Orange Crushed
| 13
|
35-0. Enough said. I didn't need to hear the dismal statistics put up by Syracuse sophomore quarterback Andrew Robinson, nor the dreadful line put up by runningback Curtis Brinkley. I didn't need to hear questions about coach Greg Robinson and his play-calling (in)abilities, because I've voiced similar concerns myself, along with the rest of the Orange faithful over the past few seasons. After Saturday night's disgusting loss at the hands of the Iowa Hawkeyes, I think it's safe to say that coach should start looking for work elsewhere.
What has happened to this program? How did it all just go downhill so quickly. Especially now, with the Big East having a revival of epic proportions, how is it that the Syracuse Orange, one of the conferences athletic cornerstones, are the doormat of the league?
From 1987-2001, it seemed like the team could do very little wrong. The then-Orangemen went 11-0 in 1987, only missing out on a shot at the National Championship because two perennial powerhouses, Miami and Oklahoma possessed identical records. With Dick MacPherson and Paul Pasqualoni at the helm, the team saw 11 bowl games, and won nine of them. They also owned at least a piece of four Big East titles, while turning out numerous future NFL stars in Donovan McNabb, Dwight Freeney, Marvin Harrison, and Rob Moore to name a few. After a slight drop-off from 2002-2004, which did include sharing a piece of another Big East title, the university decided to part ways with Pasqualoni, in favor of Texas' defensive coordinator, Greg Robinson. He promised a return to prominence for the Orange football program. We believed. We were dooped.
The marketing campaign for this year's football team is "Sudden Impact". Basically, the commercials and billboards trot out most of the same players who were part of 2005's 1-10 debacle and the embarassing 4-8 campaign of 2006, and tell you that this is "the year". Some bought in. I was skeptical. The "Sudden Impact" of this season for me so far? Losing all faith in the team and possibly not renewing my season tickets for another season. That'll happen when your team is dismantled at home, on national television, 42-12, then laughed out of Iowa by a team which you almost beat last season when they were ranked.
So what's my point? If you watch any portion of an Orange football game this year, you'll see it. Watch closely on a 2nd-and-13 (which happen frequently) and I can guarantee that you'll see a run up the middle for a net gain of two yards. Everytime. Like clockwork. That's why we lost. That's why we're losing now. That's why the Syracuse Orange will be losing as long as Greg Robinson is the coach of the football team. A once-great program brought to its knees by an incapable coach in a time of tremendous growth for the conference. Louisville, West Virginia, and Rutgers have carried the league on their backs last year, and were supported by the efforts of South Florida, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. Even our basketball archrivals, Connecticut has made a bowl game in recent years. Why let the school disappear on the map of big-time college football? The time has come to rid the program of the poison that is Greg Robinson and reassume our rightful place among the Big East elite. The "Sudden Impact" of that 35-0 loss to Iowa? The end of Greg Robinson at Syracuse University.
