Last season, the Syracuse Orange went into the final four games of the season with a 6-2 record and an outside shot at winning the Big East Conference. They promptly went on to lose three of their last four games. The slide was somewhat forgiven for the outcome of the Pinstripe Bowl.
In 2011, the Syracuse Orange started the season 5-2 and seemed en route to eclipsing last year's mark. All of a sudden, they're 5-4 with three games remaining and SU fans have that old familiar feeling.
Doug Marrone would prefer not to be a "trend" football program. The kind of program that becomes predictable that their wins and losses can be dictated by the time of the year. It's hard not to look at the monthly stats in his career so far and not see a significant trend emerging.
September: 8-4
October: 6-6
November: 2-7
Of course, there are obvious differences between the games you play in September and the ones you play in November, but, statistically-speaking, Syracuse seems to fade down the stretch under Doug Marrone. The bologna sandwiches just sit there and grow moldy as the year rolls on.
What's the answer? According to HCDM, it's simple. Get back to work, you guys.
"There’s no one who plays anything competitive that likes to lose," he said. "Sometimes you learn more about people through these tough times than you do through the good times. You learn about who is accountable and who is not."
"Let’s go. Let’s get back to work," he said. "Life’s that way all the time.
"People that I’ve been with – in business, or professionally – it’s very simple. The ones that are successful just go at it – and get better and better every single day. They learn from the past and they move forward. And that’s what you have to do," he said.
It's a short week for the Orange, who host the USF Bulls on Friday. With all the work that the Orange need on offense, defense and special teams...there's no time to waste in getting it done.
Excerpt from Monday's news conference with SU Head Coach Doug Marrone . Marrone talks about the state of the team after a disappointing loss to UConn as they prepare to play South Florida this Friday. Video by Frank Ordonez / The Post-Standard