Syracuse Falls to South Florida 45-0 in Boca Raton Bowl

By Ben Spector | @bespector

Syracuse football had a bumpy road to the finish line. The season began with a 4-0 start, but then the Orange suffered a five-game losing streak. That ultimately was a building block toward Dino Babers’ departure as head coach in late November.

Even through all the highs and lows, Syracuse found itself involved in the postseason. SU, though, fell to South Florida 45-0 in the Boca Raton Bowl. After finishing the year this way, the ‘Cuse shifts its focus to what’s next, which is a future under new head coach Fran Brown.

“I don’t think we lived up to our expectations,” Syracuse tight end Dan Villari said. “But I can tell you that we are never going to feel this way again. I’m excited for next year, and the first thing we have to do is go home to our families and enjoy that. Then, we’ll focus on workouts when we get back.”

With Fran Brown in charge, interim head coach Nunzio Campanile believes that Syracuse will look totally different next season.

“The make-up, the way you build a team, all those things will change,” Campanile said. “Fran [Brown] will certainly set the style and way we will train. He talks about ‘DART’ all the time. That’s detail, accountability, relentless, and tough, and that will certainly show up in everything that we do.”

Campanile will return to Syracuse as the quarterbacks coach, but with Fran Brown, who attended the Boca Raton Bowl, the future is now the present.