The kick-start to Syracuse’s upswing this fall began in the Heinz Field visitors locker room 11 months ago. After the Orange’s season-ending loss at Pittsburgh last November — the end of a second-straight 4-8 season for SU — head coach Dino Babers did not allow any other coaches in the locker room. He spoke to only the players, then he asked the seniors to leave and addressed only players who would return this year.

Babers’ message: “Everybody wasn’t on board.”

“There’s the saying, ‘What you do speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say,’” Babers said Monday morning. “They were saying the right things, they weren’t doing the right things. And I think I have a team full of guys doing the right things.

“And this is where we’re at.”

Where Syracuse is at is a significantly more opportune position than that of last year. Through eight games, SU (4-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) has the same record as it did this time a year ago. But the 2017 Orange have beaten the defending national champion, stayed within striking distance against Top 25 opponents in LSU, North Carolina State and Miami on the road, and has not lost by more than 11 points all year despite facing one of the most difficult schedules in the country.

On Saturday afternoon at Florida State, Syracuse will have a chance to snap a nine-game losing streak against FSU and beat the plunging Seminoles (2-5, 2-4) for the first time since the teams’ first meeting in 1966. This Syracuse upswing, Babers said, is rooted in the Heinz Field locker room last November.

“When we lost that Pittsburgh game, and the way we lost it, that was a very emotional time for the team and I,” Babers said. “… I think that’s where we planted the seed, put some fertilizer down and then coming break in spring ball, and the things we did in the summer, we needed to water it and put a lot of sun on it.”

Two weeks ago, Syracuse thrust into the national spotlight with the Clemson victory, one of the biggest in program history. At then-No. 8 Miami, one of only five remaining undefeated teams in FBS, Syracuse pulled to within one point in the fourth quarter.

Babers said it all traces back to the Pitt game last year. Shortly after that game, Babers looked at the podium in front of him and paused before his postgame press conference.

“I gotta stand here after all that?” he said jokingly.

By “all that,” Babers meant a near four-hour affair that included 165 plays, 1,312 yards, nine punts, 19 kickoffs, 20 touchdowns, 58 first downs and Syracuse’s defensive collapse. The Orange broke the program record for points allowed, 76, a mark that stood for 125 years.

The defensive miscues were a microcosm of the season. In 2016, SU finished 122nd out of 128 FBS teams in total defense and lost its final four games of the season.

“It’s going to get better,” Babers said after the game.

“The thing you have to remember is that this year the players were thinking and next year they won’t be,” Babers added.

Now, here is Syracuse, two wins away from guaranteed bowl eligibility and only 2.5-point underdogs on the road at Florida State, the No. 3 team in the Preseason Top 25.

Other notes from Babers’ weekly press conference:

• Babers said sophomore defensive lineman Kendall Coleman probably could have played at Miami on Oct. 21 at about 65 percent. “I think we’re going to get Coleman back,” for the FSU game, Babers said.
• As for fellow defensive lineman Josh Black: “We’ll have to see about Joshua.”
• Graduate transfer safety Jordan Martin has played the last two games with a cast, contributing mostly to special teams. “I don’t think Jordan’s going to be able to be with us. I think he’s going to be pretty much done.”

Published on October 30, 2017 at 2:35 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21