SU Football aims for history to cap Brown, McCord’s first year
SU Football aims for history to cap Brown’s first year
Fran Brown can tie the program record for most wins under a rookie head coach while Kyle McCord can become an all-time ACC passing leader.
SAN DIEGO — Year one of the Fran Brown-era is almost wrapped up for Syracuse football, yet the program can still add more records to the history books.
Syracuse duels with Washington State on Friday night in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl, and the team landed in San Diego on Monday to prepare for the showdown with the Pac-12 Conference opponent at Snapdragon Stadium.
Syracuse enters the bowl coming off a record-setting season through its air attack. The Orange broke their all-time record for passing yards in a season thanks to quarterback Kyle McCord. The Ohio State transfer will suit up for Friday’s bowl game and that, despite his uncertain future, remains to be the focus according to Brown.
“We’re just focused on trying to play a tough football team, so when [the NCAA’s decision on McCord’s eligibility occurs] you’ll be the first to know,” Brown told the media on Thursday. Whether the nation’s leading passer is back next year or not, McCord has another opportunity to stamp himself in the history books
The SU signal caller is currently fifth all-time in the ACC for passing yards in a single season at 4,326. With 267 more yards, McCord can become the conference all-time leader, surpassing former Clemson QB Deshaun Watson’s mark of 4,953 yards set in 2016. The most prolific offense Syracuse has ever had is a main reason why its one win away from another piece of history.
A Holiday Bowl win would tie Brown for the most wins in Syracuse football history under a rookie head coach at 10 win set by Paul Pasqualoni in 1991. Ten wins is a rare feat for Syracuse and Brown understands what a double-digit win season does for a program.
“We have an opportunity [to win] 10 games, which means you’re starting to become a successful program,” Brown said.
Double-digit win seasons have been elusive for the Syracuse football program since the turn of the century. The Orange only have two seasons of 10 wins or more since 2000.
Another opportunity that the former Georgia defensive backs coach relishes is for his players to bring home a bowl victory.
While Syracuse is one of 41 active schools to make a bowl game in each of the last three seasons, the team’s last bowl win was 2018.
“Our players haven’t had a chance to win a bowl game,” Brown said.
With Washington State interim coach Pete Kaligis by his side, Brown said the Orange are squaring off against a consistent program that finished the season with an 8-4 record.
“We’re facing a prestigious program,” Brown said. “The team that I saw [on film] was really really good.
“Washington State has been known to be a great program over time. I just respect history, I respect football. You come to the West Coast I believe there is great football.”
Making its third trip the West Coast this season, the Holiday Bowl marks the program’s second ever matchup with Washington State. The Orange are 2-0 on the West Coast this season, with victories over UNLV and Cal. A third win out west would give SU its sixth bowl victory since 2000 and a perfect record out west.
West Coast bowl captures SU faithful’s nationwide appeal and renewed belief
The rare trip out west may pose a challenge for some of the Orange faithful however, there are some fans whose travel plans got easier after the Holiday Bowl announcement.
“For us, because we’re so close, we can actually come live and watch it,” said longtime Syraucse fan Ana, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. Ana is originally from Syracuse and her extended family still lives there.
“We bleed Orange!” said the Syracuse native. Ana is one of many SU fans attending tomorrow’s game who traveled by car.
Bob and Karen, a married couple from Arizona, had similar travel plans compared to Ana’s family.
“About a six-hour drive for us,” Bob said, “we went to Vegas this year… had a great time there. We’ll go ahead and take advantage here and tour tomorrow [before the game].”
However, according to Mark from San Diego, there’s plenty of Syracuse football fans out on the West Coast. Mark was at the UNLV game earlier this season, and estimated that around 4,000 fans were there that weren’t originally from Syracuse. Proximity wasn’t the only reason for a high turnover either.
“I would say about half [of the 4,000] were there because of the enthusiasm for Fran Brown” Mark said.
Fans aren’t the only ones feeling the effect of the first-year head coach. Wendy, whose daughter is in the Syracuse marching band, said the difference between last year’s bowl and this year’s is palpable.
“I actually believe there’s increased synergy and I think that comes from all the groups working together, from coach Brown to the athletic director to the University,” Wendy said.
Once wasn’t enough: more members from the Syracuse band break formation to dance. pic.twitter.com/Zp6IonJiww
— NewsHouse Sports (@NewsHouseSports) December 27, 2024
Thursday’s Bowl Bash concluded with the ‘Battle of the Bands’ event between Syracuse and Washington State’s marching band. Fans turned out in decent numbers for the Orange despite not being the designated home team. SU came out in full force and featured members of the band breaking from formation to engage in choreographed dances.
The next time Syracuse’s marching band suits up, it’ll be for the first bowl game of the Fran Brown era. The DirecTV Holiday Bowl kicks off tomorrow at 8 p.m. and is televised on FOX.
is a contributor for The NewsHouse
is a contributor for The NewsHouse