an 11-game win streak, and had come out victorious in 18 of their previous 20 contests. But the Orange came out and took it to their hated rivals, leading by as many as twenty points at one point. With that win, every Syracuse fan thought the Orange had earned itself another tournament bid.

Oh, but the NCAA Selection Committee had differing thoughts. Gary Walters, chairman of the selection committee, did not answer the question of why the Orange were passed over by such teams as Villanova. The Wildcats finished behind the Orange in the Big East, but were selected based on their better ranking in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). Is it not ludicrous to put a team in that finished behind the Orange in the same conference and split the two games played between each other? Head Coach Jim Boeheim was almost speechless at a press conference following the news that the Orange had not been invited to the big dance. The Orange seniors that had believed they played their final home game against Georgetown, had to return to the Dome to play in the NIT. Even worse, the Orange were not even a number one seed in that tournament because the selection committee for the NIT did not anticipate the Orange being left out of the NCAA Tournament.

As Orange fans, we were dejected. I couldn't bring myself to fill out my NCAA bracket for a pool until the day before the tourney began. There was that empty feeling in everyone, as feelings of shock turned into outrage. Fans voiced their opinions to one Gary Walters, whose e-mail box was so full he had to change his address. T-shirts were made that said the Orange got screwed, a picture of a big screw on the front. But then the Syracuse faithful decided to do something. No one could change the fact that the Syracuse basketball team was left out of the dance, but we could still cheer our team on. In the great testament to the Orange faithful, Syracuse fans showed why they are the best in the country. An NIT record crowd of 26,572 filled the Carrier Dome to cheer on their Orange. It was a great sight to see, the Orange faithful making the best of the situation. Hopefully we will be rewarded with a much better year in 2008.

Have a Happy New Year everyone. As always, GO ORANGE!