10 Years Ago

Photos: Frank Ordonez- Post-Standard

With the upcoming football season less than 3 weeks away from kicking off, T3I takes you down memory lane to a look at the Orangemen just 10 short years ago.

The year was 1998 and Titanic swept the Oscars with 11 awards. The Chicago Bulls secured their sixth NBA championship by defeating the Utah Jazz. The Monica Lewinsky scandal was in full swing while pop singer George Michael was dealing with a scandal of his own. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees were putting together the greatest season in baseball history on their way to their 24th world championship.

In Central New York the Orangemen were coming off a 9-4 season and an outright Big East title. There was a feeling of "now or never" in Syracuse as Donovan McNabb entered his senior season. A schedule that featured Tennessee and Michigan awaited the defending Big East Champions.

The season began on September 5th with the eventual national champion Tennessee Volunteers paid a visit to the Carrier Dome, which truly earned its nickname of "The Loud House" that afternoon. 49,550 fans including this idiot screamed their lungs out in a thriller that came down to a bogus pass interference call. Final Vols- 34 Cuse-33. Heisman hopeful Donovan McNabb had a monster game: 298 yards passing including TD passes.

Now imagine this Cuse fans, 10 years ago our defensive coordinator George DeLeone had this to say after the season opener:

''It think this showed that we can go toe-to-toe with a big time program. Now, we can go to Michigan and see what we can do there.''

Tennessee? Michigan? We were actually in the same breath as these programs not so long ago.

That week many in Syracuse were cleaning up the mess that was the Labor Day Storm of '98. A trip to the Big House was up next for the Orangemen and in front of a then record crowd 111,012 the Cuse showed up....and then some.

The Orangemen raced out to a 24-0 lead and never looked back. Donovan continued his mastery with 233 yards passing, 3 TD passes and a 17 yard TD run. The final was 38-28 in a game (CLICHE ALERT) that really wasn't as close as the score indicated.

Big East play awaited the Orange with a date against Rutgers in the Dome. 70, yes 70 points later Syracuse improved their record to 2-1 with a 70-14 thrashing of the Scarlet Knights.

Syracuse would then get a rematch against North Carolina State on an ESPN Thursday Night Football national telecast. The year before the Orange lost a heartbreaker 32-31 in overtime. This year proved equally disappointing. Future fantasy football stud Tory Holt was unstoppable, racking up 132 yards in the Wolfpack's 38-17 victory.

The Orange righted the ship the following week by destroying Cincinnati 63-21 in the Dome. Donovan McNabb was the engine of an unstoppable Syracuse offense that cranked out 637 total yards as the team imroved to 3-2 on the year.

A road trip to Boston College resulted in a 42-25 win for the good guys. Big East play continued with a 45-28 victory over Pitt in the Loud House. The Orange were sitting on top of the Big East with a 3-0 conference record (5-2 overall).

A road battle loomed ahead in Morgantown as Syracuse and West Virginia would fight over Ben's trophy. A missed Nate Trout FG opened the door for a game winning Mark Bulger TD pass. Final: Neers- 35 Syracuse-28.

Virginia Tech and their obnoxious fans would invade the Dome the following week. In perhaps the defining moment of his collegiate career Donovan McNabb saved the day in a 28-26 victory over the hated Hokies. Idiots Boss and Champ celebrated the win by swarming the field and promptly heckling the stunned Virginia Tech fans sitting on their hands. The Orange improved to 6-3 and 4-1 in the Big East.

A road trip to Temple resulted in a 38-7 win. Donovan had a very un-Donovan like day against the Owls, throwing 2 picks. The Orangemen found themselves at 7-3 and on top of the Big East with a 5-1 record. All that stood between them and another Big East title was a November 18th date in the Dome with the Miami Hurricanes.

That night in front of an ESPN audience, Syracuse handed Miami its worst loss in over 40 years, destroying them 66-13. Donovan McNabb was given a hero's sendoff as Coach P pulled him off the field for a well deserved standing ovation. Appropriately enough, the theme from "Superman" played as the Orange faithful showered Donovan with their love and appreciation. Syracuse had repeated as Big East champions, and fans (idiots included) spilled onto the field to celebrate a trip to the Orange Bowl. Donovan would find himself a Heisman candidate as he finished 5th in the voting.

Syracuse would find itself pitted against Steve Spurrier's high powered Florida Gators in the Orange Bowl. A 31-10 loss in front of a national TV audience left the Orangmen with a final 8-4 record.

1998 ended Donovan's run on the hill. Looking back now....damn we were spoiled as Syracuse fans. A schedule that included out of conference opponents Tennessee and Michigan is worlds apart from Akron and Northeastern. I remember the frustration of those North Carolina State type losses thinking.....here we go again. Little did I know 10 years later I'd be longing for a return to seasons like this.

1998...it was a fun time...just ask Hal Sparks.