If you haven’t heard by now, there’s a head coaching vacancy in Central New York. John Wildhack had seen enough of Dino Babers after Syracuse’s 31-22 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday night. There was more pressure than ever on him this season, and he simply didn’t live up to expectations. But it isn’t just what’s happened in 2023 that’s contributed to his firing. There have been multiple noteworthy moments that have had us scratching our head over the last few years, all of which played a part in his eventual firing. Here are the five most noteworthy of them.
Honorable Mentions: Rex Culpepper’s fake spike, accepting the penalty against Wake Forest in 2021, forcing Andre Szmyt to attempt a long field goal against Clemson in 2021, forcing Brady Denaburg to attempt multiple long field goals in 2023
#5: THE MARYLAND MASSACRE
Entering 2019, Syracuse was coming off a 10-win campaign that ultimately proved to be easily the best of Babers’ tenure. The Orange traveled to College Park in week 2, with rumors swirling that College Gameday was headed to the hill the next week for a big time showdown with Clemson. But after a 63-20 Terrapin beatdown, the season (and Babers’ tenure took a turn for the worst). That game was the first of three 30+ point losses for Syracuse that season, which turned out to be a major 5-7 disappointment.
#4: DEPTH IS GONE 1.0
There’s isn’t one particular game or play to point two, rather the last three games of the 2021 season. Syracuse was 5-4 and had a bye week ahead of its last three contests. The Orange completely wasted them with non-competitive losses to Louisville, NC State, and Pitt to close out the season, marking a third straight…
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