It's been 90-minutes since the gun sounded on our latest loss...the one that saw us lose our eighth game in the last nine. The one that is taking us back into an uncomfortable place as fans of Syracuse football. We're now 1-3, and we just lost yet another winnable game against a team that in no way has significantly better talent than us.
The storyline in many ways remains maddeningly the same. Inconsistent execution, questionable play calling and silly mistakes. Yeah, we're also showing an incredible inability to score from inside the five yard line, but let's just put that to the side for a moment.
Back in December, 2010, I sat in the stands of Yankee Stadium, and saw what I thought was the dawn of a new era of success for this great football program. I readily drank the cool-aid that a "Syracuse Man", Doug Marrone, was the leader to take our team to new glory. And on that freezing-cold night in the Bronx, I delighted in seeing our team climb out of the depths of the Greg Robinson nightmare. There was a confidence in our team that hadn't existed in years, and that confidence started with Coach Marrone himself.
Tonight, and steadily over the past 12-months, I have to grudgingly admit that I no longer see that confidence. I look at the coach and this team, and the body language suggests that they are lost. That they just don't seem to have that inner belief that they can win. And as a result, I am asking myself the question that I don't even want to think about out of loyalty, optimism, and a fear of being called out as a hypocrite for posting last week about believing in this team...is Doug Marrone the right man to lead this program?
Coach, team, please prove me wrong. Make me look like a fool. I'll gladly play the court jester if you can right the ship now, with the entirety of the Big East Conference schedule still in front of us. I want you to win...I want to believe you still can. But sadly, I think you are officially on the clock and time is slowly running out...