Syracuse vs. Cincinnati: Sorry To Ruin Your Homecoming

When I was at Syracuse, we got up at 5am to do our chores, walked ten miles in the snow, survived on a diet of scrapple and celery soda (a real thing) and we liked it. We also played either Temple or Rutgers for Homecoming every year because we wanted to ensure a victory in front of our precious, precious alums.

Since then, things have changed slightly and it's not uncommon to see Big East teams line up to schedule us for Homecoming. In fact, three separate teams decided their best option for a Homecoming victory this season would be against us.

Oops, South Florida.

Oops, West Virginia.

And now, Cincinnati, it's your turn. It's Homecoming Weekend at Cincy, which is a bit of misnomer since no one who's ever lucky enough to get out of the city limits of Cincinnati ever returns. And the Orange have a knack for ruining what's supposed to be your school's best weekend of the year.

In fact, we're so good at ruining Homecomings that we even ruined our own. That's how committed we are this season to upsetting alumni bases.

Syracuse vs. Cincinnati may come down to being a tale of two injuries and whether or not the injured can return to impact the game. For the Orange, the big question mark is Delone Carter and his bruised hip. The goodish news is that Marrone says Carter will practice this week, assuming he doesn't catch the flu:

"The only people who I know may not practice are people with a flu or virus, because we are still evaluating a couple people," Marrone said. "And it's been going around. I had it right before the game, (secondary) Coach (John) Anselmo had it, and a couple of players had it."

On the other side of the ball is Cincy QB Zach Collaros, who's nursing a knee problem. Collaros is expected to practice today, though Butch Jones has said he won't make a decision at least until mid-week.

Unlike South Florida or West Virginia, Cincinnati comes into the game with the knowledge that the Orange aren't just a lucky bunch with some courtesy wins. They can actually beat you. Butch Jones is already well aware of Syracuse's biggest strength and word of the month:

"Every bit of their program is all about physicality," he said.

With all the expectations and new-found respect, you'd think the Orange might be getting a little ahead of themselves. Well if you think that, you're an idiot and a jerk. That's not gonna happen on Doug Marrone's watch:

"A lot of people want to put labels and words on specific wins and you do that after the season is over," Marrone said. "… Right now, we are 5-2 and the only thing I am guaranteed at the end of the season is that we have five wins and that’s not what our objective is. For me, I just look at the next game and try to get another win no matter what we have to do."

Good work by the Three Idiots in uncovering this secret video of Butch Davis Jones and his AD: